NamelessHusker
Banned
Texas Tech managed to pull off a 30-17 win over Kansas, but don't let that score fool you. Kansas dominated this game in all aspects of the defensive category. If you take the time to read this analysis, you will see that Texas Tech is more then just beatable. This breakdown is being presented with no rose colored glasses, just straight up matchups of who should hold the advantage when game time comes. Once the Vegas odds come out, Texas Tech should be favored by 3-4 points, even though this is a home game for Nebraska.
Here is the breakdown for the offense, i will do a breakdown on the defense later in the week.
[SIZE=14pt]Quarterback[/SIZE]
Cody Hodges is still getting his feet wet. Although he knows the offense inside and out sitting on the bench the last 5 years, he still lacks that game experience to lead his team when better competition comes calling. I won't even take into consideration Hodges numbers against a new DIV-A team and 2 other DIV-AA teams. His real numbers are what he did against Kansas and what he does now for the rest of the season. Against Kansas, he completed 34 of 52 (65%) for 318 yards and two touchdowns. Texas Tech like Nebraska scripts it's first 15 plays to see what works and goes from that point on. One thing Hodges lacks is mobility. He did manage to pickup 14 yards on his first scramble, but soon afterwards, the Kansas defense gave him little room to work with and it showed. He finished the game with 13 rushes for a loss of 15 yards. He was intercepted once in the game and fumbled the ball twice as well. The fact he got sacked 6 TIMES by the KU defense did not help him out either. That coming from a KU defense ranked 39th in the nation in total defense makes you wonder what a top10 defense would do to him. One more alarming stat for this offense is the fact it had to punt the ball 8 times. Texas Tech had only punted the ball twice in its previous 3 games and those 2 punts came in garbage time against Indiana St (DIV-AA) and Sam Houston St (DIV-AA).
[SIZE=14pt]Running Back[/SIZE]
Texas Tech is not known for its rushing game, and Texas Tech struggled in this category. Tauren Henderson had 2 big runs of 15 yards on the first play of the game and another 22 yard rush. He gained 37 of his 63 yards on those 2 big plays. He finished with 11 carries on the game. If you take away those 2 large runs, Henderson managed to compile 26 yards on 9 carries. Henderson when he is not rushing is used in a similar fashion to what Cory Ross was used against Iowa St (as a receiver). Nebraska's rush defense should be able to contain Henderson, if not completely shut him down and make Texas Tech 1 dimensional. Henderson came in averaging 9.4 yards a carry. He finished with a 5.7 average (2.8 if you take away the 2 long runs). With Nebraska having the 8th best rushing defense in the nation (allowing 73 yards per game) and Kansas ranked 5th in the nation in the same category (72 yards per game), Nebraska should be able to duplicate what Kansas did, if not better.
[SIZE=14pt]Offensive Line[/SIZE]
Quite possibly the worst unit of the team. Kansas managed to get 6 sacks on Hodges, force him to fumble it twice and throw an interception, on top of 8 QB hurries and 9 penalties on the offensive line for 107 yards. The weakest link on the offensive line seems to be the left side, as the majority of the sacks (4) came from blitzes on that side of the line. The left tackle is anchored by Junior college transfer Glenn January who is a second year starter. Texas Tech like Nebraska has problems opening holes for it's running back. The second weakest link on that line is junior right tackle Gabe Hall who is playing as a full time starter after a backup role in 2004. Look for Nebraska to blitz both sides often and unexpectedly and take advantage of the weakness on the line.
[SIZE=14pt]Wide Recievers[/SIZE]
The WR are the strongest member of this offense. When Hodges clicks, they click. If Hodges is having a bad day, they have a bad day. Texas Tech does not have a pure position for the TE that other college teams have and utilize on a regular basis. They purely play 4 wide receivers, so Hodges has 4 guys to look for and pass to. The breakdown of these 4 WR's is rather interesting. Here is a drawing of their typical routes (this is a simplified version)
WR2 in this case covers the first 5 yards up the middle, and WR4 covers 10 yards up the middle. WR1 and 3 will cover anywhere between 10-15 yards on both sidelines with slants and hook routes incorporated into them. The Wide receivers will test our linebackers and corners all day long. Texas Tech will have some WR's who will dominate some of our corners and will most likely shy away from the middle receivers on most of the plays. Texas Tech does not fear any linebackers corp, but they will get the message by McKeon and company that those 2 WR's are a no go for most of the game. Tech's main go to guys in the WR department is Jarrett Hicks and Robert Johnson (WR1 and WR3 in the example above). Those 2 alone have 42 catches between the 2 of them for 637 yards on the season. The inside wide receiver ( WR2 in example above) is Joel Filani. He has 17 catches for 251 and the last WR receiver threat for Tech (WR4 in example above) is Danny Amendola with 16 catches for 223 yards. Texas Tech has a total of 15 WR's who have contributed this year so far in addition to running back Taurean Henderson and 1800 yards between all of them. Tech has tall wide receivers ranging from 6-0 (Amendola) to 6-3 (Hicks and Johnson). If NU can manage to shut down Hicks or at least contain him to a minimum, they should be able to control the passing game somewhat.
Here is the breakdown for the offense, i will do a breakdown on the defense later in the week.
[SIZE=14pt]Quarterback[/SIZE]
Cody Hodges is still getting his feet wet. Although he knows the offense inside and out sitting on the bench the last 5 years, he still lacks that game experience to lead his team when better competition comes calling. I won't even take into consideration Hodges numbers against a new DIV-A team and 2 other DIV-AA teams. His real numbers are what he did against Kansas and what he does now for the rest of the season. Against Kansas, he completed 34 of 52 (65%) for 318 yards and two touchdowns. Texas Tech like Nebraska scripts it's first 15 plays to see what works and goes from that point on. One thing Hodges lacks is mobility. He did manage to pickup 14 yards on his first scramble, but soon afterwards, the Kansas defense gave him little room to work with and it showed. He finished the game with 13 rushes for a loss of 15 yards. He was intercepted once in the game and fumbled the ball twice as well. The fact he got sacked 6 TIMES by the KU defense did not help him out either. That coming from a KU defense ranked 39th in the nation in total defense makes you wonder what a top10 defense would do to him. One more alarming stat for this offense is the fact it had to punt the ball 8 times. Texas Tech had only punted the ball twice in its previous 3 games and those 2 punts came in garbage time against Indiana St (DIV-AA) and Sam Houston St (DIV-AA).
[SIZE=14pt]Running Back[/SIZE]
Texas Tech is not known for its rushing game, and Texas Tech struggled in this category. Tauren Henderson had 2 big runs of 15 yards on the first play of the game and another 22 yard rush. He gained 37 of his 63 yards on those 2 big plays. He finished with 11 carries on the game. If you take away those 2 large runs, Henderson managed to compile 26 yards on 9 carries. Henderson when he is not rushing is used in a similar fashion to what Cory Ross was used against Iowa St (as a receiver). Nebraska's rush defense should be able to contain Henderson, if not completely shut him down and make Texas Tech 1 dimensional. Henderson came in averaging 9.4 yards a carry. He finished with a 5.7 average (2.8 if you take away the 2 long runs). With Nebraska having the 8th best rushing defense in the nation (allowing 73 yards per game) and Kansas ranked 5th in the nation in the same category (72 yards per game), Nebraska should be able to duplicate what Kansas did, if not better.
[SIZE=14pt]Offensive Line[/SIZE]
Quite possibly the worst unit of the team. Kansas managed to get 6 sacks on Hodges, force him to fumble it twice and throw an interception, on top of 8 QB hurries and 9 penalties on the offensive line for 107 yards. The weakest link on the offensive line seems to be the left side, as the majority of the sacks (4) came from blitzes on that side of the line. The left tackle is anchored by Junior college transfer Glenn January who is a second year starter. Texas Tech like Nebraska has problems opening holes for it's running back. The second weakest link on that line is junior right tackle Gabe Hall who is playing as a full time starter after a backup role in 2004. Look for Nebraska to blitz both sides often and unexpectedly and take advantage of the weakness on the line.
[SIZE=14pt]Wide Recievers[/SIZE]
The WR are the strongest member of this offense. When Hodges clicks, they click. If Hodges is having a bad day, they have a bad day. Texas Tech does not have a pure position for the TE that other college teams have and utilize on a regular basis. They purely play 4 wide receivers, so Hodges has 4 guys to look for and pass to. The breakdown of these 4 WR's is rather interesting. Here is a drawing of their typical routes (this is a simplified version)
WR2 in this case covers the first 5 yards up the middle, and WR4 covers 10 yards up the middle. WR1 and 3 will cover anywhere between 10-15 yards on both sidelines with slants and hook routes incorporated into them. The Wide receivers will test our linebackers and corners all day long. Texas Tech will have some WR's who will dominate some of our corners and will most likely shy away from the middle receivers on most of the plays. Texas Tech does not fear any linebackers corp, but they will get the message by McKeon and company that those 2 WR's are a no go for most of the game. Tech's main go to guys in the WR department is Jarrett Hicks and Robert Johnson (WR1 and WR3 in the example above). Those 2 alone have 42 catches between the 2 of them for 637 yards on the season. The inside wide receiver ( WR2 in example above) is Joel Filani. He has 17 catches for 251 and the last WR receiver threat for Tech (WR4 in example above) is Danny Amendola with 16 catches for 223 yards. Texas Tech has a total of 15 WR's who have contributed this year so far in addition to running back Taurean Henderson and 1800 yards between all of them. Tech has tall wide receivers ranging from 6-0 (Amendola) to 6-3 (Hicks and Johnson). If NU can manage to shut down Hicks or at least contain him to a minimum, they should be able to control the passing game somewhat.
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