Tiger defense must stop pass heavy Texas Tech

By Mike Bushnell

Published Oct. 19, 2007

With the No. 22 Texas Tech Red Raiders bringing the best offense in the country to Faurot Field on Saturday, members of the Missouri defense said they're prepared for some extra work.

"This is going to be a big challenge for our defense," senior safety Pig Brown said. "We've been waiting on this all year."

Texas Tech junior quarterback Graham Harrell has put up video game-like numbers in coach Mike Leach's pass-happy offense, having thrown for 3,151 yards, 31 touchdowns and three interceptions in seven games this season. He also averages 49 throws a game. Junior linebacker Brock Christopher said slowing down the Red Raider aerial assault will be tough.

"We know we need to keep their yardage down, but they're hard to keep down," he said.

Christopher said the key to stopping Harrell will lie in repeating what the defense did last October when the Tigers stunned Texas Tech 38-21 in Lubbock, Texas. The defense rattled Harrell early and hit him often.

"We used blitzes to get at Harrell, and we know quarterbacks don't like getting hit," he said. "We're going to have to set the tone early."

But the Missouri defense has allowed every opposing quarterback this season to throw for at least 223 yards, and Harrell averages 450.1 per game. Texas Tech also has two major receiving threats in freshman Michael Crabtree and senior Danny Amendola. Crabtree leads the country with 78 catches for 1,244 yards and 17 touchdowns.

"Crabtree is a very fine athlete," MU coach Gary Pinkel said. "When you look at the numbers he's putting up, they're unbelievable."

The combination of Harrell, Crabtree and Amendola will likely give the Missouri secondary its biggest challenge in what has already been a tough season. Cornerbacks' Coach Cornell Ford said the secondary will feature a mix of initiating contact at the line of scrimmage and waiting for Harrell to throw.

"You have more success when you mix it up," he said. "We have to keep them off balance. That's really the only way to stop this offense."

But Brown said he wasn't sure if stopping them was a possibility.

"I'm realistic," he said. "We just have to keep them under their average performance. It's hard to stop Harrell and Crabtree. You really can only hope to contain them."

Ford said when he evaluates the team's performance after the game, he will take the numbers with a grain of salt because of how good the Red Raider offense is.

"When they're so pass heavy, you understand that the numbers are skewed," he said. "I really just want them under 400 or 500 yards."

Sophomore linebacker Sean Weatherspoon said some members of the defense are actually looking forward to playing this offense because there will be more opportunities for interceptions.

"People are excited," he said. "Harrell's bound to throw an interception. When you throw it around as much as they do, something is bound to go wrong."

But with a touchdown to interception ratio greater than 10-to-1, not much has gone wrong to this point for Texas Tech's offense. Pinkel said if the Tigers can get Harrell off balance, then all bets are off.

"It's staggering," he said. "No one slows them down. If we make them execute and have to earn yards, hopefully they'll start to break down."