The saying goes that the squeaky wheel gets the grease. In some cases, the squeaky wheel gets all the grease. Between the third and fourth quarters of the Texas Tech football season opener against Abilene Christian, I solicited questions from X followers for a reader Q&A.
You out there in reader-land responded with plenty of questions and suggestions, although nearly all on some variation of the same theme: The Red Raiders' inability to turn red-zone opportunities into touchdowns and who should be blamed for that. It was strongly suggested that Mack Leftwich should be blamed. Sent packing, one of you even went so far as to say.
Poor Mack.
Tech football's red zone woes weren't a Behren Morton problem
Never mind that Tech dispatched ACU 33-10 on Saturday, Sept. 5, at the newly renamed Galaxy Stadium. Tech scored touchdowns on its first two possessions, scored points on six of its first seven series, and the defense was solid enough so the outcome was never in doubt. Alex Broome's kickoff-return touchdown with 2:29 left in the game was the Wildcats' only score save for a field goal.
As I say, though, poor Mack. I should have written a column to warn him 21 months ago. Sign on to be Texas Tech offensive coordinator, and you sign up to be judged by Mike Leach standards. The Pirate's been gone almost four years now, gone from Texas Tech for almost 17 years. But a loud and large portion of the Texas Tech fan base will continue to judge all subsequent offensive coaches by whether they break 50 points every Saturday and how they look doing it.
Ask Neal Brown and Zach Kittley.
On Saturday, the Red Raiders were solid enough on offense. Took what the defense gave, sustained a lot of drives and gradually pulled away. Not special, not terrible, and some nights that's all you need. Will Hammond, coming off knee surgery and making his fourth career start, completed his first 14 passes and finished 26 of 33 for 298 yards. Not bad for a guy who, not all that long ago, was projected to not see game action until week 3.
Tech rushed for 173 yards with Cameron Dickey, J'Koby Williams and Quinten Joyner carrying 14, 13 and 10 times, respectively. The encouraging part of that is Joyner, also coming off knee surgery and getting that much workload.
Hammond didn't throw deep much and didn't need to.
"I thought their defensive coordinator did a really good job playing deep coverage all game," Hammond said. "Their scheme, their gameplan was just make us dink and dunk down the field. We did exactly that. I think they keyed in certain plays that we were running. That's when they were able to get some stops on us.
"I thought we did a really good job of not showing a ton of the offense this week. That was important for us as the season continues to go on. We didn't put much on tape scheme-wise, so I was happy about that. We were able to keep a lot in the bank."
Much will be said and written about the Red Raiders going into the No Stone Zone over and over and, much like last season, having to send out Groza Award semifinalist Stone Harrington. (Stone's line last season: 22 for 28. Stone on Saturday: 4 for 4).
"I do think Will did a good job of driving the field," McGuire said. "We just stalled in the red zone."
On opening night, though, it's more about minimizing screw-ups, not giving hope to an overmatched opponent. In that regard, the Red Raiders passed the first test. No one fumbled. Hammond threw one interception. Penalties? Five. ACU's long play from scrimmage? 18 yards.
Two years ago, facing the same opponent, Tech needed a game-saving play at the end to hold off ACU 52-51 in overtime. This was not that.
As season openers go, the Red Raiders could have done a whole lot worse. Better that they save the best performances for later in the season when they're really needed.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Texas Tech football not spectacular, but solid enough in opener | Opinion
