This offseason, Texas Tech head coach Kliff Kingsbury brought in new offensive coordinator Kevin Johns in large part because of his reputation as an innovator when it comes to running the football in the spread offense. In 2015, when Johns was coordinating the Indiana offense, the Hoosiers became the fourth FBS team ever to produce a 3,500-yard passer and two 1,000-yard rushers.
And early in the season, it appeared that the influence of the new OC was paying immediate dividends. Despite being hit with injuries to Da’Leon Ward, Tre King and Demarcus Felton, the Red Raider ground game was noticeably improved over a season ago.