PREVIEW: TEXAS TECH VS #17 HOUSTON | Wisdom of the Crowd

TEXAS TECH (2-1) LOOKS TO REBOUND AGAINST COUGAR HIGH (2-0)

Where: Robertson Stadium, Houston

When: Saturday at 8:15 pm

Weather: 89 degrees, 30 percent chance to Thunderstorms T

V: ESPN 2

Line: Opened with Houston -1, moved to Houston -1.5, now Pick

Well, time to regroup and see what this Tech team is made of as they travel on the road for the second straight week and head down to Houston. A quick look back at the UT game. This was really this last time I could say that I was pretty happy with how Tech performed even with a loss against the Horns. I thought that Potts came in and showed that he can lead this team. He threw for 420 yards and 3 TDs, and was even able to pick himself off the turf after a chicken **** helmet-to-helmet mauling by Sergio Kindle. And while, yes we've all now read that Colt McCoy was fighting the flu, I'm still very happy and surprised with how the defense held their own against the Longhorns all night for the most part. There was tons of pressure and some pretty good coverage down field. I will be honest and say that Colt did look terrible but it was what it was. The passing offense and defense get the good grades. Now here's where Tech completely fell apart. Minus 6 yards net rushing. Now sacks get taken into account, but that is just absolutely embarrassing. Leach is wanting to give Harrison Jeffers more snaps, but he doesn't have the blocking down at RB so they'll keep trying to work him in. And special teams/Leach calling, this combo cost Tech roughly 14 points. Look Shipley is good and returned a kick for TD last year, how about we cover him? And you're on the road in Austin in front of 100,000 fans, you just scored and have momentum, why in the world do you even attempt and onsides, especially when your defense is holding their own. That there is Leach being Leach. Ok, so now its time to move onto the University of Houston Cougars. This has let down game written all over it. But what's funny is that given the amazing nature of polls, if Tech wins, it will be considered and upset. You've got to give Houston's AD credit, the man wanted to schedule some bigger teams than C-USA and he did that with Tech and Oklahoma State. OSU took all the pre-season hoopla and their win over Georgia and promptly spit the bit losing to Houston 35 to 45. And Houston has gotten to sit on that game for two weeks with a bye. Houston's offense is just another in the long line of teams who've adopted the 'crazy' Tech passing game. Their QB has 725 yards in two games with 7 TDs and spreads the ball around. They are putting up 525 yards per game and have the #1 scoring offense in the country. But I'll go out on a small limb here and say, Tech wins this game. First is that Tech faces this kind of offense every day in practice all year long. Its nothing new for them, so it shouldn't be too much of a problem. Second, Houston's defense is middle of the pack at best and they did give up yards and points to Oklahoma State (Northwestern State game doesn't count). Third, take a look at who the Cougars lost to last year; Ok State, Air Force, Colorado State, Marshall and Rice. Yeah this is a different year and they've proven that they can take down a big team (but Oklahoma State, in Tech fashion, may have gotten big heads with this game and overlooked them). And finally, Tech has got to win this game to move in the polls to start working their way up for any sort of big time end of year consideration. After Houston they don't play a ranked team until Nebraska and you've got to get into the Top 25 to get anyone paying attention to you, especially recruits. Most years I'd say this is a game that a beat up down Tech team loses, but the team looked good against UT, came out with minor health issues and is getting some guys back on defense. Offense is already making lineup adjustments, specifically at Y reciever (aka Welker's old spot) and special teams just need to cover.

Texas Tech - 45

Houston - 42