Wednesday Walkthrough: Texas Tech Week
It’s been a great last few days for the Kansas Jayhawks. After taking down the Iowa State Cyclones on the road on Saturday, KU checked in at No. 16 in the latest College Football Playoff rankings on Tuesday night.
The Jayhawks are riding a huge wave of momentum, pairing a historic win over Oklahoma with a hostile road win as they enter this week’s tilt with the Texas Tech Red Raiders. Tech is 3-3 in Big 12 play but just 4-5 overall, but the Jayhawks have to be cautious of letting this become a letdown spot just one week ahead of the Sunflower Showdown.
KU coach Lance Leipold met with reporters this week and previewed this Saturday’s matchup, so let’s dig into what he had to say and what to know about the Jayhawks’ opponents this week.
LISTENING IN ON LANCE
“They're starting to get healthy in a lot of spots … They're coming in with something to play [for], they're working toward bowl eligibility. Joey McGuire does a great job there, he's put an attitude and an energy into that program."
Wednesday is actually the second anniversary of Texas Tech hiring coach Joey McGuire, a midseason hiring that has led to moderately successful results, at least relative to his predecessor, Matt Wells (13-17 record in two and a half seasons). We’ll get to more on the Red Raiders in a bit, but it is worth noting that Texas Tech is just 1-3 on the road this season with losses to Wyoming, West Virginia and BYU.
“Our crowd, I think environment, routine, but definitely our crowd has made a big impact. Hopefully again we can fill the place enough to make it an environment. We know what that's done for us here in some of those games, you can feel it when you go on the road to some of those other places, what you're battling.
Kansas has won nine of its last 11 home games dating back to the start of 22, and Leipold immediately pointed to the crowd at “The Booth” as a big reason why the Jayhawks have had that much success. He went on to describe how important it was to take the Iowa State crowd out of the game early last week and the role that played in KU’s hot start. “Pack The Booth” isn’t just a slogan for this team because it’s apparent how much they feed off of that energy.
"We're going to continue to use both. I think Owen's deserved some opportunities, I think there's things obviously with distance, leg strength on longer kicks. We'll continue to look through that through the week to decide who will handle extra points and when we do a short and long field goal situation. I can see us using both."
After making his first six field goal attempts of the season, Seth Keller has struggled mightily as of late. He’s made just three of his last six field goal attempts, which led to Owen Piepergerdes getting a chance to kick a longer try last week, though that kick also went begging. This isn’t a good time to run into a problem with kicking consistency, obviously, so KU is going to give both Keller and Piepergerdes a chance to claim that role. Someone needs to figure it out quickly, though.
“There's good days and there's not good days. Last week wasn't a great week."
To wrap up this week’s quote breakdown, we’ve got the latest on Jalon Daniels and it’s not any better than it’s been any other week recently. Leipold said that Daniels is still always in meetings and he’s still working, but (editorializing here) he’s clearly not any closer to actually getting back on the field. It’s tough, it’s frustrating but it’s also the norm for now. Luckily for the Jayhawks, Jason Bean is playing some of the best football of his career and is more than capable to leading KU for now, just like he has for most of the season.
KNOW YOUR ENEMY
When: Saturday, Nov. 11 at 11:00 a.m. CT
Where: David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium, Lawrence, KS
Spread: Kansas -3.5
It's been an up-and-down season for Texas Tech. After dropping their first two games, the Red Raiders won three of their next four, then lost another pair back to back before knocking off the TCU Horned Frogs in a thriller last Thursday. That actually means that TTU enters this week with extra rest. Through it all, Bill Connelly’s SP+ metric at ESPN currently ranks Tech as the No. 35 in the country, which is actually five spots ahead of KU.
Sophomore Behren Morton currently owns the TTU starting quarterback job and has posted decent, if not unspectacular numbers. He's completing nearly 62% of his passes for 978 yards through six games played, and he's been careful with the ball, only throwing two interceptions. Tajh Brooks has been the Raiders' best weapon on offense, entering this weekend second in the Big 12 in rushing with 1,035 yards and over six yards per carry.
KU was a bigger favorite when this game’s line opened than where it sits now. According to Vegas Insider, after starting the week as a 4.5-point favorite, that line has dropped a point to -3.5. Kansas has covered three of its last four games overall and is 4-0 against the spread at home this season.
JAYHAWK TO WATCH
We’ve got another repeat pick this week, but it’s always a good time to keep a trained eye on Austin Booker.
Texas Tech in the middle of the pack in the Big 12 in most offensive categories this season, both when it comes to counting totals and efficiency. One area where the Red Raiders have struggled, though, is allowing pressures to turn into sacks. Tech is tied for the fourth most sacks allowed in the conference this season, which means Booker and the defensive front should have a chance to wreak havoc on a young quarterback.
The Jayhawks have been banged up along the defensive line in recent weeks, with Devin Phillips barely playing a week ago and Tommy Dunn not even making the trip to Ames. Those players man a different position than Booker (or fellow defensive end Jereme Robinson), but the need to generate pressure remains the same. If the interior bodies aren’t entering the game at 100%, it makes the importance of Booker’s multifaceted impact even greater.
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