Micah Hudson helps heal wounds, A former assistant coach from two generations ago returns to Lubbock and Tech must win Saturday night, they must win big.
By Taylor Hampton
Right now, at least, Tech fans would be thrilled if we were 2-0 with one-point wins on the road in Laramie and a one-point win over ranked Oregon Saturday night in Lubbock. Instead, we lost one by two and the other by eight. Both should have been wins, but they were not. Some may argue that Saturday night’s loss to Oregon was a moral victory of some kind, it was not.
What did provide the Tech faithful new life and some energy was a verbal commitment from the highest rated recruit in Texas Tech’s football history (at least during the internet age, when this data started being scrutinized more closely). Micah Hudson chose Texas Tech over almost every major program in the country, but most notably the University of Texas. And to add better news to a program that desperately needs some, Micah admitted on a Waco podcast, that he was thrilled to announce the commitment to uplift a depressed fan base in Lubbock and beyond.
This author usually does nothing more than scan the recruiting rankings to see how the Red Raiders are stacking up. Yours truly watched Mike Leach put together an historic decade with two- and three-star recruits that learned his offense to perfection. The same thing happened with Ruffin McNeil, they overachieved with lesser talent for many years. Hudson seems different. He was the last of the elite recruits in the country to commit, he was at the game Saturday night in Lubbock. Over the recruiting cycle, he has seen the best and worst of our fan base and as he said on the recent podcast, “I am a loyal person”. In a world of very little of that, he seems headed to Lubbock for sure.
Beyond that good news, we have a must win football game to play Saturday. This teams needs to worry about getting to six wins as soon as humanly possible. Saturday, we need our first and it can’t be close.
Offense
Former Tech Assistant, from the late 1980’s, Todd Whitten indicated going into the season that his Tarleton State Cowboys could have a “pretty good” offense. The Tarleton State Cowboys have defeated McNeese State 52-34 and North Alabama 52-31. They do in fact have a pretty good offense. Their top running backs, Kelley III and Britten have each rushed for 192 and 146 respectively. Keylan Johnson, out of Mansfield, TX already has four touchdowns on the season. He is putting up video game like numbers. I am sure he is eager to see the brighter lights of Jones Stadium on Saturday night. Victor Gabalis is their starting quarterback. He is only a sophomore but has thrown seven touchdowns in the first two games and only three interceptions. They have put up a lot of points in their first outings but could be in for a shock from a Tech defense that hasn’t played half bad the first couple of weeks.
Defense
Their defense is not as good as their offense. They have given up over thirty points to two teams that have far less talent than Texas Tech. Tech hasn’t come close to peaking on this side of the ball. One must wonder if Saturday Night might be the night Tech takes out its offensive frustrations against a lesser opponent. Tarleton State has 7 sacks on the year and a pair of interceptions (One was a pick six). They will need to keep that up against a much more talented Red Raiders offensive line than the two they have faced previously. We have a starting quarterback who has made some serious mistakes, but Tech’s receivers will likely be able to create significantly more separation than they did against Wyoming or Oregon’s defensive backs. Jones, a defensive back; Collins, Washington and Harris all linebackers along with Tolvert a defensive lineman all display prominently on The Cowboys stat sheet from the first two weeks. Otay Baker, who was mentioned as one of their best players going into the season by several publications, has played decently picking up a sack and three tackles. He has likely pulled a lot of blockers away from some of his other less talented teammates. The Cowboys defense will have a challenge on their hands Saturday night.
Special Teams
Adrian Guzman is their kicker. He has made a lot of extra points. He has also made two field goals, both from less than 50 yards. Guzman appears to also handle their punting duties. They haven’t had to do that very often in their first couple of weeks. His long is 50 yards as a punter. Their return game appears decent. They have a punt return long of 35 yards and a kick return long of 67 yards.
Prediction
In the postgame press conference following the loss to Oregon, Tony Bradford was asked what his message is for younger players. He responded, “We are so close”. He seemed positive, not defeated. The Tech program received some good news on paper this week, with a major recruiting victory. An old coach that few remember returns to town. His homecoming may be fun at the beginning, but it won’t end well. Texas Tech is ready for their first win. This team will play hard, they won’t be overlooking anyone, they can’t afford to. Expect the Tech offense to make easy work of Tarleton State’s defense. If Kittley has figured out how to call running plays this week, we should be able to get two hundred yards on the ground with Tahj Brooks playing a big part of that for as long as Tech is willing to leave him in the game. Kittley hasn’t seemed to want to run much at all using his talented running backs. Hopefully that changes this week. Seems logical that he could use his passing game to get Tarleton State positioning less players up front (“In the box”) which should then fuel a running attack The Cowboys shouldn’t be able to stop. Tech should easily be able to put up 50-60 points against Tarleton State and Morton should get his long-awaited debut in the second half. Whether they will admit it or not, Tech’s defense’s biggest goal on Saturday is to stay healthy. In Tech’s 59-17 win over Tarleton State on Saturday, Tech earns it’s first of six wins needed to become bowl eligible. The win will do little to ease the pain of the last couple of weeks, but it’s a step forward. It’s a step forward before the long journey through the new, temporary and complicated Big XII conference. Micah Hudson will be watching his future teammates from somewhere unknown Saturday night. Let’s hope his decision is the spark needed to change the direction of a season that has been shockingly difficult out of the gate. This game will not be close, Tech can’t allow that to happen, and Head Coach Joey McGuire won’t allow it to happen. We must win, we must win big.