SB Nation - Graham Harrell

MSU v TT in the Alamo Bowl: Air Raid basics and how Leach will attack MSU

grahamfiller10 — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 01:00:19 -0000

I'd like to start this post by saying Stride chewing gum is, by far, the longest lasting gum out there. I chew gum constantly and I've been through Orbit, Five, classic Wrigley...and there is just no comparison. I'm happily chewing a piece of Stride right now and I guarantee it makes it to the conclusion of this article. And no, I'm not being paid by Stride (I wish) or auditioning for Mad Men...though I wouldn't mind meeting January Jones.

Mike Leach began his education in and around the pass-giddy BYU program. He's made the "Air Raid" principles successful wherever he's been. So although I claim no special knowledge of the Air Raid (i.e. played against it in high school or...something), I love watching the ease in which yards are picked up and the way Leach tosses out "typical" thoughts about offensive balance or success.

I want to go over the misconceptions and strengths of the Air Raid, what Leach has been able to do this year, and what we can expect Texas Tech to attack MSU with.

Air Raid Basics

One of the things you'll hear about TT's "O" is that it's "complicated" and takes a lot of repetitions. While any great offense takes a great amount of practice to be successful, the playbook for Leach's O will be relatively light against MSU, I'm guessing no more than 15 passing plays. However, these plays will be full of many different options, making the offense seem extremely complicated.

Here's an excerpt from a 2005 WashingtonPost article:

Two years ago, a high school senior watched Texas Tech on television thinking its freewheeling offense looked awfully confounding. Now a quarterback in the program, Graham Harrell knows better, even pointing out, "Coach never handed out a playbook."

...

In all, Hodges said, there are no more than 25 primary passing plays, but each can be run using five different formations. The challenge is for the quarterback to know when to switch plays at the line of scrimmage.

Here is a typical progression read by a quarterback from the original BYU concepts:

62 MESH

5 step drop. Take a peek at F/S - if he's up hit Z on post. Otherwise watch X-Y mesh occur - somebody will pop open - let him have ball. Vs. zone - throw to Fullback.

Now I won't put these in order of importance, but the Air Raid demands knowledge of defense, quick read progressions, and great chemistry between WR and QB. Texas Tech has been able to harness these.

The Air Raid in 2009

The Red Raidaa's (say it like Barbara Streisand combined with John Madden, it's more fun) have kept their offensive torch burning this year, sporting the nation's 2nd best pass offense at 380 ypg while scoring 37 ppg (9th best nationally). They also average 25 first downs per game - the third most in the nation and very symptomatic of a team excelling at short passes.

This success offensively came in spite of losing starting QB Taylor Potts for a few games thanks to a mid-season injury and a general "feeling out" process toward who the starting quarterback will be. This can be easily witnessed in the 142.6 quarterback rating of Texas Tech's quarterbacks - the teams lowest since 2004. Even though quarterbacks and wide receivers are sometimes regarded as interchangeable in the Air Raid, the lack of experience was shown this year during a turnover-laden perfomance by Potts against TAMU and during a 3 point first half versus Baylor. The Red Raiders have also allowed 30 sacks, again symptomatic of passing offenses but by far the most allowed by Leach's O-line during the last 4 years.

The wide receivers are bigger than I would have expected (an image of 5' 7'' waterbug Wes Welker pinballing through secondaries is stuck in my head). The six receivers we'll see the most of against MSU average 6' 1'' 183 lbs - if anything, that's lanky.

What will Leach try against MSU?

The same thing he always tries, of course. Quick passes to wide receivers in space, slants into open grass, dump offs to running backs. On film, Leach will see the same things that have driven TRE and Spartan fans everywhere crazy, namely MSU's inability to keep their zone intact against crosses, no jamming wide receivers at the LOS, and a lack of pass rush from the front 4. Obviously the numbers don't lie:

Penn State's Spread HD (lots of moving parts, Daryll Clark)...310 yards passing, 4 td's...

Minnesota's play-action (which had minor success all year)...416 yards, 5 td's...

Notre Dame (New England Patriot infused pro-form)...300 yards, 2 td's...

NW's Spread (Narduzzi said of all the opponents, this was closest to TT)...291 yards, 2 td's..

I will eventually take a look at the TT defense, but the Air Raid system has always been one of my favorite to watch. It's this kind of "flavor" that makes college football so intriguing, as one Big Ten team will face a triple option attack this Holiday season, while another will face the maestro of wide splits and quick passing.

Why It's Not the System

Seth C — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 13:00:32 -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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I'm not sure why this hasn't been written or maybe it has and I just haven't read it: It's not the system.

While eating dinner with my wife last night I realized or figured out or finally put two and two together that it's not the system. I'm guessing that my brain was subconsciously mulling this concept over while I was ignoring the Heisman Ceremony last week. In any event, I thought back to last year's supposed Heisman snub as both Graham Harrell and Michael Crabtree couldn't even get as much as an invite despite having incredible careers that may not have been deserving of a Heisman Trophy, but at the very least a Heisman invite. I've moved passed any resentment that I might have had and the truth of the matter is that it's really the uninformed Heisman voters, some of whom admitted that they didn't even watch some of the Heisman candidates. As a personal aside, this is the same moral dilemma that I have when voting in the BlogPoll, which I started to do at the beginning of the season, but I quickly realized that I wasn't watching enough games to truly be informed. I could watch some scores and see some highlights, but I could never vote with a good conscious if I knew that I had watched one game that weekend, that game being the Red Raiders.

In any event, I started thinking about Harrell and Crabtree's careers and how truly spectacular each of their individual and team accomplishments last year actually were. When the question of whether or not Harrell or Crabtree were even worthy of Heisman consideration last year, there were many that thought that they weren't worthy because they were merely products of the system. I wish I could go back and find those thoughts (I believe there is sufficient interwebs evidence that would point to this general perception) and it's easy to say that Harrell and Crabtree's success was not a matter of their mental or physical talents, but rather some goofy little system that that lovable and quotable Mike Leach scratched out on some notebook paper and told both of them to just go out and play.

If there was ever a year that Texas Tech fans all need to ingrain in your memories, it is the year of 2009, where the Red Raiders did still have offensive success (the second best passing offense in the country and the seventh best offense in the country), but to those that watched the games closely, it just wasn't the same.

About a year and a half ago, I had just finished up reading Malcolm Gladwell's Blink and I was truly inspired. Inspired so much as to write up what I thought was a fantastic post about Blink, and in particular, rapid cognition, i.e. the ability to make correct decisions in a very short period of time and how this related to quarterback play (I apologize for the video no longer working, it's not my fault). For those of you too lazy to click on over (you should, because I spent a lot of time writing that post and I think it's good) there are three main tenants that I took from the book:

When talking about rapid cognition, experience may be the biggest reason for success, however, like anything else in life, that experience can fail you.

Sometimes experiences and circumstances can keep you from making what are typically good decisions.

Sometimes you can succeed more because you know less about your opponent, i.e. knowing too much information can impair understanding.

I could write and talk for hours about how I thought, and still think for the most part, that Gladwell thoughts regarding success of a player is highly dependent upon the repetition and physical ability that any certain player has. In fact, I think if you were to corner Leach prior to the season about his decision regarding Potts, I think he'd tell you that Sheffield, despite being a huge part of the program, that he didn't have the repetitions in the offense in order to be successful. It was no secret that Leach had been grooming Potts for the past three years to be Harrell's eventual successor and despite the fact that Sheffield having somewhat limited repetitions in practices, due to the fact that he was a walk-on, that he was playing better than Potts, which was on full display during the spring game. And this may be something to write about in another post, but Sheffield's ability to essentially take Leach's formula, repetition, repetition, repetition and more repetition (if you haven't read Hal Mumme's practice plan, then you need to do so to realize how true the fact that repetition is important to Leach and the Air Raid offense) and perform at a very high level is something that Leach hasn't experienced thus far in his coaching career. To say that Sheffield was an anomaly is an understatement. If Sheffield is given the reins next year, you might say that Sheffield's ability to recognize defenses without the hundred and hundreds of repetitions would make Sheffield a Leach-offense prodigy (again, this is probably a great off-season post).

This is the delicate balance in those three items listed above and to get back to the original point of this post, it's that 2008 was a culmination of those three factors from Blink coming together for Harrell and Crabtree (I do think it's humorous to look back what I wrote about Harrell in reviewing those Rice highlights, "In the Rice video, Harrell cannot throw off of his back foot. It's a disaster waiting to happen for any quarterback." Sound familiar?). As stated above, despite still being successful in 2009, it wasn't the same.

Perhaps Texas Tech fans are a bit spoiled, especially after what Harrell and Crabtree did in 2008, but maybe more than that I hope that writers, bloggers, and television commentators realize that the "system" is more than the system. Harrell wasn't blessed with a wicked arm or the ability to make every throw, but what he did have and what I think he perfected, was the ability to make very quick decisions and those decisions were right, especially in 2008, at an incredibly high rate. And for those that discount what Crabtree did on an almost every game basis for two years straight is undermining what an absolutely exceptional player and maybe even once in a generation type of player he actually was. Both gentlemen had physical gifts, but it was Harrell's ability to make accurate throws, but even more than that make very quick decisions that made him successful, and as much as Crabtree was a physically dominant receiver, Leach has always maintained that Crabtree's recognition of space on the field was unmatched by any player he's ever coached.

Texas Tech fans can sometimes get caught in their own webs of whether to credit or blame the system. Was Crabtree a product of the system? Sure, he was, but being the product of a system and being a productive NFL player (at least thus far) are two completely separate questions. Was Harrell a product of the system? Again, yes, but it was probably those physical limitations that made it difficult for him to spend any real time in the NFL. Were Crabtree and Harrell in the same system? Again yes, each did things the other could not do and made the whole thing work and sometimes, credit needs to go to the incredible athletic and mental abilities of both.

Now we bring ourselves full-circle and we ask ourselves, where is Potts in this equation. I know that some Texas Tech fans will not go to games or support the team or support the player if Potts continues to start. Fine, whatever, you're entitled to your opinion and the right to support or not support the team, but I think the tough part, the part that none of us get to see is that Leach has probably always, and I mean always based his decision on those hundreds and hundreds of repetitions that a player takes during practice on who he thinks should start. Despite what we're seeing this year, Potts' performance during those three years he practiced the system, he was probably outstanding and the repetitions warranted him being the starter in 2009.

But things changed when the lights went on and the opponents were live.

If it was the system, then Potts would have been an All-American with 5,000 yards passing, 50 touchdowns and 10 interceptions because Mike Leach's system would have dictated that every quarterback be as successful as the last quarterback.

Again, this is something that Leach was truly unfamiliar with from the standpoint that his quarterbacks had almost always overcome those mistakes with stellar performances because of Leach's reliance on repetition in practice. Potts may be the exception to the rule and that's your problem with the quarterback position. Leach's system is nothing more than Leach trusting his eyes, and he did trust his eyes leading up to 2009, but the problem was that Potts' performance didn't match the repetitions he had in 3 years of practice. Meanwhile, Sheffield's lack of repetition in practice didn't match what Leach could have dreamed about in terms of production on the field.

And Texas Tech's 2008 and 2009 seasons are why either giving credit to or discrediting the "system" is not fair, either for writers, bloggers or fans . . . because it's just not true. Sometimes it's the player and sometimes it's good and sometimes it's not as good as other years.

As I read this past, I realize that it's a rambling mess. For those of you who were able to stick through this entire post, thanks a ton.

Texas Tech v MSU in the Alamo Bowl: Do past bowl results tell us anything about this game?

grahamfiller10 — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 18:49:17 -0000

I am hardly excited about this match-up, as everyone can explain what exactly Michigan State needs to do for a chance at winning, but no one can explain how exactly this is going to happen. Everyone and their mother knows Michigan State can't defend the pass and that defensive coordinator Pat Narduzzi refuses to play anything other than two ineffective schemes. Everyone also knows that the magic of the Texas Tech attack comes from the Air Raid principles of Mike Leach, which includes an amalgamation of shallow crossing routes, comeback routes, dumpoffs in space, and quick screens.

Here is the numbers breakdown from The Only Colors, of course highlighting the fact that TT has the #2 passing offense in the nation and MSU has the #103 pass defense.

But let's save the scheming and gnashing of Spartan teeth for another day and discuss some past bowl games results. Could this game be closer than everyone believes?

How do the Spartans look in bowl games and what does this say about the 2010 Alamo Bowl? MSU is currently on a 3 game bowl losing streak: '03 to Nebraska, '07 to BC and '08 to Georgia. The Georgia game was a decent indicator - MSU played tough against the run and kept the game close until it became apparent that Brian Hoyer wasn't going to be able lead the Spartans to victory through the air with Ringer bottled up. MSU even led at the half, 6-3. So essentially, they were who everyone thought they were, a solid defense with not enough offense.

How do the Red Raiders look in bowl games and what does this say about the 2010 Alamo Bowl? A 10-21-1 bowl record doesn't diminish the fact that Texas Tech has been bowling consistently for two decades, competing in 16 bowl games in the last 25 years. However, the last three years give excellent indication of what happens come Holiday time to Leach's Raiders.

30	W	12-29-2006	44	Minnesota	41	Insight Bowl
31	W	01-01-2008	31	Virginia	28	Gator Bowl
32	L	01-02-2009	34	Mississippi	47	Cotton Bowl

No shortage of points, but not exactly stingy defense either. Don't forget that the 2008 version featured Graham Harrell and Mike Crabtree, but Ole Miss put a lickin' on 'em anyways.

Now I understand perfectly that football games exist in a vacuum and that some TT defensive back isn't going to be thinking about an '06 performance while on the field. This is a brand new matchup with new players at key positions (no Otis Wiley, Crabtree, Ringer, Harrell). But I've decided that, in the spirit of the holidays, each Alamo Bowl post will have some form of optimistic Spartan bent to it. It's not propaganda, more like inspiration for all those Sparties depressed about the 10 suspended players, no running back depth, and a matchup from hell with Leach's minions.

So let me say this: Texas Tech's offensive makes them seem like an unattractive bowl match-up, including last year when only 1 out of 12 OPC contestants picked Ole Miss over TT. This is perfectly understandable, especially when one sees the Air Raid scenario's and plays like the one below. How is my team going to prepare for this in one month, you ask, and do we really have the horses to stop a team scoring almost 40 points a game? Well for the last three years, medium-level programs from the ACC, SEC, and Big Ten have held their own against Texas Tech. So don't lose all hope yet Spartans.

Post Game Thoughts :: Oklahoma Sooners Edition

Seth C — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 15:27:43 -0000

by Sue Ogrocki - AP

about 1 month ago: Wearing a jersey with the name "Nick", Texas Tech quarterback Taylor Potts passes against Oklahoma in the fourth quarter of an NCAA college football game in Lubbock, Texas, Saturday, Nov. 21, 2009. Texas Tech head coach Mike Leach said the name was a nickname. Potts threw for 388 yards and two touchdowns as Texas Tech beat Oklahoma 41-13 on Saturday for its most lopsided win ever over the Sooners. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

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SBN Box Score :: TTU Box Score :: Post Game Quotes : Mike Leach and Players

The Result :: So Sweet: I had not even considered a blowout on the Texas Tech side of the ledger. It seemed to me that such a result was truly inconceivable, considering all of the factors that have caused this season to be somewhat of a disappointment were virtually non-existent for most, if not all of this game. Huge props goes to the Texas Tech defense who just out-hit the Sooner offense on Saturday. I get the feeling that they were not expecting the type of athlete and player that was on the field on Saturday.

And I've probably missed a ton of storylines, so help a brother out and give me your storyline from Saturday's win. Follow me after the jump for storylines on the game, including my crazy theory as to why Leach had a player going in motion for quite a bit of the game.

The Storylines ::

Going in Motion: I really will need to go back and look at the tape of the game, but it seemed to me that the Texas Tech offense was running a receiver in motion quite a bit during the game, except for formations where the Red Raiders had a 2-RB set. Football 101 says that one of the main reasons why you send a man in motion is to give the offense a clue as to whether or not the defense is in zone or man. When Texas Tech wasn't sending a man in motion, I thought that the 2-RB set received quite a bit of burn.

The basic premise here is that I think Leach wanted to make it as easy on QB Taylor Potts as possible. He wanted to make it as easy on "Nick" to make the right decision, which I believe he did, for most of the game. And on 53 attempts, Potts had one interception, all game long he took what the defense gave him, pushed the ball down the field, took some chances and played a helluva game.

And on a personal side, I love the fact that Potts had success against a big opponent. All of the comments about how Potts doesn't celebrate or know how to have fun didn't hold water yesterday as he seemed to be leading the charge. There's no doubt that Potts hasn't been perfect this year, but if you give him some time in the pocket, he can do some things.

Finally, RB Baron Batch had this to say about his quarterback:

"I’ve heard the fans boo him. I’ve heard people say get him out of there,’’ running back Baron Batch said. "It takes a tough, tough, tough person to be able to withstand all that and come out of that on top, and that’s what he’s done. I’m so proud of him for that. I don’t know how I would have responded in that situation. I don’t know how a lot of people would have responded. But he’s shown he’s mentally tough and he has a lot of heart."

O-Line and Running Backs: I don't know how you separate the two, especially in this game. The line certainly had their problems, especially late in the second half where the OU defense were bringing more than what the Texas Tech offense could hold (I think this was just after playing "Jump Around"). But there's no reason to criticize the offensive line this game. Potts was only sacked twice for the entire game and I cannot remember any negative plays for the running backs. There were two plays that stood out to me, which was RB Baron Batch first touchdown. LT Chris Olson had a tremendous block, blowing out the OU defender and the rest of the offensive line, including LG Lonnie Edwards completely caved in the rest of the OU defensive line. Batch walks into the endzone untouched. That play doesn't happen without Olson taking his man out of the play entirely.

The second play is RB Eric Stephen's touchdown that put Texas Tech up 40 to 13 and Stephens ran right between RT Marlon Winn and RG Brandon Carter for an easy score. Winn had this to say after the game about that run:

Asked about what memory he’ll take from senior day, tackle Marlon Winn said, "Just that last drive, that last touchdown. Stephens comes in, and he runs it between me and (guard) Brandon Carter.
"We worked hard for five years, and for that to be the last play in the Jones our senior year, it was amazing. Great thing.’’

Touching Gesture: I feel comfortable enough with you guys to let you know that I almost shed a man tear when it was known that DE Rajon Henley would not be wearing his traditional number, but instead wore #40 in honor of DB Nathan Stone, a walk-on from Lubbock, who worked his way up the depth chart to see significant time early this season. Stone's season ended early with an undiclosed neck injury and although I don't know all of the details, I have heard that Stone is fine, but will never be able to play football again. You could call it a silly gesture, but I take great pride in the type of men that this Texas Tech football program produces. There will always be some bad apples, but there's a ton of solid citizens amongst this group. WR Alexander Torres and DE Brandon Sharpe had this to say about this after the game:

BRANDON SHARPE: That's real nice, you know. Somebody else was supposed to wear Sandy Riley's jersey. But I think it was a late time to ask for it and stuff but it was really an inspiration, you know, just to see him have a heart like that. To share his playing time with another playing on the team. You saw how close we can be, and we are.
ALEX TORRES: Like he said, it's one of those things that it's great to see that out there. And I know Nate appreciates it. It kind of goes to show what a family we are as a team and how much we care about one another to be able to give them a shot to see his jersey out there one last time on Senior Day and everything. I thought it was really uplifting, and I hope Nate appreciated that, which I'm sure he does.

Here's Your Run Stuffing Defense: Seriously. 26 carries and 48 yards. Sure, that figure includes 3 sacks for 30 yards, but son of a gun, that Texas Tech front 7 was simply outstanding. This may have been as well-rounded an effort as you'll see. To say that the front 7 dominated on Saturday would be an understatement. The defensive line did a tremendous job of holding their blocks to allow the linebackers to make tackles, as LB Brian Duncan led the team with 6 tackles and LB Marlon Williams had 5 tackles, including 1 TFL. The pressure that DE's Brandon Sharpe, Daniel Howard and Rajon Henley brought all game was tremendous, although I think that to not give credit to the tackles would be a mistake in this game. DT's Colby Whitlock and Richard Jones played big and I think Jones goes unnoticed sometimes, but he's as solid a defensive tackle that you'll see.

And although the defense will lose these pass-rushers mentioned above, I think it's interesting to see Sharpe talk about the fact that he essentially played one year, and with a little hard work, dedication, he's in a position to break the single-season sack record:

Oh, shoot, it means a lot, you know. I mean, hopefully I can finish up with a little bit more, break it and keep going with it and stuff for these last few games we've got. I hope to have my name sitting here with the sack list and stuff. So the people that's coming in next year are going to look forward to having something to do, something to work for, you know.

Torres Big Day: I've secretly had my doubts as to whether or not WR Alexander Torres could have a big day. Torres finished the day with 10 catches for 163 yards and a touchdown. Torres replaced Crabtree and I've wondered whether or not Torres could effectively replace the play-making ability of Crabtree. And that's an incredibly tough thing to do. I thought during the game that as a fanbase, we certainly give Graham Harrell quiet a bit of credit for the work he did last year, but Harrell also had the luxury of having the absolute best wide receiver in the country for 2 years running. I was trying to remember the last time that I saw a wide-receiver slant for a touchdown, something that Red Raider fans saw so frequently last year. The offense has and will be fine, but there was something special about the offense the past 2 seasons and that's a tough thing to have to remember life before Crabtree. Under previous years, it was guys like Torres who were making big plays out of seemingly nothing. Torres huge 65 yard receiption was all Torres. It was Torres knowing that the defensive back was overplaying the ball, that Torres didn't have anyone behind him and if he could quickly turn the route up field, he'd have a huge play. That's exactly what happened. I'm impressed and surprised that Torres has been a spokesperson for the offensive side of the team for a good part of the season. Leach hand-picks these guys and although Torres is merely a redshirt freshman, he knows exactly what to say:

Yeah, that whole play just happened to be a great check by pots. He gave me a quick route that told me to get my head around real fast. And like I do in practice and Coach Leach preaches all the time, the receivers coach, Lincoln and Dennis preach all the time. Catch the ball, turn and go straight up field. That's all I did. It wasn't really a special play on my part. All I did was do what I've been coached to to do. It was just a great check by Potts being able to see the defense and read that.

Passing Spikes: It was tremendous to see former Texas Tech coach Spike Dykes honored the way that he was. The day could not have been better for Dykes and I'm of the opinion that all that Dykes would love to see, whether it's breaking his all-time wins record at Texas Tech or some other significant event, would be for the Red Raiders to win. Dykes is as humble, gracious and conversational as they come and it's a shame that he's not in the limelight more than he is. Dykes probably wants it that way and I can certainly appreciate that. Leach didn't get choked up like he did after the Kansas game, but he knows the importance of Dykes to himself and to the program:

It means a lot. We've kind of hashed over it a little bit. Got the opportunity to see Coach Dykes in the locker room. One of the greatest coaches of all time in my opinion, and who really was instrumental in building this program and being a part of his legacy is a real honor for me.

Defensive Takeaways: I found the statistic that Texas Tech has the nation's longest takeaway streak at 26 (or 28, I can't remember) and it's no coincidence that Ruffin McNeill has been in charge of the defense for 31 games. This is a short storyline, but it's a shout-out to McNeill and the job he's done. I always get the feeling that McNeill knows exactly how he wants to play, but he's got to have the players to do it first. Give him time and I think he's going to be pretty damned good.

The Offensive Co-MVP's :: QB Taylor Potts and RB Baron Batch: You could probably have quite a few candidates and not be wrong for an MVP, but the way that Potts threw the ball (35-53 : 388 yards : 1 INT : 2 TD) and the way that Batch ran and caught the ball (25 carries : 136 yards : 2 TD // 7 receptions : 68 yards) was something special.

The Defensive Co-MVP's :: CB Jamar Wall and DE Brandon Sharpe: The pass defense again looks outstanding and lots of credit goes to both Sharpe for the pressure on the quarterback and for Wall for his pressure on receivers. Sharpe finished with 4 tackles, 2.5 sacks and 1 forced fumble. Wall had 4 tackles, 4 passes-broken-up and 1 interception.

The Special Teams Co-MVP's :: PK Matthew Williams and Donnie Carona: Carona had 8 kickoffs and put 5 of them back for touchbacks. Texas Tech needs more of this because to not even give the offense the ability to return puts the offense in a hole. Williams is going unnoticed, me included, because he's doing his job. They were short field goals, but he made them both, along with his extra points.

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:

Reveling in Victory - Cal beats WSU

CBKWit — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 08:33:46 -0000

More photos » by Ben Margot - AP

Best 1, Jones 0

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This one was over early. Just before kickoff, I called a TD on the return. Jeremy Ross only returned it to the WSU 29. Stupid me. Two plays later, with less than a minute gone from the game, Best ran a basic "Go" route and Riley hit him with a nice throw on the outside shoulder for Cal's first touchdown.

Best beat former Cal corner Brandon Jones on the play. Here's what Jones had to say earlier this week: "Jahvid is good and he’s fast," Jones said. "I do want to see him one-on-one. Somebody’s got to win. If I lose, then I’ll come on top the next time." Whoops. No word on whether Jones came on top next time, but Best finished with 186 yards and three touchdowns on only 14 touches, so we'll put a couple tallies in Jahvid's column.

Cal would score three more touchdowns in the quarter and another early in the second to take a 35-3 lead. Riley finished the first quarter with some pretty solid numbers: 3-3, 85 yards, 3 touchdowns. Yes, that is one touchdown per pass attempt.

The fast start was impressive, to put it mildly. Cal flat out dominated and nearly had the 35 point line covered after only twenty minutes. I was regretting not placing more faith in (and a bet on) the Bears. Then Jeff Tuel (pronounced "Tool") started his Graham Harrell impersonation. Cal's penchance for making mediocre and/or inexperienced QBs look like Aaron Rodgers is such a predictable treat; perhaps it was Bob Gregory's plan to give a QB who was sacked TWELVE TIMES last week enough time to throw for 354 yards, in order to teach our young Cal fans (it was kid's day, after all) how to be courteous and gracious hosts. Seriously, Masoli goes 4-16 the week before playing us and then magically turns into Pat White, Barkley barely breaks a sweat in a 27 point victory, KEVIN PRINCE!! throws for 300+, and then true freshman Jeff Tuel, in his third ever start, goes for 350. And I don't want to hear the "oh, they were way behind so they had to throw." You know who else was way behind? Cal, at Oregon, this year. Riley finished with 123 yards on 31 attempts. 4 yards per attempt. Riley has much better talent than Tuel at every surrounding position, not to mention three years more experience, AND we knocked out Oregon's star corner on the first play of the game. Oregon figured out how to shut down a passing attack; maybe someday we won't be one horrible Kevin Price pass away from blowing a game to a pretty terrible ucla team. End rant.

If only we had the talent to containt the Karstetter's of the world.

via a.espncdn.com

If my reveling seems a bit more muted than last week, it's because Cal has given up almost 700 yards passing the last two weeks to teams who are a combined 0-9 in Pac-10 play. That's my dilema right now, and I suspect the dilema for most Cal fans: I'm THRILLED that we FINALLY won in LA, and I'll take a 30 point victory over anyone, any time. But does anyone think we're going to run the table from here on out, given what we saw today? Oregon State just put up 36 on USC at the Coliseum. Our kick coverage is still, how we say, not great (there was a gaping hole on WSU's first return of the game). The purpose of this column is to celebrate our victories, not to fret about what's ahead, but my natural inclination to worry and Cal's seemingly natural inclination to allow 400+ yards of offense is ruining my reveling apetite. On to the good stuff.

Jeremy Ross: he had a pretty nice day, no? The opening kick return was great but paled in comparison to his spectactular punt return. What a sweet move to semi hurdle, semi sidestep a tackler from about 40 yards out. He did drop a couple of passes, including at least one that would have converted a third down, but he also hauled in a 60 yard bomb from Riley.

Good game!

via a.espncdn.com

With such a big day from Ross, it seems inappropriate that the hurdle highlight of the day went to Covaughn DebOSKIe-Johnson. Not only was it a clean, great looking leap, but it sprung Oski for an extra twenty yards. Hurdling (and the set up and landing) is slower than flat out sprinting, so players often only get a few yards after they land; Covaughn made his count. The PA announcer even included it in his summary ("30 yards and one hurdle for a California first down!") Someone post the video.

Best and Vereen were great, as usual. Vereen in particular had some nifty runs, juking and somehow avoiding Cougar defenders for an inside eight yard run, and getting to the outside with a wicked stiff arm on a big gainer. Best will probably be a first round pick this April, but just as we were fine when we lost Arrington, and Marshawn, and Forsett...we'll be fine when we lose Best.

via a.espncdn.com

Tough to nitpick Riley's performance. His start was absolutely ludicrous and he finished with a spectacular 12.7 yards per attempt. The pass to Best in the flat at the goal line was ugly, and if he had led Ross to the outside on the 60 yard completion, instead of drawing him back slightly to the middle, it would have been a touchdown. I also think Riley gets pretty antsy on third down - it seems like he left the pocket a little early on a few occassions, continuing a trend we saw last week. If someone wants a project, look at third down passing attempts from the Cal offense over the last two games. Is Riley not seeing open receivers and taking off too early, or are Cal players being covered up down field? Still, great numbers, and they would have been better except for a few drops.

I even think the Cal defense can be excused slightly, so I'll disagree a bit with myself from 4 paragraphs ago. The defensive line mounted a generally robust pass rush (certainly better than last week), and Cameron Jordan had perhaps his best game of the year with at least a couple of sacks. I loved a third down play near the south endzone when Cal brought at least 5 in pass rush - one of the linebackers had a free shot at Tuel up the middle and the hurried pass was almost intercepted.

Jordan was extremely disruptive today, hopefully a sign of things to come.

via a.espncdn.com

The Cougars, as promised by Nuss, are significantly improved from last year. I like the Cougs, mostly due to my love for my younger brother and for cheese, so this makes me happy. Jeff Tuel looks very good for a true freshman in his third game. Gino Simone, another true freshman, looks good at wideout. This is a very, very young team and a very injured team; I except they will continue to improve and Tuel could be a major pain over the next few years. And most of all, I really, really hope they beat ucla.

If you're still up reveling, what do you think? A thirty-two point victory should make us happy, and there were a lot of fun and entertaining moments today: Ross, Best, Riley, Vereen, Oski, Jones (just list the entire offense, really); Beau Sweeney looked good converting a third down with a pass to Michael Calvin. Cam Jordan busted out, Derrick Hill was a force, and Cal allowed zero points in the second half. Is that enough, for now, to compensate for the problems that may cost us a couple games down the stretch?

Go Aloe, Go Bears.

Post Game Thoughts :: Nebraska Cornhuskers Edition

Seth C — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 21:56:27 -0000

More photos » by Nati Harnik - AP

2 months ago: Texas Tech's Daniel Howard, center, with teammates LaRon Moore, left, and Bront Bird, carries the ball for a touchdown against Nebraska in the first half of their NCAA college football game in Lincoln, Neb., Saturday, Oct. 17, 2009. Texas Tech beat Nebraska 31-10.(AP Photo/Nati Harnik)

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SBN Box Score :: TTU Box Score :: Post Game Quotes

The Result :: Not What I Expected: I'll be honest, I thought that the Nebraska offense would show up just a bit and that never happened. You can certainly credit the Texas Tech defense, as this group made plays all day long, but the Nebraska offense needs some help. In terms of the offense, I never expected Nebraska to out-gain the Red Raiders (259 to 285), again, credit needs to go to that Nebraska defensive line that was simply unbelievable. The offensive line continues to be decimated by injury and will need to improve moving forward, but they held it together, especially when I thought that the Red Raiders needed a touchdown to secure the win. Taking 5:00 minutes off the clock.

Let's get to the storylines and the MVP's after the jump.

The Storylines ::

Making Big Plays: The very first drive was a microcosm of the entire game. QB Steven Sheffield completed 18 yards worth of passes to WR Alexander Torres and then bad things started to happen. A false start and Sheffield taking a sack led Texas Tech to have to make a play on 3rd and 13. Sheffield completes one of the highlight catches of my life to WR Lyle Leong for 34 yards. The Red Raiders now have a first down and Sheffield promptly gets sacked for 10 yards and Texas Tech then faces a 3rd and 17 only to have WR Detron Lewis catch a pass for 22 yards. What looked to be a simple screen pass to RB Baron Batch sealed the drive (his skip into the endzone reminded me a bit of Eric Morris - shoutout) as the Nebraska defenders just could get around to catching Batch get to the pylon.

This team faced adversity almost the entire game, or at least it looked that way from where I was watching the game, but responded at just about each and every call. It may have been the offense at times, it may have been the defense at times, and it may have been the special teams at times.

At the end of the day, this team is a team of hard-working individuals and they are a team . . . collectively, they work together.

This was probably expressed better than I've ever seen this before in LAJ's Don Williams post-game discussion with defensive coordinator Ruffin McNeill:

"One night during fall camp,’’ defensive coordinator Ruffin McNeill said, "(running back) Baron Batch got up and he says, ‘We had some great players last year — Graham Harrell, Michael Crabtree, Louis Vasquez, Brandon Williams. This year, it’s more about the Double-T — what’s on our chest and not necessarily the names on our back. Nothing against those guys. We love those guys. But this team is more worried about not letting the other guy down.’’
The Raiders are working all the angles.

The last couple of weeks, they’ve voted on captains based on what have you done for me lately?

This week, you watch, they’re going to elect a sideline captain.

"If you participated in sports, having your teammates cheer for you is a big, big deal, and we make a big deal out of it,’’ McNeill said. "Our kids take pride in it. We travel some guys right now who, they know they’re not going to play one second. They know their job is to come, go through pre-game and cheer the team on.’’

So McNeill’s eyes lit up when I asked if that means he’s going to arrange a vote for a sideline captain.

"That’s a good idea,’’ he said. "I’m going to take it to the boss.’’

Who would be some leading candidates? McNeill mentioned players such as true freshmen Pearlie Graves and Jacob Karam and veteran backups such as Britton Barbee and Brik Brinker.

I've noticed Karam and Barbee being involved on the sidelines, which is a surprise since Barbee has seen little to no time this year and Karam can be expected not to see a snap all year. But I have no doubt that these guys love their school, and despite not participating, they may be this team's biggest cheerleaders and there's something about that sort of attitude that makes me love this team even more.

Dominating Defense: As mentioned above, Nebraska had their own problems on offense, but to simply point to that would not be fair to the Texas Tech defensive unit. Ruffin McNeill and his unit kept Nebraska to 70 yards rushing and 215 yards passing. When the game was still relatively close the Red Raider defense allowed only 37 yards in their first 4 possessions (one of those being the fumble return for a touchdown). The next possession was Nebraska's best possession as they drove 11 plays and 74 yards, only to be limited to a field goal. With first and goal from the Texas Tech 10 yard line, Nebraska could only manage 3 plays to get to the Texas Tech 4 yard line. Perhaps this was a situation where the defense was a bit tired, but truthfully, limiting Nebraska to a field goal on their first 5 possessions is success.

This is a successful day: 5 tackles for a loss (all being sacks), 1 fumble return for a touchdown, 1 interception, and 7 pass break-ups. That's making plays all over the field. From the defensive line that was able to pressure QB Zac Lee to the defensive backs that were able to cause 7 Nebraska incompletions to a return for the touchdown.

DE's Brandon Sharpe and Rajon Henley (we'll get to D. Howard below) were huge yesterday and I still go back to the ideal that Sharpe, Henley and Howard may not be the most talented bunch, but they'll sure as hell out-work you. And for those of you who complain about McNeill not blitzing and being creative enough, I'd suggest that you watch Howard for the game as he was all over the place prior to the snap in the Joker position and the defensive line as a whole did a tremendous job of creating a pocket and containing Lee. Howard was instrumental in ensuring that there were few gaps for Lee to run after the ball was snapped. McNeill deserves a ton of credit for turning around a defense in such a short period of time after Setencich was let go. That's not to say that this Texas Tech defense has arrived, but I do think it's appropriate to say that this defense is leaps and bounds better than where it was in 2007.

Captain Mike Leach acknowledged the defense in his post-game thoughts:

On if the defensive performance on the day ranks high in his career coaching at Texas Tech: "I think so. I think it does for a couple reasons, and I think one reason it does is because, like I said, when things weren't really going our way, we were losing yards on offense as quick as we were gaining them for a period of time out there, and our defense just stepped up over and over. We tested them in about every way we could. Bad field position, good return on the punt or the kickoff, offense gets a three and out, then another three and out, when you think of this defense when you've got to make it happen, they just kept stepping up. I thought it was a real credit to our D-line, which is a real quick unit. Really I thought both D-lines had a pretty big day."

Offensive Line Woes: When LT Terry McDaniel went down with an apparent knee injury I became incredibly nervous. McDaniel has been a steadying influence along the offensive lines and you guys talked about it in the game-day and post-game threads. Perhaps all of the injuries and suspension along the offensive lines create a situation where this unit will be much better off in 2010 as guys have to pick each other up, but as woeful as Nebraska was on offense in the 1st half, the Texas Tech offense wasn't good in the 2nd half, sans 1 drive. Other than the touchdown drive, Texas Tech managed only 46 yards on 5 drives and time of possession of only 4:22 in the 3rd quarter. Credit the Nebraska pressure defense that rattled Sheffield early and often in the second half. For the day, Nebraska had 8 quarterback hurries and 5 sacks for the day, in addition to 13 tackles for a loss. Whether or not the offensive line wasn't 100% or not, this must change and I'm sure that OL coach Moore will address this issue during the week.

The Nebraska defense looked a lot like the Texas Tech defense in that they rushed their front 4 almost all day. The biggest difference between what I saw against Nebraska and what Oklahoma did against Texas, was that the Sooners were stunting and blitzing all over the place. I don't know that this line will see another line as talented and strong as Nebraksa, but OU is going to be incredibly tough.

Leach Thoughts: I'm guessing that Leach was in a good mood after yesterday's win and it showed in some of his comments after the game. There's really no point to any of this other than to highlight some of the more quotable portions.

When Leach was asked about how whether there was any doubt the team would respond in the second half, he had this to say about his defense:

"We have blackshirts there at Texas Tech too. Every one of our guys is wearing a black shirt underneath their pads. I'm proud to say the blackshirts won this one."

I'm not sure if Leach knew before the game that Pelini gave out the blackshirts to 13 of his defensive players yesterday, but if he did, then this was both smart and thoughtful way to convey to his team that they play pretty damned good defense too.

When asked about Sheffield's performance and some of the pressure he faced on Saturday:

"He got a lot of pressure,’’ Leach said. "He generated some for himself, too. There were a couple of them where he’d go back there and run in a circle, run in a circle and look up and then there’s two guys there. I wasn’t real cranked about that. I wanted him to throw the ball and hit some fat guy in the stands. That didn’t consistently happen. We had a conversation on that.’’

What percentage of college coaches use the word "cranked"?

When asked about whether or not it was important to score on Texas Tech's first possession, Leach launches into a bit about Sheffield and the money quote is at the end:

"I think it's really important, and I think (Sheffield) was really instrumental in that. I think he does a great job just with the whole team. He is one of our captains this week. He was really instrumental in having all of our guys excited to play. Then he went over there and kind of put his money where his mouth is or whatever. That's basically one of the worst cliches I've used in a long time, I'm usually better at making them up."

Kickoff Woes: No one takes more special teams grief than K Donnie Carona, and I'd be more than happy to learn that the short kickoffs were part of the game play, but for the game, Carona only averaged 54 yards a kickoff. That's about kicking it off to the 15 to 20 yard line. I'm surprised that Special Teams coach Russell has been so forgiving of Carona and it took one punt for Carona to get the boot as the punter, but field position is a big part of the game and I'd really just like to see Carona be more consistent.

Contrarian MVP's :: Due to the strange nature of this game, I thought that this week's MVP's should be a little different too.

The Offensive MVP :: DE Daniel Howard: The conventional offensive MVP would have been WR Detron Lewis, who had 5 catches for 100 yards or Steven Sheffield for leading the Red Raiders to a win on the road against a ranked opponent. But these are contrarian MVP's. Howard had the longest play of the game, 82 yards, returning a fumble and putting Texas Tech ahead for the game. Who would have thought that Howard's play would have been the one to put Nebraska away for he game, but it was.

The Defensive Co-MVP's :: FS Franklin Mitchem and SS Cody Davis: The convention defensive MVP would have to be DE Brandon Sharpe, who had 7 tackles, 4 sacks and broke up 1 pass. Incredible game, just absolutely incredible. But the contrarian MVP goes to the two safety-mates in Davis and Mitchem. I thought Mitchem's support in and around the line of scrimmage was absolutely tremendous, and then to top it off, he snagged an interception. Davis' hit on that 3rd down that caused the Nebraska player to drop a sure catch was tremendous. That kid can play. One last thing about Mitchem and Davis, and someone please tell me if I'm wrong, but has Texas Tech been burned deep thus far this year? It's a testament to DB coach Mainord, but it's also a testament to the guys in the program.

The Special Teams MVP :: SS Brett Dewhurst: In addition to getting a ton of playing time as the nickel and dime defensive back, he also had 4 special teams tackles for the day. A convention MVP would have been K Matthew Williams, who hit a field goal for 32 yards and all of his extra points, or P Ryan Erxleben, who has no idea he's a freshman, punting in a hostile environment.

Nebraska's Keys To Victory Over Texas Tech

Jon Johnston — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 13:15:21 -0000

More photos » by Jeff Roberson - AP

Nebraska quarterback Zac Lee celebrates after throwing a 13-yard pass to wide receiver Niles Paul for a touchdown during the fourth quarter of an NCAA college football game against Missouri Thursday, Oct. 8, 2009, in Columbia, Mo. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

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If this game doesn't worry you at least a little, you're not paying attention. Forget that Tech is on the road. Forget that they don't have Michael Crabtree or Graham Harrell, they're still the same ol' Texas Tech that can put up yardage and points at a faster rate than nearly anyone in the nation.

Last year's Tech game was a freakazoid affair with Nebraska holding the ball for 40 minutes. The Huskers controlled the game with a ball control passing offense. Can that happen again this year? With Zac Lee as Joe Ganz, Niles Paul as Nate Swift, and a whole gob of other guys playing Todd Peterson, why not?

As much as you'd like to think Nebraska can line up in tight end heavy sets and pummel the Tech defense, it's not going to happen.

Take What You're Given

Much has been made this week about the Huskers throwing the ball so often in the rain at Missouri. Mid-week we discovered that Watson's calls were biased toward the rain, but changed to passes by Lee after reading the Missouri defense. I don't understand the angst over this, especially given the outcome of the game.

If Tech moves up to stop the run, then take what you're given and throw the ball. It would be foolhardy to run when you're outnumbered at the line of scrimmage. If that means throwing the ball 40 times, then so be it. Zac Lee has performed well at home, as has his receiving corps. There's no reason to expect that this game will be any different.

Keep in mind, it's not the Huskers who are looking for an offensive identity. It's the media that creates this "run the ball" frenzy so they can feed off it. The team is looking to win football games by whatever means they can. Keep in mind that we have one very good running back, while we have quite a number of very good receivers - Niles Paul, Mike McNeill, Curenski Gilleylen included.

If winning means Roy Helu gaining 150 yards on the ground, then yay for him. If it's Zac Lee throwing for 250 yards, then there's nothing wrong with that either.

Win First Down

This key, along with the first, are just another way of saying "ball control", and that is just another way of saying to win we need to keep Tech's offense off the field. I wouldn't expect the same level of a ball control offense we saw last season, but things will go much easier if we get solid yardage on first down.

Play selection is much easier when you're working with second or third and three as opposed to seven. Rex Burkhead will be missed because of his straight ahead tough running style, but Shawn Watson will have to discover that talent in another of his young running backs.

Eliminate Stupid

Last week, Nebraska recorded 12 penalties for 108 yards. Some of those can be written off because of the inclement conditions, but many of them were the result of poor discipline. Husker fans don't need to be reminded of the drive-killing nature of penalties.

We're midway through the season. It's time for the stupidity to end. Nebraska's offense can't afford to lose points because of it, especially not against a team that's known for rolling up yards and points like Tech.

The bottom line is this - the offense can't expect the defense to bail them out of every game this season, so stop shooting yourselves in the foot.

Control The Lines

Ndamukong Suh has played with such a fervor that it's difficult to imagine him being stopped by anyone, but in this game he'll be going up against one of the Big 12's best offensive linemen in Tech guard Brandon Carter. Let's assume that Carter is able to control Suh better than most, which means it will be time for Jared Crick, Pierre Allen, and Barry Turner to get some big plays.

The rest of Suh's counterparts will need to get pressure on Tech's quarterback, but they'll also be responsible for stopping Tech's running game, ala the 11 touchdowns on the ground alluded to earlier this week. That means controlling the gaps, standing your ground and getting an even push upfield. It does not mean exploding up the field in an all-out pass rush.

The offensive line must perform better to win this game. They'll need to pick up the short yardage situations to sustain drives. They must also be better disciplined in run blocking, not allowing linebackers to shoot through and blow up a play because someone missed an assignment.

It will be a good sign if Nebraska is able to run the ball in the middle of Tech's defense. Last week we were all about running wide. If we're going to run the ball, we need to make sure we're getting yardage in the middle as well as the edges.

A Second Preview of Texas Tech

Husker Mike — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 11:15:17 -0000

Once again, we're revisiting our preseason previews on our opponent as we move closer to the actual game. In July, here's what we previewed for the Texas Tech Red Raiders this season.

Last season was a dream season for Texas Tech. An 11-2 record, a Cotton Bowl berth, two ABC prime-time "Saturday Night Football" broadcasts in Lubbock; for a while, it seemed like nothing could go wrong for the Raiders. Until, of course, the Raiders walked into Norman and got blasted early and often by the Sooners. (Of course, everybody who ventured into Gaylord Family Stadium got blasted last season.)

But that was then. Graham Harrell is now playing in Canada. Michael Crabtree is in San Francisco. But before anybody dismisses the Red Raiders completely, keep in mind that Texas Tech leads the Big XII with 14 straight winning seasons. Nebraska had their hiccups during the Callahan/Pederson error, Oklahoma had their's under Howard Schnellenberger and John Blake, and Texas had John Mackovic. So while Raiders may be down; history suggests the won't fall very far.

The burden of replacing Harrell falls to junior Taylor Potts. Past history of Tech quarterbacks shows that the Raiders merely reload after the previous quarterback graduates. Three year starter Kliff Kingsbury (1999-2002) was replaced by B.J. Symons, who merely set an NCAA passing record in 2003. In 2004, Sonny Cumbie put up typical Tech numbers, as did Cody Hodges in 2005. So there is every expectation that Potts should be well groomed to light up the scoreboard in Lubbock this fall.

Wide receiver Edward Britton has the physical tools (4.4 speed) to replace Crabtree, but lacks the consistency to put it all together. It wasn't just on the field either; when Britton decided to skip classwork, Mike Leach sent Britton to study hall - on the fifty yard line on a cold snowy March day. Receiver Detron Lewis started all 13 games for Tech last, and while also inconsistent, shows more signs of breaking out in 2009. Seth over at Double-T Nation likes Tramain Swindall to be a surprise impact receiver this season.

Running back Baron Batch was Tech's most effective running back during the Leach era, rushing for 758 yards for a 6.7 yard average last season. (Ask Texas fans about it!) Some of that could be attributed to the Tech offensive line, who featured all-Big XII tackle Rylan Reed and 2nd teamer Louis Vasquez...but they're gone, creating two holes on the offensive line. Two starters, both honorable mention all-Big XII, return: right tackle Marlon Winn and left guard Brandon Carter. 2007 starting center Shawn Byrnes, who lost his job last season to Stephen Hanby, is likely to regain his starting spot.

At initial glance, defense in Lubbock almost seems an afterthought, though Mike Leach did change defensive coordinators after a WAC-style shootout loss against Oklahoma State in 2007. In came Ruffin McNeill, who stabilized the defense a bit, but it's still offense that carries the Raiders. With the suspension and departure of defensive end McKinner Dixon, only nose tackle Colby Whitlock returns up front in 2009.

All three linebackers return in 2009: juniors Bront Bird, Brian Duncan, and senior Marlon Williams. ESPN's Tim Griffin rated Duncan the #31 player in the league this season; Duncan lead the Raiders in tackles in 2008. In the secondary, only senior cornerback Jamar Wall returns. You remember Wall don't you? He's the guy who picked off that ill-advised Joe Ganz pass in overtime.

Oh, if only. If Ganz had decided to take that sack in overtime, or if SOMEBODY had bothered to cover Crabtree on that fourth down play in the fourth quarter, things could have been quite a bit different for both Nebraska and Texas Tech last season. (If you want to play the "if-only" game further, what about Kevin Cosgrove's decision to start the 2005 game in a prevent defense, spotting the Raiders an early 21-0 lead.) While Pelini didn't have much success slowing down the Raiders in Lubbock last season, not many other teams did either. 2009 should give Nebraska a much better shot to break Texas Tech's three game winning streak against the Huskers.

Poll

What happens when Texas Tech arrives in Lincoln to battle the Huskers in October?

Nebraska rolls to a huge victory

19 votes

37%

The Huskers edge out the Raiders

105 votes

35%

Tech pulls one out against the Huskers once again.

101 votes

14%

Tech gets their groove back and rolls in Lincoln

41 votes

It's 2004 all over again; it's another embarassing blowout for the Big Red.

15 votes

281 votes | Poll has closed

So what has changed? After Tech was upset on the road by Houston, the team seemed to unravel slightly. Mike Leach suspended offensive lineman Brandon Carter, and banned the use of Twitter by his players after senior linebacker Marlon Williams tweeted "Wondering why I'm still in this meeting room when the head coach can't even be on time to his on [sic] meeting." The Raiders stumbled and bumbled the next week against New Mexico, with Taylor Potts getting knocked out of the game in the first half. Steven Sheffield came on in relief, and has seemingly outplayed Potts. Last week, the Raiders blasted Kansas State 66-14.

So which version of the Pirate Circus act is coming to Lincoln this weekend? The one that beat North Dakota 38-13 and allowed New Mexico to score 28 points? Or is it the squad that beat Kansas State by 52 points and stayed competitive with Texas in Austin? Heck, we're not even sure who is going to start at quarterback for the Raiders. If I had to guess, it would be Sheffield...but that's just a guess. Anybody who's ever tried to figure out Mike Leach probably has come up wrong in the end.

Poll

Who starts at quarterback?

Taylor Potts

8 votes

Steven Sheffield

64 votes

Doesn't matter, all Tech QB's put up ridiculous numbers

90 votes

162 votes | Poll has closed

Double-T Nation Daily Diatribe :: 10.06.09

Seth C — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 11:23:28 -0000

Donor's Choose: Please note in the left sidebar I've added a Donor's Choose program and essentially this is a social media competition and SB Nation has joined the fray, as has DTN. Not wanting to leave anyone out, I've chosen all public schools in Texas and the thought is that you can give locally wherever you are. If you can give, it's certainly appreciated (there's no prize), and if you can't, then no worries.

Adventures of the Big 12 - Texas Tech: Bring On The Cats' Panjandrum with the origin of little old Texas Tech. And if you don't know what this is then click away, Adventures of the Big 12.

2010 Commit, Aaron Spikes: I usually put this stuff at the end of the notes, but thought that it deserved more attention. If you were ever concerned about the caliber of player that Texas Tech is recruiting then maybe this should put you at ease. Excellent story about Pinkston RB Aaron Spikes and his commitment to his friend.

Sheffield Gaining Praise: LAJ's Don Williams writes that head captain Mike Leach has some praise for QB Steven Sheffield and his play on Saturday:

"I thought he did a great job with tempo,’’ Leach said during his weekly news conference. "Of our quarterbacks we have right now, he creates the best tempo for the group, and I think it’s something everybody feeds off of. He was a huge part of that, as far as everybody moving quickly together. He generates that better than anybody does."

Snip

"You don’t want a guy to just leave the pocket for no reason,’’ Leach said. "I thought he was really sharp when he left the pocket. There was one time I thought he should have left that he didn’t. There weren’t any times that he left that I wished he hadn’t.’’

And LB Bront Bird said that Sheffield added energy to the team and crowd:

"When he came in, you could just tell not only in the stadium but on our sideline, there was a whole ’nother energy that came into it,’’ linebacker Bront Bird said. "That’s a guy that goes out there with a lot of confidence. As a defense, we wanted to play well for him. We could see that his heart was in it and he wanted to play well for us.

Texas Tech Notebook: LAJ's Don Williams has some notes, including Leach wanting to retire at the same time, 60, that former head coach Spike Dykes retired . . . RG Brandon Carter is officially reinstated and RT Marlon Winn missed his line-mate:

"I missed him more than anybody else, because I’m used to playing next to him,’’ Winn said Monday. "I’ve played next to him for two years straight. It was a little different working out chemistry with (right guard Chris) Olson next to me, but we’re glad to have him back this week.’’

. . . Captain Leach said that RB Harrison Jeffers has some Forest Gump to him ("I just kept running, and running and running." - about 1:00 into the trailer):

"He’s got some Forrest Gump quality to him in what he does there; there’s no question,’’ Leach said. "He runs a couple of extra yards. We coach second effort, and we aren’t going to do anything to discourage him. He will score and make sure to cover as much of the end zone and a little bit extra.’’

. . . Leach also talks about P Ryan Erxleben's ability to pin the ball deep:

"I actually went through that transition with Reyes,’’ Leach said, "going from, ‘He can’t (pin opponents deep) to ‘He probably can do it,’ and now Erxleben makes it pretty clear that he can.’’

Rally Behind Sheffield: DT's Adam Coleman writes that the team is ready to rally behind QB Steven Sheffield, and RT Marlon Winn had this to say about QB Taylor Potts after getting hit (emphasis mine) and that both Potts and Sheffield can lead this team:

"He looked like Taylor Potts," Winn said. "His mustache looked okay. That’s all I was worried about. I just helped him up and we made our way to the sideline."

Winn said there’s not much difference as far as leadership qualities between Potts and Sheffield, but he also said there was no denying the difference Sheffield made when he entered the game.

"Third quarter, we came out with a lot of tempo," he said. "As soon as he got in, he brought a little spark to the team. Him and Potts are both great quarterbacks. They’re both capable of doing the same things and leading our team in the right direction. We’re happy to have either one of them behind us."

Teleconference Fun: This is IE only, but you can listen to Captain Mike Leach get a little bit defensive with AOL's Terrance Harris, who wants to know if Leach, who had previously said that QB Taylor Potts was not injured and could be ready to play this week, was seriously going to play Potts and that the media knew that he had suffered a concussion and with that knowledge then would Leach play a player with a concussion. Leach made some off-hand comment in that if Harris knew so much, he really didn't need Leach to give the answer. It was a full minute of entertainment.

Alumni Updates: So Michael Crabtree might be traveling to San Francisco to sign his contract, make sure and follow the SB Nation sports stream story which will be updated with any new information . . . Saskatchewan Roughrider, Graham Harrell, talks about the different quirks of the Canadian Football League:

"No question, it’s the motion," Harrell says. "I like it. You can get guys a running start, as many guys moving as you want, switch formations in mid-cadence, stuff like that. It’s a lot different (then American football), but I like it. It’s a neat addition to the game."

Red Raider Links: TR's dedfischer and RRR each have some thoughts about the New Mexico game and moving forward . . . RaiderAde's ayleein with some post game thoughts on New Mexico . . . RRS.com's Paul Lowery with Fab Five at Five . . .

Kansas St. Wildcat Links: CJOnlin'es Austin Meek writes about the Wildcats being on top of the Big 12 North . . . TheMercury's Cole Manbeck writes that QB Grant Gregory is the right fit for K-State . . .

Big 12 Links: This is a must-read as Rock M Nation has their updated Beyond the Box Score predictions and it's not looking good for Texas Tech (again, this is based off a statistical formula) . . . Bring On The Cats' TB with some good thoughts and clearing up misconceptions on the future of the Big 12 television . . . the Omaha World-Herald ranks the Big 12 . . . KC Star's Blair Kerkoff with the good, bad and ugly of the Big 12 non-conference play . . . AOL Fanhouse's Terrance Harris with a Big 12 notebook . . . LAJ's Adam Zuvanich with a look at the Big 12 . . .

Neglected Video: Again, after the jump, NewsChannel 11 has some clips from yesterday's press conference with Leach where he talks about his injury policy and gives a shout-out to K-State's Bill Snyder the master of the injury policy and Fox34 has some clips from Saturday's press conference.