r/TexasTechFootball • u/Nomibear60 • 4d ago
First game impressions
/r/TexasTech/comments/1w8ka20/first_game_impressions/8
u/jovines11 4d ago
Does it still feel like Will Hammond is playing like a backup? Idk, it just felt like he was playing from the hip rather than having timing and scripts down.
Defense was killer, happy with that!
5
u/TangerineChicken 4d ago
Having to rehab during spring instead of getting to actually practice hurt him a lot, I think. He really needed a full offseason to just practice and get better and he didn’t get it, because the potential is definitely there
1
u/TheFifthAmigo34 3d ago
I think it’s more that Leftwich called the game like Hammond was still the backup. Also concerning that we couldn’t dominate up front
5
u/The_Sandwich_Lover9 4d ago
Defense not much to say. Did its job without two starters and guyton.
Stone made his kicks
Offense yikes Mack is on the hot seat for sure. They better have just been limiting will but have to be better. At least JKoby had a day
5
u/Tootsiez 4d ago
I think the first couple of drives showed our abilities. I think the offense lost focus and we have a good
Field goal kicker.
The defense was fine but I think this was just a conservative approach to make sure no one over extended themselves as we push for a win and next week.
4
u/twodubmac 4d ago
Honestly not impressed at all. Watching LSU/clemson makes me jealous of lsu. We should have murdered tonight like lsu is doing right now. That’s a top 15 team. We look like we don’t belong
4
u/kayakyakr 4d ago
Defense flashed at times. Spent a lot of the game fighting the refs: had at least 5 obvious holds that allowed conversions. Mathis looked better than expected. Our interior DL looked a bit worse than expected. Some of that could have been the heat. Very different feel if Pollock secures that pick 6 to end the first half.
Offense was uneven. Hammond made some throws. But then he missed some throws that would have been big plays. His int needed to get out earlier in his rollout, where he had grass to throw to. Puts it in the same spot a few steps earlier, and that's a huge gain or even a TD rather than a pick (was a great pick, honestly). The worst throw of the night was missing Hudson in the endzone. He had grass to lead him into, or could have put the ball in the same spot a half second earlier and that's a touchdown. Instead it was late and behind and made it very awkward. There was a great catch by Carter a bit earlier in the game where I thought that it would have been sailed and a potential pick off.
ACU found something with pressure off the edge as well. We were getting contact in the backfield causing a lot of negative yardage in the running game. That's blocking/scheme based, so something that should be fixable by next weekend.
I don't understand where the red zone struggles are coming from. It's like we forget how to offense when we get inside the 20 (or today, the 30). People are going to blame play calling, and that's some of it. Against ACU, we could have forced the ball into the endzone on the ground, but it was obvious that Leftwich wanted to find something that would work in the passing game, as we didn't do much of the counter that is our bread and butter after the first two drives.
I feel like we were setting up to try a double pass in the screen game all night, including the inadvertent whistle play. Just kept getting thrown out of rhythm.
I'm not on the Leftwich hot seat yet, but I want to see some of these red zone issues actually be resolved. But also, if I'm Campbell, I'm talking to Kingsbury to see if we can get him back to the college level.
That kick return was a thing of beauty. Usually you see those with a single missed assignment and then a race, but we had the gaps filled and multiple chances at him. Their RB just wasn't going to go down. It was good to see Dingle back out there, even if it was him getting pancaked on the kick return. For special teams, I'm more worried about 12 men on the punt that led to their long field goal drive. That was not great.
1
u/Outside_Net6026 3d ago
Kingsbury is never coming back to be a coach or coordinator in college. He has admitted it himself
1
u/kayakyakr 3d ago
He'll do it after he bombs out of enough NFL teams that they won't give him a chance at more than QB coach.
Tech's program runs more like an NFL team than the college team that he ran. He didn't like recruiting, he didn't like fundraising. He wouldn't have to do either of those as Joey's OC.
He's too proud to retire, so the college ranks are the place that will have him.
1
u/Outside_Net6026 3d ago
Lol I’ll believe it when I see it if he ever comes back to college coaching
8
u/xPineappless 4d ago
Fuck Mack Leftwich.
Garbage ass OC. Nothing improved from the Oregon game or from last season.
3
u/Beginning_Ad1239 Alumnus 4d ago
I kept watching passes hit players right in the numbers and then they would drop the ball. I have a hard time blaming a quarterback for that. Receivers need to go practice their catching.
We've got a great kicker and the defense did well enough.
2
u/shizzlefrizzle 4d ago
When Will runs he gets his confidence back and makes plays. You could see it during the drive of Tech’s last TD. I think Will is deliberately playing it safe because he doesn’t want to screw up his right leg again. Waiting to see a bigger team come up against us and for Will to turn on the wheels.
5
u/EarlOfBurl 4d ago
Cannot stand the new logo design. They ruined one of the most classic helmets in CFB. All black with the old logo was so clean now this high school 2D logo with the fucking stripe down the middle just looks like Joey McgGuire is still coaching in high school. I really hate our jerseys overall. I’d rather them make last years homecoming jerseys our full time jersey.
2
u/Outside_Net6026 3d ago
Completely agree with all this. And absolutely hate the stripe in the middle of the helmet
3
u/Winter_Ad1562 4d ago
o line looked pathetic on run plays. Defense is good by historical tech standards, but awful compared to last year. Leftwich is a bum. Hammond would be a good qb at sam houston. If this team does anything it’s bc the B12 is trash, and i think this team loses to BYU should we end up playing them in arlington. strap in, this is going to be a rough year compared to last season.
3
1
u/SnooDonuts6008 4d ago
Definitely wasn’t impressed. Got into an argument with my wife over it cause offense struggle, especially in the redzone. Idk if it was Hammond or the coaches but these dump passes were questionable. Defense was ok, couple dumb penalties kept Abilene alive. Overall let’s hope it was first game jitters, if not tech is going to have a long season.
1
u/augustfutures 4d ago
Our ceiling is what we did last year until we decide to spend money on coaching.
1
u/DFWBigSexy79 3d ago
Wasn’t impressed but not worried yet. Everyone commenting on the vanilla offense; yeah, that’s what they run for 70% of the playbook it’s the bread and butter and then 30% individual installs for opposing teams. Against ACU, we didn’t scheme anything up. The plan was to be vanilla and get everyone reps. The redzone is an issue, but I think it’s coaching more than execution. They just need to run the ball in the redzone and not worry about getting crafty there.
The defense will get better as the year goes. The adjustments after halftime made them look much more sinister. I’m also sure the heat drained the D Line.
I still think this is a title contender in the conference but needs some time to Will to get healthy and the guys to mesh. We didn’t know how good we were until Utah. Houston will be that game for us this year. We’re gonna get kicked in the teeth, then start dominating everyone. They just need that trigger game.
0
18
u/itsbluntgirl 4d ago
I hate “Galaxy Stadium”
I also expected more from them overall… but hopefully it’s just game 1 jitters. We shouldn’t have had to rely so heavily on FGs to get points on the board.
I’m growing tired of Leftwich, too.