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MORGANTOWN -- When asked how he's been sleeping these days, West Virginia defensive coordinator Tony Gibson had a very succinct answer.
"Not well," Gibson said during Tuesday's press conference. "Especially this week with watching this Texas Tech offense."
And with reason.
The Red Raiders (3-1, 1-0 Big 12) have been lighting up scoreboards like fireworks. Thanks to the play of a freshman quarterback, a deep and talented running back corps and an offensive front that returned intact, Texas Tech leads the nation in passing offense (435.8 ypg) and first downs (134) and is fifth nationally in scoring offense (52.0 ppg).
"We weren't successful until about midway through the third quarter," Gibson said about last year's 46-35 win in Morgantown. "Then, we finally calmed down a little bit. But early on, they had us on the ropes. I thought we ended the game well, but we did not start off very well. The second play of the game went for a touchdown. So, it wasn't good."
The primary architect of that start -- senior quarterback Nic Shimonek (24-39, 323 yards, 4 TDs) -- is gone, but Red Raiders coach Kliff Kingsbury has found himself another 'golden arm' in first-year player Alan Bowman.
Through the first four games (three starts) of his collegiate career, Bowman has thrown for 1,557 yards and 10 touchdowns with only two interceptions on 179 attempts while leading the country in passing yards per game (389.2) and ranking third nationally in total offense (387.3).
"Not surprisingly, (Kingsbury) found himself another young quarterback that is as good as advertised from what I've seen," WVU head coach Dana Holgorsen said. "Ever since he stepped in against Ole Miss, they've been playing at a very high level offensively.
"Kliff is doing a great job of mentoring that kid, training him, getting him ready to go, protecting him. They're doing a good job up front -- all five guys are back from last year, and they're better. They're running the ball adequately, a lot of run-pass stuff. And then, they just continue to reload at the receiver spot with guys that can make plays. Their two wideouts are really good players, (Antoine) Wesley and (T.J.) Vasher -- tall, matchup problems, and they're making a lot of plays. We have to be ready for about anything with this group, and it will be a huge challenge for us defensively, and one that I know we'll be ready for. It's completely different from what we've seen to date this year, so we're going to have to do a good job of giving our defense what they need practice-wise to get them prepared for what is a really, really different style of offense. I know we'll be up for that challenge."
Wesley already has 30 catches for 511 yards and four touchdowns while Vasher is fourth on the team with 16 catches for 273 yards and three scores.
When the Raiders do run the football look for Ta'Zhawn Henry (46-231, 6 TDs) and Demarcus Felton (37-202, 4 TDs) to see most of the work with SaRodorick Thompson (23-97, 3 TDs) and Da'Leon Ward (17-90, 2 TDs) proving depth.
"It starts with those guys up front," Holgorsen said. "Their (offensive) line guy was a guy I coached and was with (assistant coach -- offensive coordinator/quarterbacks) Jake (Spavital) at Cal, Brandon Jones, has does a good job.
"Everything starts up front with them. And then their backs, they have a revolving door at back; it's much like we have. They have a bunch of good, quality, capable backs they're going to just roll in there to keep guys fresh. They do a lot of run-pass options, a ton of it. That quarterback, to me, looks like he's making good decisions when he hands it and when he puts it in play."