Leading up to this week’s showdown with Texas Tech, Saturday Down South’s Drew Laing breaks down the battle between the Red Raiders and the Arkansas Razorbacks.

Texas Tech Red Raiders
Week 3 vs Arkansas (3:30 p.m. ET on ABC/ESPN 2)

THE SKINNY: Texas Tech is 2-0, but they’ve had a rocky start to the 2014 season. The Red Raiders squeaked by Central Arkansas in their season-opener by only seven points and followed up that performance with just a four-point road win over UTEP. Despite their inconsistent play, the Red Raiders have an explosive passing attack thanks to their Air Raid offensive style and super sophomore quarterback Davis Webb. With numerous weapons at running back and wide receiver, Texas Tech is always a threat to put up a lot of points every week.

KEY PLAYER: Surprise, surprise! Quarterback Davis Webb is Texas Tech’s key player for this game. Not only does the Air Raid offense start and end with him, but he should have plenty of opportunities to expose a questionable Arkansas secondary, thanks to his incredible arm strength. Webb has lost his composure at times this season, picking up an unsportsmanlike penalty last week and he’ll also missed receivers occasionally, but the sophomore is a dangerous player. Head coach Kliff Kingsbury will give him every chance to make plays this afternoon, so don’t be surprised if he approached 50 passing attempts.

WHAT TO WATCH: I’ve been talking all week about the Arkansas running backs and Texas Tech front seven, but I’ll go with a different matchup: Arkansas’ defensive line against the Texas Tech offensive line. Arkansas is tied for the SEC lead with seven sacks and is second in the conference with 16 tackles for loss. Their ability to get pressure on Webb and the rest of the Texas Tech backfield could make the Hogs’ secondary job much easier or much harder. A disruptive combination of Trey Flowers and Taiwan Johnson would give their defensive backs a huge boost and perhaps force Webb into some poor decisions. Otherwise, a lack of pressure on Webb could make Arkansas’ secondary vulnerable to some big plays throughout the game, making the prospects of getting a win in Lubbock much tougher.

FINAL SAY: It should be a shootout in Lubbock this afternoon between Arkansas and Texas Tech. As evenly matched as these teams are, I give the edge to Arkansas. I believe the Hogs’ power running game combined and ability to control time of possession will limit the effectiveness of the Texas Tech passing game. It’s close, but Arkansas finally takes that next step and earns a quality road win in Week 3.