Position Matchups :: Texas Tech Red Raiders vs. Texas Longhorns

by Seth C on Sep 15, 2009 12:00 PM CDT in Football Comment 12 comments

Fancy table and tremendous analysis after the jump.

	MATCHUP
QB/WR: The biggest problem with QB Taylor Potts is that he's still prone to make mistakes, which is natural. Rice had a couple of interception opportunities but could not capitalize. I have no doubt that Potts will have those same mental errors, he's human and to expect a perfect game is not fair. The best thing about Potts is that he's not afraid to throw the ball to any receiver on any given play. If there's one thing that should worry Longhorns, it's that Potts can and does complete the ball and doesn't necessarily have a favorite. Despite losing IR Detron Lewis, Potts didn't miss a beat with Tramain Swindall, Austin Zouzalik, and Lyle Leong picking up the slack.	QB/WR vs. DB	DB: I think you'll be looking at a starting defensive backfield of Aaron Williams and Chykie Brown at cornerbacks and Blake Gideon and Earl Thomas at safety. The Longhorns haven't had a ton of interceptions to date, but they have done a nice job of breaking up 13 passes for the year (PBU), including 3 by Thomas. The safeties are young, but very active, and you can expect to see quite a bit of Curtis Brown in the nickel package. As a unit, they are giving up less than 200 yards passing and like Texas Tech, it is difficult to judge the first two weeks of performance because of the quality of the opponent.
RB: The actual running backs, not whether or not the running backs are getting the ball, are actually very talented. I cannot recall a time that Texas Tech had two explosive running backs. Harrison Jeffers, the redshirt freshman, and true freshman, Eric Stephens, have forced themselves on the field despite returning running back Baron Batch running with furious anger. Batch is back, and I think he'll be even better this week against Texas. On talent alone, this group is as talented as I've seen and have the ability to break huge plays. The problem is that Leach/Potts isn't checking down to the running game nearly enough.	RB vs. LB	LB: The Texas linebackers are active and thus far, Roddrick Muckelroy is second on the team in tackles (10) while Dustin Earnest (8) and Keena Robinson (7) are in the top 10. All three of these linebackers are in the 230 range and I think when faced with a spread offense, you'll see more of Curtis Brown than Dustin Earnest. Again, thus far, the Longhorns have had quite a bit of success, depsite the lackluster opponents (Texas Tech fans have no room to talk) and it will be interesting to see the mix of players that UT will utilize against the Red Raiders.
OL: A better performance, but not perfect. The line gave up no sacks and did a much better job protecting Potts with some players making some changes including Chris Olson at LT, Lonnie Edwards at LG, Shawn Byrnes at C, Brandon Carter at RT and Marlon Winn at RT. Olson and Edwards are hard workers, but I don't know that they're strong enough or experienced enough to handle UT's improving defensive line. Still need to get the running game situated and trying to do this in Austin is a tough place to start.	OL vs. DL	DL: The Longhorns haven't had the expected production from DE Sergio Kindle, but they have had quite a bit of production from DT Lamarr Houston and DE Sam Acho. In fact Acho had 5 tackles, 2 TFL, 1 forced fumble and 1 sack last week. Houston was equally disrruptive with 6 tackles 2 TFL, 1 pass break-up and 1 sack. Collectively, this unit is peforming on a high level, and they should at this point. The opponent have both been teams that Texas should dominate. I give the edge to UT here based on the fact the Texas Tech unit still hasn't been able to run.
DL: As dominant as the UT defensive lien was against Wyoming, so were the Red Raiders against Rice. There were 6 different players earning sacks last week, including Brandon Sharpe, Marlon Williams, Daniel Howard, Colby Whitlock, David Neill and Chris Perry. This is what Ruffin McNeill has wanted since he's been at Texas Tech, a 2-deep defensive line that can bring some heat on their own. With Rajon Henley injured last week, look for Ryan Haliburton to get the backup time. If Henley is healthy from the get-go, I do like Texas Tech's no-name defensive line doing what they do. I won't say that the Red Raiders are superior athletes or more highly recruited players, but this is a hard-working bunch that I think will (must) have some success on Saturday.	DL vs. OL	OL: You might say that LG Charlie Tanner struggled a bit last week against Wyoming (here and here). Again, not being able to watch any UT games thus far, I get the distinct impression that Ulatoski isn't perfect either. So it appears that the offensive line is struggling to the tune of managing 191 on the ground and only 1 sack against Wyoming. It might be a bit of an over-exaggeration, to say that the demise of the UT offensive line is a bit premature, but it's true. They're still quite good at what they do, and although not perfect, they're not all that bad.
LB: Marlon Williams has literally been all over the field, with 6 tackles, 3 TFL, 1 sack and 1 interception. A one man wrecking crew on Saturday night. Surprisingly, Brian Duncan has been somewhat quiet this year and strongside linebacker Bront Bird is terrific against the run, but absolutely awful in pass coverage. Bird will play, and depending on what the coaching staff does with Bird, who plays hard every game, but just should not be asked to cover a slot receiver, especially with the arm of McCoy. This is the position matchup I'm most up in the air about and most of the others seem like relatively easy decision. Perhaps the game comes down to whether or not the Texas Tech linebackers can stop the Texas runners?	LB vs. RB	RB: Who is the best running back thus far for the Longhorns? Is it Vondrell McGee who has 26 carries and 131 yards? How about Tre' Newton who has 90 yards on only 12 carries? For sure it's D.J. Monroe with 14 carries and 79 yards? A lot like Texas Tech, the Longhorns have a lot of talent in their running back stable, but to say that one guy has or has not stepped up isn't necessarily a problem at Texas Tech and it's probably not a problem at Texas. I think the days of a dominant running back are gone for a while at UT and there's nothing wrong with that so long as one guy can find his rhythm during the game and finding that "right" player can be easier said than done.
DB: Another lights-out performance from this group led by the one returning starter from last year, CB Jamar Wall. It's evident that this group feeds off of each other and after a week of not having one pass break-up, the Red Raiders logged 11 against Rice. The defensive backs were clearly more aggressive and it was nice to see. Again, guys pushing the envelope a bit in the defensive backfield isn't such a bad thing. Cody Davis and Franklin Mitchem each had 5 tackles while LaRon Moore had the hit of the night where he absolutley de-cleated a Rice defender. The backups of Brett Dewhurst, Will Ford and D.J. Johson can play. Dewhurst was on the slot receiver quite a bit in the second half as was Ford.	DB vs. QB/WR	QB/WR: You can hate them all you want, but the fact of the matter is that the Texas passing game is one of the best in the country. WR Jordan Shipley is dangerous, but aside from Shipley, the Red Raiders will have to contend with Malcolm Williams (we all remember him), James Kirkendoll, Dan Buckner, and John Chiles. All are around 6-feet plus, 180 to 220 pounds and can get behind the defense. Yep, Colt McCoy didn't have a great game, but the fact that he had a bad half and still was able to lead his team to a 31 point win on the road isn't bad (despite the opponent being really crappy).

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Comments

So its dead even..except for Special teams??

Would seem to be prudent to say that the Raiders need to exploit the defense of ut. By a. running right at them to the tune of 35 rushes or more, b. trickeration a barrage of flea flickers , reverses, and statue of liberty plays. c. throwing 65- 70 passes out 85 or 90 snaps. Which would you say fellow DTN contributors is the most likely course of action? Right you are Sir.! Potts will attempt over 60 passes. There will be 12 kick offs or more. 5 x FG attempts. And maybe 4-5 punts. Mack has already said "I will take more chances with TTU than any other team because we must score TD’s" B. Musburger will dutifully repeat this 3 x times during the broadcast. While this is one of his more famous utterances or homey over simplifications for media sound bite consumption it does plays well with the home folks. So the Leach philosophy will be make the routine play for 5-8 yards, get max YAC/RAC, defensively battle for a couple of turn over’s or a blocked kick. The show down analysis of this type game is that somebody has got to dominate a phase, get a mismatch or catch little break. In 07 it was our turn to whine "oh woe is me the ex horn refs hate us" in 08 The ut contingent "wailed at the gates of the Jones but, but .. our two best players were hurt (meaning Q. Cosby, and B. Orakpo) and yeah the Raiders were holding.." Point is they are very competent, it’s in their house and we got a shot at excuting better than they do because its early in the year. BTW the home depot guitar wielding commercial is nearly funny. Nearly.

"do routine things routinely"

by centexraider on Sep 15, 2009 1:11 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

I'm not sure it's exactly a push

TT DL vs UT OL
I’m not sure I give an advantage to Tech on this one. I think this is a draw. Comparatively, we are stong in the middle, but relatively weak on the outside.

Bronte Bird covering a receiver
I’m not sure where this falls on the chart, but I expect this matchup falls in UT’s court.

I don’t mean to sound too pessimistic, but I do think positionally things favor UT.

by NM99 on Sep 15, 2009 4:23 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

On paper...

it looks to be really close. I really hope the players confidence is up and Leach finds a way to motivate these guys. Tech can win this game if they eliminate the mistakes and penalties. There is no doubt that this game will be the toughest we play on the road. It would pay off in dividends if Tech comes away victorious. All I can say as an alum and fan is that I do feel like our Raiders have a chance if we capitalize early. My stomach will be in knots for the remainder of the week. I’m sure I’m not alone.

by Raider1992 on Sep 15, 2009 1:43 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Ditto

Much tums consumed.

"do routine things routinely"

by centexraider on Sep 15, 2009 2:31 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

It seems to turn on the QB's poise.....

The Heisman favorite has the inside edge here yet he really looked shell-shocked for most of last year’s game and somehow I think that will continue. Our Dline will all over him. We need to keep Shipley out of the endzone on special teams and not allow the long pass, “make them earn it D” and we will be in the game with a chance to win. So the real question to me is how will Potts react? He has to plant his feet and be ready to take a hit because I don’t think th db’s are as good as past ut db’s and we are miles ahead of where we have been in depth/talent @ wideouts. So will the mustache prevail or will the heisman hopeful pull it out. That’s the question!
Wreck’em Tech

by techgolf44 on Sep 15, 2009 2:49 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

its not that bad

its not that bad at all actually. we are not even ranked in the polls so if we keep a close game we might actually appear on the polls. or even drag texas down a couple of places. the only way we are going to win this game is if potts gets rid of those over thrown or short passes and actually aims at the receivers. the receivers need to grow some fingers to catch the ball (this message is for britton). defense should step it up, i mean we have seen a great defense against a horrible teams. how will they stand up against a big team like texas?. oh and finally hope the seats are empty at the UT stadium cuz fans are going to be hungry for this one. i wouldnt put my money for TT. :(

by cfraider on Sep 15, 2009 2:56 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

There have been crazier thing happen in college football. That is why they play the game. Tech needs to play smashmouth defense like last year and get to McCoy and the offense just needs to score points and we have a chance.

by ST04 on Sep 15, 2009 3:15 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

DL vs OL

I really think that this (Tech’s DL vs Longhorn OL) is the key to the game. If the defense can get pressure on McCoy like they did last week – then Longhorns wil be punting more than they like.

http://fourthdownand5.blogspot.com/ – a “Playoff” Blog

by socmaniam on Sep 15, 2009 4:19 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

That is the absolute key to the game!!! Nail on Head!

In any and all UT losses over the last decade, is the ability to shut down UT’s rushing game and get to the QB.

If we look back at last year, we shut down the run for 2.5 quarters and had McCoy on the ground wondering what happened. I would like us to be able to shut down the Run for at the very least the same as last year but do it one better by 3 quarters. The truth is that McCoy although a good QB can not produce on his own with his arm. He just average as a passer. Thus McCoy requires and demands some kind of running game to get anything done. In all losses, McCoy could not overcome lack of a running game.

by Pablo M on Sep 16, 2009 3:38 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Last year's victory hinged on the play of our offensive and defensive lines

and it will again this year, for better or for worse.

by mojavereject on Sep 15, 2009 10:06 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

TTU OL v UT DL

I will give that UT has more experience but that is it. TTU is by far as a unit stronger than UT DL.

Someone may have more current Bench press and squat data. But the Average for our total offensive Linemen both starting and backups is 490 Bench 510 Squat.

UT’s averages which you can view over at Burnt Orange admits that they lack strength. Accordingly their Starters average is a measely 335 Bench and 450 Squat. But they are faster in the 40 which they are supposed to be as Defensive players.

Thus I call this a wash. I do not think you will see any UT player bull rush any of our Offensive players because of lack of strength. By the way, Dallas Morning stated back a few months ago that Tech has the strongest offensive line as a complete unit than anyone else in the nation. Kudos to our boys and the Strength and conditioning coaches for their hard work in being that way.

by Pablo M on Sep 16, 2009 3:31 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs