There was something in the Texas Tech football team's first game of the season that went unnoticed by many.
It didn't really matter in the 33-10 win over Abilene Christian, but I logged it away, thinking it would come back up soon. That only took a week.
Texas Tech's secondary just isn't up to snuff.
Some will attribute this to the absence of Brenden Jordan, the Red Raiders' veteran safety who was supposed to anchor the secondary and call the action for his teammates. That, plus replacing a proven veteran like Cole Wisniewski with younger players who lacked game experience, are easy crutches to latch onto.
ACU didn't dissect the Red Raiders in Week 1, but it certainly provided the blueprint for how to attack the Texas Tech defense. The pass rush
is slow, not nearly as elite without David Bailey and Romello Height, giving quarterbacks enough time to find the easy throws. Oregon State, though, has legitimate athletes, and the Beaver receivers made their living simply outrunning Red Raider cornerbacks and safeties.
A harsh truth to last year's team was that Texas Tech played maybe one true passer at quarterback before the College Football Playoff. That was Sam Leavitt, and Arizona State won that game. The only other one was Oregon's Dante Moore, who also had a very solid day in picking apart the Red Raiders in the Orange Bowl.
If Week 1 was when Texas Tech found out its offensive weakness, Week 2 is when it discovered the problem on defense. Braden Atkinson passed for 399 yards. True freshman Jesse Legree made himself a household name with eight catches, 240 yards, and a pair of touchdowns. Neither would sniff Big 12-level rosters before the season. Now they're notable names because of what they did to the Red Raider secondary.
We also have to keep in mind that the Red Raiders won the game. That's ultimately the important part of this whole thing. The 35-24 win over the Beavers counts the same as a 42-7 win would. How we got to the final is what's worth examining, and is surely something Texas Tech coaches will be up late trying to correct with Houston coming to town next week.
In a sport like college football, which is so subjective, Texas Tech needs to be impressive in all facets to stand out. The defense isn't doing it right now, and it starts with the secondary.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Oregon State shows Texas Tech football's true defensive weakness
