For the Texas Tech Red Raiders it really was a tail of two seasons, as they started out 7-0 and end with a bowl win over Arizona State, but in the middle of that was a 5 game losing streak. Still the season was deemed a success, but now they have some rebuilding to do if they want to get another bowl bid this year. Preview & schedule listed below
The Offense has less rebuilding to do than the defense, as they have 9 starters back from a team that scored 35.8 ppg last year. Davis Webb is back after having a solid year last year, throwing for 2718 yards, with 20 TDs and 9 INTs. He does lose his top two receivers from last year, but Jakeem Grant and Bradley Marquez return, after combining for 1429 yards receiving and 13 TDs last year. 5 players in all return that had at least 20 yards receiving last year. Kenny Williams and DeAndre Washington combined for 947 yards and 12 TDs on the ground last year and are both back to lead an average running game. The OL has all 5 starters back which should help the running game. Defense is where this team will struggle this year. They have just 4 starters back on this side of the ball and while they did get a nice influx of Jucos, sometimes that doesn’t always work out. The LB corps is the strength of this unit, led by Peter Robertson, who has 9 TFL last year. The DL is very average, while the secondary will struggle with just 1 starter back and little depth.
2013 was a weird year for this team, but they still liked the results in the end, beating Arizona in the Holiday Bowl. That gives them some momentum heading into this year. The Offense should be very good once again, now that Webb has a year under his belt and some nice weapons at his disposal. Defense is a problem though, as just 3 of their top 9 tacklers are back for them this year. They did raid the Juco ranks for some defensive depth, but t remains to be seen how effective they will be. A rather soft non-conference slate should have them 3-0 before BB road games vs Oklahoma State and Kansas State to open up Big 12 play. They also have to travel to TCU, but do get Oklahoma and Texas at home and Baylor in a neutral site game. This team may just be able to sneak 6 wins out of this schedule, even with a bad defense. KEY TREND: 1-10 ATS as conference dogs of more than 3 vs a better that .600 opponent.
2014 Texas Tech Football Schedule
Sat, Aug 30th, 2014 Central Arkansas
Sat, Sep 6th, 2014 at Texas-El Paso
Sat, Sep 13th, 2014 Arkansas
Thu, Sep 25th, 2014 at Oklahoma State
Sat, Oct 4th, 2014 at Kansas State
Sat, Oct 11th, 2014 West Virginia
Sat, Oct 18th, 2014 Kansas
Sat, Oct 25th, 2014 at TCU
Sat, Nov 1st, 2014 Texas
Sat, Nov 15th, 2014 Oklahoma
Sat, Nov 22nd, 2014 at Iowa State
Sat, Nov 29th, 2014 at Baylor
Info gathered From Phil Steele's CFB Preview and Athlon Sports
-$25 of picks FREE! No Obligation - No Credit Card Required - Becoming a member is Fast and Free!
Stay on top of the latest odds and line moves for Major League Baseball with our real-time odds from Las Vegas and offshore!
Golden Nugget Games Of The Year
Steve Fezzik from Pregame.com takes a look at some the games of the year that have been released by the Golden Nugget, along with some tips for handicapping them.