 "Photo: Karl Anderson")
There is no such thing as exceptional pass defense in the Big 12 Conference right now.
With seven teams in the Big 12 riding a Top 20 passing offense, the pass defenses have suffered: No. 1 UT is 111th; No. 8 Texas Tech is 103rd; No. 15 Missouri is 114th; No. 23 Kansas is 99th; Nebraska is 89th. The list goes on. Only Colorado, OU and Texas A&M are in the top half of the 119 Football Bowl Subdivision teams, but no team is in the Top 50.
"You gotta put your ego to the side," Tech defensive coordinator Ruffin McNeill said. "In the Big 12, you've got to be able to defend pass, but you've also got to be able to defend the run and defend a running, mobile quarterback. So we're not the only team that's facing that problem."
So when Tech plays Kansas at 11 a.m. Saturday in Lawrence, Kan., how will either defense slow down one of the best offenses they will see all year?
Tech is first in passing offense with 418.4 yards per game, and Kansas' 335.4 yards per game are not too far away at sixth.
"Just try to get them in long yard situations if you can, play good first-down defense and solid third-down defense," McNeill said. "First downs are the most important downs now, start dictating down and distance if you can. You gotta have more defensive backs in your coverages now, more cover guys."
Kansas coach Mark Mangino, who worked with Tech coach Mike Leach at OU in 1999, said although no Big 12 team is playing "exceptional" defense, that does not mean his team should automatically expect a shootout.
"One of the things you wanna do when you're playing against a high powered offense - you'd like to be able to slow them down a little bit," he said. "Not give up quick scores."
Against Kansas (5-2, 2-1 in Big 12 play), the Red Raiders (7-0, 3-0) are playing their first ranked opponent of the year. Kansas is the first opponent in a dangerous four-game stretch for Tech, who plays UT, Oklahoma State and Oklahoma afterward.
Kansas already has some experience against ranked opponents. Its two losses have come at the hands of No. 16 South Florida and No. 4 Oklahoma. Both games were pretty close, but both games were a shootout. The score against USF was 37-34, and at OU last week the Sooners pulled away for a 45-31 win.
"They hung with OU, they gave OU their best shot," safety Darcel McBath said. "The game could have went any way at some point in the game. They're a great team; they're still ranked and we're excited about playing them."
With the Big 12 providing nationally prominent quarterback duels each week, the meeting between Tech's Graham Harrell and KU's Todd Reesing presents another marquee match up.
In 318 pass attempts, Harrell has thrown for 2,761 yards, 23 touchdowns and only five interceptions. Reesing has 2,322 yards and 17 touchdowns with five picks. While both quarterbacks have a solid staff of receivers, Kansas' offense presents the toughest task to date for Tech.
KU's Dezmon Briscoe has 43 receptions for 705 yards and eight touchdowns following a 269-yard, 12-reception game against OU last week.
Kansas junior safety Darrell Stuckey said spread offenses "leave less of a margin for error," so both defenses will have more than enough to think about on Saturday.
"You can't make errors and all of a sudden try to cover someone who wasn't covered already," he said. "It's one of those things where it poses match ups that you have to open your eyes for and be able to mentally go through and prepare for before you get into the game."
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