Tiger football to try to bounce back against Red Raiders

The high-powered Tiger passing offense faces a struggling Red Raider pass defense.

By John Montesantos

Published Nov. 5, 2010

The 7-1 Tigers will travel to Lubbock, Texas, to take on the 4-4 Red Raiders this Saturday. Both teams will look to rebound from big losses, as Missouri comes off its first loss of the season at Nebraska and Texas Tech was pummeled by in-state rival Texas A&M last week.

Missouri fell to No. 14 in the AP and Coaches' polls and No. 12 in the BCS rankings after last week’s loss.

The Tigers and the Red Raiders underachieved in last week’s road losses, each losing by double digits to division opponents. Junior quarterback Blaine Gabbert knows the 17 points the team put up in Lincoln are not enough to win in this league.

“We have to score more points,” Gabbert said. “Seventeen points is not enough to win a football game in the Big 12. You have to put up 35, 40 points a game, and that’s our goal every week.”

That goal might be an easy one to achieve this week as the pass-heavy Missouri offense faces a Texas Tech defense that has allowed nearly 400 passing yards per game over the last four weeks.

Missouri was held to a season-low 199 passing yards last week, so it will look to reassert its dominance through the air.

Sophomore wide receiver T.J. Moe will likely reap the benefits of the Red Raiders poor pass defense, but he refuses to underestimate any Big 12 opponent on the road.

“You’re away at a Big 12 stadium," Moe said. "That’s a difficult thing. Playing away is always hard no matter where you play, but especially in conference play.”

Texas Tech allowed a 100-plus-yard receiving day for two Texas A&M players last week, so look for the four core targets for Missouri to put up numbers.

Junior X-wideout Jerrell Jackson is one of those four, along with Moe, junior tight end Michael Egnew and junior Z-wide receiver Wes Kemp. After last week’s loss, Jackson said he knows his team needs to go undefeated from here on out.

“Whoever we play, we need to play them as hard as we can,” Jackson said. “It’s out of our control now. We’re just going to try to win out the rest of the season and whatever happens, happens.”

Coach Gary Pinkel has highlighted the lessons learned in Lincoln and has trained his team to move on and refocus.

One of the team's new focuses is on Texas Tech’s senior quarterback Taylor Potts. The team leader’s 21 touchdowns this year put him at fourth in the nation and second in the Big 12.

Potts has found senior-year success after his coach of three years left Texas Tech before this season. Tommy Tuberville is in his first year at the helm after 10-year coach Mike Leach’s retirement.

Pinkel knew the Texas Tech system under Leach and knows its new coach has put a personal twist on the old schemes.

“I really admire what (Leach) did at Texas Tech,” Pinkel said. “They’re rebuilding a program now. It’s a great history, and everybody throws their own twist to it.”

The game is set to begin at 7 p.m. at the Jones AT&T Stadium. Missouri holds a 5-2 all-time series lead and has won in its last three meetings.