Chapter 1: The Setting
Good Guys: Texas Tech Red Raiders (1-0, 0-0)
Bad Guys: Kent State Golden Flashes (1-0, 0-0)
Where: Jones AT&T Stadium | Lubbock, Texas
When: Saturday, September 6th @ 11:00 am
TV & Streaming: TNT | HBO Max
Radio: The Varsity Network
The Line: Texas Tech -48.5
Game Notes: Texas Tech | Kent State
Weather Report: Partly Cloudy, High 78, Low 64
Chapter 2: The Cast
Thus, your interim Kent State coach is Mark Carney, who was the offensive coordinator and tight ends coach in 2023. The new OC is Clay Patterson, where he cut his teeth at South Florida and Minnesota as position coaches. The defensive coordinator is Cherokee Valeria, he bounced around at Sacramento State prior to arriving at KSU.
Carney’s offense is one where he likes shifts and motion as part of his offense, Dave Clawson is a huge influence on him, which was an offense that’s focused on RPO. Carney’s offense utilizes the shift and the motion, the shift being one or more players moving to get set before the snap and hopes to discover defensive disguise. The motion, the player is moving prior to the snap with both give coverage indicators.
You’re not going to see a ton of that because of the field level view here, but at the very least you’ll see that the quarterback is definitely a threat and Kent State likes to utilize a very quick passing game with the hopes of breaking it open.
I watched some video from 2024 and not a ton of shifts, but a lot of highlight videos don’t show that sort of thing so we’ll see.
QB’s Dru DeShields (6-2/185) & CJ Montes (6-2/205): Both quarterbacks split time, DeShields is a true freshman and Montes has been around the block a few times. They each threw a touchdown and they were decent, but maybe weren’t asked to do too much. Neither one of them scrambled really at all so that does not appear to be a concern.
RB Cade Wolford (5-10/190): Wolford is listed as a running back, but I think he’s a slot guy. He had a long touchdown grab and has some serious speed. A redshirt freshman, so he’s relatively inexperienced and wasn’t targeted a ton, but he did make a huge play last week with DeShields.
LB Mason Woods (5-11/215): Had a good game, 7 tackles and as a redshirt senior, has a ton of experience that the Golden Flashes will need. It seems that 215 for a middle linebacker seems small, but I think that’s sort of the deal.
DL Thomas Aden (6-1/280): Aden is a transfer from Pitt, had a sack last week in addition to 4 tackles. He was pretty active and has decent size.
KR Da’Realyst Clark (5-10/150): Clark had a 100 yard kick return to basically seal the game. At just 150 pounds, he’s not exactly big, but he exploded on that return. Impressive stuff.
Chapter 3: The Conflict
Forcing the Pass: I don’t think that Kent State has much of a running game, barely able to eek out much yardage against Merrimack, I cannot imagine what that might look like against a more formidable line with Texas Tech. The quarterbacks aren’t going to beat you on a regular basis and as long as the defensive backs keep things in front of them, stopping the run I think will effectively grind the offense to a halt.
A Beefer Defensive Line: Kent State did stop Merrimack, but the line is much bigger and should offer a better challenge, at least from a size perspective. The two starting defensive ends are in the 245 range and have decent size, Mattheus Carroll is a transfer from Virginia Tech. Mason Maddox (6-1/275) is a transfer from Colorado and we’ve already talked about Aden from Pitt. So let’s see how the Texas Tech offensive line handles themselves against what should be a better opponent.
A Young QB: I sort of have a feeling that Will Hammond will get the nod. I don’t have any inside sources or anything like that, just thinking bigger picture. If it is Hammond, then what does Kent State do defensively? I don’t think things have really changed much, but in terms of slowing an offense, you probably flood the defensive backfield and force Hammond to be patient. Executing this would be difficult, but the windows that Behren Morton found last week would likely not be there, but that would also mean that Cameron Dickey and J’Koby Williams would get a ton of work and Hammond would take deep shots with the hope of connecting.
Chapter 4: The Charts & Graphs
Uniforms:
Stats: Sharp College Football was back up as of last night, so I utilized those stats. The offense looks to be really good, especially in comparison to Kent State’s offense. The disruptive play allowed should be something to highlight considering that Texas Tech has a lot of players that can disrupt plays.
Regarding the defensive stats, I think that a good chunk of last year is still baked into the stats, so don’t get too concerned or think there’s a big conspiracy. It’s the same reason that Texas and Georgia are ahead of Ohio State in ESPN’s FPI, which is that there’s a lot baked into it and by a couple of more games, how good the defense actually is will reveal itself.
I’ve got a third set of stats, which compares more sites so you get a variety of information rather than just Sharp College Football. Obviously, those rankings don’t have as much 2024 baked into them, and that’s fine. I provide the information and you all digest it as you see fit.
Chapter 5: The Conclusion
For the second week in a row, I don’t see a ton that worries me as I look for the best players for Kent State. If there was anything, I would maybe be concerned with Kent State going deep, trying to go over the top of the defense. I’ve already mentioned that if I’m the Kent State DC, I’m flooding everything in a zone and looking to not let anything over the middle, which is where Behren feasted last week and I think that Leftwich will be fine with that. I wasn’t real comfortable with the point spread last week and even 48.5 seems like a ton with a backup quarterback. McGuire seemed pretty intent continuing to score regardless of who was playing quarterback.