SB Nation - Bront Bird

Double-T Nation Daily Diatribe :: 12.09.09

Seth C — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 12:10:01 -0000

More photos » by Tom Pennington - AP

16 days ago: TCU center Zvonko Buljan (15) scrambles for a loose ball against Texas Tech David Tairu (13) during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2009 in Fort Worth, Texas. Texas Tech beat TCU 80-70. (AP Photo/Tom Pennington)

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9-0: I didn't get a chance to either watch the game or listen to the game, but I'll throw up some post-game thoughts and feign some sort of expertise. Another nice win, on the road, and for those of you just checking in on things, the Red Raiders beat TCU 80-70 (Box Score).

Down from 14: That appears to be the theme of most of the game stories (LAJ's Courtney Linehan and FWST's Stefan Stevenson and TR's RRR also has post game thoughts). Head coach Pat Knight told his team to keep it close:

"If you can just keep this between four and six points you have a chance to do this," Tech coach Pat Knight told his team in the midst of its 9-0 run to close out the first half. "That was huge, because if we let them go on a run or hit some more shots on us then it would have been really hard for our guys to come back."

And TCU head coach Jim Christian had this to say about PF D`Walyn Roberts, who had 19 rebounds, 9 of them offensive, and 9 points:

"He’s not very big, but he’s very athletic and aggressive," Christian said of the 6-foot-7 Duncanville graduate. "He’s a great player and he’s going to do that when you don’t put a body on him and let him roam free, and that’s what he did."

And PK had is proud of Roberts' performance:

"I’m just glad people are finally noticing what D’walyn does," Knight said. "It’s the stuff that helps you win games. Sometimes it’s not the stuff that’s going to make SportsCenter, but it makes me happy."

Without Ray: This story by LAJ's Courtney Linehan wasn't published until after I posted yesterday's DD, but it essentially details the situation of PF Corbin Ray, who suffered a concussion in a scrimmage, and is still expected to miss another month. PK had this to say about Ray and his situation and the type of skill-set that Ray brings:

"The kid competes. He wants to play; that’s why he came here," Knight said. "You’ve got to be careful because he’s one of those kids who will tell you what he thinks you need to hear so he can play, not thinking about his own health. We’re taking it slow this time around to be sure."

Snip

"He’s not a post threat, really, but he can guard the post really well because he’s more athletic so he can get around the big guys," Knight said. "He’s really good at facing the basket and passing. From a defensive standpoint we don’t lose anything when he’s in, but from an offensive standpoint he’s different because he can set back screens and hit 3s."

Davis 1st Team All-American: Congrats to S Cody Davis for being named first team All-American by Phil Steele publications. Steele also released his All-Big 12 teams and there are a number of Red Raiders represented as Steele goes 4 teams deep. DT's Adam Coleman talked with Davis about how he plays (there's also some quotes from other players about Davis):

"Just flying out to the ball," Davis said. "Being around the ball, just trying to make the secure tackle whenever it comes my way.

"But I’m still looking for my interception. I’m so hungry for it."

Initial Bowl Allotment Sold Out . . . Not So Fast: LAJ's Don Williams wrote last night that Texas Tech has sold out their initial bowl allotment, but then Texas Tech posted that the the allotment has been replenished.

MSU Suspended Players: FWST's Dwain Price writes that head captain Mike Leach had this to say about the Michigan St. suspended players and how that can affect a team:

"Sometimes a team gets better by getting rid of some folks,'' Leach said. "The other thing is those guys have a funny way of being available by the time you play them, so who knows?''

DT's Alex Ybarra talked with some of the players about the same topic, and LB Bront Bird feels that the backups are just as good as those players suspended:

"This is a Division I level, and that’s a big conference," linebacker Bront Bird said. "The guy (who was suspended), his backup is probably just as good as him. I honestly don’t pay too much attention to all that, and I don’t think we as a team should either."

Snip

"Suspensions are tough for a team, you can either keep moving and try to fight forward or some teams it can ruin their season," Bird said. "Obviously, I have no idea what their mindset is. Yeah they can be tough, but if you’re mentally tough, I’m sure their group will push through it and they’ll be just fine."

Hawaiian Trip: It appears that the coaches will be taking a trip to Hawaii to recruit LB V.J. Fehoko, who is the brother of Texas Tech's own LB Sam Fehoko, and was also named as the High School Athlete of the Year. I wish the coaching staff well in their travels.

Double-T Nation Daily Diatribe :: 11.25.09

Seth C — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 12:03:49 -0000

More photos » by Sue Ogrocki - AP

about 1 month ago: Texas Tech defensive back Jamar Wall, right, reaches in to intercept a pass intended for Oklahoma tight end Trent Ratterree, left, in the fourth quarter of an NCAA college football game in Lubbock, Texas, Saturday, Nov. 21, 2009. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

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Friday Night Isolation: LAJ's Don Williams writes about the routine that the football program goes through each Friday night, which is going to the team hotel. DC Ruffin McNeill likes to isolate the team:

"I think you have to isolate the main core of the team,’’ said McNeill, the Texas Tech defensive coordinator. "They have got to be on the same page and have the same amount of football focus time as a group — as well as the coaches. It keeps us on the same page for a 48-hour period.’’

It was also fairly interesting to see Captain Mike Leach's comments regarding the proposed California legislation to outlaw (I like the word "outlaw") this practice:

"They act like it’s an unreasonable extravagance,’’ Leach said. "What about the burden on student-athletes having to go out there and perform in front of tens of thousands, furthermore, on national TV and not be able to put their best foot forward because they can’t get a good night’s sleep? It’s crazy. It’s crazy to the point I would like to meet the individuals in the Pac-10 that were foolish enough to propose it.’’

Influencing Academics: DT's Jon Vanderlaan writes about how Leach has positively affected the academics since he's been the head coach:

"I’ve got more degrees than I use. Than I know what to do with, really. And at one time more than I could afford," he said. "There’s no question you should have high academics. And there should be no excuse for not graduating people."

Despite the occasional temptation to be territorial between academics and athletics, Leach said, he supports the academic departments because it is another part of the university that enhances the quality of life for the students.

"I think attention to the university in general is very positive," he said. "For example, if someone looks to Tech for engineering or something like that and gets excited for our football team, that helps me. Just like if someone gets excited for the football team and looks at our math department, that helps our math department."

I love that this program graduates players and holds players accountable for their grades. Very proud of that.

Football Notebook: LAJ's Don Williams' notebook has the note that RG Brandon Carter will play in the East-West Shrine Game, which is scheduled for January 23, 2010 in Florida . . . a number of players were honored by being named to the academic All-Big 12 team:

First-team honorees were those with a grade-point average of 3.2 or higher. From Tech, those were linebacker Bront Bird (business major), cornerback Taylor Charbonnet (general business), safety Cody Davis (business), defensive tackle David Neill (human development and family studies), guard Mickey Okafor (pre-dental), tackle Chris Olson (general business), quarterback Taylor Potts (pre-physical therapy), flanker Alex Torres (general business) and inside receiver Austin Zouzalik (general business).

Second-team honorees were those with a GPA between 3.0 and 3.19. From Tech, those were kicker-punter Donnie Carona (general business) and defensive end Brandon Sharpe (human development and family studies).

. . . DC Ruffin McNeill talks about DB Trent Nickerson and LB Chris Wallace each getting a play during Saturday's game against Oklahoma because of their commitment to the team:

"Senior, great leader,’’ McNeill said Tuesday. "Great enthusiast on the sideline. He’s a guy who knew his role on the football team, accepted his role and took it to another level. He always has great support for whoever’s playing on offense, defense or special teams. He’s been a scout-team guy for us and gave us great looks.’’

Baylor Bear and Big 12 Links: Waco Tribune's John Werner writes that the Bears are bowing out earlier than expected, but in grand style at Jerry's World . . . the SAEN looks at the 8 teams that have a shot at playing the Alamo Bowl . . .

First Non-Conference Win on the Road Since 2006: That's all you really need to know. The game looked well in hand for a good part of the first half and second half, but the SFA Lumberjacks came storming back in the second half. This is the sort of game that we would have talked about had Texas Tech lost the game, even if it was close, but with a 1 point win, I don't know that we'll be talking about this game in a month. If this game were a loss, it would be discussed until the end of the season. As far as game-play is concerned, G David Tairu didn't have a huge game, but he did his the 3-pointer that put the game away. There was a point late in the game where Tairu chastised SF Mike Singletary for taking an ill-advised shot late in the game, when Tairu was incredibly open. It's interesting to see that dynamic with Tairu being one of the new guys but feeling comfortable correcting his teammates. Tairu is probably the most fundamentally sound player I've seen for Texas Tech, on both sides of the ball. I'd be completely fine if the offense ran through Tairu as I think he has the makeup to be that sort of player.

The thing that bothers me the most is that I'm not sure that this team has a guy that knows how or wants to set up his teammates. Right now there's a lot of one-on-one and not much offensive flow. I'm struggling as to why this team, which has a core players who have been around for 3 years, can't figure out how to get guys involved. Offensively, this team is frustrating so long as there isn't one guy willing to take the team on their back.

Defensively, there were frustrating points for sure. Singletary and Roberson still have their defensive lapses and I think there was 4 points that Singletary gave up because he simply lost his man under the basket . . . twice. I thought that for the most part, Tairu, PF Darko Cohadarevic, SF D`Walyn Roberts and SF Brad Reese all looked good defensively.

Darko's Big Night: LAJ's Courtney Linehan focuses on Cohadarevic leading this team with 18 points and 3 boards. Here's head coach Pat Knight on his depth and the play of Darko:

"Lew and Corbin, they gave us some good minutes, then Darko got his stuff together on the bench, came back in and played well," Knight said. "I think that’s the best thing, if your kid’s struggling, the bench is almost like brain surgery."

And Darko knows that he must rebound better:

"I should go for boards more," he said. "This should not happen again."

Linehan has a notebook with this quote from PK:

"It’s huge. They say you can’t take anybody lightly on the road, even after you built a big lead you think it’s over, but they’re able to hang on like that," he said. "We got down early, came back, got the lead, got a big lead, let them back in. It will help us prepare for the Big 12."

. . . PF Corbin Ray returned after suffering a concussion in a pre-season scrimmage . . . Darko takes some of the blame on himself for trying to post-up too much rather than screen for teammates:

"After I hit the 17-foot jumper, I thought for a second, they’re not guarding me. Then after I got the post move under them they fouled me and I realized they cannot guard me low because I’m technically sound. I realized I’ve got to post up. Later on I got lost a little bit, I posted up too much, and the coaches wanted me to down screen away, down screen, flare screen to get other guys open, but I got caught up in posting up too much. I can take the blame for them catching up our 15-point lead because of that."

Double-T Nation Daily Diatribe :: 11.21.09

Seth C — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 12:20:20 -0000

Let's hope this happens. ~~I'd love to give credit to whoever did this, if you know, leave a comment.~~ Texas Tech alum Brian Crowell gets credit for the photoshop skills. Thanks to Brian for the foreshadowing.

Senior Day: LAJ's Don Williams writes that on previous senior days, the Red Raiders have made it count. The first 2 paragraphs were pretty good:

Texas Tech tackle Marlon Winn started the week reminding teammates the added significance of today’s regular-season home finale against Oklahoma. It’ll be the last trip down the tunnel at Jones AT&T Stadium for 19 Red Raiders seniors.

"He said it (Sunday) night: ‘How would you want to be sent out when you’re a senior?’’’ Tech linebacker Bront Bird said. "’We have a lot of freshmen and sophomores playing right now. Think about whenever it’s your time, how you want your legacy to be left in the Jones.’ So I think the team’s going to rally around that.’’

Injuries Hurt Red Raiders and Sooners: LAJ's Don Williams runs down the injury situation for both teams and reminds me that the only significant injuries that Texas Tech suffered that year was DT Rajon Henley for 3 games and G Louis Vasquez and CB L.A. Reed for 2 games. I could spend quite a bit of time going over the injury situation this year, but it's certainly been significant.

Howard Has No Limits: FWST's Dwain Price features DE Daniel Howard, who fellow teammate LB Bront Bird feels that Howard isn't as known and opposing linemen should know about him:

"Maybe he’s not as tall as the other guys, or as strong, or maybe not even as fast, but he makes up for that in effort, that’s for sure," Red Raiders linebacker Bront Bird said.

"I’m not sure what [opposing offensive linemen] think of him, but I know they better respect him. He causes havoc off the edge, I know that much."

Here's Howard on coming to Texas Tech:

"I got recruited by the rest of the schools around here to play linebacker, and Tech was the one that came in and told me, 'You’re going to play defensive end.’ I said, 'OK,’ because everybody else told me I was too small [to play defensive end], I wasn’t fast enough and I wasn’t tall enough, and I think as a defense we’re making statements because we’re all those guys."

Go read the whole thing, it's worth your time.

Oklahoma Sooner and Big 12 Links: Crimson and Cream Machine with 5 keys to beating Texas Tech . . . NewsOK's David Ubben with the weekly blitz package . . . NewsOK's Jake Trotter writes that the Sooners might need some magic today . . . NewsOK's Berry Tramel writes that the Sooners have struggled on the road . . . the Tulsa World with 3 storylines for today's game . . . FWST's Mike Jones with a look at RB DeMarco Murray and WR Ryan Broyles are playmakers . . . LAJ's Adam Zuvanich wirtes that the OU defense is one of the best in the Stoops era . . .

Game Tonight: Lamar Cardinals vs. Texas Tech Red Raiders
Time: 7:00 p.m. :: Location: United Spirit Arena, Lubbock, Texas
Preview and Game Day Thread: Scheduled for 6:00 p.m. post

Stressing Defense: LAJ's Courtney Linehan writes that head coach Pat Knight is stressing defense:

Skeletons dance across the backs of the Texas Tech men’s basketball players. The frightful figures are printed on their T-shirts, but they carry a message coach Pat Knight hopes rattles his team this season: Play to the bone.

"It’s a fighting term: it means you have to fight to the end, until that final bell goes off," Knight said after the Raiders’ 94-75 win against Northwestern State on Thursday. "Look at boxing, how many guys lose it in the 12th round, get knocked out because they’re playing it safe or just think they have the fight won."

And Knight was not happy with the first the first half of the game against Northwestern St.:

"It was going back to the same old BS as last year: not guarding people, trying to out-gun the other team. You might be able to do that against some teams in the preseason, but you’re not going to be able to out-gun Texas and Kansas."

Five Reasons Texas Tech Will Win ::Oklahoma Sooners Edition

Seth C — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:00:21 -0000

This weekly feature considers five reasons why Texas Tech will win and five reasons Texas Tech will lose to each opponent. Related: Five Reasons Texas Tech Will Lose ::Oklahoma Sooners Edition.

Reason #1 :: Desperation: I try hard not to claim that a particular team is any more desperate than the other, but I do believe, or perhaps I hope to believe that the Red Raiders realize the road in front of them. Win on Saturday and your team has quieted quite a few critics, your team becomes bowl eligible and you go into the last game of the season not playing desperate football. I would guess that the Sooners are playing desperate football too, but there's this hopeful thought that the fact that it's the seniors last game, that this team will make it happen.

Reason #2 :: Stopping the Run: I pointed out the other day that the Sooners are highly successful when they run the ball, but when they cannot get the ground game going, the Sooners tend to lose. I'm sure that Jones has the potential to be Texas Tech, but if it were me, I'd make him win the game. If the Red Raiders can stack to stop the run, limiting DeMarco Murray and Chris Brown to the type of yardage that they get in losses, which is about 100 yards a game, then consider that a success. In fact, the stats tell the same story for the Red Raiders. In wins, the defense only gives up 84 yards a game, but in losses, it's 210 yards on the ground. If there was ever a clear statistic to a Texas Tech victory, this might be it.

Reason #3 :: Despite the Offense: Despite all of the issues with the offense, whether it be inconsistent quarterback play, receivers dropping passes, the offensive line ushering defenders to the quarterback or running backs that may not run as hard as we'd like, but you're still talking about the #2 passing offense in the country and the #6 offense overall. I'll certainly grant you that the offense would be significantly better if the quarterbacks cut down all of the turnovers, but that's the key here. Despite certain parts of the offense, it's still getting done. The lowest point total for the year was last week against Oklahoma St. with 17 points. I'd be willing to be quit a bit of money that there's no way that the Sooners could or would really want to pull off the same type of gut-punching drives that the Cowboys did last week. Leach hardly cares about time of possession, but when your down close to 15 minutes to the opponent, you tend to think that if the Red Raiders had the ball more, Texas Tech would have scored.

Reason #4 :: Pressuring Jones: Sometimes when the Red Raiders do well in a certain category, I tend to discount that success and consider it an anomaly. I somewhat feel that way about the fact that the Red Raiders are 2nd in the nation in sacks. Perhaps I discounted the importance of having Brandon Sharpe, who if you recall wasn't available for the Texas game and was a shadow of himself during the Texas A&M game. That's 2 losses that you would think would have been closer had the Red Raiders had Sharpe's contributions. That's not to say that the workman-like effort produced by Daniel Howard isn't wholly appreciated and the pressure by Rajon Henley (1 sack last week) should create some true match-up problems for the Oklahoma offensive line. It's one thing to plan for just one defensive play-maker, but there should be plenty of contributions for Howard, Henley, Colby Whitlock, Richard Jones and possibly Bront Bird on Saturday.

Reason #5 :: Thank You: Edward Britton :: Austin Burns :: Shawn Byrnes :: Brandon Carter :: Ryan Hale :: Rajon Henley :: Daniel Howard :: Victor Hunter :: Richard Jones :: Jake Myatt :: Brent Nickerson :: Sandy Riley :: De'Shon Sanders :: Brandon Sharpe :: Jamar Wall :: Chris Wallace :: Marlon Williams :: Marlon Winn.

Double-T Nation Daily Diatribe :: 11.17.09

Seth C — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 11:53:39 -0000

Sticking With Potts: LAJ's Don Williams writes (also found here with DT's Alex Ybarra) that Captain Mike Leach admitted yesterday that he should have stuck with Potts on Saturday, which seems to me to be a clear indication that Leach will be going with Potts for the rest of the year, barring some unforeseen event. Here's Leach:

"I probably should have kept (Taylor) Potts in the whole game,’’ Leach said during his weekly Monday news conference. "I should have played him the whole game.’’

Asked if that thought was based on what he saw from Potts or what he didn’t see from Steven Sheffield, Leach said, "I base it more just on the shuffling around. I don’t need to mess with a bunch of shuffling around.’’

And Leach has quarterback regret:

"Well, the last time was when I felt like I messed with Chris Todd a little too much with regard to Graham Harrell that first year (Harrell started),’’ Leach said. "I should have just kept Graham in. There were several series I played with Chris Todd. Not to take anything away from Chris Todd, and part of it is you want to give a guy perspective. But part of it is there’s a disruption to it, too. I got a little fancy with that, I thought. That’d probably be the last time.’’

I find this fascinating that Leach has this sort of regret (and regret is probably not the right word, but just go with me) regarding his quarterback play. I think Leach knows quarterbacks and he probably thought that he may have gotten a bit fancy on Saturday.

OU Tail Whipping: FWST's Dwain Price and DT's Alex Ybarra write that the Texas Tech players have not forgotten last year's loss to Oklahoma and this quote from RT Marlon Winn made me laugh out loud this morning:

"The thing I remember the most about that game is when the Kriss Kross song 'Jump’ came on, there were 80-year old women getting out of their wheel chairs and jumping up and down," offensive tackle Marlon Winn said. "The whole stadium was jumping up and down, and it was just demoralizing and it was one of the most humbling situations you can ever be in.

And Leach says that the team needs to put that loss behind them:

"They need to not worry about it," he said. "They need to forget it. All that counts is the next game. Nothing from that game impacts this game. There’s not one play that we made or they made that affects this game. Any reflection on that is a complete waste of time."

FWST's Dwain Price also logs a couple of blog posts, the first from LB Bront Bird, who says that Texas Tech has a lot of respect for OU:

In the ultimate respect paid to OU, Bird said: "One thing I know about Oklahoma is that _ we always say this as a joke _ whenever they step out on the field and they are coming out of their tunnel, that is what some of the best athletes in the whole country look like and it’s true. It doesn’t matter if it is their second string, third string, whatever.

"Those guys get amazing recruits and whoever it is going to be that lines up is going to be good. And you can never underestimate a team like that, when you have that kind of recruiting and that kind of coaching and that kind of school history.''

. . . and the second blog post with a little more detail about how Leach wants the players to forget about 2008 and the seniors don't need to get all emotional:

"We're looking forward to them as well as coming in and playing another game,'' Leach said. "We missed too many opportunities this last game.

"We're preparing to do the best we can and see where it takes us. Right now we are a team that is explosive, but we're not real consistent.''

Snip

"It's kind of a milestone that it's their last home game,'' Leach said of the seniors. "We have two more games after that (if they are bowl eligible) and we don't need a bunch of bologna.''

Football Notebook: LAJ's Don Williams football notebook suggests that there's a reason why Harrison Jeffers has not been utilized recently:

"Some of that’s kind of up to Harrison," Leach said. "When Harrison plays hard, he has a tendency to get into the lineup. When Harrison jogs around, he tends to not be in the lineup. So we’ll see how that goes."

. . . Leach would like for his receivers to play better this week:

"We had a bunch of receivers just eat, ride and warm up this last week," Leach said, "and they need to take it upon themselves to improve. This business that I’m going to pretend it’s otherwise, that’s just not the case. So I’ll address that with them – and have, and will do it repeatedly."

. . . and your captains for the week are IR Austin Zouzalik, RB Baron Batch, RT Marlon Winn, DE Daniel Howard and LB Bront Bird (congrats to all 5 players). . .

Oklahoma Sooner and Big 12 Links: NewsOK's Jake Trotter with an OU football notebook and a bit about the new uniforms that OU will wear on Saturday (I do not understand why OU didn't save these for a home game) . . . LAJ's Adam Zuvanich has lots of Big 12 notes (this is actually an enjoyable read for me personally and I do not know why it's relegated to his blog rather than the actual paper) . . . TR's dedfischer with an OSU post-morten . . .

Tairu Named Big 12 Rookie of the Week: Congrats to G David Tairu, who just wrapped up being named the MVP of the Duel in the Desert on Sunday, to being named the Big 12 Rookie of the Week:

Tairu was named the MVP of the Duel in the Desert Tournament as the Red Raiders started the season with a 3-0 record. The junior guard led the team in scoring in two of three contests, averaging 14.0 points for the weekend. He started all three games, connecting on 14-of-27 (.519) shots from the field. He was also 5-of-9 (.556) from the floor and 9-of-11 (.818) from the charity stripe, while adding three assists and three steals. Tairu’s accolade marks just the sixth time in Big 12 history a Tech player has won rookie honors.

Neglected video after the jump, both football and basketball.

Neglected Video: KAMC and Fox34 with G David Tairu winning MVP of the Duel in the Desert . . . Fox34 on who will play quarterback against OU (there's no answer, it's what you would call a tease) . . . NewsChannel 11 with some clips from Leach's press conference from yesterday:

Five Reasons Texas Tech Will Win :: Oklahoma St. Cowboys Edition

Seth C — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 18:00:42 -0000

by Mike Fuentes - AP

2 months ago: Texas Tech head coach Mike Leach talks with his team in the second quarter of an NCAA college football game against Texas A&M in Lubbock, Texas, Saturday, Oct. 24, 2009. (AP Photo/Mike Fuentes)

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This weekly feature considers five reasons why Texas Tech will win and five reasons Texas Tech will lose to each opponent. Related: Five Reasons Texas Tech Will Lose :: Oklahoma St. Cowboys Edition Edition.

Reason #1 :: Bye Week Rest: It's rare that a team gets a entire week to get healthy this late in the year. I can't be totally sure, but perhaps this season more than others, the team needed a break. I do not want to try to exaggerate the strain of a collegiate football player and his studies, but I'm sure it's not easy. Couple that with the fact that there's a certain level of focus that's required each and every week (some weeks more than other -- ahem). There's no doubt that the actual time away from the field helped heal those nagging injuries that kept out Brett Dewhurst, Will Ford, Brandon Carter, and getting Steven Sheffield back to a point where he's practicing with the team. And hopefully this week, the team is anxious and excited to get back on the field. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, or somesuch. All I know is that there's no excuse for this team not to be 100% ready to play on Saturday.

Reason #2 :: Deferring to the Run: After the Kansas game, there was quite a bit of credit given to QB Taylor Potts making the right call at the line of scrimmage to simply give the ball to RB Baron Batch for huge gains and essentially breaking that game open. I think it was great to see the team give credit where credit was due, and if there was any situation where the team may have suffered some discension amongst it's players, I got the feeling that the team rallied for Potts. If there was ever a case where the entire offense must work together in order to make the right calls and reads, it was the 2nd half against Kansas. If one part of that process fails, then the plays don't happen, the blocks do not get blocked and the offense forces plays where it's not necessary. I don't think anyone could have guessed that the arrival of Potts in the 2nd half of the Kansas may have been the seminal moment where the team decided to come together, but I'd be pretty happy if it was.

Reason #3 :: Wearing Them Down: I'm going out on a limb here, but this is an optimistic look, right? In any event, one of the biggest issues that this team has had all year is the health of the defensive line, in particular the defensive ends. If it's not one of the 3 of Daniel Howard, Brandon Sharpe or Rajon Henley, it's sometimes been 2 of them. But this week, all 3 players are healthy, along with LB Bront Bird, who will and could see plenty of time in the hybrid/joker position, you've got at the very least an opportunity to wear down the Cowboys offensive line. I haven't watched enough Oklahoma St. football to know if they've faced 3 very solid pass rushers in the Texas Tech trio. I've said it 100 times on DTN, but this group may not make an immediate impact, but I think that at some point they'll out-work the OSU offensive line. I'm hoping like hell that there's still a bit of chip on their shoulder for the TAMU performance and they constantly work and force OSU into some mistakes.

Reason #4 :: Big Time Playmakers: The Oklahoma St. team seems to me to be a bunch of grinders, which can be both blessing and a curse. The Cowboys were robbed of the two offensive players that were going to be difference makers for them this year, although it appears that RB Kendall Hunter is becoming more healthy by the minute. The thing about both units is that I don't think that there's a player on either side of the ball, sans Okung, who I think can dominate a game or who scares the piss out of me from a big play perspective. If you make a comparison with the Texas Tech offense or defnese, I think you could make the case that the Texas Tech offense has a handful of potential playmakers and the defense has their stalwarts as well. That's not to say that the Cowboys don't have players that can't or won't make play, but with the loss of Bryant and the loss of Hunter for most of the year, I think the OSU offense has lacked a certain punch and that lack of punch has me feeling confident.

Reason #5 :: Tough Losses at Home: Oklahoma St. has had a rough go at it at home against ranked teams this year. The 2 OSU losses were to both Houston and Texas. You'd think that perhaps this trend is to say that OSU doesn't want to lose at home again, but perhaps the truth of the matter might be that OSU might not be as tough at home as other Big 12 opponents. Obviously, these 2 losses were to 2 very talented teams, the Red Raiders can certainly attest to that, but OSU lost 3 fumbles and threw another interception against Houston and had 1 lost fumble and 4 interceptions against Texas. Not surprisingly, OSU lost 2 of the 3 games where the Cowboys had a negative turnover margin (the lone win was against Grambling). Perhaps most of all, the worrisome part for Pokes is that in those big games, you've got to value the ball and every possession. I'm not completely convinced that Oklahoma St. has figured this out.

Taking a Breath :: Looking Ahead to the Texas Tech Defense of 2010

Seth C — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 15:00:29 -0000

by Dave Weaver - AP

Nebraska's Chris Brooks (1), is brought down by Texas Tech's Cody Davis, in the second half of their NCAA college football game in Lincoln, Neb., Saturday, Oct. 17, 2009. Texas Tech beat Nebraska 31-10.(AP Photo/Dave Weaver)

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THE DEFENSE

With the football bye week, DTN is taking this opportunity to look at Texas Tech's offense and defense in 2010. Up today is a look at the 2-deep, the talented players who are on the roster, but have not contributed much this year, the 2010 defensive recruiting class and a look back at the past 5 years recruits and the washout rate of players who were recruited by Texas Tech.

Who Returns (2010 Projected 2-Deep)

POSITION	PLAYER	STATS	YEAR
DE	Ryan Haliburton	6-4/245	SO
	Aundrey Barr	6-3/238	RS FR
	Christopher Knighton	6-3/240	RS FR
	Kerry Hyder	6-3/255	RS FR
DT	Colby Whitlock	6-2/287	SR
	Chris Perry	6-4/300	JR
	Pearlie Graves	6-1/278	RS FR
	Myles Wade	6-2/340	JR
LB	Bront Bird	6-3/240	SR
	Brian Duncan	6-1/240
	Tyrone Sonier	6-2/225	JR
	Sam Fehoko	5-11/220	JR
	Brandon Mahoney	6-2/203	RS FR
	Dion Chidozie	6-1/194	RS FR
CB	LaRon Moore	5-9/200	SR
	Taylor Charbonnet	5-10/175	JR
	D.J. Johnson	6-0/170	SO
	Yashua Williams	6-3/181	RS FR
S	Franklin Mitchem	6-2/198	SR
	Cody Davis	6-2/200	SO
	Brett Dewhurst	6-0/193	JR
	Will Ford	6-1/186	SO

If it's not incredibly clear, the weakness of this team will be at defensive end. I've mentioned this a couple of times and for 2 years straight, Texas Tech is losing quite a bit of production from the defensive end position. The key to all of this is that no one has seen any of these guys play on the collegiate level, other than Haliburton, who has done reasonably well in some spot duty early in the season and filling in for Howard, Sharpe and Henley during the early part of the season when there were so many injuries.

The strength of the defense will be up front with the return of Whitlock and Perry, who should form a formidable front and I think there's plenty of talent behind them in Graves and Wade. Much like Jacob Karam, Graves travels with the team and that's an indication that his personality in infectious and reading the tea leaves, he is going to be a player next year. I'd also mention that I do not see any of these tackles moving to defensive end. Perhaps that changes during the spring, but for the time being, I think this is your 2-deep.

Linebacker also returns 2 of the 3 starters from this year. Marlon Williams has been servicable, but he's been virtually non-existent for the better part of conference play, this past weekend's game excluded. You can expect Sonier to fill Williams spot at WLB. I'm also intrigued by Mahoney and Chidozie, who perhaps represent a change in the type of linebacker that Ruffin McNeill wants, which are projectable athletes who can run. If you see a change in philosophy, I think it starts at linebacker and continues to the secondary.

Jamar Wall will be the only player that needs replacement in the secondary next year and Johnson will have to step up his game during the offseason. I think the staff is enamored with his athletic ability, but you saw against TAMU how athletic ability can only carry you so far, he's got to be better from a technique standpoint as well. Ford should also take a step in the right direction this offseason and I may be in the minority, but I'd like to see more Charbonnet and expect Y. Williams to get some time next year as well. All in all, a pretty experienced group returning next year.

Lots more after the jump.

Don't Sleep On

DT: Britton Barbee (6-2/296; SR) and David Neill (6-5/280; JR)
DE: Jonathan Brydon (6-3/220; SR)
LB: None
CB: Jarvis Phillips (6-0/189; RS FR)
S: Jared Flannel (5-11/167; JR); Aaron Charbonnet (5-11/201; RS FR); Andre McCorkle (6-2/204; JR); Daniel Cobb (6-1/211; RS FR) and Terrance Bullitt (6-3/182; RS FR)

I think the only guys that I'm comfortable stating could make an impact from this group is Cobb and Bullitt, although I like Barbee and Neill from a depth perspective

Recruiting

POSITION	PLAYER	STATS	RR	STARS
DE	Kedrick Dial	6-5/215	5.6	3
DE	Jackson Richards	6-4/245	5.8	4
DT	Coby Coleman	6-3/290	5.7	3
DT	Lawrence Rumph	6-4/270	5.7	3
LB	Zac Winbush	6-2/200	5.5	3
DB	Urell Johnson	6-1/185	5.6	3
DB	Desmond Martin	6-0/173	5.6	3
DB	Russell Polk	5-11/200	5.6	3
DB	Tre'Vante Porter	6-0/185	5.7	3
DB	Brandon Smith	6-1/175	5.6	3
AVERAGE			5.63	3.09

If additional recruits are added, I think it's on the defensive side of the ball, namely at defensive end or linebacker. The one guy that I think could get some burn next year is Rumph, especially with the lack of defensive end. Keep in mind that Rumph was luke-warm when he committed to Texas Tech, so I would not count on his commitment until he's actually signed. I think you could also see Richards make an impact next year and Dial is another player who might make a difference next year. Richards is one of the more higher rated players of the class, he's a mature player and already has the size to play defensive end on the collegiate level. At this point, I'd imagine that it's about technique more than anything else. The sleeper of this group might be Martin, who was highly impressive in his film and possibly Porter.

Recruit Trending

YEAR	AVG. RR	AVG. STARS	WASHOUT RATE
2010	5.63	3.09	-
2009	5.57	3.00	2/15 = 13.33%
2008	5.63	3.13	5/8 = 62.50%
2007	5.47	2.70	2/10 = 20.00%
2006	5.53	2.89	7/19 = 36.84%

Disclaimer: I'm using the Rivals recruiting rankings and each player is assigned an RR number and a star.

To explain again, the Washout Rate are players who either never made it on campus or played only 1 year. As you'll note, the 2008 class was small, only 16 recruits total (keep in mind that there will be some classes that are smaller than others and a staff is typically limited to a certain number of scholarships in relation to the number of players on scholarship) but you had guys like Joey Fowler, McKinner Dixon, Broderick Marshall, Brandon Sesay and Brandon Reid (who could return to Texas Tech after a stint at JUCO) that all never made it at Texas Tech. This was Ruffin's first class officially, but this was also the same year that he replaced Setencich. If you wanted to take a look at the year that McNeill was in place early as the defensive coordinator then it's really the 2009 class that's his first class from start of the recruiting season to signing day. In that 2009 class you only had Romario Cathey who never made it on campus and James Scott, another guy who has gone the JUCO route but has a good chance of returning to Lubbock.

Double-T Nation Daily Diatribe :: 10.27.09

Seth C — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 11:03:55 -0000

Still Running Behind: I'm not going to have anything new up today as I'm still running a bit behind and wasn't able to work last night. I think I'll be able to resume my schedule tomorrow, but in the meantime, make sure and check out SkinPatrol's answers on this week's Big 12 Roundtable.

Doege Looks to Start: LAJ's Don Williams writes about how Leach is voicing that supporting for QB Seth Doege for this Saturday's game against Kansas. Here's Leach:

"I thought he looked really good,’’ Leach said during the team’s weekly Monday news conference. "I thought he played good. He didn’t try to make too much happen. He’s got a good arm, and he’s a sharp guy. Just read the material in front of you and don’t add to it and read between the lines. I thought he did a good job of that.’’

And WR Alexander Torres had this to say about Doege:

Flanker Alex Torres said he wasn’t surprised by Doege’s performance because he "loves playing and has passion for the game.’’

"I wasn’t too surprised with the way he performed at all,’’ Torres said, "just because I’ve seen what he can do in practice. I have confidence in him.’’

More about that "passion for the game" next . . .

Wanted -- Enthusiasm: FWST's Dwain Price has a lengthy blog-post about how this team needs to be more enthusiastic and mentions that players like DB Trent Nickerson, QB Jacob Karam and DT Pearlie Graves, who all may not play or should be redshirted this year, are making the travel squad because they're excited about playing Texas Tech football. Leach goes on to say that making excuses about not having QB Steven Sheffield enthusiasm is now just an excuse.

"That is just an excuse,'' said Leach, when asked if his team missed Sheffield's enthusiasm against the Aggies. "They can generate their own enthusiasm.

"They need Sheffield for enthusiasm and Sheffield does a great job of that, there is no question and that is an important role for a player to have. They need to have their own damn enthusiasm. What is the matter with you?''

Snip

"We travel 70 people to this game that can generate their own enthusiasm, and the fact that they have been at this for years and years and years should be reason for enthusiasm enough,'' Leach said. "Any mopey-whinyness, we will go roll around in some damn sand and see if that is enthusiasm.

"There are people we bring on the sideline because they do a great job of enthusiam. Like (redshirt senior defensive back) Trent Nickerson, like (freshman defensive tackle) Pearlie Graves, like (freshman quarterback) Jacob Karam. We are going to redshirt those guys, but those guys have great enthusiasm, and the notion that we are bringing underclassmen to generate enthusiasm and we have upperclassmen laying around here, that should tell you something right there.

"Those guys whining about enthusiasm can get off their (butts) and be enthusiastic.''

Apologizing for the Performance: FWST's Dwain Price had this from LB Bront Bird, who took it upon himself to apologize to the Texas Tech fanbase:

"I apologize to the fans and we appreciate their support," Bird said. "We just didn’t come out as a team ready to play and that’s something we owe our fans.

"We have some of the most loyal fans there are around. They’re rowdy and we pride ourselves in the Jones."

Football Notebook: LAJ's Don Williams has some notes about Mike Leach's thoughts on Kansas coach Mark Mangino:

"I know Mark pretty well, and he’s a friend of mine,’’ Leach said. "Anybody that you have slumber parties with on the floor of the University of Oklahoma athletic complex outside your office… . You know, we slept in our offices when we first got there. There’d be nights of coffee, microwave popcorn and film. Well, film until Howard Stern came on.

. . . and Leach said that freshman RT LaAdrian Waddle was good in his first start last week:

"There were some growing pains, which we knew there would be a mental thing here and there, but physically he’s really good,’’ Leach said.

Big 12 and Assorted Links: Rock Chalk Talk's Denverjhawk breaks down the Texas Tech vs. Kansas matchups . . . CT's Dave Matter with a good walk around the Big 12 . . . TR's RRR looks at the TAMU game and dedfischer looks at Michael Trabtree's debut with San Francisco . . .

Double-T Nation Daily Diatribe :: 10.19.09

Seth C — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 11:05:02 -0000

New Captains: LAJ's Don Williams reports that RB Baron Batch, LB Bront Bird, RT Marlon Winn and DE Brandon Sharpe were voted to be captains this week against Texas A&M and the team will vote weekly on who will be captains . . . also, Leach canceled the Sunday night practice . . .

New Seats: LAJ's Don Williams talks with AD Gerald Myers about the addition of the new seats and hopes to break the attendance record against the Aggies.

Rushing Ends: LAJ's Don Williams takes a look at the defensive ends and DE Daniel Howard talks about being the underdog:

"I’ve been the underdog my whole life,’’ he said. "I got recruited by the rest of the schools around here to play linebacker. Tech was the one who came in and told me, ‘You’re going to play defensive end.’ I said OK, because everyone else told me I was too small. I wasn’t fast enough. I wasn’t strong enough. I think as a defense, we’re making a statement because we’re all those (kind of) guys.’’

And DC Ruffin McNeill talks about DE Brandon Sharpe, and Sharpe comments as well:

"Everybody moves along and progresses differently,’’ McNeill said. "That’s the thing about coaching. You have to be patient. If the kids stay, they’ll play. You just have to keep coaching them up.

"Brandon’s one of those kids that stayed. He may have got frustrated at times, but he understands why now.’’

Tech coach Mike Leach said recently he thought Sharpe was capable of more dominating performances, and McNeill said Sharpe can have more games like Saturday if he has the proper frame of mind.

Lately, that’s all been true. Seven of Sharpe’s sacks have come in the last three games.

"I was just out there having fun and running hard, trying to get noticed and enjoying it,’’ he said Saturday. "This is my last year. I’m trying to play it to my fullest.’’

Texas Tech Red Raider Links: TR's dedfischer's post-mortem and RRR's had a few thoughts from the Nebraska win . . . LAJ's Don Williams grades the Nebraska performance . . .

TAMU Aggie Links: Dr. Saturday's Matt Hinton wonders if the Aggies have given up the fight with a 6 touchdown loss to Kansas St. . . . EDSBS with Mike Sherman supporting breast cancer . . .

BCS and Big 12 Links: SB Nation has a new blog, BCS Evolution, and it's got all kinds of good stuff regarding the BCS . . . Dr. Saturday's Matt Hinton takes a look at the BCS rankings . . . KC Star's Blair Kerkhoff look at all of the conferences and writes that the Big 12 North is down . . .

Practice Begins: DT's Zane Turner was at the open practice on Friday night and head coach Pat Knight is ready to start a new season:

"We’re excited. It’s tough, you know, when you have kind of a down season in your own mind just waiting all spring, summer and fall to get back at it," said Knight, who begins his second full season as head coach at Tech. "It starts today and to me we’re kind of getting a bad taste out of our mouths even though I’m proud of some of the things we accomplished last year. It’s still the team we wanted to have here."

Double-T Nation Daily Diatribe :: 10.17.09

Seth C — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 11:09:16 -0000

Nervous Computer: My computer didn't start initially this morning and made me very nervous. This explains why I'm a tad bit late this morning. It's 4 years old, it may be time to make a new investment.

Check It Out: Week 7 SB Nation College Football Sport Stream.

Lewis to Make Splash: LAJ's Don Williams writes that WR coach Riley thinks that WR Detron Lewis should make a contribution at the end of the season:

"Yeah, I think he will," inside receivers coach Lincoln Riley said this week. "He’s gotten on the same page with the quarterbacks. He came out of the blocks really strong, really played well against North Dakota and then since then he hasn’t been his usual explosive self. (But) he’s had his best week of practice this week, and I think he’s really going to start to get into a groove."

And Lewis may be looking a bit ahead for a week:

"I’ve been asked that question a lot, but I don’t really care now, because I think I’m in the right place," he said. "But honestly, I do put more into the A&M game. I want to rip them up, because I was right up the street back home and they didn’t look my way."

We can allow this, right?

Tough Nebraska Defense: LAJ's Don Williams writes that after two relatively weak teams, the Red Raiders are set to face a very tough Nebraska squad. RT Marlon Winn thinks QB Steven Sheffield is ready to play on the road:

"I think he’s ready to go on the road," Tech tackle Marlon Winn said this week. "I think he’s ready to go anywhere we take him. (Against New Mexico), he stepped in like he was supposed to be there the whole time, and he kind of took the (job) over like it was his deal anyway. He did the same thing against Kansas State, and I don’t expect any different of him in Nebraska."

Bird Takes Advantage: FWST's Dwain Price profiles LB Bront Bird, who is taking advantage of early playing time in his career and loves playing for Defensive Coordinator McNeill:

"He loves the game of football, loves the coaches around him and loves us as players," Bird said. "He’s passionate about what he does, he expects the best out of you, he sees what you’re capable of and he’ll accept nothing less than that.

"He’s a great guy to play under and I couldn’t ask for a better leader."

And Bird talks about moving to different positions:

"I got to play some defensive line some this year, and we’ve had tackles moving out to end," Bird said. "I think that’s great, because it’s a unit that, no matter what happens, somebody is going to step in, even if it’s a position they don’t normally play.

"It’s been fun to watch and fun to be a part of. It’s just a year where we want to do whatever we can to succeed."

Assorted Links: Corn Nation learns from super-secret sources that Texas Tech will start 2 QB's . . . LAJ's Tale of the Tape . . . LAJ's Adam Zuvanich profiles Nebraska QB Zac Lee . . . CN's keys to a victory over Texas Tech . . . Dr. Saturday's Matt Hinton picks the Huskers . . . Crimson and Cream Machine's SBN Big 12 Roundtable Recap . .