SB Nation - Shawn Byrnes

Five Reasons Texas Tech Will Win ::Oklahoma Sooners Edition

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Double-T Nation Daily Diatribe :: 11.06.09

Seth C — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:05:58 -0000

I've Got Nothing Else: This is it for me for the day. With no game this week, it's been tough, but we've all made it through relatively unscathed. For those of you who are just now checking in this week, we've done quite a bit this week, including a look forward to the Texas Tech football offense in 2010 and defense in 2010. Not only that, we've discussed the preseason story lines, MVP's, depth charts and looking ahead to 2010 and 2011 for the men's basketball team. Hopefully that will keep you occupied the rest of the day.

Excellent Thoughts on the Spread: Smart Football's Chris Brown sat down with a friend of his, Hemlock, to discuss all things spread and run-and-shoot. An incredibly interesting read, and if there's one thing that I take away from this is that if it is incredibly difficult to have multiple formations, but still have a relatively accurate and effective offense? Please, please, please go read the whole thing, but here's a blockquote for discussion purposes:

I’ve coached both high-school and D-I football and I’ve learned the hard way that it is either impossible, in the case of high school, or or so difficult to the point of being prohibitive, as in the case of college ball, to effectively implement a multiple-formation intensive system and to consistently succeed with it. At my last D-I school we ran the true west coast offense, as my head coach was a legitimate disciple of Bill Walsh. Not only was it difficult to install all of our formations, but it made our players hesitant; they were so worried about getting lined up correctly that they were not able to concentrate on running the play. Another unintended consequence was that the different looks we installed confused our players more than the defenses we faced. It sounds odd, but our players, despite all our efforts to the contrary, deep down believed that every time we ran a route concept from a new formation we were in fact running a different play. This problem reinforces a point that June Jones made once about his former quarterback Colt Brennan. Even though they ran their "Levels package" primarily from one formation ("Early"), Brennan, for nearly a year, believed that the different level distributions constituted a different individual play. It took a year, according to Jones, until Brennan basically understood that regardless of who was the over and who was under runner that they were running the same play. Now, remember, this was all being run from one formation; imagine what it is like when you have literally a dozen different formations from which to run that one play. We found out the hard way: We had a lot of formations and our players thought we were drawing up all kinds of new plays.

If there was ever a question about needing time to understand Leach's system, I think this bit (as well as additional thoughts in the article) that asking or thinking that a freshman or redshirt freshman could start for Texas Tech seems like it's asking quite a bit from that player.

Leach on Friday Night Lights: I really don't need to give you any sort of context, just enjoy:

Mike Leach on FNL (via jrad115)

Batch is a Texas Tech Workhorse: FWST's Dwain Price profiles RB Baron Batch and Captain Mike Leach thinks highly of this Texas Tech running back:

"He’s one of the most conscientious guys I’ve ever dealt with," Leach said. "He’s ambitious and wants things to go well.

"But as he settles down and just stays within the parameters of his job, he can be remarkably explosive."

And C Shawn Byrnes loves blocking for a guy like Batch:

"That was just amazing how he punched that in," Byrnes said. "He’s just such a strong back, so it’s great to have him behind us.

"He is underrated and he’s a great runner, and he loves the game of football."

Byrnes said he gets an extra charge when he’s blocking for Batch.

"He runs so hard and is just such a motivational leader, too," Byrnes said. "He’s very vocal and he really wants to get everybody upbeat and excited to play.

"It’s just great blocking for a guy like that, somebody who is always going to have your back and always motivates you to play, and somebody you always want out there with you."

Academic Team: Per ESPN's Tim Griffin, WR Alexander Torres and SS Cody Davis have made the 2009 CoSIDA/ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District team. Congrats to both of those guys.

Young and Denton-Ryan Win: Denton Record Chronicle's Matt Martinez has a good write-up on last night's game between Denton-Ryan and Denton Guyer. Texas Tech commit QB Scotty Young for Ryan had a rough start, but didn't get rattled. I had forgotten that UT commit Taylor Bible played for Guyer and made an early impact, but Ryan poured it on in the 2nd half. Young was 24-31 : 297 Yds : 5 TD : 1 Int.

Knights Together Again: Yahoo! Sports Jason King with a good article about the seemingly ever-evolving relationship between Pat Knight and his father, Bob Knight. Here's PK being very honest about his relationship with BK:

"It’s good to have him around again," Pat said. "For awhile he didn’t want to be involved at all."

Snip

"We didn’t speak a lot last year," Pat Knight said. "And when we did talk it wasn’t like it should be. The whole situation really caused a strain on our relationship. It was strange. Neither one of us knew how to handle it."

As close as these two seemed as father-and-son and as coach-and-assistant-coach, it certainly is strange. King details that PK and BK have worked out any differences they may have had:

At the conclusion of last season, Pat said he and his father had a lengthy conversation and aired out all of their grievances. Bob told Pat that he was trying to allow space so his son could "do his own thing." Pat, though, told his father that he wanted him around more and that his suggestions were not only welcomed, but encouraged.

"By the end [of the talk] we had put it all behind us," Pat said. "Now we’re hanging out again. He’s helping me. We’re getting along as well as we have since I stopped playing.

"He’s actually been at our last three practices."

I'm torn on the idea as to whether or not it's good to have BK around so much as PK tries to establish his identity, and perhaps that's what BK was doing all along is letting PK figure things out on his own.

Zeno Picked in D-League Draft: Former Red Raider Martin Zeno was picked with the 2nd pick in the 3rd round to the Erie BayHawks. Congrats to Zeno, and I hope he accomplishes his goal of getting to the NBA.

Double-T Nation Daily Diatribe :: 11.02.09

Seth C — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 11:38:57 -0000

Bye Week: I think I needed a break. No game this weekend and as a result, there are no previews to write and I'm sure the pace will be a bit slower on DTN. I've worked on some previews to 2010, both offensive and defensive, with looks at recruiting and past recruiting classes as well as a projected 2-deep for 2010. I'll also have some basketball preview articles to get everyone amped up about that.

Leach Joins the Car Wash: If you don't have a job or have access to the television today, you'll be able to catch Mike Leach on ESPN's car wash, which is essentially Leach appearing on a bunch of ESPN related shows. Here's his tentative schedule:

10:40 am - ESPNU College Football Podcast -- Host: Ivan Maisel :: 11:00 am - College GameDay Tailgate Radio -- Host: Jon Stashower :: 11:15 am - ESPN First Take -- Host: TBA :: 12:20 pm The Herd -- Host: Colin Cowherd :: 12:40 pm - ESPNU - Taping -- Host: TBA :: 1 pm -2:45pm - College Football Live -- Host: TBA --tape Dr. Lou questions-- :: 1:50 pm - 3:15pm ESPN.com Chat :: 2:20 pm - 6pm SportsCenter Taping -- Host: TBA :: 2:40 pm - Scott Van Pelt Show -- Host: Scott Van Pelt :: 2:50 pm - Football Tonight Radio -- Host: TBA :: 3:10 pm - ESPNews -- Host: TBA :: 3:25pm - ESPN.com Football Recruiting section -- Host: TBA

Do you think Leach is more excited about doing an internet chat or talking to Colin Cowherd?

Feel free to post FanPosts or FanShots as new content becomes available.

Bye Week High Note: LAJ's Don Williams writes that the Red Raiders are happy to start the bye week on a win rather than a loss. I wrote yesterday about how RB Baron Batch gave Taylor Potts the credit for checking into the right running plays in the second half and C Shawn Byrnes confirms this again today:

"The quarterbacks just made great run checks,’’ center Shawn Byrnes said. "When he came up to the line and checked into those plays, I thought that was the best plays we could have run. I just called the fronts and got us into a scheme that I thought was best, and it worked out great.’’

And S Julius Howard, who was a captain last week, couldn't decide which was better, the special teams or the defense:

"I’m proud of all three sides of the ball,’’ he said. "Special teams stepped up another week and played. Defense, we brought it this week. And offense, they struggled the first half, but the second half as defensive people, we just told them to ‘keep going, keep going; we’ve got y’all.’ They started rolling, and we were good after that.’’

KU vs. TTU Links: There are still some links to Saturday's win, including LAJ's Don Williams report card . . . TR's dedfischer Post-Mortem and RRR's look at the game . . . OBK Hiphopopotamus' Post-Mortem . . .

Post Game Thoughts :: Kansas Jayhawks Edition

Seth C — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 14:00:28 -0000

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

The Result :: Decidedly Defensive: This might be something that the entire fanbase might have felt prior to yesterday's game. Everyone was a tad bit jumpy, defensive if you will, regarding the current state of this team. I thought before the game that the defensive MVP would be Ruffn McNeill and that's probably a good place to start. Kansas hasn't been the Kansas of prior years, but they've still be pretty good. The Kansas that Texas Tech beat yesterday was dominated defensively, and you can argue over whether it was Kansas or Texas Tech that did the dominating, but 6 sacks, 8 tackles for a loss, 2 forced fumbles, and 10 pass break-ups isn't a bad afternoon defensively.

Join me after the jump for storylines and MVP's.

The Storylines ::

Leach is Emotional: With Saturday's win over Kansas, Leach tied Spike Dykes for the number of wins at Texas Tech. I never thought I'd see the day where our very Captain Mike Leach showed any emotion at any press gathering, but if you ever thought there was a disconnect between Leach and the man that he replaced then I'd encourage you to watch this video of Leach after this win. Here's the text, but the words on paper don't do Leach's emotion justice:

Well, Spike's, you know, it's funny. I think the young guys don't do maybe as good a job of thanking the older guys as they really ought to. You know, when I was coming up in coaching, Spike's a guy that I always really admired. I think that I learned a lot from Spike like all of us do. Well I just really want to thank him, you know. But, you know, there's no new guys without the old guys. The old guys are what made it happen.

There's not much there with those words, but watching the video along with reading the words, you know that Leach respects Dykes and the things he was able to accomplish at Texas Tech. Leach is a fan of history and his comments lend to the idea that he respects the history of his own company.

Who Is Calling Those Running Plays: An absolutely dominating performance from one RB Baron Batch. I think there's this misconception that the lack of running game is a direct reflection on Leach and his willingness to run versus the quarterbacks checking down into a running play. I think the only thing we do know is that I believe that Leach gives his quarterbacks quite a bit of latitude offensively and if the running game isn't working, it's not always a reflection of Leach not wanting to run the ball. If you look at rushing statistics from 2008, the one constant during the 10 game winning streak was that this team ran for over 100 yards every game. That means two things: the quarterback isn't losing a ton of yards on sacks and the running backs are getting the ball.

If my math is correct, Batch ran 8 times for 7 yards in the first half. Perhaps this is a situation where QB Seth Doege didn't check to the running game in the right situations. Complain all you want about QB Taylor Potts, but there's something to be said for his ability to make the right reads and Batch acknowledged that after the game:

Q. How did it feel to rack up so many touchdowns today on a team that's kind of known for passing?
BARON BATCH: I mean, it's nice, but the touchdowns I score is a reflection of everybody doing what they're supposed to. Receivers blocking down field. Linemen doing a great job blocking the quarterback. You know, Potts did a great job checking into those runs. I don't think many of those, maybe two of the plays that we scored on were called in the huddle. But every other run, pretty much, was checked into. That's a great job by Potts just doing what he's supposed to, and recognizing what they're giving us and being a smart player.

Potts didn't have a great passing game, and we'll get to being a leader later, but I hope like hell you're not one of those people who refuse to give credit to a player for making the right calls and the right reads during a game. I have high hopes for Doege, but to me it was clear that Potts had a better command of the offense on Saturday and I think a big part of that command is repetitions. Doege will have that soon enough, but we might all think about giving Potts some love after previous week criticisms from a fanbase. His recognition of the defense may be the reason Batch rushes for all of those yards and touchdowns.

How to Dominate Defensively: Right now, I'm not sure which defense shows up for each and every game, but if Texas Tech gets the same performance last week, then the game is at the very least quite a bit closer.

Yesterday, the entire unit just looked cohesive, all on the same page. I thought McNeill utilized good stunts, blitzed a few times and was successful, pressured Kansas receivers, etc. Generally speaking, the defensive line was active and it was nice to hear DT Colby Whitlock's name more than once during a game. The hits that KU QB Todd Reesing took were sometimes brutal, especially the hit from DE Daniel Howard that caused the fumble. Rajon Henley stepped up his play. But the true difference maker on Saturday was again DE Brandon Sharpe. More about his play below, but there is a distinct difference when Sharpe plays and opposing offenses have to account for him. Sharpe was ready to move forward after last week:

Q. Did what happened last week have an effect on you guys just from a private standpoint, make you mad? Want to come back out there and show that you were a different team today?
BRANDON SHARPE: Yes, I mean, any time you have a loss you have to just fight back and build yourself back up. You don't just sit there and wander on and pout about it. You just have to beat yourself up, go play hard, and comes in the morning. I just want to thank the D-line and the defense because we all work as a team. We make things happen.

I think the linebackers and secondary need some mention here too. LB Marlon Williams has been relatively quiet for most of conference play. His play early in this game was a big part of this team's success and there was that late hit in the dive for that fumble in the 4th quarter, the 4th down and 1, that caused the ball to squirt down the field. Not a huge play, but Williams was going for the ball all game long. I think you also saw the relative strength of Brian Duncan and his ability to stop the run. Just outstanding from that repsect.

The secondary was huge all game long. There were certainly breakdowns, but the hits that S Cody Davis and S Franklin Mitchem had were big. Those two ran down plays all over the field and it was apparent as Davis had 10 tackles and Mitchem had 8 for the game. And CB Jamar Wall's hit on ~~Kerry Meier~~ Jake Sharp (thanks to kayakyakr) does not require a comment:

Doege vs. Potts: First and foremost, QB Seth Doege was in a tough position. The offensive line was an absolute mess in the first half. The problems he suffered were not always related to his play. Doege certainly wasn't perfect and he missed on more than a few throws, but Doege was under a tremendous amount of pressure for the entire 1st half. Leach isn't throwing anyone under the bus, here's Leach on Doege:

I think that he's -- I think Doege's well ahead of schedule. I think that Doege, you know, the toughest thing is there is this area where experience, you know, meets confidence and all those things. And I think that, you know, the biggest thing is that more reps, you know. I think that you know, practice played real well this week. And I think in the game as it started moving faster, you know, he's a conscientious guy, too. He didn't want to make a mistake. So I think things moved slowly, and our tempo was slower than it should have been.

With that being said, I was shocked to see QB Taylor Potts enter game in the 2nd half. It was painfully obvious that Doege was having a tough go at it, and I think Leach made the right decision. The Texas Tech passing offense only managed 253 yards for the game and Potts averaged a measly 4.9 yards per attempt with 1 interception that he threw behind his receiver. But Potts managed the game and I thought he managed the game well during the second half. Go read the entire post-game quotes from Leach, where he goes on a ramble that will eventually make it's way to some highlight reel, but the point that sometimes gets lost, and I would guess that Leach struggles with this issue as well, is that quarterback is a tough position to master in his offense.

Doege will be fine, but the offense certainly did respond in the 2nd half.

Offensive Line Mess and Eventual Rebound: The offensive line started C Shawn Byrnes, LT Marlon Winn, LG Lonnie Edwards, RG Brandon Carter and RT LaAdrian Waddle. Carter pulls a hamstring on the 2nd play of the game and things get messier. Mickey Okafor took over at right guard and then things started to get messy. It only took Doege getting pounded a couple of times to realize that this wasn't working. Relatively early in the first half, Wynn was moved back to right tackle after getting Doege annihilated and Chris Olson was moved to left tackle and things actually started to settle down. It wasn't until Carter made his way back to right guard that the offensive line truly clicked and the running game picked up. If there's one thing that the offensive line can say is that they persevered. It wasn't always pretty, but at the end of the day, the offense persevered.

The Offensive MVP :: RB Baron Batch: A special and well-deserved MVP for Batch. At the end of the day, Batch finished with 131 yards on 17 carries and 4 touchdowns.

The Defensive MVP :: DE Brandon Sharpe: As mentioned above, the guy is a difference maker and makes things happen defensively.

The Special Teams MVP :: Coverage Units: I think everyone one of these guys that play on this unit deserves some credit. For the day, Kansas averaged 15.2 yars per kickoff return and 0.5 yards per punt return. Not to mention, Texas Tech almost blocked a punt, and looked pretty good doing it. I think we need to see more of this aggressive type of play, but there's no doubt that from a coverage perspective, the special teams were outstanding and really limited the Jayhawks.

Double-T Nation Daily Diatribe :: 10.22.09

Seth C — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 11:06:44 -0000

Byrnes Returns to Practice: LAJ's Don Williams reported yesterday that C Shawn Byrnes has returned to practice, but that LT Terry McDaniel, S Will Ford, QB Steven Sheffield and IR Blake Kelley did not practice.

Eating the Dinosaur: ESPN2's Chuck Kosterman has a very interesting and lengthy piece about all sorts of things, mainly about football, and Kosterman writes quite a bit about Texas Tech's Mike Leach and his offensive philosophy, which is to run a few plays to perfection rather than run hundreds of plays to something less than perfection. I'm providing a blockquote to entice you, but go read the whole thing. I also want to emphasize the point of running a few plays, but running them perfectly, I'd encourage you to take a look at a post I wrote over 2 years ago (it's really been that long) about the hot-hand theory, doing your job, and the entire Hal Mumme Practice Plan.

Here's Klosterman:

It's easy to overlook the significance of this kind of quote, mostly because it seems obvious and casual and reductionist. But it's none of those things. It's an almost perfect description of how thinking slightly differently can have an exponential consequence, particularly when applied to an activity that's assumed to be inflexible. There is this inherent myth about football that suggests offensive success comes in one of two ways: You can run a handful of plays with extreme precision, or you can run a multitude of different plays in the hope of keeping defenses confused. The Green Bay Packers of the Lombardi era embraced the former philosophy (they rarely used more than fifteen different plays in the course of any game, but the fifteen they ran were disciplined and flawless), as did the straightforward running attack of USC during the 1970s and early '80s. Two modern coaches (Steve Spurrier and Urban Meyer) have both found success at the talent-rich University of Florida, seemingly by never running the same play twice. But the inverted thinking of Mike Leach allows Texas Tech to do both: If Texas Tech focuses on only fifteen different plays -- but runs them all out of twenty different formations -- they're instantly drawing from a pool of three hundred options, all of which could still be executed with the repetitive exactitude of the Packers' power sweep. It wasn't that Leach out-thought everybody else; it was merely that he thought differently. Instead of working within the assumed parameters of football, he decided to expand what those parameters were. For a while, that made him seem like a crazy person. But this is how football always evolves: Progressive ideas are introduced by weirdos and mocked by the world, and then everybody else adopts and refines those ideas ten years later.

I recommend you go read the whole thing,and it may take you some time, but it's well worth it.

Offensive Newcomers: TR's dedfischer with a good look at the offensive newcomers who are contributing to the team

Sideline Pros: I haven't mentioned Steven Leija in quite a while, but he's a photographer in the DFW area, but his passion is Texas Tech and made it to the game last week to take some photos which are posted at his website, Sideline Pros. Go give Steven a visit.

Texas A&M Aggie Links: LAJ's Adam Zuvanich writes about TAMU freshman WR Uzoma Nwachukwu, who's having a tremendous season . . . B/CS Eagle's Robert Cessna writes that TAMU's attitude towards Texas Tech needs to change:

The fact that A&M has better facilities, more fans, more tradition, more money, etc., only drives him and the Red Raiders that much more.

And it’s worked.

. . . and Cessna with a look at how the young Aggies reacted to last week's first road trip and Nwachukwu talks about what his fellow team mates should expect in Lubbock:

"[My teammates] told me definitely keep your helmet on because those fans get real rowdy," Nwachukwu said. "But it's a rivalry game and everything like that. They don't like us and we don't like them, so just keep your helmet on."

. . . SAEN's Buck Harvey with a piece on why TAMU head coach Mike Sherman can afford to lose . . .

Big 12 Links: Rock M Nation's Bill C with the always fun Beyond the Box Score weekly picks (the computers are telling them to take the Aggies against the spread) . . . Columbia Tribune's Dave Matter wish a terrific look at the Big 12's new stars (an enjoyable read, and Matter is one of the best, but I don't link enough) . . . Rivals.com's Olin Buchanan with a good look at week 8 of the Big 12 (a good part is focused on Texas Tech vs. Texas A&M) . . .

Expectations: DT's Adam Coleman writes that both men's and women's basketball coaches, Pat Knight and Kristy Curry, have not had to face the high expectations during the media days (they are ongoing yesterday and today) and Pat Knight likes the challenge:

"It’s good we’re picked low," Knight said. "I actually did an interview with (a magazine). I’m not going to say what magazine. He had no idea about any of the players. I went down through all our players. He was like ‘Well I’m gonna move you up.’ I was like ‘No, you keep me in the basement where I know you have me.’"

Double-T Nation Daily Diatribe :: 10.21.09

Seth C — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 11:03:14 -0000

Selling Stuff: After thinking about it for a few days I've made a decision regarding those that want to sell their wares on DTN. If there are any additional FanPosts where someone is trying to sell something, no matter the product, they're going to get deleted. If you email me and you have a good cause, i.e. proceeds are going to charity, then I think the best thing is to run it by me first and then I'll give you the green light to post. I'm sure this makes me a look poorly to some, but I've worked very hard on DTN becoming a somewhat popular place and if you want to advertise to make a profit or get noticed by 3,000 people a day, then I'll get you hooked up with the right people.

It's Going to Be Potts: Thanks to the djollie111 FanShot last night and it's being reported by multiple sources, including LAJ's Don Williams, FWST's Dwain Price, DT's Alex Ybarra, that QB Steven Sheffield will be out 2 to 3 weeks and QB Taylor Potts has been cleared to play Saturday against the Aggies. Price's article has a source (that sounds so mysterious) that was quoted as saying that the controversy as to whether or not Potts would be cleared to play was "blown out of proportion":

However, of Potts' status for the A&M game, the source said: "He's fine.''

Asked about the controversy on whether Potts hasn't recovered from the concussion, the source said: "That's completely been blown out of proportion.''

There you have it, straight from an unnamed source's mouth.

Other Injuries and Notes: Also in the previously linked LAJ's Don Williams article, there's a run down of other injuries and other than Sheffield, LT Terry McDaniel, C Shawn Byrnes, and S Will Ford remain out for Saturday's game. Think a good thought for all of these guys today to get back on the field as quickly as possible . . . special teams Coach Russell is also concerned about Donnie Carona's lack of ability to kick the ball deep, despite having a strong leg, and had this to say about the situation:

Asked if he’d consider kickers Matt Williams or Brad Hicks, Russell said, "If anybody else would show they could do any better. We’re going to always go with the best guy. We’re also trying to work and get it fixed with Donnie.

"We’re just not striking it right. I don’t know what the issues are, whether our eyes are coming off the ball or what.’’

. . . and if the general public doesn't buy up the extra seats, the administration is prepared to fill those spots with students . . .

Seniors Want to Keep Streak Alive: LAJ's Don Williams writes that the current group of seniors do not want to be the class that loses to the Aggies (currently 4). RT Marlon Winn (again, becoming one of my favorite players) recounts his early games against the Aggies:

"That’s a very big deal,’’ said Winn, Tech’s three-year starter at right tackle. "My redshirt (freshman) year, the first year we traveled down there, I remember the touchdown catch Robert Johnson made in the end zone to seal the game (31-27). I felt the rivalry between the two teams and how we just snatched the air out of the stadium. I enjoyed the feeling.

"They come here the next year, and kind of the same thing happens,’’ Winn went on. "It’s something that, when you go into practice that week, you remember those kind of things, and you don’t want to be the team that ends up losing to Texas A&M, who of course is a great team.’’

And TAMU coach Mike Sherman knows the Texas Tech crowd and students can be "threatening":

"Playing at nighttime out in Lubbock, the crowd’s going to be right behind our bench, and it’s going to be very threatening,’’ Sherman said. "Our kids have to rise to that challenge. I’m not so sure we did a good job of that last week.’’

Offensive Line to be Tested by Miller: DT's Adam Coleman writes that the offensive line will be tested by talented TAMU DE Von Miller. Offensive line Coach Moore had this to say about the challenge:

"We’re not going to change anything in what we do, but they definitely have a little pep in their step," he said. "That’s the reason they came here. That’s the reason they came to the Big 12. If they wanted to go play against someone they could beat every time, they’d go play in a different conference.

"They come here for the challenge, and I feel like we stepped up to it last week."

And Miller had this to say about what they intend on doing this week:

"Our secondary — I know our guys are gonna bear down, hold the receivers up a little bit, give us a couple chances, a couple of opportunities to get back there and make a couple of plays," Miller said during A&M’s weekly press conference Monday. "Our secondary and our linebackers, I’m 100 percent positive that we’re gonna have a really good week."

Texas A&M Aggie Links: the B/CS Eagle's Robert Cessna writes that the Texas Tech vs. Texas A&M game is always interesting . . . the Chron's Brent Zwerneman recounts the Aggies' struggles in Lubbock . . .

Big 12 Links: Barking Carnival's srr50 with an interesting take as to why we (Big 12 schools) should all pay attention to Comcast's proposed takeover of NBC . . . FanHouse's Terrance Harris with a Big 12 notebook . . .

Media Days: The Big 12 Basketball Media Days are today in Kansas City, Missouri, and PG John Roberson and SF Mike Singletary will join coach Pat Knight today.

Roberson to Take Control: LAJ's Courtney Linehan writes that junior PG John Roberson is looking to take a bigger leadership role this year:

"It’s tough, especially when things aren’t going well, but you grow up a lot quicker than you would if you weren’t a captain," Roberson, now a junior, said. "It helped me a lot to grow up and actually learn how to be a leader."

And coach Pat Knight had this to say about Roberson:

"I just want him to carry on what he did from an offensive standpoint last year," Knight said, "but he’s got to have less turnovers and he’s got to start guarding somebody."

Snip.

"Roberson’s got to be able to defend on the ball, cause problems without his hand on the ball, create deflections, steals," Knight said. "He’s got to be able to cause turnovers."

Double-T Nation Daily Diatribe :: 10.14.09

Seth C — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 10:47:15 -0000

Ask a Husker: Make sure and check out Corn Blight's FanPost, Ask a Husker and feel free to ask just about anything you want. I had told Jon that with my work schedule this week, I wouldn't be able to properly answer questions, but I'll see if we can't get something similar up on Corn Nation and would even appreciate you guys helping out with answering questions about our Red Raiders.

Ball-Control: LAJ's Don Williams (be careful when clicking on the link as a video starts whether you like it or not) writes that the defense will try and stop the Nebraska ball-control offense and DC Ruffin McNeill says that the Cornhuskers changed their offense before the Texas Tech game last year:

"They changed their whole offense before our game last year,’’ said McNeill, who said what Nebraska ran was nothing like what he had watched that week on videotape. "Totally different plays. Totally different passes.

And LB Bront Bird sounds as if he's done this before:

"They like to run the ball, and they like to bootleg,’’ Tech strong-side linebacker Bront Bird said. "That’s one thing they like to do is run a lot of stretch plays — get us used to those — and then fake a stretch and run a bootleg. They kept our offense off the field a lot.

"I think we’ve all improved as a defense and as individual players. We didn’t feel that we played as good as we could have last year. We’re excited about this challenge.’’

Football Notebook: LAJ's Don Williams writes that the Red Raiders are finally getting healthy as FS Cody Davis was back at practice as was C Shawn Byrnes, DE Daniel Howard and QB Taylor Potts . . . Williams also reports that there is no chance of the TT vs. TAMU game being on television . . . OL Coach Moore thinks that DT Ndamukong Suh and RG Brandon Carter will be lined up against each other almost all night:

"From what I’ve seen, he plays every snap over the right guard,’’ Moore said. "He plays 95 percent of the snaps over the offensive right guard. Same thing last year. He moved to the nose maybe four plays (in the Tech-Nebraska game). Other than that, he played over Carter every snap.’’

Lots of Balance: DT's Alex Ybarra writes the team is finally playing some balanced football, and QB Steven Sheffield agrees:

"We needed this week to be that week that everything came together,’’ said quarterback Steven Sheffield, who spelled starter Taylor Potts and had 370 yards and five touchdown passes by halftime against the Wildcats — both school records. "We hadn’t played a full game on all three sides of the ball – just played a smooth game. Since day one, that hasn’t happened this season."

And RT Marlon Winn thinks that this is all part of the maturation process:

"It’s something we have been working for and something were finally getting to experience," said right tackle Marlon Winn of the balance. "We experienced it for one game, and I think everybody liked the way it felt."

Texas Tech Links: TR's RRR with a comparison of the QB's, Steven Sheffield and Zac Lee . . .

Nebraska Cornhusker Links: CN's Corn Blight notes that tackles and sacks aren't the only measure of how good DT Ndamukong Suh is and also notes that backup RB Rex Burkhead is out with a foot injury . . . BRN's Steve Hanway believes that Captain Leach is lacking something . . . StatePaper's Samuel Mckewon talks with C Jacob Hickman about the Texas Tech defense:

"Pretty vanilla," Hickman said. "They don’t blitz much. They’re gonna play one or two defenses. They’re gonna play so they don’t make mistakse. Basically their goal is to let their offense score points and minimize mistakes.

. . . HuskerExtra writes that Bo Pelini is confident in their offense . . . Omaha.com with lots of notes from yesterday's NU press conference . .

Neglected Video: It's after the jump and it's a sportacular Pete Christie going one-on-one with Captain Mike Leach . . .

Open Practice: Pat Knight and his 2009-2010 squad will have an open practice at 5:00 p.m. this Friday at the United Spirit Arena. See the link for more details, and this is yet another reason I need to move back to Lubbock.

The promised neglected video:

Double-T Nation Daily Diatribe :: 10.12.09

Seth C — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 10:40:52 -0000

Busy This Week, Need Assistance with BlogPoll: This is going to be an incredibly busy week for me personally. Everything should be back to normal next week, but my job is to be as honest with you as possible, and as I look at the week ahead I'm going to be very busy. I'm not going to be able to get to a crunching the numbers segment today and I'll probably try to combine that weekly post with a matchup post this week.

But in addition to that, I need help with the BlogPoll. To make my life easier, I thought I'd ask you guys who are the top 12 teams in the nation? You use whatever criteria you feel is appropriate, but give me the top 12 teams in the comments and I'll cobble together DTN ballot for the BlogPoll that's representative of you guys and gals.

Tide Turning: LAJ's Don Williams reports this morning that QB Steven Sheffield is taking more steps to take over at quarterback (I should also mention that RRS.com's Chris Level tweeted (?) that Sheffield is now a captain). Both Captain Mike Leach and Sheffield appreciated the play of the offensive line:

"There’s no question they played better,’’ Leach said. "They played significantly better. I thought the whole offensive line unit played well. I thought (left guard) Lonnie Edwards stepped up and had the best game that he’s had. I thought all five of them played good.’’

Sheffield said the linemen "played their hearts out’’ and "it couldn’t have been easier for me.’’ He said when he leaves the pocket, sometimes it’s to get a better view of receivers. Even if that’s not the case, he said he and his blockers can still make a play work.

"Like I tell them, ‘If one (rusher) is coming up field, don’t quit him on just because he beats you,’ ’’ Sheffield said. " ‘Turn around, and I’m going to step to the side. Block him again, and I’m going to get out of there.’ ’

Football Notebook: LAJ's Don Williams looks at the kicking game this morning, including the thought that I mentioned yesterday, which is that K Donnie Carona needs to be more consistent, but appreciated Carona's ability to make takles:

"There’s no doubt, yeah,’’ Russell said. "Not by design, but we needed it last night. He did a great job in that area, and he’s not afraid. That’s certainly an extra weapon, because teams don’t usually account for 11 (in kickoff coverage) on there. They account for 10. It’s good to have that guy in case something does break down.’’

. . . there is no punter-controversy as current starter Ryan Erxleben will not be unseated by previously suspended P Jonathan LaCour . . . Leach is very happy with the combined effort of the running backs, Baron Batch, Harrison Jeffers and Eric Stephens:

"I thought they did a pretty good variety of things,’’ Tech coach Mike Leach said Sunday. "First of all, we got three (running backs) involved. I thought they all caught the ball well, I thought they all rushed the ball well, and I thought they all blocked well. They complemented each others play pretty good.’’

. . . QB Taylor Potts, C Shawn Byrnes, DE Daniel Howard, S Cody Davis and CB LaRon Moore all returned to practice last night . . .

Other KSU Post-Game Thoughts: TR's dedfischer writes that Texas Tech is getting it right . . . RA's ayleein hands out grades . . . as does LAJ's Don Williams . . .

Big 12 Links: CJOnline's Austin Meek answers 3 questions about KSU vs. TT . . . KC Star's Blair Kerkoff rounds up the college football world . . . Omaha.com's Rich Kaipust writes that Nebraska RB Roy Helu is just fine . . .

2011 Commit, Estacado's Wagner: How about that, per LAJ's Courtney Linehan, Pat Knight has secured the commitment from 2011 point guard, Kevin Wagner (5-8/145), a junior from Estacado:

Wagner has started since his freshman year at Estacado, where his father Tony Wagner is the head boys basketball coach. Kevin helped carry the Matadors all the way to last season’s state championship game, where they lost 68-66 in overtime to Madison.

He said Tech coach Pat Knight has a style he feels fairly familiar with.

"I like the way Pat coaches; it reminds me of my dad," Wagner said. "I play for my dad now, so it will be easy to adapt."

I couldn't find a profile for Wagner on Scout, but was able to find one for Rivals and ESPN. There's no information on Wagner, but maybe some of you local folks could help us out on what type of player Wagner is and what he can do on the court.

Post Game Thoughts :: Kansas St. Wildcats Edition

Seth C — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 14:16:41 -0000

via spotted.lubbockonline.com

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

The Result :: Stunning: There were only a few of us who predicted this outcome and to be quite frank, I never expected this and as a result, the outcome is simply stunning. In a game where there's a route, it's hard to be critical and hard to see where the team may need to work on some things before an incredibly tough opponent in the Nebraska Cornhuskers. I'd still contend that last night's K-State team isn't as bad as the final score indicated, but they are a team that can't score in bunches and by not keeping the contest within 2 touchdowns the Wildcats just couldn't keep pace.

But I'd be lying if I didn't say that this type of performance, where the team clicked on all 3 sides of the ball, is what the fanbase has been craving and I think that helps going into next week, on the road, against an incredibly tough and resilient Nebraska team.

The Storylines ::

Best Possible Scenario: To have QB Steven Sheffield play as well as he did was the absolute best possible scenario. There's never been a quarterback controversy at Texas Tech under Coach Leach and I wouldn't expect that to start now. I don't mean to say that Sheffield isn't pushing QB Taylor Potts right now, and he is, and I think that's absolutely wonderful, but if Potts hasn't so much as practiced all of last week, then the expectation that Potts could return this week doesn't seem conceivable. For the next week, the job seems to be Sheffield's, and with good reason.

Maybe the best course of action is to take this fluid situation week-by-week. I keep thinking that Leach named Potts the starter for a reason or two and he's not going to dismiss those reasons after a game and a half. That's not to discredit Sheffield, but Leach thought that Potts was the best player to lead his team from the spring game forward. Things change and I'm as excited as the next guy, but don't be surprised if Leach eventually goes back to Potts in the near future.

Sheffield was incredibly efficient, averaging 11.95 yards per attempt (excellent is 9 YPA), and finding 10 different receivers for 2 or more catches. That's really unbelievable in terms of what Sheffield did on the field. Let's not forget the 80% completion rate and the 7 touchdowns to 1 interception.

This week, Sheffield thought he played better:

Probably an A-minus, yeah. I mean, I made some stupid decisions, and I didn't need to. It was like I threw one that they took to the house that was me not making a good decision and not making a routine play. That's what I need to let go. At the same time I'm not going to beat myself up about it. You know, Coach Leach always preaches on play the next play, and that's what you've got to do. Forget about that one and go on to the next one.

There's really not much else you can say about Sheffield's performance other than it was simply superb. I'm sure there are other performances in the Leach era that equal Sheffield's of last night, but it's right up there in terms of efficiency.

Stifling Defense: Perhaps this was the story of the game for me, i.e., the fact that the defense was so dominant. Through the first half, the Kansas St. offense managed 77 yards on 6 possessions, 39 of those yards came in the first drive and of those 39 yards, 24 came on 1 play, a RB Daniel Thomas rush up the middle. To say that the defensive effort was a collective effort may be the understatement of the year. No player had mre than 5 tackles for the game, SS Franklin Mitchem, K Donnie Carona and CB D.J. Johnson. That's right, Corona had 5 tackles on kickoffs alone, which tied for the team lead. There were 4 players that had 3 tackles and the rest of the team had no more than 1 or 2 tackles.

Even Leach paid attention:

Thought it was really good. Wish we would have gotten out of the blocks the first drive a little bit better. But after that I thought they played really tough. We came close to getting even more turnovers. Would like to have seen him get those, but got some and I thought that was good. I thought where we kept them out in four downs down there. I thought that was really impressive. That was something else.

In fact, as I'm sitting here typing this, I'm not sure who deserves the defensive MVP. The team allowed K-State 116 yards on the ground and 168 through the air. That's a dominant performance all the way around.

Freshman Focus: Perhaps the best part about the rash of injuries and players having to step up their game is that these freshmen, both redshirt and true freshmen, are learning how to play quickly and significantly. We've already mentioned that CB/S D.J. Johnson is seeing significant time in the secondary and because CB LaRon Moore went out early with an injury, Johnson was superb. Johnson is a versatile player who might be the best overall defensive back (I think he's playing both cornerback and safety in different packages) this program has had in quite some time. And he's only a freshman.

Fellow S Will Ford had a relatively quiet game and I think the reason may be is that the Big 12 is already figuring out very quickly that he can play and there may be other players that opposing offenses can pick on.

The freshmen running backs are simply dynamic. RB Harrison Jeffers doesn't look like a running back that Texas Tech usually gets, he looks like a running back that the Sooners usually get or the Longhorns. I think Jeffers has elite talent. I'd also add that true freshman Eric Stephens didn't get a ton of playing time last week, but this week, he closed out the game with some late game carries.

And last, but certainly not least, QB Seth Doege, led this team almost the entire 4th quarter, and you're always happy for a guy to get his first completion of his career and his first touchdown reception. After the Texas Tech spring game, a lot of people wrote off Doege and were automatically passing QB Jacob Karam or high school QB Scotty Young over Doege as the heir apparent to the Texas Tech quarterback position. I'm all about letting competition work itself out and proclaiming anyone an heir apparent at any position is premature.

Perhaps this is a testament to Leach and the entire program in general, but there's talent at just about every position, and not the kind of wishful thinking sort of talent that you hope and pray develops, but the sort of talent that makes you wonder who should be the starter.

Doege, the forgotten one, finished the game 6 of 8 for 64 yards and a touchdown. Congrats to Doege on a job well done.

Credit Up Front: I thought the defensive line, despite not having much show up in terms of statistics, played about as well as a team could play. The Red Raiders were without DE Daniel Howard, who's been the most consistent pass-rusher all year and DE Brandon Sharpe, despite not worrying about containment at all in the 24 yard Thomas run mentioned above, had an excellent game. Sharpe finished with 2 sacks, while DE Rajon Henley, who's been too quiet, had 1 sack and 2 TFL. I thought from a philosophical standpoint, the front guys did exactly what they were supposed to do, and certainly credit goes to the linebackers as well, which is stop the run at all costs and make Kansas St. beat you through the air. The pressure that the Texas Tech offense put on K-State had something to do with it, but make no mistake, stopping the run was a priority and I think it was good for this unit with the Cornhuskers looming.

Resurgent Running Backs: For the past 2 weeks, excluding the quarterbacks, the running game has certainly made a big appearance. The collective efforts of Baron Batch, Harrison Jeffers and Eric Stephens on the ground against K-State yeilded 182 yards on a mere 21 carries. And despite Jeffers getting most of the touchdowns last week, it was Batch who led the way with 87 yards, a 9.6 YPC average, and a touchdown. Add another 77 receiving yards to the total and you've got 259 yards of production, on 33 just touches, from the running back position. Last week, it was 200 yards of production from the running backs on 24 touches.

Notebook: I think that LAJ's Don Williams football notebook has some things that need to be mentioned, which included the fact that neither DE Daniel Howard or C Shawn Byrnes played at all last night. I think the staff was gambling that they weren't going to be needed this week, and I would expect that they would be ready to play next week. I was surprised to see LG Lonnie Edwards get the start against Kansas St. (despite what the graphic at the beginning of the game said). I thought Olson has played well all season and Edwards has struggled. That's not what I was expecting, but I didn't notice too much of a drop-off. I think I still prefer Olson over Edwards right now, but Edwards didn't have a bad game. With CB LaRon Moore going down at cornerback last night (which we saw the return of SS Franklin Mitchem, which was good considering FS Cody Davis was out), you had the aforementioned D.J. Johnson and CB Taylor Charbonnet stepping up their games last night.

The Offensive MVP :: QB Steven Sheffield: Not bad for a guy getting his first start of his career. I still think it's good to temper the excitement a bit, but the fact that the backup quarterback has a full game of experience and is pushing the starting quarterback is good for the program.

The Defensive Co-MVP's :: SS Franklin Mitchem and CB/S D.J. Johnson: Saturday night was a collective effort and I don't think you can spin this any other way than to have a few players receive this honor. You could credit the whole defensive line or the linebackers or the defensive backs, but the fact that Mitchem, coming off an injury that had him out 2 weeks, and Johnson, a freshman defensive back from a small Episcopal school in Austin who wasn't expected to even sniff the field and forced his way into the lineup, leads this team in tackles speaks about the strength of this team.

The Special Teams MVP :: K Donnie Carona: The guy had 5 tackles on special teams and kicked off 11 times. Corona's biggest issue is consistency and that was evident on Saturday night (kickoffs ranging from 45 to 70), but let's him credit for getting his nose in on some tackles, but let's hope he gets things on track with his kickoffs.

Double-T Nation Daily Diatribe :: 10.09.09

Seth C — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 11:06:56 -0000

Honor Stone: LAJ's Don Williams has a great editorial today where he says that Captain Mike Leach should relent on his no-injuries policy in regards to DB Nathan Stone and honor him and his career. I agree with Williams to an extent, in that I still have no problem with Leach not discussing any injuries, but when a guy's career is over, then I would agree that it's time to acknowledge what he meant to the team and program.

Former Red Raiders with Concussions: LAJ's Don Williams talks with former Red Raiders Mickey Peters and Donnie Hart regarding concussions they suffered while at their time in Lubbock:

"It’s scary,’’ said Peters, who makes his living these days working in investments. "It’s kind of a freaky deal. You know you’re not all there, but there’s nothing you can do about it.’’

Snip

"I don’t think you consciously realize that you’re not yourself,’’ said Hart who, when he finished his career in 1998, was second in Tech history for receptions (125), receiving yards (2,111) and touchdown catches (17). "Certain things in a game that you would normally do, you have a little bit of reluctance to put yourself in harm’s way. It’s not something that you go into being scared of; it just sort of happens that way.’’

Dress Roster: LAJ's Don Williams writes that both FS Cody Davis and QB Taylor Potts are not on the dress roster, but C Shawn Byrnes and DE Daniel Howard will be with the team on Saturday.

Freshman Focus: LAJ's Don Williams weekly series, where he focuses on a freshman player redshirting this year and up this week is WR E.J. Celestie. Inside receivers coach Lincoln Riley likes what he sees in Celestie:

Celestie has spent his first couple of months at Tech being an "H" inside receiver, but Tech coaches don’t want to be too quick to pigeonhole him.

"He just brings so much versatility," inside receivers coach Lincoln Riley said this week. "He can play all four receiver positions. He’s going to be able to help special teams. He’ll be able to help with the return game. There’s a lot of positions he’s going to have a chance to play."

And Celestie is a smart player who adjusts:

"He didn’t do a ton of (inside receiver) in high school," Riley said, "but he picked it up fast because he’s just a smart guy. He’s an attentive guy. He really pays attention to detail and remembers things. He was raw because he never really got to settle in at one position in high school, but you could tell he’s really explosive with the ball in his hands and knew things."

Brandt Likes Texas Tech Offensive Linemen: FWST's Dwain Price talked with NFL scout Gil Brandt, who think that Texas Tech offensive linemen come to the NFL ready to play:

"They do such a good job coaching (offensive) linemen, because pass protection is the whole name of their game,'' Brandt said Thursday night. "When (Tech's offensive linemen) leave there, they're well-coached five-year guys that are pretty strong and turn out to be pretty good players.''

And Brandt talks about how smart Leach is:

"Mike Leach is like a fox,'' said Brandt, the Dallas Cowboys' Vice President of player personnel from 1960-'88. "Some coaches go out and they hob-nob with the boosters and so forth. Mike hob-nobs with himself and his wife, Sharon.

"He does all that crazy pirate stuff and all those crazy things. The guy is really sharp the way he does stuff.''

How sharp?

"I asked his wife how did you meet Mike, and she said they met in California,'' Brandt said. "She said early on Mike had come up with this big idea that they would go to Cody, Wyoming, which is his home town, and Mike would get a job there for the summer and she'd get a job and they would save a lot of money.

"But Mike wanted to save more money. He wanted (Sharon) to get a job at the bookstore and see if they could put a hammock in the back room.

"So instead of having to rent a place to live, he could sleep in the hammock in the back room of the bookstore. The guy is always thinking.''

Well that's interesting.

Crabtree Links: DMN's Tim Cowlishaw writes that players who associate with Deion Sanders may be hurtful to their careers and there was some talk about this on The Ticket during my lunch hour yesterday in that Sanders may help lean players to a certain agent, in particular, Eugene Parker, but is not an agent himself, which allows him to talk with players during their playing days and the NCAA can't do a thing. The other thought that occurred to me was that there was a very short period of time early in the season last year where there was a question about Crabtree's eligibility. Everyone said that it was merely a paperwork issue, but I wonder if the difference between Bryant and Crabtree is that Crabtree told the truth about his relationship with Sanders. Who else could see the NCAA start cracking down on these types of relationships . . . on the field, SFGate writes that Michael Crabtree's first job is to line-up on the scout team, something he did regularly on Thursday nights during his redshirt year . . . SacBee considers the type of player that Crabtree is . . .

Kansas St. Wildcat Links: DT's Adam Coleman writes that KSU hopes that Bill Snyder brings this football program back to the level of his first tenure . . . CJOnline's Austin Meek has some KSU notes and talks with the Kansas St. secondary (good read) . . . KC Star's Kellis Robinette takes a look at RG Brandon Carter . . . Kansas.com previews the KSU vs. TT game . .

Big 12 Links: Congrats to Nebraska for just pouring it on (that's a pun) last night, scoring 27 points in the 4th quarter, Corn Nation will be celebrating and they had the Big 12 Roundtable Recap yesterday . . . DMN writes that backup quarterbacks are getting some burn this weekend . . . KC Star's Blair Kerkoff with his weekly Big 12 Insider . . .

High School Links: Scotty Young had an off night where his Denton Ryan Raiders lost to Lake Dallas 31-35, where Young was 15-33, 229 yards, 3 interceptions and 1 touchdown. I know he's supposed to be good, but there's no way in hell that he steps in and starts next year. I think and hope he's going to be a great player, but let's ease up . . . for those of you who don't know, James Gray was one of the best running backs ever to wear the Scarlet and Black, well his son, Johnathan Gray, is also a running back in Aledo and just tearing things up . . .

Neglected Video: Fox34 with a look at QB Steven Sheffield:

Preseason All-Big 12: The Big 12 Preseason first team and individual honors were picked by the coaches and there were no Texas Tech players chosen, but truthfully, only Kansas (Sherron Collins and Cole Aldrich) , Texas (Damion James), Oklahoma St. (James Anderson), Oklahoma (Willie Warren) and Iowa St. (Craig Brackins) had players that were picked.

Friday Night Scrimmage: There's a scrimmage tonight at 5:00 p.m. Go check it out tonight and let us know how it went.