NCAA College Football Betting - 2007 Texas Tech Preview
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A breakdown preview of everything important
to college football betting investors for the
Texas Tech Red Raiders program for the 2007 season:
Offense: For the first
time since Kliff Kingsbury did it for the 2002
season, the Red Raiders actually return a starting
quarterback. Graham Harrell “underachieved” in
2006 in comparison to his Texas Tech predecessors
and by virtue of the fact that not one, but two
(Colt Brennan, Hawaii and Chase Holbrook, N.
Mexico St.), quarterbacks finished ahead of him
in total passing yards. Still, poor Harrell posted
4,555 yards, 38 TD’s and only 11 INT’s
while completing 67% of his 616 throws (the most
in the nation last year). While Harrell should
improve this season if only because he is now
a year wiser and more comfortable with the Tech
scheme, he will have to deal with an offensive
line that replaces four starters from last year’s
unit. Moreover, he hits the field without his
top-two receivers, Joel Filani and Robert Johnson,
who combined for 180 catches for 2,171 yds and
24 TD’s.
Yet, there is reason
for optimism. Louis Vasquez (6-6, 341) is the
lone returnee to the line and will utilize
his solid skills and massive frame to protect
Harrell’s blind side. BYU transfer
Ola Mohetau (6-3, 362) should be solid inside
of Vasquez while former minor-league pitcher
Rylan Reed (6-6, 285) brings his surprisingly
nimble skills to the other tackle spot.
At receiver, Danny
Amendola (25-347, 1 TD) and the Walker (Todd
[21-214, 2TD’s] and Grant
[23-264]) brothers return to action as does little
Eric Morris (25-347, 1TD). Yet, everyone is excited
about the pure speed and athleticism which redshirt
freshman Michael Crabtree (6-2, 208) brings to
the field.
Shannon Woods put
up amazing numbers (152-926, 10 TD’s rushing; 75-572, 2 TD’s receiving)
in place of former touchdown-maker, Taurean Henderson.
And yet, he may not start September 3rd against
upstart SMU. Woods sat in Mike Leach’s
doghouse throughout the spring for perceived
sub-maximal effort. The result was that Baron
Batch (who saw some action last year before an
October injury forced him out for the season)
and tiny Kobey Lewis (5-6, 173) gained valuable
snaps with the first-team offense.
Defense: This is the
critical unit. Tech was not half-bad last year
at defense. It’s
pass defense allowed only 58% of the passes thrown
against it to be completed and it produced 11
INT’s and 30 sacks. With the loss of DE
Keyunta Dawson (6 sacks) as well as interior
linemen Chris Hudler and Dek Bake (6.5 sacks),
the new line will clearly take a licking as it
ripens this season. Unfortunately, the linebacking
unit is in much the same position after losing
Brock Stratton and Fletcher Sessions. Still,
Kellen Tillman started 10 games last year while
MLB Paul Williams managed a few starts himself.
Blake Collier is expected to play the WILL spot
and brings antelope speed (4.46) to make up for
his small frame (194 pounds).
Joe Garcia (6-1, 217)
and Darcel McBath (6-1, 197) may be the best
safety tandem in the conference. Chris Parker
returns to man one corner spot which means
only JUCO transfer De’Son Sanders
(6-1, 191), the likely starter at the other cornerback
position, will be a newcomer.
Special Teams: Alex
Trlica holds the NCAA football record for the
most consecutive extra points made (166) and
hit a 52-yard field goal in route to going
15 of 21 last year (35 of 52 for his career).
The kicking game I s in good hands. The return
game could use a boost. Danny Amendola is serviceable
as the punt returner and Shannon Woods’ performance
ranked him 100th in the nation in kickoff returns.
2007
Outlook: Leach’s system is less and
less bizarre every year for two reasons. First,
defenses become more accustomed to it every season.
Second, more teams have adopted it (e.g., Troy,
Arizona, etc.). Still, he is a master at its
development and one can expect Tech to finish
as a top passing attack yet again in 2007 due
to an athletic line, a veteran quarterback and
a tailback in Woods who probably learned to turn
up his intensity a notch this Summer. The defense
will be a problem. There are simply too many
holes to fill in a front-seven that was only
average to begin with. The Red Raiders will often
rely on their backfield which, fortunately, should
be able to shoulder a pretty heavy load. The
staff will try to get DE Jake Ratliff (6-8, 250)
into passing lanes to knock down passes while
pursuing the quarterback while devising ways
to use Paul Williams’ freakish speed to
get to the quarterback.
All four non-conference
games are winnable (though they better be ready
for a feisty SMU team to open the season).
A season-ending hosting of Oklahoma as well
as road trips to Oklahoma State, Mizzou and
Texas loom large. However, Baylor, while improved,
is not a bad road trip and the Northern Division
draw this year does not include Nebraska but
does include Colorado, from whom Tech will
seek revenge at home for last year’s
embarrassing 30-6 loss in Boulder. Texas Tech
has not been assigned college football odds to
win the national championship and its odds of
winning the Big 12 South is +1200, barely behind
Oklahoma State (+1000) and above only Baylor
(+4000, the conference’s worst odds). Tech
will go bowling in ’07, but barely.
With NCAA football just a couple months away,
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football Futures betting available for those
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in the Future / props section!
Posted on 7/27/2007 3:43:30 PM
NCAA College Football Betting - 2007 Texas Tech Preview
By Brock Murphy
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