Texas Tech vs Iowa State football: Too early game preview

Coming off of a win at Kansas in the previous week, the too early football preview heads back to Jack Trice Stadium for the final time this season. For two consecutive weeks, Iowa State will close out their 7-game home schedule in Ames.

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First up is Texas Tech, who had one hell of a 2013 campaign starting off with a 7-0 start, then completely faded off into the sunset after a 38-30 loss to Oklahoma. After that game, the schedule featured two home games against Oklahoma State and Kansas State, a neutral game against Baylor, and at Texas, and the Red Raiders lost by an average of 23.8 points in those four games.

The defense went AWOL, giving up 38 or more point in all of their losses, and gave up 63 points against Baylor. It was an absolute trainwreck until Texas Tech figured it out in their bowl game victory over Arizona State.

A couple of freshman quarterbacks ran the offense, which is even more remarkable. They kept the traditional pass-happy offense standard in check. The duo combined for over 5,000 passing yards, 32 touchdowns, and 18 interceptions, featuring over 700 pass attempts and a solid completion rate of 64.1 percent for Baker Mayfield and 62.6 percent for Davis Webb

Dec 30, 2013; San Diego, CA, USA; Texas Tech Red Raiders defensive back Justis Nelson (31) intercepts a pass intended for Arizona State Sun Devils receiver Cameron Smith (6) during the 2013 Holiday Bowl at Qualcomm Stadium. Texas Tech defeated Arizona State 37-23. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Mayfield didn’t play during a four-game stretch in the middle of the season due to an injury, which included the 42-35 victory against Iowa State. He didn’t play in the bowl game and later transferred to Oklahoma because of controversy surrounding the position when he was healthy again.

Injuries are a fickle situation, especially at quarterback. A decision has to be made whether to keep going with a hot hand or to go back to the original starter. Unfortunately for Mayfield, Webb was putting up just as good of numbers, and it rubbed off on him the wrong way.

Now, Webb’s the main guy at quarterback, and he has to find new weapons on offense now that both Eric Ward and Jace Amaro are gone. Running back has some serious questions now that their former tailback, Kenny Williams, has moved over to the defensive position. There will certainly be some growing pains, but they’ll likely have things all squared away by the time they take on the Cyclones

Defensively, Texas Tech will be relying on a bunch of junior college transfers. Again, by the time they take on Iowa State, they should be established, but relying on JUCOs can really be hit or miss. They can certainly be thrown on if Justis Nelson and J.J. Gaines can be beaten in the secondary.

This will be your high-flying, no-defense Big 12 matchup that will go in overtime, and it will end in a huge victory for the Cyclones that will keep their bowl hopes alive at 5-5.

Too early prediction

I’m not high on Texas Tech at all this year. There’s a lot of questions on offense, and they can ill-afford Webb to get hit with an injury. The offensive line is better but will they be any better on the ground? Plugging in JUCOs will essentially make or break the defense. If it doesn’t work out, and it certainly went to hell late last season, the Red Raiders could be the most disappointing team in the conference.

Iowa State almost came back on Texas Tech in Lubbock, and if they develop any swagger on offense like I think they will, they can put up 35-plus points on the Red Raiders again. This will be your high-flying, no-defense Big 12 matchup that will go in overtime, and it will end in a huge victory for the Cyclones that will keep their bowl hopes alive at 5-5.

IAST 51, TTU 44 (F/2OT)

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