Soccer Predictions 2010 – Texas Tech Red Raiders

The Texas Tech Red Raider football program has made great strides in the past 3 seasons, but the mad scientist known as Mike Leach is no longer the head football coach in Lubbock. Texas Tech finished 9-4 in the 2009 college football season and capped it off with a 41-31 Alamo Bowl victory over Michigan State. New coach Tommy Tuberville now runs the Red Raiders, a different type of coach than Leach. Tuberville prefers running with energy and a stifling defense to the open style, Tuberville told Texas Tech that he would keep the offense spread, no one knows for how long. The Red Raiders went 7-5 against the spread, going over the total 5 times and less than 7 times in 2009. The offense was one of the most productive in college football averaging over 470 yards in total offense spent fourth in all of college football. , Texas Tech passed for over 386 yards per contest, which ranked second overall in the NCAA, and scored an average of 37 points per game, seventh in college football. The Tech defense was not as efficient, they ranked 49th in total yards giving up 353 yards per game which ranked 49th, they gave up an average of 225 yards per game in the air and 127.4 on the ground.

Tuberville hired Troy’s offensive coordinator, Neal Brown, to develop a system similar to the one the team ran with Leach. Taylor Potts passed for over 3,440 yards last season but Steven Sheffield pushes him this year, both are very capable of putting up big numbers but it looks like Sheffield will be the starter in fall camp. Whoever is under center is going to throw to a corps of wide receivers that had at least 45 receptions in 2009 and that’s impressive, heck, this sports handicapper can put up big numbers throwing to these guys. Senior Baron Batch gained 884 rushing yards and is expected to carry the load in 2010. The offensive line will be massive as usual. The smallest of the unit weighs 290 pounds Lonnie Edwards on guard.

Texas Tech’s defense will change defiantly under Tuberville, after all, he is a defensive-minded coach. Tuberville has hired Alabama linebackers coach James Willis to lead the unit and Texas Tech will go to a 3-4 defense. To fuel the passer run, star linebacker Brian Duncan moves from the middle to the outside. The team also has Donald Langley and Kenny Hyder to put pressure on. The defensive line is solid with nose tackle Colby Whitlock, who is entering his senior season as a 4-year starter. The defensive backfield allowed 12 touchdowns last season. SeCody Davis, Franklin Mitchem and cornerback Laron Moore return as starters.