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Texas Tech Offensive Preview: Ryan Gosling's Air Raid

It is fairly obvious what Texas Tech is good at on the offensive side of the ball. They pass the ball and pass it for loads of yardage. There is a way though to stop it, and OSU possesses that attribute on defense. Turnovers/Takeaways.

Former Texas Tech quarterback and current head coach Kliff Kingsbury has taken his team to new heights this season.
Former Texas Tech quarterback and current head coach Kliff Kingsbury has taken his team to new heights this season.
Michael C. Johnson-USA TODAY Spo

Texas Tech, since the departure of Tommy Tuberville, has once again become the Red "Air Raiders." All it took was hiring a young hot shot former quarterback, and boom, they have one of the most potent passing offenses in the nation (besides Baylor of course).

There will not be a 66-6 victory this year in Lubbock for the Cowboys. They will be lucky to get out of there without a loss. That does not mean that it is a guarantee that the Red Raiders will be victorious, bouncing back from last weeks loss in Norman.

The Raiders are third in the nation in passing yards per game with 413 yards on average, and that is spread out over three different targets that rank in the top ten for receiving yards in Big 12 games this season.

Jace Amaro: 44 Receptions, 591 Yards, 2 TD's, 118.2 YPG

Jakeem Grant: 25 Receptions, 319 Yards, 2 TD's, 79.8 YPG

Eric Ward: 26 Receptions, 320 Yards, 4 TD's, 64 YPG

There is a chink in the Red Raider offense. Turnovers. In conference games the Raiders have turned the ball over 12 times in five games. Seven of those turnovers being interceptions, and five being fumbles. For a team that is outside the top 100 in rushing yards per game, they do fumble the ball like a team that would have a high output of rushing yards. But they don't.

Obviously due to the large of amount of passes thrown by Tech, interceptions have become an issue for the team. Davis Webb has thrown seven interceptions this season, whereas Baker Mayfield has thrown five.

With Oklahoma State's last game against Iowa State in mind, one thing that the Cowboys defense capitalized on the best was turnovers. Two of the turnovers that came in the game were taken back by the defender for a touchdown, one by corner Justin Gilbert and one by defensive end Tyler Johnson.

Amongst the turnovers, Davis Webb is one of the most efficient quarterback, ranking third during the conference season.

3. Webb, Davis-TTU 110 for 169, 3 Int's, 1375 Yards, 10 TD's, 149.4 Efficiency Rating

Oh and just for the sake of argument, which Oklahoma State quarter ranks highest in efficiency? J.W. Walsh.

7. Walsh, J.W.-OSU 53 for 104, 4 Int's, 682 Yards, 4 TD's, 111.0 Efficiency Rating

There are three keys that the Cowboy defense needs to meet for the team to be able to leave West Texas with a victory.

  1. Take advantages of Tech's mistakes (good chance they will happen).
  2. Get pressure on the QB.
  3. Keep Tech players in front of them. Limit the vertical threat.
The Cowboys defense is arguably the best in the conference and one of the top defenses in the nation, that is what will make the difference in a close one in Lubbock.