Leftwich challenging offense to keep up consistency
Off one of their most successful all-around attacks, Texas Tech and offensive coordinator Mack Leftwich face the challenge of keeping momentum high this week at West Virginia. The Red Raiders’ amoeba offense will get its fair share of opportunities. A focal point of the Mountaineers’ defense may play right into Tech’s abilities to attack through the air with running backs and in the RPO game.
“They’re really aggressive on defense, one of the highest blitz percentages that we’ve seen so far this year,” Leftwich told the media Monday. “They do a bunch of different stuff from a pressure standpoint, present a bunch of different looks for you in the box. I think for our guys, the good thing is this week, it will be a challenge of preparation. That keeps them pretty locked in and focused because this is the type of defense, if you’re not locked in, if you’re not communicating at a high level, they can cause a sack or TFL, big negative play, in an instant. We got to be on top of our game, for sure, whenever we go out there.”
Leftwich takes pride in clean cooking of UCF, aiming for repeat showing
Given the bye week, Leftwich did not get the chance to speak with the media last week. Is the offensive coordinator still basking in the joy of a dismantling of the Knights? Absolutely.
“You could argue we played our cleanest game of the season last time we were out there against Central Florida,” Leftwich said. “Scored touchdowns in the red zone, were good on third down, didn’t have any pre-snap penalties. A lot of the things that had maybe plagued us all year were things that we wanted to see and have been working on came to fruition.”
The Red Raiders can secure their shot at the Big 12 championship Friday night if Arizona takes down Arizona State– the team who manufactured Texas Tech’s only loss this season. In theory, Tech could coast Saturday against WVU if the bid to Arlington is locked up.
But given the expectations and culture established by Joey McGuire, it is difficult to envision that happening. Especially for an offense coming off its best performance in weeks, Leftwich is challenging his unit to continue those vibes.
“Good to see our guys go out there and execute it at a really high level,” Leftwich added. “It’ll be another challenge to go out and do it again. Now once you’ve done that, can you play at that level consistently?”
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