The glass is half full for the Texas Tech football team.
The good news for the Red Raiders is that Tech coach Mike Leach saw improvement from one week to the next in the 35-19 win over Nevada Saturday, but the Red Raiders still believe they are not as good as they want to be this early in the season.
Even though Tech picked up the win against the Wolf Pack, Leach said the Red Raiders are going through the growing pains like any team should be in the beginning of the season.
"I think you gotta work and develop this time of year," he said. "There's no question, we've got plenty of work to do. I did think we improved. (Nevada is) a really good team. They have a ridiculously high winning percentage at their place, and you can see why."
Nevada's 19 wins at home under Chris Ault could not be increased, but the Wolf Pack did gain more yards on offense than the Red Raiders with 488 and 421, respectively.
Tech quarterback Graham Harrell had 297 of those yards paired with two interceptions. Nevada also had more first downs than the Red Raiders with 28 to Tech's 20.
The game against Nevada had many ups and downs for the Red Raiders including recovered fumbles and a Wolf Pack team that stayed within reach for most of the game.
Some early-season road games have been tough for a handful of ranked teams in 2008 and some have resulted in losses, making it difficult to move up in the Top 25.
Not falling into this category was the best thing the Red Raiders did Saturday, as Leach said there were many times his team could have given up.
"Our team did a good job staying composed, overcoming adversity and some things, then coming away with a very good win," he said. "This is kind of hard for teams to do early in the year; to be composed and hang through adversity on the road at this point to the extent our guys did. Nobody panicked and just waited out until we got our chances and then capitalized on them."
Through all of the adversity, Tech still fought hard defensively, causing turnovers and making huge contributions to the Red Raiders' win.
Tech finished the game forcing two turnovers, including an interception by defensive tackle Richards Jones.
The defense held for most of the game, as the offense could not push Tech to a substantial lead.
Tech defensive end Jake Ratliff said what impressed Leach so much Saturday has been the defense's agenda since the season started.
"It doesn't matter where you put us," he said, "we gotta do our job and do what we can every chance we get."
With the Red Raiders believing there is still work to be done offensively, the match up against SMU is a big opportunity to some on the team.
Tech receiver Eric Morris, who had an 86-yard punt return for a touchdown, said the play of the offense from the first two games of the season has not shaken anyone's mentality.
He said consistency is the key at this point.
"Our demeanor isn't very bad, especially in meeting (Sunday)," Morris said. "We understand that we're really close to hitting on some big plays. We just have to put a couple things together here and there. That's something that we have to be conscious of and we have to work at this week and get better at."
Morris knows what lies ahead.
He said with Big 12 Conference play around the corner, the game against SMU is the Red Raiders' chance to get over the growing pains.
"It's a big game for us," he said. "We kinda need to get rolling right now. About to be starting Big 12 play, it's coming up really soon. It's the time of the season where we need to start putting things together and start executing and get more consistent on offense."
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