Ahead of Kansas’ upcoming matchup against No. 9 Texas Tech, we at Through the Phog had the pleasure of speaking with Ethan Lee. Ethan is the site expert at Wreck’em Red, Fansided’s page covering the Red Raiders.
Here are our questions and Ethan’s answers on some of the most pressing questions heading into Saturday night’s clash.
How does Texas Tech view this game? It feels like Arizona State and BYU jump out as bigger games right? Is there a chance the Red Raiders sleepwalk into this one?
This is a fascinating question because I think so much of it depends on how people actually perceive what Kansas is as a program. Lance Leipold has embarked upon a herculean task in getting the Jayhawks to be a competitive program. While folks have been very complimentary of the work he’s done and the fact that he got Kansas to two games in back-to-back seasons, I still don’t think enough people outside of the Big 12 have truly appreciated how difficult that is. Last year wasn’t as great, but it was still the third-most wins in a single season KU that has had since 2009. I suspect that gets lost on people sometimes. And when you include that context, and consider how the Jayhawks are 4-2 and have a pretty solid offense, then I don’t think anyone should be overlooking this game. That said, I don’t think this is one that has been circled the way the Arizona State game has been given the meteoric rise the Sun Devils have experienced over the past couple seasons and considering ASU just won the Big 12.
Joey McGuire, I know saying the words hot seat when you are 5-0 and the No. 9 team in the nation is probably bordering on insanity, but with the portal acquisitions and the sudden hype built around this program, what is the benchmark for the rest of this season? And if Kansas leaves with an upset how much do you think that will shake the confidence?
There is a lot of pressure on McGuire this season and I think the portal additions and the offseason chatter have added to that, but the man has made the right move at every turn to be able to accommodate for things so far. Something that sometimes gets missed from the offseason is the way McGuire improved upon his coaching staff by changing defensive coordinators (which, it was an absolute necessity to get someone as good as Shiel Wood is) and then replacing an outgoing Zach Kittley at offensive coordinator with Mack Leftwich, who might be the best offensive coordinator in the country. The drastic improvement to the coaching staff seems to make the expectations so much more manageable, but I think the expectations that folks have in West Texas are the same as they should be. This team should win the Big 12. It should win double-digit games. This is a Texas Tech team that should make the College Football Playoff and cause problems for some of the blue bloods. Anything less than that is a failure. And then circling back to the perception of what Kansas is as a program these days. As you mention the theoretical possibility of an upset. With the way people tend to perceive Kansas, that sort of outcome would be devastating for Texas Tech from a program momentum standpoint.
Who is the player Kansas should look out for on either side of the ball that maybe doesn’t jump out on the statsheet?
Keep an eye on Terrance Carter at tight end. From the outside looking in, the wide receivers seem to be the focal point for an offense that relies so heavily on an explosive and rapid passing attack, but Carter is the third-best receiver in yardage for the Red Raiders right now and he’s tied for the most touchdown receptions. There are others who will be more involved in the passing game on a regular basis, but Carter has been so reliable at tight end. On the defensive side of things, I sometimes think Romello Height gets overlooked. At defensive end, he has nine combined tackles so far this season and 2.5 sacks. Texas Tech’s defense is one of the best in the country (which is weird to say given the past 20 or so years of this program’s existence) and Height is such a valuable member of the Red Raiders’ defensive front.
With the preliminary availability reports out, who are the players that are on that list that would make the biggest difference if they can not play?
Jacob Rodriguez is listed as questionable. If for some reason he’s not able to play, that’d be huge. He’s Texas Tech’s leading tackler, he has the second-most sacks so far this season, and he’s got the second-most interceptions on this team. Plus, he’s forced two fumbles. He’s everywhere and means so much to this defense
How confident are you in tight-knit situations? How many times has this Texas Tech team had to make crucial plays late in the game to seal it? The score lines will tell you that every game looks like it is wrapped up by the end of the third quarter, halftime even.
So far, we haven’t seen Texas Tech play a game where the Red Raiders have been challenged into the final minutes of the game, so I really don’t think I can answer that right now. I think the closest thing we have to that is what we got from the Utah game, where Texas Tech held onto a slight lead into the fourth quarter and then just outlasted the Utes defense. Texas Tech was playing on the road in a hostile environment and managed to just completely outlast Utah from a physical standpoint. And that translated to a game that was 13-10 at 10:22 in the fourth quarter turning into a game that was 34:10 by the time it was all said and done. I guess if you apply that very small sample size of a “close” game to this question, I feel pretty good about Texas Tech’s ability to handle itself in those sorts of situations.
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