When Mike Leach left Lubbock in 2009, the Texas Tech Red Raiders really needed a spark. Tommy Tuberville wasn't able to fit the bill, but when Kliff Kingsbury was hired, it gave a real sense that a new era of football had arrived.
Whether Kingsbury can deliver on his promise to bring his alma mater up to national contender status certainly remains to be seen, but this doesn't figure to be the year that occurs.
2015 SCHEDULE
9/5: vs. Sam Houston State
9/12: vs. UTEP
9/19: at Arkansas
9/26: vs. TCU
10/3: vs. Baylor
10/10: vs. Iowa State
10/17: at Kansas
10/24: at Oklahoma
10/31: vs. Oklahoma State
11/7: at West Virginia
11/14: vs. Kansas State
11/26: at Texas
It's not the most difficult schedule in the world for the Red Raiders, but there are a lot of potentially tricky road games in this mix in conference play. Even that game at Kansas doesn't seem like a sure thing at this point, though the argument could also be made that there is a real opportunity to take down a national contender either on September 26 against TCU or the next week against Baylor in a pair of home games.
SEASON WIN TOTAL
The cut line for Texas Tech this year is just five wins, which feels a little low considering the fact that there are two really easy games to kick off the season. Going 3-7 the rest of the way feels like it legitimately should happen, but this is still a testament to the fact that this was a 4-8 team a year ago more than anything else.
OFFENSIVE OUTLOOK
There are eight starters returning from last season's Texas Tech offense, including four members along the offensive line.
Ultimately though, the season will come down to whether Davis Webb and/or Patrick Mahomes can keep the chains moving offensively. These two men combined for 17 picks against 40 TD passes last season, and though they did throw for over 4,000 yards between them, it took 530 pass attempts to get there.
Kingsbury has had a more balanced offense now than he had when he was quarterbacking in Lubbock, and after DeAndre Washington had an 1,100+ yard season last year, he should once again be a big factor for this offense.
DEFENSIVE OUTLOOK
The Red Raiders were woeful last year on defense, allowing 513.2 yards and 41.2 points per game. We grant you, some of these problems are due to the fact that the offense runs up and down the field and frequently had three-and-outs to put the defense in bad spots.
However, there's still no excuse for how bad this unit was. New defensive coordinator David Gibbs brings a more aggressive game plan to Lubbock, but whether he has the chops to take this relatively talentless defense to respectability is another question.
This secondary is very young, as both Nigel Bethel and Keenon Ward are only sophomores in spite of the fact that they’re expected to be leaders on this unit.
Big XII sack leader Peter Robertson, who had 12 sacks a year ago, is back for Texas Tech, and he is the team's best chance at creating disruption defensively.
SEASON PREDICTION
The Red Raiders are going to go bowling this year, but that's about all we can expect for them. A 6-6 season wouldn't be considered a success, but it wouldn't be an abject failure either.
Mahomes, for our money, is the better of these two quarterbacks. He's just a sophomore now, and he could evolve into one of the truly elite QBs in this program's history with some more grooming from Kingsbury.
The Red Raiders are going to be exciting for sure, and they're going to play their share of 56-52 games, but they aren't contending for any conference or national honors. Pass on their 275 to 1 price to win the National Championship as of right now.
BookMaker will put out the first point spreads for all of the college football games this season Now you can wager in-game while the action unfolds with BookMaker's live betting option.
Access live betting lines from your mobile device at BookMaker Sportsbook! You can wager on sporting events as they unfold on your television with BookMaker's live betting platform. Real-time spreads, totals, props and moneyline odds are all available by clicking here, so start betting with BookMaker today!
