Mack Leftwich emphasizes improved efficiency prior to Big 12 Championship
Mack Leftwich‘s is one of the most high scoring, and high output offenses in college football at the conclusion of the regular season. One of the key facets he, and the coaching staff have been emphasizing is the redzone efficiency which he believes has swung in an extremely positive direction. We were able to catch up with the offensive coordinator at the weekly media availability, this week for the Big 12 Championship in Arlington.
Playing to strengths
Texas Tech in their last 2 games since they played BYU have scored 48, and 49 respectively. Coach Leftwich emphasized playing to the team’s strengths and feeling comfortable with their production.
“I don’t know if evolve maybe is the right word, but just trying to play to our guys strengths, really more into the game playing process, just trying to put our guys in as good as situations as they can at this point in the season.”
“Especially with the amount of games that Behren (Morton)’s played at quarterback, just calling for him the comfort level of really knowing who our guys are, what they do, well, what our quarterback does, well and trying to try to highlight those things.”
J’Koby Williams effect
J’Koby Williams as I’ve said in the past is one of the biggest pieces of this Red Raider offense. Coach Leftwich reiterated this, and stated his impact on this team.
“Yeah, I think those guys are just a great safety blanket that whatever the defense does, as long as those two guys are out on the field you got a chance to run the football, and they’ve just been been a great addition to the passing game to be able to create some easy explosives.”
“That’s a quarterback’s best friend, even in that last BYU game, we had a big one after checking it down to him. We ran four birds, they dropped eight, he checked it down to Cam (Dickey), and it ended up being an explosive play. So anytime you have guys like that that are good with the ball in your hands, that helps you out on offensive.”
Biggest mistakes
Even with some mistakes here and there by this team, they currently sit in a position no Texas Tech team has ever. That’s a shot at the national championship, with the first mission on that trip to take down BYU in Arlington.
“You learn something every time you step on the field, every game, there’s something that you pick up, something that you could have improved throughout your game planning process, and things that you wish you could have done, or things that you need to get better at.”
“Looking back on the Arizona State game, that was our worst offensive performance, I think just maybe being a little bit too cautious with the with the young quarterback early and not just kind of cutting it loose.”
“That’s probably the thing that I look back on most, you wish you could do it a little bit different if you had a redo.”
Caleb Douglas on a roll
Over the past month it’s felt like Caleb Douglas has been an increasingly bigger part of this offense. Douglas has picked up 217 yards on 10 receptions, and a pair of touchdowns the last two weeks.
“Yeah, I think he kind of had the same, I wasn’t here last year, but kind of same deal maybe started off a little bit slow, or wasn’t utilized as much in the non conference. When Big 12 play came, he really came alive.”
“I think he’s one of those guys, as the competition gets better, as the games get bigger he rises. I think he’s a guy that we’ll continue to try to feature in the passing game. It’s funny like in the UCF game Reggie (Virgil) had this great game where he got all these touches and scored three touchdowns, and the next week Caleb (Douglas) has a great game where he has 100 yards and two touchdowns.”
“Those guys are fired up for each other, whoever kind of is the hot hand that day. It’s a good group, it’s a balanced group. I think that’s probably one of the things looking at our offense as a whole, kind of over the course of this season that I’m probably most pleased with is the ability to distribute the ball.”
“You look at the ball distribution between the two outside receivers, Coy (Eakin), Terrance Carter and the two running backs. We’ve been able to kind of spread the wealth and utilize all those guys throughout the season fairly evenly.”
Offensive line strength
The Texas Tech offensive line has given any quarterback who’s played thus far time to make decisions. Coach Leftwich highlighted the injuries along the line, and their reemergence.
“Yeah, that’s huge. I think as the season’s going on, early in fall camp, we kind of got ravaged a little bit with our depth, especially with injuries at that position. As the season’s gone on being able to get guys like, Holton Hendrix back, Cash Cleveland back and kind of in the mix.”
“Those guys being guys you can trust to put in the game. If you need examples, like this past week, Howard (Sampson) kind of went down for a couple series, and we were able to move Will (Jados) out and put Cash (Cleveland) in, and didn’t miss a beat.”
“So those guys have come along, and have been huge. But keeping that starting five together, you just get so much more camaraderie. The communication is so much cleaner. The more that those guys play together, they get a feel forhow each guy plays.”
“Davion Carter and Jacob Ponton on a double team is a little bit different than Will Jados and Howard Sampson on a double team. Just kind of the way that those guys work together. So the more reps, the more trust you have in the guy next to you, and the better you’re going to be.”
“I think strength wise, I think those guys they take a lot of pride in what they’re doing. They do a pretty good job of kind of everything. We’re running the ball at a pretty high level right now, and protecting the passer at a pretty high level. There’s obviously things that we need to get better at and continue to grow and improve. But overall, I think they’re doing a great job and setting the tone for the offense.”
No-Stone zone
Behren Morton, and Head Coach Joey McGuire have both hit hard on the point that once they enter the redzone, it becomes the No-Stone zone. Referring to kicker Stone Harrington not entering the game until it’s time for an extra point attempt. Coach Leftwich had this to say on the No-Stone zone.
“Yeah, I think it’s huge for our guys these last couple weeks, so we’ve been able to get down there and finish in the finish in the end zone, and not to settle for field goals.”
“It just gives them a lot of confidence going into this matchup. And I told them in our unit meeting this Sunday, like it’s not any magical plays that we’re doing. It’s not anything crazy. It’s you guys just going out there and you’re executing at a lot higher level than what we were in that BYU game.”
“The credit is for our guys to go out there and execute those plays. You get guys winning those one on one matchups, blocking up front for runs how they’re supposed to be, and Behren (Morton) seeing it. He had a little athleticism, and extended the play found Cam (Dickey) on the on the scramble touchdown this past week.”
“So those guys have just been doing a great job, and I think it does give them a lot of confidence going into this matchup. So it’ll be a great challenge. I think we went over the analytics last time BYU is the 8th best red zone defense in the country, so it’s a great challenge. They do a great job down there. So we’ll have to have a great plan and go out and execute.”
Lloyd Jones
A highly touted recruit from this past year’s class was quarterback Lloyd Jones. Who made an appearance during Saturday’s game in Morgantown in place of Mitch Griffis. Jones completed 4 passes on 5 attempts for 74 yards and 2 touchdowns.
“Definitely wasn’t expecting to play him as much. I’m sure he wasn’t expecting to get as much time as he did, but I thought he did a great job. He was ready for the moment.”
“The good thing is because of the way we’ve had to practice with with Behren (Morton), kind of missing those Tuesday and Wednesdays, Mitch (Griffis) is taking the ones, and he’s actually been the one that takes the two spot reps. So he’s got a working practice, and he was ready for his moment.”
“I think the good thing about him is if you guys would ever spend any time around me, he’s as cool of a dude as there can be. So he goes out there, and the moment wasn’t too big for him at all. He was just kind of like he is on a Tuesday quarterback meeting.”
“He’s the same guy throwing touchdown passes out there, as he is during the week. So I was proud of him. I thought he did a great job. And, you know, I know he was fired up to get out there and kind of show what he can do.”
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