{"id":76698,"date":"2025-08-26T10:30:31","date_gmt":"2025-08-26T14:30:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/?p=76698"},"modified":"2025-08-25T10:24:26","modified_gmt":"2025-08-25T14:24:26","slug":"texas-tech-week-one-make-vanilla-elite","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/2025\/08\/26\/texas-tech-week-one-make-vanilla-elite\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas Tech Week One: Make Vanilla Elite"},"content":{"rendered":"
The Red Raiders have arrived at the first game week of the most anticipated season since 2008. Joey McGuire\u2019s team has been the subject of a ton of off-season headlines. McGuire is on the record stating, \u201cWe are fixin\u2019 to shake up college football.\u201d The new-look roster has been dissected throughout the Spring. But now, a Texas Tech week one opponent in Arkansas-Pine Bluff will give everyone their first look at this team. What should we expect from this much-hyped team Saturday night in Lubbock?<\/div>\n

Texas Tech Week One: Make Vanilla Elite<\/h2>\n

Schematically Should Be Vanilla<\/strong><\/h3>\n
In addition to plenty of new players making their debuts, it will be the first look at play-calling from new offensive and defensive coordinators. Mack Leftwich joined the staff after spending the last two seasons as Texas State\u2019s offensive coordinator. When he arrived in San Marcos, Texas State offenses ranked 110th in the country for scoring at only 21.1 points per game. Leftwich quickly transferred the offense into one that would go on to average 36.7 points per game in 2023 and then 36.5 points in 2024. Meanwhile, Shiel Wood takes the helm over a defense that was in need of major work.<\/div>\n
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Wood has been a defensive coordinator at a different school for the last four years. He has moved frequently because he has made a big impact from the moment he arrived on staff. Wood’s defenses have ranked inside the top 35 for total defense in all four seasons since he was first named a co-defensive coordinator at Army in 2021. Since then, he made stops as the defensive coordinator at Troy in 2022, Tulane in 2023, and then last season in Houston. In a game in which the talent is as one-sided as it is, we shouldn\u2019t see a ton of complex schematic work on either side of the ball. But just because the scheme is plain doesn\u2019t mean it can\u2019t deliver great results. When you have high-quality ingredients, a chef must let the flavor shine with simple and effective preparation.<\/div>\n

Suffocating Defense<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Vanilla can often be used as a synonym for plain. If anyone has ever watched a Texas Tech football game in the last 25 years, they might describe the defense as plain. A defense so bad that offensive coordinators can take the week off. While that side of the ball has had its moments, overall, it has been a major weak point. But this is the first time it has brought in this much proven talent, especially along the defensive line. On paper, this is the most talented defensive line the program has had in those bleak 25 years. It is headlined by Stanford transfer David Bailey<\/a>. He is already projected as a first-round draft pick in the Spring draft. Bailey is joined on the line by one of the best returning conference linemen,<\/a> Lee Hunter,<\/a> and All-MAC player Skyler Gill-Howard<\/a>. Meanwhile, the linebacking group is headlined by returning linebacker Jacob Rodriguez<\/a> and Georgia Tech transfer Romello Height<\/a>. The front seven should be physically dominating, not just to start the season, but in Big 12 play as well.<\/div>\n
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Photo Credit: Michael C. Johnson-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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Healthy Quarterback Play<\/strong><\/h3>\n
For as little attention as the defense has traditionally received in Lubbock, the offense has long lived in the spotlight. But a Texas Tech week one offense performance is going to be orchestrated by a quarterback who is 100%. Behren Morton<\/a> is entering his fourth season as the starting quarterback for the Red Raiders. Morton received shoulder surgery this offseason that kept him out of Spring practice. The highest-rated high school quarterback to ever sign with Texas Tech has had significant durability issues the last two seasons. But Morton has said that his shoulder now feels good for the first time in years. He will also be protected by a new-look offensive line. With the departure of Tahj Brooks to the NFL and Quinten Joyner recently suffering a season-ending injury, all eyes will be on Morton. His touchdown-to-interception ratio has consistently improved each season he has been the starter. Is the Red Raider nation going to see Morton\u2019s best season in 2025?<\/div>\n

Texas Tech Week One Prediction<\/strong><\/h3>\n

There isn\u2019t much suspense going into this Texas Tech week one showdown. Arkansas-Pine Bluff went 3-9 last year. This SWAC team lost to Arkansas 70-0, the same Arkansas team that beat the Red Raiders in the 2024 Liberty Bowl<\/a>. The talent of the home team is too great for this game to be competitive for even one quarter. Expect the second and third string players on the depth chart to get plenty of playing time in this one in the second half. The Red Raiders start off with an emphatic victory.<\/p>\n

Texas Tech 52, Arkansas-Pine Bluff 3<\/strong><\/p>\n

Main Photo: Stephen Garcia\/Avalanche-Journal \/ USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Red Raiders have arrived at the first game week of the most anticipated season since 2008. Joey McGuire\u2019s team has been the subject of a ton of off-season headlines. McGuire is on the record stating, \u201cWe are fixin\u2019 to shake up college football.\u201d The new-look roster has been dissected throughout the Spring. But now, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3959,"featured_media":67961,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"1","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6,2,17],"tags":[9444,79,8318,33040,34534,240],"class_list":["post-76698","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-big12","category-featured","category-news","tag-arkansas-pine-bluff","tag-college-football","tag-joey-mcguire","tag-mack-leftwich","tag-shiel-wood","tag-texas-tech-red-raiders"],"modified_by":"Kate Pearson Halyburton, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76698","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3959"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76698"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76698\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":76705,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76698\/revisions\/76705"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/67961"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76698"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76698"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76698"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}