Texas Tech Defense Still Finding Its Identity, Shiel Wood Sees Championship Potential

Texas Tech’s defense has shown flashes of being a special unit through the first three games of the season, but defensive coordinator Shiel Wood knows there is still plenty of room for improvement. The Red Raiders have dealt with some breakdowns and inconsistency, but the return of veterans Trey White and Brenden Jordan has added experience and depth to the unit. As Texas Tech continues to clean up the mistakes and develop its younger players, Wood believes this defense has the talent and mindset to continue improving and be at its best when it matters most. Shiel’s thoughts on Trey’s and Brenden’s performances Texas Tech EDGE Trey White and Safety Brenden Jordan were both back on the field for their first game of the season. Trey provided some great snaps just being a veteran on the field and being able to provide some pressure off the edge that has been much needed, also creating more depth in that room. In the first two games of the season, the secondary was having a play with two inexperienced safeties in Peyton Morgan and Malik Esquerra, very talented, just not a ton of experience in that room. Having Jordan back in that room that has already played a ton of snaps in Coach Wood’s system was needed, and just having better communication, as Houston had some great skill on the perimeter and knew it was going to be a test for the secondary. “I thought BJ played well. You know, he probably had a couple plays he wishes he could have back. Maybe didn’t fit a few things as well as he can. But you know, it’s still his first ball game of the year, so part of that’s a little bit natural. And then Trey White—I thought he did great. I mean, he basically missed three weeks in a row, pretty much. He kind of just practiced lightly, practiced the last couple days before the game, and so to come back and give us what he gave us in that ball game after, you know, not playing the first two games and being out was great to see, and just excited to see him to continue to get back into the flow and practice. I think he’s just gets better and better as we go.” Positives and negatives from the Houston game Shiel Wood gave props to Houston’s offense and its talented quarterback and skill players, while pointing out that Texas Tech played well when it stayed disciplined, executed its assignments, and played with strong fundamentals. However, the biggest issue continues to be defensive breakdowns that allowed Houston to make too many big plays. Wood believes the defense is still working toward where it wants to be, but with continued coaching and better execution, the Red Raiders can clean up those mistakes and improve moving forward. “Yep, they’re a really good football team. They’re well coached. They’ve got some really good players. The quarterback is a really good player. They’ve got some really good speed. You know, Thomas on the perimeter, number two, that hit us on the touchdown before the half. And so the positives I take away from the game are when we execute and we’re playing with good fundamentals and techniques and we’re doing our assignment well based on the scheme of the play that we’re seeing. We did some really good stuff. You know, they made some plays that they’re going to make. That’s going to happen every week when you’re playing competition at this level. The disappointing part was we’re still just having a few too many breakdowns that are hurting us, so we just got to keep coaching better. Guys got to continue to execute better, and you know, we’re maybe not quite where we like to be, but I think our guys are into it, so we’ll just keep getting better, and we’ll get some things fixed. I think moving forward that’ll hopefully help us shore up some areas that we need to.” Creating more pressure It has been more difficult this year to get more pressure on the opposing QB in the first two games. Texas Tech’s defense against Houston brought more than 4 players on 36% of the snaps. Last year the defense didn’t have to blitz a ton, as you had two of the best EDGEs in the country. An interesting stat is this year: through three games this season, Tech has 8 sacks; last year, through three games, Tech had 9 sacks. Coach Wood says that it will just depend on the game plan week to week. “I mean, we went into the game this past week with a plan to get after him a little bit more, and you know, we just kind of gauge that week to week. So, you know, we’ll just see based on each week’s game plan.” Defense having “bad eyes” The Texas Tech defense has had several breakdowns through the first three games of the season. Opposing teams have really been trying to test the secondary, as Peyton and Malik have not played a ton of football. Shiel points out that last year’s defense didn’t look great through three games either, and they ended up being one of the best defenses in the country. The more and more this defense plays together and is making strides in the right direction, the more likely they are to have a chance to be a great defense. Shiel also points out this year they have played better competition to this point than last year. “I think that’s a great question. You know, maybe I’ll answer it this way. I think, and I told the guys this yesterday just to give them context. If you look back, if I look back to our first three games last year, we were not great, you know. We did some things pretty well, but there are areas where we were still learning what to do at the first level, second level, third level. I think in those games, two things happened. We probably had some guys that became just an eraser and just covered up for some mistakes because they just made some plays, and then I think also the first three games that we had last year, I would say the first three games this year were a lot stiffer competition if you look at them, and so I think it’s a combination of the two things. And my encouragement to the guys was we ended up being a pretty good defense last year, but I don’t know that we were as good early as we were late. And I think, for me as a coach, I see some of the same types of things. I just think that in these first two ball games and playing Houston on Friday night, you know, when we messed up a few things, they exposed us. When we messed up a few things against Oregon State, they exposed us. That’s a lot better Oregon State team than we played last year. You know, so it’s just a combination of all those factors, and you know, not where we want to be, but we’re just going to keep working. The guys are into it, like I said, and we’ve got the talent to continue to improve.” Thoughts on Sam Houston’s offense Sam Houston rolls into Lubbock on Saturday, and Head Coach Phil Longo is an offensive-minded coach. Sam Houston’s offense is averaging 345 yards per game through the air; it will be another test for the secondary and an opportunity to get some of those breakdowns cleaned up. Chris Reed is a receiver for the Bearkats that is averaging 22 per catch and will want to stretch the defense. “Yeah, I think they’ve got a couple guys. Number two is a big play guy. I think he’s averaging over 22 yards a catch. So they stress the field with him. They’ve got a slot receiver, number seven, that does a really nice job. He’s crafty, shifty. I think he finds holes in zones. He’s able to change direction really well. Looks like he’s got really good ball skills. So I like the style of offense that these guys play. I think, schematically, they do some really good stuff. Coach Longo’s been at it for a long time, highly successful with a lot of stops, and you know, from a scheme standpoint, they put a lot of stress on you. I think in terms of just matching numbers with the style of offense that they played, and you know, that’s what we’ll have to do a great job of this week.” Linebackers in coverage Shiel believes the Texas Tech linebackers have shown flashes in coverage but need to become more consistent. While the group has demonstrated the ability to make plays, communication breakdowns and missed assignments have hurt the defense at times, including late in games. Wood emphasized the importance of attention to detail and explained that the coaching staff intentionally creates chaotic situations in practice to prepare players for those moments. With the talent and ability already in the room, Wood believes the linebackers can continue improving by focusing on consistency, communication, and executing their assignments. “I’ve seen some great things at times, and I’ve seen some things that need to improve at times. We had a couple breakdowns, you know, had a breakdown late in the game that hurt us. So just consistency. They know what to do, but sometimes, and we were looking at it in our meeting the other day, sometimes, you know, it’s funny, we had a guy that, you know, communicated what coverage we were playing and communicated. You can see it on film, and then he didn’t do his job. You know, and it’s just one of those things. I mean, sometimes that stuff happens, and that’s why it’s so critical that you have attention to detail. “I told the guys as well, you know, that’s why sometimes we try to create chaos in practice intentionally because, you know, doing your job when it’s in a chaotic environment, that takes another level of focus and attention to detail and urgency and execution. So they’ve got the ability to do some really good things and have from a cover standpoint. We just got to continue to be consistent.” Continue to progress throughout the year Texas Tech head coach Joey McGuire has said before that this year’s defense has a chance to be as good as last year’s defense. He told the media “give me two more games,” to see what this defense can really become now that they have Trey White and Brenden Jordan back. Coach Wood believes that as long as this year’s defense continues to grow as the year goes on, the defense can be special; it may just look a little different. “I know this. If we can keep winning and buy ourselves another week to get better with how we come back in practice, then that makes me happy. And the best defenses that I’ve ever been a part of are the ones that just get better and better throughout the year and are hopefully peaking and playing their best defense at the end of the season. You know, we want to be a championship defense. If I’m looking at our body of work through three games, I don’t know that we’re reaching our potential right now. But the exciting thing for me as a coach is that I see the potential out there, and I love the attitude that these guys bring every day, and as coaches, we’re just going to keep pouring into them. And I think they’ve got the right stuff, the moxie that they need to come in and continue to put in the work. And if we can stay healthy and continue to do that, we’ll just continue to improve.” Coach Longo’s offensive philosophy Coach Longo has had a long tradition of offensive success. Here is how Shiel Wood explains his offensive scheme. “I’d say a variation. You know, what you see, I think, with him in the four-wide stuff probably is pretty similar, but there’s a lot of run game and RPOs off the run game. So, you know, I look at a lot of what they do from a run-pass option standpoint. They just put you in a lot of conflict with zones, with gap-scheme pullers, misdirection, and then instead of blocking on the perimeter all the time with runs, there’s a lot of routes that are going on on the perimeter, and they’ll target those routes. And so, anytime you’re playing a team like that, it does put a little bit of stress on you in terms of being able to, you know, get the numbers in the box that you need at the point of attack, and then also take care of the stuff on the perimeter. And based on how you’re playing the coverage, you know, you may entice them to hand the ball off, or you may entice them to put the ball in primer, and then you got to have your numbers right at the point of attack, whichever way it goes. So I think he’s got a nice blend of what he’s doing, and I think that’s kind of the style that he’s had now for quite some time.” Assessment of Morgan and Esquerra Peyton Morgan and Malik Esquerra have gotten thrown into the fire. They both had to start the first two games of the season, as Brenden Jordan was out. They are great football players that were highly recruited out of high school. They have been mentioned as being great at getting the ball down and tackling in space. They have just been tested against some great skill players that have allowed for some coverage breakdowns. They will continue to play both Peyton and Malik alongside Brenden Jordan. “I thought they all did some things well. They all maybe had a couple of breakdowns, and, you know, B.J. included in that. So I would say this: the guys that have played for us, B.J., Malik, Peyton (no particular order), have all done some really good things, and they’re all going to continue to play. I think that when you look at the two safety positions for us this year, I think you’ll continue to see a three-man rotation of some type. How much certain guys play in each game may have a little bit to do with how they prepare. May have a little bit to do with how they do when they get into the game, and I think we’ll just keep it somewhat fluid. But those guys have, I think, put in the work and allowed us to have three guys that can go in there and execute at a high level, just like every other position. We got to continue just to really have a sense of urgency to be on it each and every snap in terms of executing the way that we want to, but those guys are into it, and they’ll continue to improve.” Thoughts on Adam Trick Texas Tech EDGE Adam Trick forced two fumbles against Houston. McGuire said he had been really frustrated not being able to get home on some QB pressures. So it was great to see Trick play well and finally see some of the hard work paying off. “Adam Trick played a heck of a ball game, man. He played hard, and he—that’s what he does. He is a high-motor guy. I thought he played extremely physical, and he strained at a very high level to attack the football. He caused two forced fumbles, and he was very intentional about that and was also just relentless. So I thought he really came out and played better than he did in those first two games. So he’s a guy that’s improving. I thought the other guys did some nice things as well. Just again, the consistency of execution in terms of assignment or rush lanes. I had some breakdowns at times there, and those are things that I think that we’ll continue to improve on. D-line and Guyton’s performance Texas Tech true freshman EDGE LaDamion Guyton took a huge step from Oregon State to Houston and will only take his game to a whole another level as he jumped on the fumble that Adam caused. You can start to see his ability to rush the passer really show up. The defense had three sacks in the game. Coach Wood considered it the best game rushing the passer as a unit, “I do think this; even though maybe we weren’t perfect, I thought that was our best game rushing the passer. I thought that when we did what we were trying to get done, I thought we really did some nice things affecting the quarterback and containing him in the pocket. And again, we’ll just get better. Look at a young guy like LaDamion Guyton. You know, second game for him, he made a tremendous jump in his production and his play from his first game against Oregon State to Friday night against Houston, and I think for a young guy like that, he’ll just continue to get better. So collectively as a whole, again, getting Trey White back was great. Jamond Mathis is doing some really good things, you know, Ansel and Charles as well, so we got some depth there. Like we have a lot of spots.” Davin Martin’s Performance Texas Tech CB Davin Martin got the start this week for injured Amier Boyd and had played a great game. The defensive coaching staff always knew that they had three starters at corners, so it was nice to see Martin step up and play at a high level. Wood looks to play all three corners like they will at safety as Davin, and when Amier gets back, they will both play alongside Brice Pollock. “Sure. Well, it’s like any position. It’s great when guys work there, you know, work extremely hard, and get an opportunity, and take advantage of it. I thought Davin Martin came in and really played a nice ball game for us, and he had played in the first two games and done well. I think a three-man rotation is similar to what we’re talking about with the safety position. I think a three-man rotation in the corner, in some form or fashion, is what you’ll see when we do get Amier back. We’ve got a couple other guys that are practicing well and may get out there on the field a little bit as well. So, I thought Davin played well. Thought Brice played well. When we get Amier back and he gets back in the groove we’re practicing, that’ll be great to have him back as well.” Join the conversation with other Red Raiders on the Inside The Double T forum. Subscribe today to get the most in-depth Texas Tech sports and recruiting coverage. 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