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SB Nation 2009 Big 12 Preview // Double-T Nation's Preview of the Texas Tech Red Raiders

Seth C — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 21:15:10 -0000

SB Nation 2009 Big 12 Preview: In partnership with CBS Sports, the SB Nation Big 12 blogs are previewing each of their respective teams in the Big 12. This is Double-T Nation's entry and for all of those who are getting this way through the Texas Tech page on CBS Sports, we welcome you and hope you enjoy the content. Thanks to the Ralphie Report for compiling all of the previews and make sure and visit the Ralphie Report for a more extensive Big 12 conference breakdown.

TOP PLAYERS

Offense:
QB Taylor Potts
RB Baron Batch
OL Brandon Carter
OL Marlon Winn
WR Detron Lewis
WR Edward Britton
WR Tramain Swindall
Defense:
NT Colby Whitlock
DE Rajon Henley
LB Brian Duncan
LB Marlon Williams
CB Jamar Wall
S Cody Davis

OFFENSE: As is the case with each Texas Tech team, there is no question that the offense is led by its quarterback, and after three years of Graham Harrell, the Red Raiders usher in a new signal caller in junior Taylor Potts. It's easy of course to think that Potts will have a difficult time replacing Harrell's production, but Texas Tech has finished with the top passing offense in the Big 12 from 2008 through 2004. Something tells me that head coach Mike Leach understands a thing or two about running an offense. At receiver, the Red Raiders will lean heavily on inside receiver Detron Lewis to lead the way and although there are usually at least four receivers who receive a significant amount of passes, right now this may be a receiver by committee situation. Of course, the big question is who will replace Michael Crabtree at the flanker position and currently it's a three man race, with redshirt freshman Alexander Torres leading the group, followed closely by Lyle Leong and Jacoby Franks. Split end Edward Britton is the lone senior of the receiver corp and it would not surprise those who follow the program closely that inside receiver Tramain Swindall will contribute significantly in 2009. Most think that the offensive line lost three starters, but the truth of the matter is that center Shawn Byrnes started in 2007, lost his job to last year's starter, Stephen Hamby, but is expected to start in 2009. At left tackle, the starting job is between redshirt freshman Terry McDaniel, who showed that he is more than capable of protecting that left side, and all-purpose lineman, Chris Olson. At left guard the Red Raiders return an All-American candidate Brandon Carter and is moving from playing right guard last year. Sophomore Mickey Okafor will take over for Carter at right guard and incumbent Marlon Winn will get the nod at right tackle.

TOP GAMES

1. @ Texas Longhorns :: 09.19.09
2. Oklahoma Sooners :: 11.21.09
3. @ Nebraska Cornhuskers :: 10.17.2009
4. @ Oklahoma St. Cowboys :: 11.14.09
5. Kansas Jayhawks :: 10.31.09

DEFENSE: Texas Tech lost quite a bit of production defensively and previous years, there would have been quite a bit of worrying about replacing both defensive ends and both safeties, but with the increase in talent at Texas Tech, the less of a worry it is replacing quality players. Both defensive ends have moved onward, Brandon Williams has moved to the NFL, and McKinner Dixon declared for the NFL supplemental draft this summer, but went undrafted. Replacing Williams and Dixon will be no small task, but former defensive tackle Rajon Henley has lost weight during the off season and will solidify one end position, while the other end position will be left to Daniel Howard, a JUCO transfer, who was close on a number of sacks last year, has a motor that just doesn't quit. Look for fellow seniors Brandon Sharpe and Sandy Riley to see plenty of time alongside Howard and Henley. Inside, nose tackle Colby Whitlock returns for his junior year and senior Richard Jones will start at defensive tackle. The second and third team could consist of some of the newcomers listed below, but should certainly include in the rotation Victor Hunter, Chris Perry, Britton Barbee and David Neill. All three linebackers return from 2008, including the highly underrated junior middle linebacker Brian Duncan, who could be an all-conference performer, this year. Backing up Duncan is Sam Fehoko, who many think will be could be an impact player right now. At the weakside linebacker spot is senior Marlon Williams, although look for Blake Collier to edge his way into the lineup as he has superior speed which is obviously useful in the wide-open Big 12. At the strongside linebacker spot is junior Bront Bird, who will be fighting off Tyrone Sonier. Left cornerback Jamar Wall returns for his senior season and opposite Wall there is a three man race with LaRon Moore, Brent Nickerson and Taylor Charbonnet all hoping to nab that right starting cornerback position. The Red Raiders lose both safeties from 2008, but redshirt freshman Cody Davis should surprise many in 2009 at free safety and Franklin Mitchem looks to be the starter at strong safety. Brett Dewhurst, Julius Howard and Jared Flannel round out the veterans amongst this safety group.

STRENGTHS & WEAKNESSES

Strengths: Quarterback position
typically performs at a high level,
quality receiver depth despite loss
of Crabtree, all starting linebackers
return and depth at defensive tackle.
Weaknesses: Lack of defensive end
depth as three ends graduated or
left the program, must replace or
improve right cornerback and
no experience at safety.

SPECIAL TEAMS: For the first time in the Mike Leach era, he's hired a full-time special teams coach, Eric Russell, and the talk during the spring and fall practices is that there's a noticeable difference in the attitude of special teams this year. Quite possibly the feel-good story of 2008 returns in plackicker Matt Williams, who was plucked from the stands to kick a field goal to win free rent, will return as the guy to kick short-yardage field goals and extra points. Donnie Carona returns to take care of the long field goals and should see competition from Brad Hicks. Punter Jonathan LaCour is suspended for the first six games and freshman Brian Exlerben and Carona will compete for the punter position. Returning punts, there are at least five or six option, but leading the charge is cornerback Jamar Wall, receiver Detron Lewis, running back Eric Stephens, while Stephens, receiver Jacoby Franks, receiver Edward Britton and Wall could each return kickoffs.

KEY LOSSES: LG Louis Vaszuez, LT Rylan Reed, C Stephen Hamby, IR Eric Morris, FL Michael Crabtree, RB Shannon Woods, QB Graham Harrell, DE McKinner Dixon, DE Brandon Williams, S Daniel Charbonnet and S Darcel McBath.

NEWCOMERS: The defensive side of the ball presents the most opportunity for newcomers to make a difference for this team as I think it takes at least a year to acclimate to the Texas Tech offense. With that being said, sophomore defensive tackle Myles Wade has the physical gifts to make an impact immediately, as does fellow defensive tackle Pearlie Graves. The Red Raiders signed six defensive backs in 2008 and although they are all talented defensive backs Will Ford, Daniel Cobb and Terrance Bullitt could all see time at safety in 2009. Receiver Eric Ward, a freshman who landed in Lubbock in the spring semester and has a leg up on the competition, has the talent to break into the receiver rotation quickly. Although technically not newcomers in the truest sense of the word, the aforementioned left tackle Terry McDaniel has the potential to start and running back Harrison Jeffers will surprise many opponents in 2009 as he should be the combination running back with Baron Batch. Also watch out for former quarterbacks turned receivers in Austin Zouzalik and Cornelius Douglas. Both are explosive athletes, Zouzalik may be one of the fastest players on the team, and Douglas is could be utilized in a Wildcat-type of formation.

Discussing Big 12 QBs With And The Valley Shook

Beergut — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 11:56:35 -0000

SB Nation's LSU blog And The Valley Shook recently did a story looking at Big 12 QBs from last season. Basically, Richard Pittman and some other ATVS writers created a new Quarterback Productivity Index, an index which they believe works better than the commonly used passer rating statistic. Using the ATVSQBPI, they ranked the SEC quarterbacks from last season, then they went ahead and ranked the Big 12 quarterbacks from last season. As might be expected, some of the rankings for the Big 12 quarterbacks were off the charts. If you could say that any QBPI of 7 or above was damn good, well, the Big 12 had nine QBs with the QBPI of above 7, or nine damn good quarterbacks. By comparison, the SEC only had three. (Jerrod Johnson was a lowly 6.50, which sounds terrible until you consider the fact that his stats were hurt by the number of sacks he took last season (30), which count against him in rushing yards.) The discussion in the comments then moved on to ask why there was such a discrepancy in numbers between the two conferences, and if the discrepancy was possibly because of offensive schemes.

From Displaced Tiger:

QB productivity difference is shocking.

Could the big difference in productivity between SEC and Big XII qbs be due to differences in the offensive schemes employed by the schools in each conference? (If such a scheme difference actually exists?)

Richard Pittman replies:

If the difference is one of offensive scheme..

then the SEC should be emulating it. You can’t argue with production. I think it’s more a difference of talent, both at QB and on the defensive side of the ball.

I then jump in:

I think it is mainly a scheme issue

Most Big 12 teams employ some type of spread offense (spare me your "the spread won’t work in the SEC" argument, Florida has disproved that myth), so it means defenses are seeing mostly 10 personnel all game long. SEC teams usually employ more of a pro-set on offense, so you see more 21 personnel in games. Having to worry about covering and stopping 3 athletes on a play like you do in the SEC is a hell of a lot easier than worrying about covering 5 athletes on a play, like we do in the Big 12.

The Big 12 also had a lot of experienced QBs last season: Bradford was a second-year starter, McCoy was in his third year starting, Harrell third year, Robinson second year, etc. I think the only QBs in their first year starting were Robert Griffin, Jerrod Johnson, and Austen Arnaud. Coincidently, they are among the bottom of your rankings.

Cody ~~Johnson~~ Hawkins was a second-year starter who ended up splitting time with another QB, so that effected his stats.

Richard replies to me:

I don't think it's purely a question of offensive scheme..

if it was, every SEC team should adopt a Big 12 like offensive scheme. Those Big 12 offenses were much more productive. The SEC teams aren’t going to say, "We know the Big 12 spreads got better production, but we’re going with a pro style because… because we want to." They’re rational actors and will do what is best for their teams. It’s possible those teams sacrificed effective running for effective passing, while the SEC coaches went for more of a balance. I haven’t looked at those statistics, but I don’t seem to recall the SEC’s rushing attacks being all that much better than the Big 12’s (outside of Texas, which did not have any productive running backs). I think the hyper-inflated Big 12 numbers are more a matter of talent than of of scheme, and I mean talent both at quarterback and on defense.

And I do some research and make a lengthly reply back:

I'm not so sure Big 12 offenses sacrificed rushing for passing

because the best rushing team in the conference (Oklahoma State) is also it’s most balanced offense, but they are also a spread team. Some teams ran the ball better than others, but that was also mainly due to skill on their offensive line. Texas A&M, for instance, had a putrid offensive line last season, and it reflected in both our passing and rushing stats, as we couldn’t run block well, and we gave up a ton of sacks. Baylor and texas were both led in rushing by their QBs, so their rushing stats are a little misleading. Baylor has a freak of nature at QB named Robert Griffin (if you haven’t heard of him, he makes Russell Shepard look slow), and he single-handedly kept Baylor in games with his feet and his arm. texas had a good passing game, so defenses concerned with coverage left all sorts of lanes open for Colt McCoy to run in on broken plays.

I would also argue that the Big 12 benefitted from having the best WRs in the nation playing in our conference. Your defensive stats will look bad when you’re trying to stop Michael Crabtree or Dez Bryant or Jeremy Maclin every weekend. We also had the pleasure of trying to shut down the best TE in the nation in Jermaine Gresham, and arguably the second best TE in the nation in Chase Coffman (who was really just a big inside receiver in Missouri’s spread offense).

I would say the best WR in the SEC last season was Percy Harvin, and he spent half his time running the ball; second best was probably Julio Jones or Brandon Lafell. Jones plays in a ground-bound offense, while Lafell plays in a balanced attack. Neither of those two are utilized as often as good receivers are in the Big 12.

Take a look at the Big 12 individual stats and the SEC individual stats, and compare receptions and yards of the top receivers in both conferences. There isn’t a single 1000 yard receiver in the SEC; 9 of the top 12 receivers in the Big 12 gained over 1000 yds. texas and Kansas both had TWO receivers on their respective teams surpass 1000 yds.

Also, consider the number of receptions per player; the most receptions for an SEC receiver was 63 by Lafell, the least among the receptions leaders for the Big 12 was 67 for Brandon Banks of KSU. The Big 12 had six WRs with 90 or more catches in 2008, with one (Jeremy Maclin) surpassing 100 receptions. Eight of the top twelve receivers in the Big 12, either judging by receptions per game or yds per game, had 80 or more receptions. That means over two-thirds of the conferences leading receivers were constant targets in their respective offenses. By contrast, only two of the top ten receivers in the SEC (judging by receptions per game) have over 60 receptions, and seven of the top ten have over 50 receptions. I think it is safe to say that SEC offenses were not as committed to passing the ball as Big 12 offenses were.

If you look at rushing statistics, the SEC boasts five RBs in their top 10 rushers who carried the ball 190 or more times; the Big 12 only has two. The top 3 rushers in the SEC carried the ball 250, 207, and 233 times, respectively; the top 3 rushers in the Big 12 carried the ball 241, 217, and 179 times, respectively. I think it is safe ot say that the SEC was a lot more committed to a systematic approach of running the ball than the Big 12 was.

Also, you will notice that in the SEC individual rushers list, you have only one school with two players in the top ten rushers: Alabama with Glen Coffee and Mark Ingram. In the Big 12, you have three pairs of teammates listed among the top twelve rushers, with Chris Brown and Demarco Murray representing OU, Jay Finley and Robert Griffin representing Baylor, and Baron Batch and Shannon Woods representing Texas Tech. I think this speaks to systemic differences in the offenses, where Big 12 schools are featuring rotating two backs in the backfield in 10 personnel, and splitting up the carries, to spread out the production, while the SEC seems to be putting the ball in the hands of one player, putting him behind a fullback, and hammering him at the line play after play.

There is also the fact that I think Big 12 offenses tend to operate from the shotgun, with a QB taking a direct snap every play, more than they do under center, taking an indirect snap. From what I’ve seen of most SEC offenses, the majority of the teams put their QB under center, and make him take an indirect snap. Why is this important? Because the shotgun gives the QB more time in the pocket, and makes it more difficult for the pass rush to get to him before he gets off the pass, while a QB dropping back from under center is moving back at the same time the pass rush is coming upfield, giving him less time to get a pass off.

Consider that the worst passing offense in the Big 12 was Baylor, who averaged a paltry 180.7 yds per game; that would have ranked as the seventh best passing attack in the SEC, behind LSU. The best passing offense in the SEC (Georgia) averaged 277 yds per game through the air; that would have been seventh best in the Big 12. I think any objective fan would agree that an offense that averages less than 200 yds passing per game is a poor passing offense; six SEC teams (or half the conference) average less than 200 yds passing per game. There are two offenses in the Big 12 that average less than 200 yds per game, and one of them (Baylor) had a dual threat QB who was equally as effective on his feet as he was with his arm, and also happened to be a true freshman. The other school (Colorado) played musical chairs at QB all season long, and was just poor overall on offense.

As to the question of why SEC offenses won’t switch to a spread scheme, I think part of it is because some of them truly believe the myth that the spread won’t work in the SEC, because the defenses are too fast. Florida has proven that myth to be false, though, and with Arkansas and Mississippi State now installing the spread offense, I think you’ll see that changing. I also think that there is a cultural influence at work here; I think SEC fans in general love power football, they love a tough running game against a tough defense, and the coaches are just giving them what they want.

I still contend that the Big 12 has superior QBs to the SEC, and that is what contributed to our obscene offensive numbers as a conference last year, and also explains why we have a very high average QBPI. With eight of the QBs on that list returning this year, we'll see if those obscene numbers continue. If my theory about elite WRs contributing to the numbers is correct, we should see a slight fall in the passing numbers this year, and a rise in the defensive rankings for Big 12 defenses.

Double-T Nation Daily Diatribe // 07.23.09

Seth C — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 11:02:06 -0000

Odds and Ends

Suing the NCAA and Having a Chance

Suing the NCAA isn't anything new, but it appears that the current lawsuit filed by former UCLA Bruin Ed O'Bannon has some fairly serious legs. I've always wondered, to myself, how the NCAA was able to continue to utilize and profit from images and likenesses from players no longer in college, and along with Nebraska QB Sam Keller's suit against EA Sports, we might just find out. I'm surprised this suit hasn't happened earlier and I'll be following this, although it will probably take years, throughout the process.

Texas Tech Football

Running Backs Carrying the Load

ESPN's Tim Griffin has an interesting look at how the "workhorse back" has essentially disappeared from the Big 12 and last year, your very own Shannon Woods led his team and the Big 12 in the percent of carries of all Big 12 running backs. Naturally, the evolution of offenses is part of the reason, and like most NFL teams, having two running backs seems to be the way lots of college teams are rolling. Next year, the tandem of Baron Batch and Harrison Jeffers / Aaron Crawford should be a big part of the Texas Tech offense, although I would expect that Batch gets roughly the same percentage of carries that Woods did last year. We might like to see Batch more than that, but I just get the feeling that this is how Leach is going to roll from this point forward, unless one of the runners proves to be unable to carry his part of the load.

Top Game of 2008

I don't think there was ever any question that the 2008 Texas v. Texas Tech game was voted by the Big 12 official site as the game of the year:

If the 2008 season was the greatest so far in Big 12 history, it started to tilt toward tremendous on the fulcrum of Texas Tech's scintillating 39-33 victory over Texas.

If you've been following the countdown, the best game of 2008 was an obvious choice. The media voters who selected the top 10 games were unanimous in their selection of the No. 1 game.

There's little to argue with the voters' decision. The Nov. 1 game in Lubbock had a buzz that reverberated through West Texas. An ABC prime-time national television audience plus a raucous Red Raiders crowd watched a game of mood swings that was decided on the signature play of the '08 season.

Harrell "Injures" Himself Doing Absolutely Nothing, to Injured List

It appears that QB Graham Harrell will have to wait a bit before starting his CFL career as he has promptly been placed on the Saskatchewan Roughriders injured list, which means that he's apparently out for at least nine games and his salary does not count against the team's salary cap:

And therein lies the key to the Riders' surprising move. According to a source who does not believe Harrell is hurt, the Riders are using the nine-game injured list to their advantage.

Harrell had an offer in excess of $100,000 if he started for the San Francisco franchise of the fledgling United Football League scheduled to start in the fall.

The Riders could not afford to attract Harrell with the $600 a week salary alloted to players joining a team's practice roster. It's believed he has a base pay of about $70,000, which is the going rate for rookie players of his stature and position, with incentives to increase the overall amount, hence the move to keep him on the team and not have it impact on the cap.

Mr. Crabtree, No Diva

San Francisco 49er WR Michael Crabtree talks with FanHouse's Calvin Watkins about all of the rumors that were flying around leading up to the draft. Crabtree apparently did every interview while at ESPN, did not cry after head coach Mike Singletary told him to get off the field and has never been late for a meeting. Is it just me, or is it weird that so many things are said about Crabtree that aren't true? Am I the only one that really wants Mr. Crabtree to focus on football and not anything else for quite some time?

2009 Top Cupcakes

ESPN's Tim Griffin ranks the tastiest cupcakes on the schedules of the Big 12 and in at #4 is Texas Tech vs. North Dakota:

4. North Dakota at Texas Tech, Sept. 5: The Fighting Sioux were a Division II team last year. They are transitioning to Division I-AA status and this game will be their first battle in modern history against an FBS opponent. That won't help them in an opener as Mike Leach tries to build confidence in his retooled offense quarterbacked by first-year starter Taylor Potts.

Texas Tech Basketball

Big 12 Schedule Released

The Big 12 has released their schedule for the 2009-2010 year and the Red Raiders start conference play on January 9th against Oklahoma St. in Lubbock. I haven't had the time to look at every match-up, but there is a three game stretch starting on Wednesday, January 27th, where Pat Knight and his Red Raiders travel to UT, TAMU and OU. That's a tough three game trip, especially in the middle of the season and might be a really good indicator as to how the season will play out.

Recruiting Stuff

I don't get into recruiting much, but I did see that Pat Knight attended a fairly significant high school tournament in Las Vegas, NV and a number of players are profiled in this linked article. I thought that this is something to remember, perhaps we'll see if Knight is able to sign anyone of these recruits. And I wonder too if it would be a fair statement that there's no way in hell that Bob Knight would be at an event like this, perhaps one of the many reasons why BK was done with coaching.

5 Things // Offensive Players Who Must Improve in 2009

Seth C — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 15:00:16 -0000

Five Things is a handful (i.e., five) of thoughts about a single topic. Hopefully, discussion ensues.

Offensive Players Who Must Improve in 2009

There are a ton of factors that go into a team improving, but I thought that it might be good to take a look at both offensive and defensive players (later this week) who need to improve their game for Texas Tech to have a successful 2009.

Join me after the jump for a look at who I think are the offensive players who must improve in 2009.

1: WR, Edward Britton

I don't know if there's an offensive player that is more frustrating that Easy Ed. Britton has legitimate 4.4 speed and can pull away from almost any cornerback in the conference. Britton's issues, both on the field and off, started in 2006 and 2007 where he had the reputation, and in my opinion rightfully so, as a guy that dropped too many passes. I've also been somewhat frustrated with Britton's lack of consistency in each game. Granted, part of this is that Britton's first true starting year was 2008, which was the same year that Michael Crabtree burst on the scene and 2009, again, Mr. Crabtree. But I would have thought that with so much attention being given to Crabtree, that Britton would have stepped up his game in 2008 and that just didn't happen. In fact, Britton caught 48 passes for 631 yards and 4 touchdowns in 2007, but in 2008 he only caught 35 passes for 577 yards and 6 touchdowns. I know that other players like Detron Lewis came onto the scene, but I think I'd like to have a Britton that doesn't accept being out-played by someone younger, especially when Britton is gifted enough to be a lead receiver. And this spring, Britton decided that academics wasn't very impotant, leading to the Captain Mike Leach to say this:

"Ed didn’t like showing up and studying at places I felt like he needed to and like the academic people asked him to, so he can go study out there on the 50-yard line," Leach said. "We’ll take baby steps, and if he does good studying out there, we’ll decide if we’re going to actually let him practice."
Asked if Britton was on thin ice, Leach said, "I’d say that’s accurate. All guys that don’t study are on thin ice, as far as I’m concerned."

Leach said Britton was to remain out in the cold, studying for at least an hour and a half after his teammates had gone in for the day.

"If somehow he fails to do that, then that’ll be the last we ever hear of Easy Ed," Leach said.

You could probably say this about every player on this, list, but it's more true with Britton than any other player, this is all about what he wants to do to be the absolute best he can be. The ball is in his court.

2: C, Shawn Byrnes

Shawn Byrnes' story is somewhat well known. Byrnes started his sophomore season, logging 10 starts and playing in 11 games in 2007, which was the first year of offensive line coach Matt Moore. I can't necessarily be privy to all of Moore's offensive line philosphies, but what I can say is that he will play the best guy, almost regardless of position. In the fall of 2008, Stephen Hamby won the center position battle and there was no question in Byrnes' mind who won that job:

"It really hurt,'' Byrnes said. "But Hamby won it outright, and I think I could have handled it better, competed more to maybe play more and get better.''

Quite a bit has been made in that Texas Tech is replacing three starters and in reality, should Byrnes return to his 2007 form, and it sounds as if he is, then the Red Raider offensive line will be better than anticipated:

"Mainly, get my mean streak back,'' he said. "When I was a sophomore, I was a mean player. I was real dominant. Then after I got hurt, I think I lost it. I got scared. I was playing timid. That's the main thing (Moore) told me he noticed, so I want to get my mean streak back and play real physical and use my strength on the field like I used to.''

We need more of this.

3: WR, Adam James

Adam James was an integral part of the offense in 2008. He was a versitle player and he seemed to be involved in almost all of the two tight-end sets that Mike Leach ran. But this spring, things have changed and there hasn't been a peep (at least publicly) as to the cause. In fact, there was this bit about a scrimmage where Adam James, Rashad Hawk and Eric Ward received one rep (James' rep) combined in a 50 play scrimmage. That's unacceptable and for the life of me, I can't figure out why. If there's a player that needs to make improvement, both on and off the field it's James. James weighed in at 217 last spring, but he seems like the sort of player that could add an additional 20 pounds and still be incredibly effective. This is somewhat of a 180 from where James was in the spring of 2008 where he was coming off of a grayshirt year:

"It was hard last year, sitting up in the stands, watching your teammates playing,'' James said. "You want to be out there bad, but you know it's not your turn yet. And now that it's finally my turn, I'm going to do everything I can to help this team be the best it can be.''

I want that guy back.

4: RB, Aaron Crawford

It's strange to include Crawford on this list, especially as he was such an integral part of the 2007 season. Aaron Crawford, a true freshman from Tennessee, should have been redshirted his entire freshman year, but Shannon Woods dalliance with things other than football essentially left Mike Leach without any options. In fact, Crawford started the last four games of that 2007 season and played well, including an incredibly gutty performance against the Oklahoma Sooners where he carried the ball 12 times for 47 yards (some of those very late in the game). Crawford was injured in 2008, which opened the door for a Woods who found his way out of Leach's doghouse and a fully healthy Baron Batch. Now, Crawford faces competition from redshirt freshman Harrison Jeffers, who has been touted by Ruffin McNeill as the offensive player to watch in 2009 in addition to sitting out the second half of the spring with an injury. I still think Crawford has plenty left in the tank to help this team, in a number of different ways. I also hope he hasn't conceded the running back job to Jeffers.

5: WR, Lyle Leong

Am I the only one that had somewhat higher expectations for Leong last year. I know, he was playing behind Mr. Crabtree, but I still thought he could have done a little more. Leong showed promise his grayshirt freshman season as he showed that he's the type of player that can catch anything thrown his way and his statistics in 2008 were better, but his season high of catches, three, he did in three different games. And after the Kansas State game, where Leong caught 3 passes for 23 yards and 3 touchdowns, we learned that Leong had been in Leach's doghouse for much of the season:

"What he did to get in (the doghouse) is highly classified. It's deeply guarded in the bowels of Texas Tech, and it's guarded by the dogs that you saw on Harry Potter. OK?" Leach said after Texas Tech beat Kansas State 58-28 Saturday at Snyder Family Stadium. "As far as what he did to get out, just made plays. He just focused on being a great team guy and made plays."

With Crabtree gone, Leong was entering into the 2009 season as the guy at the X receiver position. But Leong was injured the entire spring. With the X receiver position still up in the air, this is Leong's time to shine, and if Leong shows up to be a different player, then Texas Tech could be a different team.

Double-T Nation Daily Diatribe // 07.07.09

Seth C — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 11:20:43 -0000

Odds and Ends

Quick Question

Whenever I create stories where the rest of the content appears after the jump, like yesterday's Rice Preview, how many actually click on through? One of the reasons I try and do this is for faster load times on DTN in general and truthfully, when I add video to a link, I should probably put that after a jump as well, again to help the load time of the main page. The other theory is that folks don't take the time to click on through to the post, although I understand that whether or not a person jumps to the content depends on whether or not the content is actually worthy.

Join me after the jump . . . at least for this morning for all of your Texas Tech news, notes and links.

Texas Tech Football

All-Big 12?

RRS.com's Joe Yeager (hat-tip txt3ch6uy) believes that at least six Red Raiders will be named to the Big 12's first or second teams, making cases for RB Baron Batch, LG Brandon Carter, RT Marlon Winn, WR Detron Lewis, DT Colby Whitlock and LB Brian Duncan. That's a pretty salty group and of the players who could, this is it. I haven't had the time to do this, but perhaps we could take a look at their competition, which would preclude them from being named (i.e. Taylor Potts has no chance because of Colt McCoy and Sam Bradford). Perhaps this is a good FanPost idea or some additional homework for me this weekend.

Texas Tech to Determine Big 12 North

The good guys over at Big Red Network, in particular Steve Hanway (hat-tip jdeeTTU), thinks that the Red Raiders could determine the winner of the Big 12 North as the Big 12 North champion has never lost to Texas Tech. An interesting read.

Speaking of Nebraska

Big 12 Sports' Wendell Barnhouse ranked Texas Tech's overtime victory over Nebraska as one of the best of 2008. Go relive an in credible victory.

Mythical Big 12 vs. SEC Challenge

ESPN's Tim Griffin is running through a mythical Big 12 vs. SEC matchup and Texas Tech faces Arkansas and Texas Tech gets the mythical win breaking the series tie and putting the Big 12 ahead:

Both teams are looking for new quarterbacks, but Texas Tech's Taylor Potts has more experience in his offense than Ryan Mallett or Tyler Wilson at Arkansas.

Although Mike Leach's team had all kinds of trouble against Mississippi in the Cotton Bowl, Arkansas' defense is nowhere near the level of those Rebels.

It would be tough for Texas Tech's defense to contain bruising tailback Michael Smith. But I would expect the Red Raiders to be able to cook up enough of a pass rush to make things iffy for the Razorbacks, particularly considering they ranked 118th nationally in sacks allowed last season.

And even without Michael Crabtree, Graham Harrell and Shannon Woods from last season, the Red Raiders would be able to score consistently against an Arkansas team that ranked last in the SEC in total defense and scoring defense last season.

Even with nine Arkansas defensive starters back from last season, Tech's offensive arsenal would be difficult to contain. And that would be enough for the Red Raiders to outscore the Razorbacks in this battle of old Southwest Conference rivals.

Throwback Game

Lots of teams are doing it and now Ryan Hyatt of the Williams and Hyatt Show thinks Texas Tech should think about a throwback game. I'm all for a throwback game, but I wanted to add this photo of those 1938 uniforms (photoshopped by some awesome person) that I will post if given the slightest reason.

Myles Wade's Trek to Lubbock

This isn't so much of a physical move, but rather Prep Profiles' Dirk Knudsen writes about incoming DT Myles Wade journey to Lubbock. Again, if you haven't read Wade's story, then you're missing out on a guy that you're going to want to cheer for next year.

Signing day came in February and Wade decided to become a Red Raider siging his letter on intent. He felt he had found a home in Texas. now he just had to finish the degree under a mountain of classes and tests and coursework.

So it was with great joy and celebration that Myles Wade walked the podium at Portland’s Memorial Coliseum and received his AA from Portland Community College. He has done what no one but a few though he could do. He will get another chance and play on a bigger stage than the U of O where he originally was meant to play. The Ducks did not believe in him and it looks like things worked out for the best for Wade.

Also, I think Knudsen is Wade's personal trainer in Oregon which is why this piece is more personal (which I like) and there's no doubt that you'll see some bias from me when it comes to Wade as I think he's going to play a part immediately.

Five Things // Building the Offensive Line

Seth C — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 15:00:18 -0000

Five Things is a handful (i.e., five) of thoughts about a single topic. Hopefully, discussion ensues.

Building the Offensive Line

I know that I'm not worried about the quarterback, the running back and the receivers, but this is an in-depth look at the offensive line.

1: Is Experience Overrated?

Much of Phil Steele's rankings are based on the experienced players returning and right now, Texas Tech sits at 106th in the nation. The experience factor is why Texas Tech isn't even in Steele's top 40 teams of 2009 (again, it's just someone's opinion) and much of that probably hinges on the fact that Texas Tech, on the surface, may be replacing 3 startes from last year, C Stephen Hamby, LT Rylan Reed and LG Louis Vasquez. There's really no way to write how much those guys meant to the Texas Tech offense last year especially if you consider how much time QB Graham Harrell had last year. Last year, Texas Tech gave up only 13 sacks the entire year (113 yards) and RB Baron Batch lost only 13 yards and RB Shannon Woods lost only 12 yards in 2008. That's a very low total of only 138 yards for the entire 2008 campaign. Again, that's an incredibly efficient offense that starts entirely up front with the offensive line, so to dismiss the importance of replacing starters along the offensive line isn't a bad line of thought when looking at offenses in 2009.

2: The Man at the Top

I had my doubts whenever Captain Leach hired little-known offensive line coach Matt Moore, hired from Troy University with only one year of college coaching experience and a number of years at the high school level. It seems like quite a stretch to be quite honest, but I'm not sure that this could have worked out any better for Texas Tech. I'm not sure who to attribute the quote, but it was something to the effect of find the guy that can hike the ball, and play the best four players after that. I don't think it was Moore, but you could certainly say that he believes in that philosophy. I'm not certain about this, but I believe that Moore, regardless of position, wants to find the best players and really doesn't worry too much about position. Of course, there are limitations to this, as you obviously cannot have a guy that has really bad feet or isn't athletic on the edge, but he did do this in some respect with Rylan Reed last year. Reed seemed to be a very athletic LT, but after his ankle injury in 2007, he wasn't as mobile as he had been the previous two years. Despite that, Moore felt that Reed was the best player available and he needed to be on the field.

3: Change In Tackles

Rylan Reed was a wonderful left tackle for Texas Tech, but he wasn't exactly mobile. He was incredibly strong and Texas Tech certainly played to his strength. Playing on an island, you can sometimes minimize the faults of a player, but it can also feature those faults. Brandon Carter started the spring out at left tackle and I thought at the time that this may not be the position best suited for Carter. Carter, much like Reed, is a huge guy and strength is his forte and I think he has decent footwork, but to me, he's not the kind of footwork to play left tackle. I'd even go so far to say that Carter's best position in the NFL will be at guard and I think he'll excel at that position. With Carter's knee injury, although not serious, he was replaced with redshirt freshman Terry McDaniel at left tackle. One of my thoughts during the spring game was that I was very much impressed with the way that McDaniel played and was especially impressed with his athleticism at this position. The difference between Carter and McDaniel, in my opinion, was that McDaniel seemed to have better footwork, but lacked the strength that Carter has, not to mention the all important know-how in playing along the line. There's no doubt that whoever plays at left tackle, that player is going to have to handle the likes of UT's Sergio Kindle and OU's Gerald McCoy, to name just two, and if it were me, I'd fall on the side of having the more athletic guy.

Marlon Winn is a guy that doesn't get much pre-season press, but if you want to talk about guys that are true athletes along the offensive line, I think you start with Winn. Winn, at least to me, represents the wave of the future with the Texas Tech line. Winn is the type of player that can contain most defensive ends and to be honest, prior to the spring, I thought that he would be a perfect replacement at left tackle. Not knowing the progress of McDaniel, especially since he didn't play all of last year, I thought that Winn would pick-up right where Reed left off and would protect Taylor Potts blindside for the next year. And perhaps this is a bit of forward thinking by Moore, but I get the feeling that Moore wants to have a guy in McDaniel to hold that spot for quite some time, which may explain the reason why he's staying at right tackle, but if push came to shove and none of the LT options work out, I have no doubt that Winn could step-in without missing a beat.

4: Versatility

Chris Olson represents Moore's philosophy more than any other player. Moore has said that Olson could essentially play any position along the offensive line. Olson is too good to be on the sideline this year, and if a guy struggles then you could see Olson relatively quickly. And that's not to say that Olson won't start either. But that type of versatility is something that's starting to show up in recruiting as well.

2009 signee Kyle Clark's ESPN evaluation starts off by saying that Clark is a versatile player:

Clark shows some versatility at both offensive guard and offensive tackle. He is a big tall and lean football player that can become a real talent if he works on foot agility and plays with better leverage.

Same goes for Joel Gray, where the ESPN evaluation states that Gray could play either tackle or guard:

Gray has a good motor as a strong side offensive tackle but is better suited for the guard position. He is an impressive 6'6" and at 285 pounds and has the dimensions you're looking for in an offensive lineman.

LaAdrian Waddle is another guy that was mentioned as coming in second in the discus throw in state, and the ESPN evaluation confirms that he's another projectable athlete:

Defenders have trouble getting around such a huge specimen and the long arms are effective in keeping pass rusher away from body. Must be careful to not be beaten underneath. Waddle has real potential because he moves well for such a big player. If he works on trimming down and improve foot quickness and technique he will be a highly sought after lineman.

Matt Goetz, I think is penciled in as a center, played guard in college, but there's nothing for me to think in his ESPN evaluation that he couldn't play guard or tackle:

Goetz is a very solid offensive lineman that is made for the guard position. He has good size and still could add strength and bulk. Very good run blocker that comes off the ball quickly and delivers a real jolt to the defender. Sometimes loses control and has trouble sustaining; needs to be consistent at locking into the defender's frame. Gives excellent effort and drives his legs after contact at the point of attack. Has a little problem with the backside cutoff and loses defensive man across his face. Good short stepper on the reach and zone block. Goetz should develop into a fine offensive guard at the next level.

5: Rounding Out the Rest

If you're wondering about the rest of the line, I think the same type of thing can be said about the rest of the group. Shawn Byrnes is expected to start at center, but I've come around greatly on Byrnes' backup Justin Keown. After watching him a bit during the spring game, he can play. The same goes for right guards, Mickey Okafor and Deveric Gallington, additional athletic guys that I think could play a number of positions if asked. After Winn graduates next year I get the feeling that if Olson hasn't found a spot anywhere else, he'll step up at this spot and Joe King could easily assert himself, much like McDaniel, during the offseason. Lonnie Edwards was one of the higher rated recruits coming out of the 2007 signing class, and although he's yet to find a spot, that's another player that could step up for Carter at left guard when he graduates next year.

Five Things // Replacing Michael Crabtree

Seth C — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 14:00:13 -0000

Five Things is a handful (i.e., five) of thoughts about a single topic. Hopefully, discussion ensues.

Replacing Crabtree

Much has been made about the possibility of Texas Tech struggling to replace one, Mr. Michael Crabtree, but other than throwing out the general idea, most haven't looked at any statistics to back up any opinions about his departure.

1: Where to Begin

There's quite a bit of talk about how Texas Tech is going to be able to replace Michael Crabtree's production. I know, the thought of replacing a two time Biletnikoff Award winner almost seems impossible, but the reality of the situation is that it's not impossible. Quite simply, it's really business as usual for Mike Leach, and despite the thought that there's the expectation that the Air Raid offense will suffer some sort of offensive meltdown, the reality of the situation is quite different.

This isn't to say that Crabtree didn't have any effect on the offense, but rather, I think Crabtree's production was truly once-in-a-generation and to characterize that 2008 or 2007 are the status quo for the lead receiver for Texas Tech is not realistic or accurate.

2: How Will Texas Tech Survive

Once Michael Crabtree arrived on the football field he immediately made an impact, whereas the offense for the previously 3 years before his arrival, the passing offense jumped almost 1,200 yards from 2006 to 2007 and another 5,000 yard season in 2008. It was a shame too, as the Texas Tech offense was languishing with sub-5,000 yard passing seasons prior to his arrival.

But what's the effect of the top receiver in Texas Tech's offense and the percentage of yards and touchdowns in relation to the offense? I'm glad you asked.

Year	Receiver	Yard%	TD%
2008	Michael Crabtree	21.69%	40.42%
2007	Michael Crabtree	32.09%	43.13%
2006	Joel Filani	27.06%	33.33%
2005	Joel Filani	22.46%	23.52%
2004	Jarrett Hicks	25.54%	38.23%
2003	Wes Welker	17.45%	18.36%
2002	Wes Welker	19.36%	12.00%

Seemingly, year after year, the offense was replaced and there was never a true drop-off in production, no matter who was stepping into the role of the lead receiver.

There's no doubt that Michael Crabtree required double-teams and was a distinct advantage that most other incarnations of the Air-Raid offense has never seen, but the key is that Crabtree was/is the exception, not the rule.

It's been written many different places and many different times, the Air-Raid offense is intended to take advantage of less than stellar athletes. The fact that the athletic quotient is better than it was in 2004 or 2005, especially at the receive position, leads me to believe that this is not going to be much of an issue at all.

And to address those ideas that the offense struggled in 2008 starting with the Baylor game, but keep in mind that Crabtree was hurt and Graham Harrell had a seriously broken hand. Yes, everyone wasn't 100%, it's a part of football, but don't blame it solely on one or the other, it was most likely a combination of the both, but the idea that the offense did rely on this dynamic duo is true, but to say that the offense will struggle because they're both not there, just doesn't hold up historically.

3: The Top Four Make It Happen

Last year I took a look at the offensive production, in terms of percentage, of the top four receivers and the running back in the Texas Tech offense. If Crabtree left after his redshirt freshman year, 2007, I think there would be some legitimate concerns about replacing his production, however, in 2008 the offense was much more balanced than in 2007. But in 2008 the receiver yard production was fairly balanced, but obviously, the touchdown production is the big key here.

Below is the breakdown of the top 4 receivers in 2008:

Player	Yards%	TD%
Michael Crabtree	21.69%	40.42%
Detron Lewis	16.99%	6.38%
Eric Morris	14.35%	19.14%
Edward Britton	10.74%	12.76%
Total	63.77%	78.70%

And the top four from 2007 through 2004:

Year	Yards%	TD%
2007	75%	81%
2006	62%	77%
2005	68%	74%
2004	71%	59%
Average	69%	72%

I know what you're thinking. Pretty much the same thing as previous years and you're right, the top four receivers are the biggest part of production for the Texas Tech offense.

In fact, you could argue that the 2008 version of the Texas Tech offense was more diverse than in previous years, again, excluding touchdowns of course, although it's not so out of whack. The fact that the top four receivers only accounted for 63% of the passing offense tells me that there were plenty of guys that were producing (Tramain Swindall, Baron Batch, Shannon Woods, Lyle Leong, Adam James, Rashad Hawk, Jacoby Franks, etc.) a good number of yards.

4: Effect of the Quarterback

To ignore the quarterback would be a mis-step in looking at any receiving numbers. There are years where the production does tend to suffer a bit, and I think that this is in large part a result of the physical limitations of the quarterback rather than the talent of the receivers. Much of this may be the maturation process of the quarterback, but to say that any quarterback that Leach plugs into his system won't have success simply isn't accurate.

Year	Pass Yds	Yds/Att	TD/INT	Ratio
2008	5,371	8.11	47/10	4.70
2007	6,114	8.01	51/15	3.40
2006	4,803	7.32	39/11	3.54
2005	4,666	7.93	34/12	2.83
2004	4,796	7.36	34/18	1.88
2003	5,682	7.81	49/22	2.22
2002	5,444	7.07	50/15	3.33

There's a definite difference in the quarterback, especially as Graham Harrell became a more mature quarterback, but the key to remember is that from 2008 through 2004 Texas Tech led the Big 12 in offense. So that means with three first-year quarterbacks (Cumbie, Hodges and Harrell) Leach found a way to continue his offensive dominance. And just to clarify, Texas Tech led the nation in passing in 2008, 2007, 2005 and 2004. Yes, passing offenses have become more prolific as the years have progressed and more teams are catching up with Leach, but I'm pretty comfortable with Leach at the helm.

And I don't think I'm going out on much of a limb here, but something tells me that Taylor Potts will be just fine.

5: Effect of the Running Game

One of the things that I think most people forget is that I think the running game is going to be greatly improved over last year. I know that this type of rhetoric is overplayed a bit (i.e., we think this, but it never materializes), but this year is different.

Baron Batch was Texas Tech's top runner, despite being a bit banged up last year. Yes, Shannon Woods has graduated, but RS freshman Harrison Jeffers and RS sophomore Aaron Crawford are expected to carry the rest of the load. Last year, the Texas Tech offense rushed for 1,532 yards, which was the most rushing yards in the past 5 years.

Year	Yd/Att	TD	Att/Gm	Yds/Gm
2008	4.83	28	24.38	117.85
2007	3.13	18	18.92	59.31
2006	4.71	13	16.85	79.31
2005	4.17	25	25.67	107.00
2004	3.77	23	24.42	92.00

What's the trend here? To me it's that Leach realized that he's got a serious weapon in the running game and he completely ignored it for two years, 2006 and 2007. In 2006 Leach had to lean almost completely on Shannon Woods and as good as he can be, I think that Leach has come to the realization that the system works best when he's got two options. In 2007 it was Shannon Woods at the beginning of the season, promptly ran into Leach's doghouse and the Red Raiders were forced to lean on true freshman Aaron Crawford. Again, it was a case of one back trying to carry the load for different parts of the season.

Leach changed his tune last year with two healthy running backs and I think it's the last year that Texas Tech sees below 20 rushing attempts a game. In fact, I'm tempted to say, especially if Leach starts to lean more towards the two-running back offense, which he did last year some, but its conceivable that Leach just might run the ball 30 times a game especially with the weapons he has. Again, this can only improve the offense from the standpoint that Potts doesn't have to do all of the heavy lifting and the receivers are only asked to do what they've traditionally done over the years.

Double-T Nation Daily Diatribe // 04.21.09

Seth C — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 11:37:05 -0000

Odds and Ends

New Header

Thanks to DTN reader rojo donzo for reaching out and offering to create a DTN Daily Diatribe header. Much thanks for taking the time to do this.

Texas TECHspy Awards

Huge congratulations to all of those who won awards last night at Texas Tech's TECHspy Awards, including nine-time NCAA Track Champion Sally Kipyego and Michael Crabtree. For those of you who don't know, Kipyego may be the greatest athlete of all time at Texas Tech and was one national championsip away from perhaps the greatest of all time, anywhere. Also of note, Patience Knight, an incredible story in her own right, beating cancer and being one of the top shot-put throwers in the country, swept a ton of awards, including Female Student-Athlete of the year. Meanwhile, QB Graham Harrell was named the Male Student-Athlete of the Year, while LB Brian Duncan received the Male Community Service Award.

Texas Tech Football

New Pass Rushers

LAJ's Don Williams looks at the new pass rushers for the Red Raiders. Defensive end Daniel Howard played really well on Saturday ane he hopes he can make the move to being an all-down DE, rather than a specialist:

"I feel like I’m capable of being an all-down defensive end," said Howard, a 6-foot-3, 244-pound senior from Wichita, Kan. "I’ve worked against the run this spring. I think it’s showing; I hope. That’s really what I’ve worked on this spring. I have the pass rush down pretty well. It’s kind of what I’ve been labeled as. I don’t really like being labeled that. I’d like to be known as an all-down guy."

Also mentioned yesterday was the fact that DE Brandon Sesay lost 21 pounds over the offseason and defensive line coach Charlie Sadler likes what he sees:

"If everything falls into place, I’d like to see him be able to stay at end and get all his reps there," Sadler said. "If our health allows, that’s probably where it’ll be.
"Last year, he came in as a brand-new junior college guy. He hadn’t learned the defense and all the calls and all the responsibilities. There’s a lot to learn at the end position - it’s a little bit more limited inside - so for the first year that was the best spot for him. Plus, he’s quite a bit lighter and quicker than what he was last year. He’s helped himself physically."

And he sounds like he wants to take advantage of the opportunity:

"I think not having spring ball when I first got here - all the problems with my junior college (before) coming here - really affected me as far as my workouts and stuff like that," Sesay said. "But now I have a chance to have the same (preparation) as everybody else, so I want to take advantage of it."

Jacob Karam Ready to Play

RRS.com's Katie McCracken talked with 2009 signee and quarterback, Jacob Karam, about this past weekend's spring game:

"I thought it was really cool you know. It was really cool to see everyone get a lot of reps and I know everyone's real excited for the upcoming season," said Karam after the game.
Snip

"A bunch of the signees and I have been hanging out with a lot of the guys that signed here last year in 2009 so we've just all been hanging out together and it's just been a blast," Karam said. "I just can't wait to move down here"

Shannon Woods Visited with Cowboys

FWST's Clarence Hill, Jr. reported that another Red Raider visited with the Dallas Cowboys, running back Shannon Woods. Woods has dropped off my radar a bit, but I think it's important to note that there's no reason why Woods won't be successful in the NFL. If anything, he knows how to do the little things to be successful in the NFL, which is learning ow to pick up the blitz and block.

Michael Crabtree Has No Doubts

USA Today's Tom Pedulla talks with Texas Tech's receiver Michael Crabtree. Go read the whole thing, although I don't think there's anything there that you haven't already read. I would like to point out that Crabtree's work ethic should never be questioned:

Texas Tech coach Mike Leach also was impressed by Crabtree's dedication. "He has a really clear and focused mind," he says. "In his downtime, when he's walking somewhere, I really believe he's thinking about football."
"They do have some similarities," Leach says. "They are incredibly driven people, and their work ethic is off the charts."

Neglected Audio, Video and Pictures

Fox34's looks back at the Red-Black spring game, including talking with RB Harrison Jeffers and QB Steven Sheffield. Also, the LAJ has a photo gallery of the Red-Black Scrimmage that's worth your time.

Texas Tech Baseball

Date	Start Time	Texas Tech Starting Pitcher	UNLV Starting Pitcher	Result
4/21/2009	7:00 p.m.	Nate Karns (2-4, 5.67)	Matt Hutchinson (1-1, 7.48)	-
4/22/2009	12:00 p.m.	TBA	Justin Baca (0-1, 8.10)	-

Outfield:
LF - Michael Reed (Jr.); CF - Taylor Ashby (Jr.); RF - Mason Macnoll (Fr.)
Infield:
3RD - Justin Berry (Fr.); SS - Joey Kenworthy (Jr.); 2ND - Garrett Totten (Fr.); 1ST - Chris Richburg (Sr.)
C - Kevin Whitehead (Fr.)
DH - Scott LeJeune (Fr.)

*Click on the score for boxscore. Texas Tech series preview (pdf).

Texas Tech Takes on UNLV

LAJ's George Watson has a quick preview of this quick mid-week series with UNLV and head coach Dan Spencer wants to focus on these next five games, two with UNLV and Missouri this weekend:

"We’ve got five games before we have a break with finals and we really need to be locked in on these five and not worry about anything else," head coach Dan Spencer said. "We’ve put ourselves in a position where we need to win in the midweek and do something in the midweek so we can keep this momentum and add to our wins. We control our own destiny. We don’t need help controlling things late in the year, but we’ve got to play better in the midweek."

DT's Mike Graham also previews this series with the Runnin' Rebels and Spencer is feeling good about this weekend's series with Kansas:

"I don't think (we lost any) momentum," said Spencer, who has his team sitting seventh in the Big 12 standings. "Momentum is your starting guy on the mound. How good is he? Is he good in the first inning? That's your momentum builder or momentum deflator."

Texas Tech Wednesday Morning Football Notes - Edge Pressure Edition

Seth C — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 11:28:05 -0000

Traditional Media vs. Blogging

A tremendous post by Maize n Brew Dave about the death of the print media and the birth of the new blogosphere. Nestor at Bruins Nation chimed in as well to add to the conversation. I don't have the time to say this as eloquently as Dave and Nestor, but I love the local media. Without them, I don't really have much of a blog, or at least the news part of it. I can always write about the teams themselves, and perhaps I don't need them as much as I think, although I think the traditional media certainly serves a purpose, especially for a school like Texas Tech, which sometimes struggles for media exposure.

I appreciate guys like Don Williams, Jeff Walker, George Watson, Dwain Price, Brandon George and Tim Griffin. Although I find that a little bit ironic that Williams, who is a graduate of Texas Tech (I think), seems to not care much for blogs although RedRaiders.com is nothing more than a Wordpress theme (i.e. blog template). In my two or three years of blogging I've only had contact with a handful of writers (maybe three) despite the fact that I think I present a good product and I don't think I pose a threat to anyone's job despite some initial emails.

I would agree that the there is or was a certain amount of fear of the unknown about blogs especially because there is the perception that blogs are unprofessional, but I think this perception has changed quite a bit over time. The traditional media has a place, or at least I believe they have a place, in this world, and I hope they figure out a way to balance the information that's online versus continuing the print business.

DTN's Top Four:

A little late to the party, but always funny, Bring On The Cats presents Adventures of the Big 12: Spring Break.
The * is being removed although the bonus pay to the UT coaches means that they still think they won? I'm so confused.
Why is Robert Marve still considering Texas Tech?
Michael Crabtree is now a spokesman for Subway.

Brad Hastings: 1964-2009

There's been quite a bit more on the death of former Texas Tech star, Brad Hastings including commentary from FWST's Dwain Price and ESPN's Tim Griffin. You can donate to the Hastings Children's College Fund for Hasting's two minor children.

Hastings was before my time, I just didn't follow Texas Tech football at that point in my life, but it's clear that he had a significant impact on the success of Spike Dykes and Texas Tech's resurgence.

RaiderAde's Spring Football Update

I meant to link to this earlier, but forgot (boo me) RaiderAde checked out practice last week and has some thoughts on the offense practice as well as some photos from practice

Running Back Tandem

DT's Adam Coleman writes about the running back situation as Baron Batch and Harrison Jeffers look to duplicate 2008, despite the loss of Shannon Woods. Here's running backs coach Clay McGuire on replacing Woods:

"You can't replace three years of experience right off the bat," McGuire said. "I think talent-wise, I think we're fine. Shannon, in a way, was a very strong leader on this team. I'd love to have him back right now, but we don't - gotta move off what we have."

And offensive line coach Matt Moore praises Batch:

"Batch is doing a good job of coaching," Tech offensive line coach Matt Moore said. "Really coaching the younger guys up. He does a good job of going on and telling why. Why you can't hesitate on the goal line. You gotta stick it in there because they got us out numbered in the box. You got that edge pressure coming, and you gotta get it up in there."

Duncan Named to the Lott Trophy Watch List

Brian Duncan was named to the Lott Trophy Watch List. The Lott Trophy is named after Ronnie Lott and is awarded to the collegiate player who exhibits great play on the field and great personal character. Congrats to Duncan for this honor.

Neglected Video, Audio and Photos

TechTalk's first hour delved into scrimmage talk, as well as talking with Richard Jones and with offensive line coach Matt Moore on the progress of this relatively young line and in the second hour Level talks with Seth Doege (who he absolutely loves and if he were the head coach, he'd start over Potts) and Drew Dougherty talks with Taylor Potts. My two cents, Potts is the quarterback unless something drastic happens. Leach also comments at the end of the second hour and here's Leach's recent movie viewing: Knowing, season 1 of Sopranos, The Last House on the Left (okay), but not as good as I Spit On Your Grave (not sure what this is).

RaiderPower has lots of free photos from Monday's scrimmage.

Fox34 takes a look at senior center Shawn Byrnes attempt to regain the starting center position.

Previewing Texas Tech vs. Ole Miss: Running Backs

Seth C — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 18:00:06 -0000

RUNNING BACK

Player	Ht/Wt	Class	Rush Att	Rush Yds	Rush Avg	Rush TD	Rec	Rec Yds	Rec Avg	Rec TD
Baron Batch	5'11"/205	So.	111	742	6.75	7	43	442	10.28	1
Shannon Woods	5'11"/194	Sr.	135	670	4.96	12	31	330	10.56	2
Cordera Eason	5'10"/224	Jr.	137	644	4.70	3	9	73	8.11	2
Dexter McCluster	5'8"/165	Jr.	94	558	5.87	5	38	542	14.26	1
Brandon Bolden	5'11"/220	Fr.	87	434	4.99	4	8	94	11.75	1

Texas Tech

Cannot catch Baron Batch.

I earlier pointed to the fact that a big reason for this team's success was the improved play of Graham Harrell, but the play of Baron Batch and Shannon Woods has truly been the difference in this offense that much more efficient. I've been thinking about this all year, and I'm not sure that this is so much an original thought, but the rushing resurgence started with Baron Batch. Batch's play during the scout team and during the spring meant that Shannon Woods was either going to have to absolutely pick up his play or be left behind by a more talented runner. If Batch isn't pushing Woods during the spring, I'm not sure how effective Woods actually is. That's not to say that Woods' wouldn't be somewhat effective, but I think it was the competition between the two that really drove this team.

I'm pretty sure that's the definition of a man-crush.

As it was also mentioned yesterday, the blocking that Shannon Woods does, whether it's picking up a blitz or clearing the way for Batch is truly commendable. Woods is the type of guy that just likes hitting people, which makes me wonder if he was miscast as a running back, but he truly takes joy out of doing his job, which has been picking up blitzes more so than running the ball.

What stands out to me is the overall production from these two in terms of yards per rush and/or reception (i.e. touch). For the year, Batch averaged 7.68 yards per touch and Woods was on the record for 6.02 yards per touch. Consider those numbers for a minute. Each time they either ran the ball or caught a pass, both of these guys were getting 6 or 7 yards a play. No matter how you might measure the value of a player, gaining those types of yards each time you touch the ball is a testament to the offense in general, but it also says something about each of them.

Batch and Woods have accounted for 22 touchdowns on the year, which is a little less than 2 touchdowns a game from your running backs. Compared to last year, Aaron Crawford and Woods combined for 16 touchdowns for the year in 13 games. The overall increase in production is really something.

Mississippi

You're so far behind, trying to tackle Cordera Eason.

There's no question that Cordera is the leader of the rushing attack, although as you will note from the statistics above, this is a not a one-man-show for the Rebels. As a team, the Rebels rush for 183 yards a game, however, 4 players average more than 25 yards a game, including the 3 players listed above. Cordera receives the bulk of the carries, over 11 a game, however he is not much of a receiving threat. I would guess that you'll probably see Cordera on 1st and 2nd downs, but Ole Miss will move to McCluster and Bolden on third downs and as a change of pace. Cordera is the least explosive of the running backs, but he's consistently getting the ball (19, 14, 14, 17, 11 carries in the last 5 games) each and every game.

As mentioned by TechGolf44, McCluster initially started as the Wild-Hog quarterback, but due to some fumbling problems, he was replaced by Bolden. McCluster is listed as a receiver, and at 5'8"/165, he appears to be a guy who Nutt just wants out on the field because he can be so explosive. Much like Cordera, McCluster is receiving a steady diet of rushes (11, 14, 7, 14, and 9 over the past 5 games) each game and although he appears to be effective as a runner, he's even more effective in space catching the ball. McCluster is averaging 14.26 yards per reception and there's no doubt that McCluster is more effective with a little bit of open space rather than in and around the line of scrimmage.

Bolden received quite a few carries early, but those numbers have significantly decreased as of late. In August/September Bolden averaged 9.00 attempts per game, 7.00 in October, and 5.25 in November and I think those numbers would have been worse had Bolden not received 8 carries against Louisiana-Monroe in a 59-0 blow-out victory.

There's no doubt that Mississippi is a rushing team. The Rebels run the ball 60.48% of their plays, which has them ranked as the 31st team in the country in rushing. These guys can run and their quite effective at doing it. In fact Houston Nutt deserves a ton of credit for taking last year's 84th nationally ranked rushing offense and turning it into a very effective unit.

Conclusion:

I've promised myself that I'm not going to call any one of these matchups a push because that's just a chicken-S way of not putting yourself out there. The bottom line for me is how effective is each teams' set of runners, not just including rushing statistics. For the year, Woods and Batch averaged 6.82 yards per touch (2,184 total yards on 320 touches), while the combination of Cordera, McCluster and Bolden averaged 6.28 per touch (2,345 total yards on 373 touches). That's pretty damn close. If it was just about rushing the ball, Ole Miss wins it hands down, but if you add in all of those receiving yards that Woods and Batch gain on 53 less touches than Ole Miss and I've got to give a slight edge to the Red Raiders.

Previous Matchups:

Quarterback ::

Matchup	Advantage
Quarterback
Running Back

Poll

Who do you favor in this matchup of running backs?

Texas Tech

173 votes

Mississippi

108 votes

281 votes | Poll has closed

SB Nation - Shannon Woods

SB Nation 2009 Big 12 Preview // Double-T Nation's Preview of the Texas Tech Red Raiders

Discussing Big 12 QBs With And The Valley Shook

QB productivity difference is shocking.

If the difference is one of offensive scheme..

I think it is mainly a scheme issue

I don't think it's purely a question of offensive scheme..

I'm not so sure Big 12 offenses sacrificed rushing for passing

Double-T Nation Daily Diatribe // 07.23.09

Odds and Ends

Suing the NCAA and Having a Chance

Texas Tech Football

Running Backs Carrying the Load

Top Game of 2008

Harrell "Injures" Himself Doing Absolutely Nothing, to Injured List

Mr. Crabtree, No Diva

Top Stories of the Big 12 South for 2009

2009 Top Cupcakes

Texas Tech Basketball

Big 12 Schedule Released

Recruiting Stuff

5 Things // Offensive Players Who Must Improve in 2009

Offensive Players Who Must Improve in 2009

1: WR, Edward Britton

2: C, Shawn Byrnes

3: WR, Adam James

4: RB, Aaron Crawford

5: WR, Lyle Leong

Double-T Nation Daily Diatribe // 07.07.09

Odds and Ends

Quick Question

Texas Tech Football

All-Big 12?

Texas Tech to Determine Big 12 North

Speaking of Nebraska

Mythical Big 12 vs. SEC Challenge

Throwback Game

Myles Wade's Trek to Lubbock

Five Things // Building the Offensive Line

Building the Offensive Line

1: Is Experience Overrated?

2: The Man at the Top

3: Change In Tackles

4: Versatility

5: Rounding Out the Rest

Five Things // Replacing Michael Crabtree

Replacing Crabtree

1: Where to Begin

2: How Will Texas Tech Survive

3: The Top Four Make It Happen

4: Effect of the Quarterback

5: Effect of the Running Game

Double-T Nation Daily Diatribe // 04.21.09

Odds and Ends

New Header

Texas TECHspy Awards

Texas Tech Football

New Pass Rushers

Jacob Karam Ready to Play

Shannon Woods Visited with Cowboys

Michael Crabtree Has No Doubts

Neglected Audio, Video and Pictures

Texas Tech Baseball

Texas Tech Takes on UNLV

Texas Tech Wednesday Morning Football Notes - Edge Pressure Edition

Traditional Media vs. Blogging

DTN's Top Four:

Brad Hastings: 1964-2009

RaiderAde's Spring Football Update

Running Back Tandem

Duncan Named to the Lott Trophy Watch List

Neglected Video, Audio and Photos

Previewing Texas Tech vs. Ole Miss: Running Backs

RUNNING BACK

Texas Tech

Mississippi

Conclusion:

Previous Matchups:

Who do you favor in this matchup of running backs?

Texas Tech