It has been a tumultuous two year ride for Texas Tech football under head coach Kliff Kingsbury. In December of 2012, when Tech hired Kingsbury to take over for Tommy Tuberville, he was supposed to come in and immediately save the program from the depths that it had fallen to since the controversial firing of Lubbock legend Mike Leach.
The Kingsbury era started with a bang, as the Red Raiders opened the 2013 season with seven consecutive wins and jumped as high as tenth in the Associated Press poll. Unfortunately, that has been the pinnacle so far under Kingsbury, the 36-year-old offensive guru who was the first quarterback to amass gaudy passing statistics in Leach’s Air Raid offense.
Since that 7-0 start, the Red Raiders have stumbled time and time again en route to a 5-13 record. They did play extremely well in the 2013 Holiday Bowl – defeating Arizona State 38-24 – but couldn’t sustain that momentum into 2014, finishing with only four wins for the first time since 1990.
Somehow, though, there are still plenty of reasons to be positive about Texas Tech football coming into 2015.
Kingsbury brought in David Gibbs from the University of Houston to run the defense. The 47-year-old Gibbs will oversee a unit that was repeatedly trounced last year. The Red Raider defense finished the season ranked in the bottom five of all 128 FBS schools in scoring defense, rushing defense and total defense.
Among Big 12 teams, Tech finished last in all three of those categories as well as points per drive, third down conversions allowed and yards per pass attempt allowed.
But Gibbs has had tremendous success in his career at turning defenses around, and it seems that he is already doing good things in his new home.
"David Gibbs has been phenomenal," Kingsbury told Brandon Chatmon of ESPN.com. "We knew that he had the track record, had the credibility coming in. [He's] brought a different level of professionalism, accountability and discipline that we needed on that side of the ball. [I] couldn't be more pleased with what I've seen thus far."
"I like Coach Gibbs because the way he approaches things is just different than a lot of people," defensive lineman Branden Jackson said, via Chatmon. "He's all about turnovers, he's all about doing what's best for the team, not necessarily what's best for the [individual] player."
Turnovers are certainly one of the things that Gibbs prioritizes. His Houston squad forced 43 turnovers last year, which ranked toward the top of the national rankings.
In an in-depth article by Steven Godfrey of SB Nation, he referred to the defensive mindset of Gibbs’ defense back at Houston as a “never-ending, 24/7 tip drill” because of the coach’s relentless pursuit of forcing turnovers.
Gibbs will probably not be able to transform the Red Raiders into a defensive powerhouse in one offseason, but if he can turn them into a stingy bunch that might give up plenty of yards but forces turnovers, that might be all the high-powered offense needs to win games.
Also, Kingsbury is making a conscious effort to take the attention off of himself and put it on winning games. His celebrity appearance was great for the program when the team was doing well, but after a disappointing 4-8 season, the youngest coach in all of FBS knows that changes must be made.
“First we kind of rode with, you know, the ‘cool coaching staff,’ and Coach Kingsbury’s getting all this publicity,” offensive coordinator Eric Morris told Paul Myerberg of USA Today. “And after that, he’s changed. You’ve seen him grow as a head coach. He’s tried to throw all that on the back burner and go back to what got him to where he’s at so quickly, and that’s hard work.”
Hard work is definitely something that Kingsbury knows a little bit about. It is no secret that he typically shows up to work around 4 a.m. to work out and then is the last one left in the building late into the night. If he can pass along that incredible work ethic to the rest of his team, something special might be on the horizon in Lubbock.
Another reason that the Red Raiders are looking positively into the future is the success of another Texas D-1 school located about 300 miles to the east. This time last year, TCU was coming off a frustrating 4-8 season of their own where nothing seemed to go right.
What resulted was a phenomenal season in which the Horned Frogs were the most improved team in all of college football, coming within seconds of winning the Big 12 outright and playing in the inaugural College Football Playoff.
“You look at what they’ve done,” Texas Tech center Jared Kaster said of TCU, per Myerberg. “They did a phenomenal job last year. You look at where they came from at 4-8 and think, heck, we were in that same situation. We can do the same thing.”
Offensively, the Red Raiders should be as potent as ever. Both Patrick Mahomes and Davis Webb will be back to form a tremendous quarterback duo, DeAndre Washington and Justin Stockton both return and are primed for big years and while the receiving corps will miss Bradley Marquez, but six of last year’s top seven pass catchers return, so there is plenty of new talent to replace him.
Jakeem Grant is a nightmare for opposing defenses, as the coaching staff can line him up out wide, in the slot or even in the backfield to create mismatches. Add in all of the other electric wideouts like Reginald Davis, Devin Lauderdale, Dylan Cantrell and Ian Sadler, and the offense could be downright scary.
The sheer number of athletic, exciting skill players should overpower opposing defenses, and if the quarterback shows the ability to get the ball out of his hands quickly and accurately to the right receiver, it will be a terrific year for the Texas Tech offense.
In addition to Gibbs potentially giving a new identity to a defense that has been beaten to a pulp in recent memory, linebacker Mike Mitchell should also provide a valuable reinforcement. The former five-star recruit originally committed to Ohio State out of Prestonwood Christian High School in Plano, Texas, but he decided he wanted to be closer to home, so he transferred to Tech. After sitting out last year due to NCAA rules, he is ready to contribute. He was moved to a position called Bandit Linebacker, which is more of a rush end, and he is primed for a breakout sophomore season.
Pete Robertson was one of the few bright spots for the Tech defense last year, and he should once again be a force in the pass rush department for the Red Raiders. He finished 2014 with 13 sacks, which tied him for fifth nationally, and he should be able to pressure quarterbacks all season long in Gibbs’ new schemes.
In conclusion, the thought of the Red Raiders duplicating TCU’s 2014 campaign is a bit of a stretch, but they should certainly show improvement from last year. With a strong coordinator like Gibbs, the defense should be much better. The offense should also be improved if Mahomes can build on the spectacular three games he played at the end of last season, when he threw for at least 325 yards and four touchdowns against Oklahoma, Iowa State and Baylor.
Predictions
Wins: Sam Houston State, UTEP, Iowa State, Kansas, Oklahoma State, West Virginia, Texas
Losses: Arkansas, TCU, Baylor, Oklahoma, Kansas State
Regular Season Record: 7-5
The Red Raiders will start the season with wins against Sam Houston State and UTEP, where Mahomes will top the 300-yard mark in both games. Tech will lose three games in a row against top-tier teams in Arkansas, TCU and Baylor, but they will play well. Arkansas will prove to be just a bit too physical in the trenches and Baylor and TCU’s offenses will be too productive for Tech to keep up.
However, Kingsbury will revitalize the troops and the squad will rack up the yardage and points in bunches in wins against Iowa State and Kansas. After a close loss to Oklahoma, Mahomes will lead the Red Raiders to victories over Oklahoma State and West Virginia.
In a similar fashion to Arkansas, Kansas State’s downhill running game will give Gibbs’ defense fits and, while the offense amasses over 400 yards of offense, the Wildcats own the time of possession and don’t allow the Red Raiders to get in a rhythm.
But Tech responds with a dominating performance in the final game of the season, crushing the hapless Texas Longhorns by a score of 42-21, ensuring them the opportunity to play in a decent bowl game.
All statistics courtesy of cfbstats.com unless otherwise noted.