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How do you stop TTech?

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BuckeyeFan 52;1325089; said:
Stopping Texas Tech is a tough challenge, no doubt, but it's possible.

Obviously defensive line play is where it begins. In my opinion, I think the opposing defensive line's ability to jump and knock down passes is just as important as getting pressure on Harrell. I do not know the average amount of time Harrell has between receiving the snap and getting rid of the ball (I would guess 3 to 4 seconds?), but I know his release is extremely quick. You won't get many chances to sack him, you just won't. That plan hasn't worked yet this season.

I think the best chance a defense has to slow down the Red Raiders is for it's LB'ers and DB's to "get in the way" of Harrell's throwing lanes. Now, this requires bigger, more athletic LB's with some quicks, but there are some teams out there that could do that. Playing man-to-man and trying to bump and jam the receivers at the line is a logical concept, but I don't believe there is a college defense out there that has the defensive backfield that could handle that for an entire game against a team with so many break-away wide receivers.

I think you have to play zone defense for the majority of the game. I'm not even convinced that mixing up your defensive looks will do much vs. this team. When Florida beat Ohio State in 2006, their defense showed almost an identical look on each and every snap when OSU had the football. The Gators were playing in different coverages and stunting throughout the game, but they lined in virtually the same spot every time. That in iteself confused Troy Smith and O-line. I think a similar approach has to be taken with this Texas Tech team.

The game in Norman coming up will be a good one. Don't think the Sooner's can't pull this one out, they easily could. Their offense is balanced enough to keep the Red Raider offense off of the field for quite a while.

Regardless, I think the one team in the country that could stop this Texas Tech team is Florida. They are entirely too balanced. They can match Tech point-for-point on the offensive side of the ball, and they have the right types of players in their defensive back seven to confuse Harrell and stop that offense enough to win the ball game.

Just my opinion.
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I think you're right. The bad thing about playing yourself into an NC game is that you have to face the best....the good thing about it is that it gives you an opportunity to beat the best. Florida is an amazingly balanced team with some scary good players on all sides of the ball. It would certainly test the Red Raiders and I hope we get a chance to find out what would happen.

As for your other point about defending Tech's offense, if you stay in zone all day, GH will light you up. You absolutely HAVE to try to mix things up enough to at least make him work at doing his job. If you get NO pressure on him, you have no hope of winning...last year, this wasn't necessarily the case but this year he is in a zone that is far above what most QB's are playing in. The pressure you bring had better be mostly from the front four with an occasional disguised blitz. If you show blitz openly, you'll get burned. This is the best offense I have ever seen at Tech as far as patience, consistency, and talent....and I've been watching Tech for a very long time. This is the year I think we have all been waiting for as fans and we only have one huge hurdle to jump to propel this team to at least the Big12 championship and possibly the NC game.

I really have enjoyed the conversation with you guys. This is the best "away" thread I have ever participated in. You guys are a class act!
 
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ochre;1327353; said:
Didn't Nebraska pretty much stop them this season?
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Nebraska played an almost perfect game of keep away. They managed to limit Tech to only 4 possessions in the first half and 3 possessions in the second half and kept the game close enough to be in a position to win in OT. This is about 3 or 4 less possessions than normal. The only mistake Gantz made was on his last throw in the game and resulted in a pick that ended the game.

Nebraska didn't really stop Tech, they just didn't give them the ball much in the second half...
 
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faithfulraider;1327873; said:
Nebraska played an almost perfect game of keep away. They managed to limit Tech to only 4 possessions in the first half and 3 possessions in the second half and kept the game close enough to be in a position to win in OT. This is about 3 or 4 less possessions than normal. The only mistake Gantz made was on his last throw in the game and resulted in a pick that ended the game.

Nebraska didn't really stop Tech, they just didn't give them the ball much in the second half...
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Yeah, I was kind of going with the tongue-in-cheek approach. 2 to 1 advantage in time of possession can paint mirages :). But that is a 'viable' way to, at least, slow TT down.
 
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When I did my five years in Texas, the boys from Lubbock were called the 'Goatropers'. I'm pretty certain that was a derogatory term, but it seemed to be their nickname in the then SWC.......

The best way to stop TT is to rush four, drop 9, and hope the referees were SEC-educated and cannot count to 11.


:gobucks3::gobucks4::banger: and :scum4:
 
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