Baron Batch Ready to Hit Stride in Texas Tech's New NASCAR Offense

LUBBOCK, TX. – Texas Tech senior running back Baron Batch had been a nice complimentary piece in Mike Leach's pass-first offense for what seemed like several years.

If he was needed to pass protect, that was no problem. If situations called for Batch to flank out and catch the football in space, that wasn't an issue either. And on the occasions when Batch needed to pick up critical yards on the ground, the speedy 5-foot-11, 205-pound back could shift and change direction to get get those, too.

But as talented and versatile as Batch had been, he was never quite the focal point.

That could finally change this season with a new coach, a new offense and a philosophical shift to a scheme that will look to still throw the ball a bunch under veteran head coach Tommy Tuberville, but will also resemble a balanced attack. It's that fact that has Batch all smiles with just a couple more weeks until the start of fall camp.

More Coverage: Batch a Dark Horse Heisman Candidate?

"This could be one of the best things for me. It is. That's a fact," Batch said to FanHouse recently as he sat in the room that will soon be Texas Tech's Hall of Fame. "The running back will be used more in this offense. But at the same time, it's still the spread, it's still a pass-first offense but, at the same time, you have to be able to run the ball to win championships. You can't show me a championship team that can't run the ball effectively."

Share
Leach, of course, tried to win championships through the air instead of with the legs of a capable of running backs like Batch. But Batch did show toward the end of last season that he is more than capable of putting up big numbers on the ground, rushing for 100 yards or more in three of the Red Raiders' final games.

Against Oklahoma's top-notch defense, Batch ran for 136 yards and two touchdowns on 25 carries to lift his team to the win. Naturally, Batch and others wonder what kind of success the Red Raiders might have had last season and in previous years if there had been more reliance on the run under Leach.

It's unlikely he will have to wonder under Tuberville, who will keep his word to remain a passing offense. But his defensive roots will demand he, at times, control the clock with a solid rushing attack.

"That's one of the things I am excited about because, at times in the past, I sometimes felt like an afterthought," said Batch, who rushed for 884 yards and 14 touchdowns last season. "To me, I always knew what ability I had. Finally I am going to get the chance to show it and I am excited about it.

"I've waited and waited and been patient and I've learned. I have been able to polish my game in other ways as far as pass protection, catching the ball, reading defenses and that is something that now I can add to what I am about to do and then get those increased touches. It's going to be a good year for me."

"I've waited and waited and been patient and I've learned. I have been able to polish my game in other ways as far as pass protection, catching the ball, reading defenses and that is something that now I can add to what I am about to do and then get those increased touches. It's going to be a good year for me."
-- Baron Batch, Texas Tech running back Which will be a needed shift from a rather tumultuous year in which Batch and his teammates saw Leach first be suspended and then fired after allegations surfaced about the coach mistreating a student-athlete as they prepared to meet Michigan State in the Alamo Bowl.

Since then, Batch has seemed to buy completely into the new coaching staff as he heads into his final season at Tech.

"It's all about the future here. We are not looking back," Batch said. "We are excited about what the future is going to bring. It's going to be good. I am just really happy to be a part of it.

"As far as missing the (previous) coaches, not necessarily. We are playing the cards that we've got. I think we've got a pretty good hand."

A self-professed student of the game, Batch's positive outlook could stem from the success he's seen running backs have under Tuberville's watch at Auburn. Batch can recite the NFL-drafted running backs who have played for Tuberville without taking a breath: Cadillac Williams, Ronnie Brown, Kenny Irons and Rudi Johnson.

Batch would like nothing more than to add his name to that list after this season.

"It's exciting," he said. "When I was in junior high and high school, I watched those guys at Auburn. I'm just excited to have coaches who have coached those caliber of players here now."

Still, Batch's enthusiasm has to be tempered some knowing that Tuberville has been up front that he will continue to throw the football because that is what the Tech fan base came to enjoy during Leach's 10 years. Tuberville has brought in Neal Brown from Troy to install the fast-paced NASCAR offense that will look to spread defenses out and create mismatches with slower linebackers and safeties covering receivers in space.

Batch, who has developed strong relationships with Brown and running backs coach Chad Scott, doesn't seem overly concerned that he will find a significant role in the offense.

"The thing about it, coaches come and go," he said. "We've had coaches come and go in the past. This is my third running backs coach now. It's just one of those things you have to learn how to adjust and take everything you learn and add it to your game. That's one thing I am really excited about with Coach Scott. He absolutely loves the game of football and knows his stuff in and out.

"It's kind of like taking another book off the shelf I can read from. It's definitely going to help me this year, especially going to the next level."

Batch is hoping the blend of versatility he learned under Leach's staff combined with what his expanded role could be this season will pay dividends down the road.

"You have to be a student of the game. You have to learn from each coach you have," Batch said. "If you are not getting the ball, you'd better learn how to get better when it's not in your hands. That's something that I've done. Now I am coming into an offense where the running back position is going to get the ball more and we will get more opportunities. It's exciting.

"These coaches are here to win games. Coach Scott and Coach Brown both said we will run for 500 yards if we can, we will throw for 600 yards in one game if we can. They don't really care as long as we win."