WOULD BETTER DEFENSE MEAN BCS CHAMPIONSHIP FOR TEXAS TECH?

As a Texas Tech Alum I have had the pleasure of watching some of the most exciting offenses in the country during the Mike Leach era. I attended Texas Tech during a transitional period. My freshman and sophomore years Spike Dykes was our head coach. Then Mike Leach began his reign at Tech my junior year.

So needless to say, from the time that I started at Tech until the day I graduated, I saw Tech football (style wise) do a 180. Both coaches were effective but in very different ways.

Spike put together an overall record of 82-67-1 with a bowl record of 2-5. Leach has so far achieved an overall record of 76-39 with a bowl record of 5-4. Leach arguably does a better job of recruiting but Spike didn’t have the nice facilities that Texas Tech now offers. Spike relied on his defenses to win games while Leach relies on his offense.

Spike Dykes always put a dominating defense on the field. Spike consistently had the Tech D ranked among the nation’s best. I remember many games at Jones Stadium when our D was the only reason we were in games. On the other hand his offense was a little less fun to watch. Tech always had good receivers during his years but never relied on them too much. Spike ran a run first offense and used time of possession and ball control. Unfortunately for him, fans began to grow tired of the vanilla offense. I’m certain I’m not the only Tech fan from that era that remembers the crowds chanting “SCORE DEFENSE SCORE!” And you know what?...they did!

From day one Mike Leach has had the Texas Tech offense hitting on all cylinders. As an offensive coordinator, at Kentucky and then Oklahoma, Leach had begun making a name for himself well before arriving at Tech. He has transformed the offense from a running game to a high flying passing attack like no other. His offenses are always one of the nations most productive. He is consistently attracting top WR, QB & OL recruits and rightfully so. He has even begun recruiting defense extremely well. But in some regards he is the exact opposite of Spike Dykes. His defenses haven’t matched up against his offenses.

In comes a new D coordinator. For the last year and a half Ruffin McNeill took over as defensive coordinator. It has proven to be a smart move for the Red Raiders. The defense looked better than at any point in the Leach era last season. I truly believe that McNeill understands how to utilize his players to their fullest. I really feel that this change in defensive attitude is what will get Tech over the hump. Like you heard your high school coach say a thousand times “defense wins championships”. Even if you don’t fully buy into that statement there is some level of truth to it.

I also believe that the offense can actually help the defense improve. While I don’t think it would be wise to change the offensive strategy I do think it would be wise to instruct Taylor Potts and the other QB’s to use the play clock. I would like to see the Tech offense do this more, especially when the D is winded from the prior series. All it would require is telling the QB’s that in certain situations wait until there is less than 10 seconds on the play clock before snapping the ball. This would give the defense more time to rest before trotting back onto the field.

Another way the defense, and entire team for that matter, could improve is through strength and conditioning. Take TCU for example; they are extremely competitive year after year. They are especially tough on the defensive side of the ball. It is even more impressive when you consider that they don’t recruit nearly as well as Texas Tech. I have heard numerous people attribute their success on the field to their strength and conditioning program. According to Phil Steele roughly 75% of the roster can bench press at least 400 lbs.

That’s impressive and it made me wonder who their strength and conditioning coach is. His name is Don Sommer’s and he is in his ninth season with TCU. That makes at least nine seasons that he has been a big part of their success. This is someone that Texas Tech Athletic Director, Gerald Myers, needs to be speaking with before another BCS team snatches him away. Sommer’s and TCU’s linebacker coach, Tony Tademy, are two guys I would love to see in Lubbock in the not too distant future. If Tech has no interest in either of these men they at least need to find out what they do and mimic it.

I realize that these few suggestions are not enough to completely turn around the program. I'm not even dumb enough to think that if the Tech defense became a regular top 15 D that we would be destined for a BCS Championship. I can however say that if that were to happen we would be much more likely to be in that position. I would like to see us make the effort; and who knows, maybe the defense will again begin to score.

This Years BCS Buster?

Many people around here seem to think that if TCU makes it past Clemson that an undefeated season is likely. I tend to agree. This could be the year that TCU finally makes it to that elusive BCS bowl.

It should be interesting, when you consider that the offense may actually be the strength of this team. With that said, as long as Gary Patterson is the head coach expect the Frogs to have one of the nations top D's as well.

http://cfn.scout.com/2/881459.html