Sadly, it seems Tubs just can't learn to leave an offense alone, or fully commit to one that he's not comfortable with, no matter how much lip service he gives it...if you really listen, you can hear what he's thinking.
http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/blog/dr_saturday/post/Reorientation-These-are-not-the-Red-Raiders-we-?urn=ncaaf-271080Mon Sep 20 12:38pm PDT
Reorientation: These are not the Red Raiders we once knew
By Matt Hinton
Adjusting to the weekend's new realities
• Whatever Texas Tech is doing, it's not the Air Raid. Tommy Tuberville and boy wonder offensive coordinator Neal Brown have already proved they have no intention of reducing the quantity of passes at Texas Tech after a decade as the most consistently pass-happy outfit in the country under departed "Air Raid" guru Mike Leach. The quality, on the other hand, is definitely not guaranteed, not after the Red Raiders were held to fewer total yards (144), fewer passing yards (158) and fewer yards per play (2.7) in Saturday night's 24-14 home loss to Texas than in any single game of Leach's entire tenure, against anyone, home or away.
In addition the new lows, the Raiders' output on the ground Saturday (minus-14 yards) was only three yards off the worst rushing effort under Leach, minus-17 yards vs. Texas in 2004, and their 11 first downs were the fewest since back-to-back losses to Oklahoma in 2001 (9 first downs) and 2002 (10). They mounted one sustained scoring drive – the first touchdown came via an interception return by the defense – compared to seven offensive possessions that went three-and-out and three more that ended in turnovers. In almost every respect, with eight returning starters and a fifth-year senior quarterback in a familiar, friendly environment, it was Tech's worst offensive performance in over a decade.
Don't expect Tuberville to dump Brown the way he did Tony Franklin midway through the disastrous spread experiment that proved to be Tubs' undoing at Auburn in 2008. But Tuberville has always been a run-first coach, and spent most of the offseason talking about improving the running game. If this dalliance with the spread starts to look like deja vu all over again against competent defenses, expect to start hearing – and seeing – a lot more about "balance" in the very near future.
This isn't the SEC, so all the "that won't work in the SEC" crap won't fly here at all. By contrast, Oklahoma State hired Dana Holgerson in the off season. Holgerson, studied under Leach at TT, before going to Houston. Another "Air Raid" offense. In their first 3 games under the new Air Raid system at Ok. State...they are #1 in the nation in Passing Offense, and #2 in the Nation in Total Offense and Scoring Offense. Their rushing offense? 29th. OTOH, Tubs hired Neal Brown, another Air Raid guru away from Troy in order to maintain what Texas Tech had been doing system-wise (read as no excuses of "got to recruit to it) is 22nd in Passing Offense, 78th in Total Offense, 35th in Scoring Offense, and 113th in Rushing Offense.
Of the top 10 Passing offenses, 3 are Air Raid teams, OSU, Houston, and Troy. Those same teams are #2, 11, and 17 in Total Offense, and in Scoring Offense they are 2, 7 and 35th (Troy is Tied with Tx Tech in Scoring Offense.)
NOT advocating for the return of the Air Raid to Auburn...merely pointing out a couple of things...namely Tubs just doesn't seem to get it when it comes to offense...it takes a total commitment to what you're trying to do. Whether its the Wisbone or the Air Raid, you damn well have to decide to be one or the other, and immerse yourself in getting as good as you can at the core concepts of your chosen scheme. When you dilly-dally around with a hodgepodge of concepts, you get mediocre at some, poor at others, and good at none. In the early going, it looks like Tubs may not be long for Lubbock.
It's one thing to have a poor offensive outing...anybody can...it's another to have the flop of a decade against a team you've been competitive with in recent year, using a scheme you've beaten them with and players supposedly familiar with the scheme.
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