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Double-T Nation Daily Daitribe :: 09.14.09

Seth C — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 10:44:24 -0000

Odds and Ends

A Cold Approaches: It stinks, but I think I'm coming down with a cold. Started to feel bad on the way back from Lubbock and now, I'm pumping all sorts of cold medications through my body. If I miss a day this week on stuff, it's because I've either fallen asleep or just didn't feel up to it. I don't think I will, but just giving you guys (and gals) a heads-up.

Texas Tech Football

Henley and Lewis Injuries: I'll go ahead and get this now, but there's no point in asking about injuries because your Captain Leach doesn't discuss injuries. I don't think that either DE Rajon Henley or IR Detron Lewis have serious issues, but the biggest of the two would be the loss of Henley. There were plenty of receivers capable of stepping up in Lewis' absence, but losing Henley means that DE Ryan Halliburton moves up in the rotation and there is a drop-off in talent and experience heading into the Texas game. Henley's injury is the one you need to keep an eye on this week.

Post-Game Links: I figure I would link to some of the game stories, although it's a day late. LAJ's Don Williams discusses the emergence of WR Lyle Leong and IR Tramain Swindall, the play of the defense, his report card as well as his game story . . . FWST's Dwain Price recaps the Red Raiders win . . . DT's Alex Ybarra focuses on QB Taylor Potts . . .

Notebook Highlights: LAJ's Don Williams had some notes from Saturday's game that probably need repeating. First, RG Mickey Okafor was replaced on the offensive line by Brandon Carter, who switched from left to right guard, and LG Lonnie Edwards took Carter's spot. Thus, you had a starting lineup of: LT Chris Olson, LG Lonnie Edwards, C ~~Stephen Hamby~~ Shawn Byrnes, RG Brandon Carter and RT Marlon Winn. The offensive line was pretty effective on Saturday and LT Terry McDaniel did a good job in the second half and I liked the fact that Moore wanted to get McDaniel some time, probably to get him accustomed to the speed of the game.

Revenge Not on Mind: FWST's Jimmy Burch writes that the Longhorns do not have revenge on their mind this week, per DE Sergio Kindle:

"I wouldn’t say it’s about payback," Kindle said. "We just have the attitude to where we want to go out ... and win every game. It doesn’t have anything to do with revenge. They won, fair and square, last year. So we just have to go out and have a great performance this year and try to come out with a win."

Here Come the Horns: LAJ's Don Williams notes that whether or not the Red Raiders are ready, it's time for Texas, and Captain Mike Leach liked what he saw on Saturday:

"The biggest thing (with) the second half, despite the fact there were some glaring mistakes, everybody played the next play,’’ Leach said. "Nobody focused on (the mistakes) or worried about them. Let our intensity and momentum take care of the mishaps, which it will if you have the ability to move on quickly. I was proud that they did.’’

Neglected Audio and Video: KCBD NewsChannel 11 has the video from Leach's press conference as well as highlights from the game . . . The DT has highlights from yesterday's game

Texas Tech-Rice football highlights (via DailyToreador)

The Cup Countdown: Number 7

Whiskey Wednesday — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 21:14:53 -0000

Media Darlings: You know them when you see them. Some hot, upstart team gets an undue amount of air time, with various talking heads raving about this and that, pretending that, all of a sudden, Generic State University is somehow relevant or interesting. I remember how ESPN's guys gushed about MSU's cowbells back in the late 1990's. Not so much anymore. Maybe this year, they'll make a huge fuss about the Grove, The Walk of Champions, Chucky Mullins (all of which are cooler than cowbells, btw), though they could just as easily continue the party line of "Racism was invented in Oxford, Mississippi." But I digress...

Last year, Texas Tech had taken the media darling phenomenon to new heights. And why not? The only coach in America that Houston Nutt might describe as "a little off-kilter..." an awesome wideout who likes to say stupid things in front of cameras... A wide-open offense and a paraplegic defense, generating TV-friendly shootouts week after week... With the Red Raiders rolling to a 10-0 record, the media had no choice but to rain down the love on the Red Raiders. As a result, throwing tortillas on the field is cool. The bell ringer (no, I'm not linking the video) is cool...

Then, we start hearing about this guy:

I get it. I wasn't cool in high school. I had some friends that got tired of being not cool, and started wearing black, dying their hair, wearing funny make-up. I decided to keep being a dork, ride it out, continue being semi-normal, enroll at Ole Miss, and drink my way through a business degree. But I get it: attention-starved people will often go great lengths to be noticed, be it in a positive or negative light. It's best just to ignore them; shooting close-ups of them on national TV is a terrible idea.

So once this Brandon Carter lunatic gets some face time, and Tech continues to post dominant victories over mediocre Big XII teams, a couple of indulgent, homo-erotic fluff pieces come out, painting the entire Tech offensive line as some quirky, diverse hodge-podge of individuals who in no way suck at life, are starved for attention, or are beneficiaries of a quick-release offensive scheme and terrible defensive opponents. Meanwhile, Ole Miss, at 3-4 on the season, having officially missed the media love train, has decided to quietly start stomping mudholes in asses.

So after a month or three of this tom-foolery, the stage is set: the #7 Red Raiders must stoop to playing the newly-ranked Rebels in the Cotton Bowl. Rebel fans (and recent Ole Miss opponents) are confident, but the entire rest of the nation is convinced that this game is a beatdown in the making. Tech supporters, citing that our defensive line is our biggest strength, are quick to point out that their mutant version of the Insane Clown Posse, with their cute nicknames and CBS sportswire features, are going to totally dominate Jerry, Hardy and co., leaving Harrell and Crabtree free to play a leisurely game of pitch and catch while the Ole Miss secondary stumbles around helplessly, yakety sax playing mockingly in the background (PS-check this out, and this. You're welcome.).

Long story short: we have this guy (why haven't I seen this article before today? It's amazing), and as we all know:

I'll admit, the Tech offensive line did a good job against our defensive line. It just wasn't good enough. Sure, we didn't sack Harrell 8 times and force a ton of errant back foot throws. But Harrell, quite frankly, isn't used to being touched, and he was fairly well-acquainted with the Cotton Bowl grass by the end of that fair January afternoon. Growing more and more irritable about their inability to keep their QB clean, Brandon Carter and Stephen Hamby both lost it, ripping their helmets off, pushing around 190 pound Ole Miss players, and generally smearing their mascara in a manner not at all appropriate for aspiring professional wrestlers/fry cooks/Lubbock real estate agents.

And there is was: the #7 greatest moment from the 2008 Ole Miss football season. Media darlings exposed as pass-happy frauds. TTU fans and players exposed as the sorest losers in all of college football. The Rebels revealed as potential contenders in 2009 and beyond. Stay tuned for day #6, all the way up day #1, and the opener, when JUCO and I will help invade Memphis and ring in the new season. Happy Weekend, and Hotty Toddy.

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

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

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

TOP PLAYERS

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

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

TOP GAMES

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

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

STRENGTHS & WEAKNESSES

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

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

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

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

5 Things // Offensive Players Who Must Improve in 2009

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

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

Offensive Players Who Must Improve in 2009

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

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

1: WR, Edward Britton

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

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

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

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

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

2: C, Shawn Byrnes

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

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

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

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

We need more of this.

3: WR, Adam James

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

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

I want that guy back.

4: RB, Aaron Crawford

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

5: WR, Lyle Leong

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

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

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

Five Things // Building the Offensive Line

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

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

Building the Offensive Line

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

1: Is Experience Overrated?

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

2: The Man at the Top

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

3: Change In Tackles

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

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

4: Versatility

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

5: Rounding Out the Rest

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

Double-T Nation Daily Diatribe // 05.07.09

Seth C — Thu, 07 May 2009 11:11:00 -0000

Odds and Ends

New Texas Tech Blog

I was pleasantly surprised to see The Broadcast Booth is following Double-T Nation on Twitter. The Broadcast Booth consists of the radio broadcast for your Red Raiders and the crew is as follows: John Harris, Brian Jensen, Sonny Cumbie (maybe not for long), Steve Pitts, Bryan Mudd, David Sanderson, and Mitchell Fish.

Go give these guys a warm welcome to the blogosphere.

Texas Tech Football

Big 12 Tiebreaker Remains

I guess in a move that surprised no one, although I'm a little disappointed that we don't get to see TB go ballistic, the Big 12 will keep the current tiebreaker format (stories here, here and here):

One reason the proposed tiebreaker was rejected was because there could be a scenario where a team with a shot at the national championship does not advance to the Conference championship game. For instance, a team ranked in the BCS top 10 but with no shot at playing for the national title could earn a tiebreaker edge over a Big 12 team ranked in the BCS top two.
"The motive is to give the best chance for a team to play in the national championship," Beebe said. "Obviously, we had a scenario (in 2008), hopefully we’ll never have that again."

Now that the coaches have figured this out, I'm sure they'll now be able to get back to playing golf or rollerblading.

Sonny Cumbie to Coach at Texas Tech?

The San Angelo's Standard-Times' Bill Nance may be accepting a position at Texas Tech, as it was announced that Sonny Cumbie, current coach of the San Angelo Stampede Express, would be stepping down as head coach of the Indoor Football League team, begin playing quarterback, and would be accepting a coaching position in the fall at a certain Texas university. Here's Cumbie on the move:

"About a month ago, I received a call from a school here in Texas about a coaching opportunity that would open up in the fall," Cumbie said.
"I thought that coaching's something I want to do, so that's what I decided to do in the fall. I felt that I owed it to Miss Darlene (Stampede Express co-owner Darlene Jones), who gave me this opportunity, to give them a chance to bring someone in here to kind of get their feet wet, hit the ground running and build on what we have this year, move into next year and be ready to go, so I decided to step down as head coach.

"I accepted a contract to play quarterback for the Stampede. That's going to be the last roster move I make as coach."

KAMC has some video of Mike Leach on Cumbie as well as some quotes from Cumbie himself.

Texas Tech Free Agents Update

LAJ's Don Williams writes that QB Graham Harrell is still looking for a job and Graham's dad had this to say:

"I guess it’s kind of frustrating," said Ennis coach Sam Harrell, Graham’s father. "It’s more bewildering as much as anything. There’s not a single spot anywhere for a guy that not only threw for a lot of yards and led tremendous comebacks, but has a good, clean background and his character is good."

Meanwhile, S Daniel Charbonnet and C Stephen Hamby are keeping their options open and hoping to catch on somewhere.

Texas Tech Baseball

Red Raiders Down Patriots

Date	Start Time	Texas Tech Starting Pitcher	Dallas Baptist Starting Pitcher	Result
4/6/2009	6:30 p.m.	Cory Large (W, 1-1)	Chris Haney (L, 4-4)	9-6

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

A mid-week win against a quality opponent. Yea! The Red Raiders took down the Dallas Baptist Patriots 9-6 (recap). Starting pitcher Lorenzo Douglas (1.2 IP; 1 H; 4 ER; 5 BB; 0 SO) looked to be a tad bit off -- 5 walks in less than 2 innings -- and was quickly replaced by Cory Large (2.2 IP; 4 H; 2 ER; 0 BB; 3 SO) and it was a collective bullpen effort from there. Louis Head, Robert Kilcrease, Brian Cloud and Chad Bettis all contributed to the win with Bettis earning his 7th save of the season. I like head coach Dan Spencer's move to get Bettis an inning of work, especially since the last time he was out he allowed 11 runs. We need Bettis to be sharp.

At the plate, the Red Raiders pounded out 21 hits, led by CF Taylor Ashby (4-5; 3 RBI) and Scott LeJeune (3-4; 3 RBI). Chris Richburg (3 hits), Joey Kenworthy (2 hits), Michael Reed (3 hits), Justin Berry (2 hits) and Jeremy Mayo (2 hits) all had multi-hit games. Again, 21 hits is exceptional and I hope this bodes well for this weekend's series in Manhattan against Kansas State.

LAJ's George Watson previews the Kansas State ~~Jayhawks~~ Wildcats who have surprised many to be a top 10 program in 2009:

Picked to finish ninth in the Big 12 Conference, the Wildcats have been one of the biggest surprises in college baseball in 2009, riding the sudden emergence of one of the top pitchers in the nation and a veteran offense onto the precipice of a Big 12 regular-season championship. The 10th-ranked Wildcats enter this weekend’s action against Texas Tech having already clinched a spot in the Big 12 Championships, trail first-place Texas by just .021 of a percentage point and have set a school record for victories (37) with six games remaining.

Double-T Nation Daily Diatribe // 05.06.09

Seth C — Wed, 06 May 2009 11:24:26 -0000

Texas Tech Football

Dallas Cowboys Roof Collapse

CBS Sportsline's Greg Doyle adds a little more information on heroic acts of DE/LB Brandon Williams during the Dallas Cowboys roof collapse on Saturday afternoon:

Rookie linebacker Brandon Williams and cornerback DeAngelo Smith pushed Eatman and Ellis out of the way and lifted the doorframe just enough for Archer to wriggle free.
And then Williams and Smith went back into the chaos. That's what most, if not all, of the Cowboys did after realizing the enormity of the situation. They didn't look out for No. 1. They could have stayed outside the fallen facility, leaving the rescue effort to the professionals on the way. They could have cited a fear of death, or at the very least a fear of injuring themselves -- and jeopardizing their NFL future -- and used that logic to stay as far from the carnage as possible. But they did not. They went back into the chaos, many of them still wearing their helmets, and looked for people to help.

SAEN's Tom Osborne takes a look at the various practice facilities, air-supported vs. metal-frame, and there's a mention of Texas Tech's air-supported indoor facility, which has never (knock on wood) suffered any damage:

Texas Tech's indoor facility, built by ASATI in 1985, has never suffered any damage, Red Raiders spokesman Chris Cook said.
Cook said the facility is monitored by a computer system. Should air pressure decrease, officials are alerted immediately.

Big 12 Meetings, to Discuss Tiebreaker

Sometime today, the Big 12 coaches will discuss the tiebreaker policy, while UT's Mack Brown (i.e. someone on his behalf) will submit a proposed change similar to the SEC tiebreaker rules, there are others who feel that a change isn't necessary. Personally, this is one of those things for me . . . "it is what it is" . . . and I'm not real passionate about it one way or another.

Neglected Audio, Video and Photos

KAMC has two reports on Texas Tech free agent news, including this most recent report on IR Eric Morris who worked out for the Chicago Bears might work out a deal to play for the Saskatchewan Roughriders and C Stephen Hamby who worked out for the Washington Redskins. This earlier report mentioned that S Daniel Charbonnet was also working out for the Bears.

Texas Tech Baseball

Red Raiders Set to Take on Patriots

Date	Start Time	Texas Tech Starting Pitcher	Dallas Baptist Starting Pitcher	Result
4/6/2009	6:30 p.m.	TBA	TBA	-

LAJ's George Watson previews today's game against the Dallas Baptist Patriots (in Dallas for those of you who can make it to the game). George reminds us that before this break for final exams, the Red Raiders were swept by Missouri and look to bounce back. Here is head coach Dan Spencer:

"What we’re trying to accomplish is getting better in all facets of the game," head coach Dan Spencer said. "The most glaring thing the last couple of weeks is we’ve got to throw more strikes, put up some zeros in the first inning, and we’ve got to do a better job in situational offense against good (pitchers). It’s a short period of time and we have a lot of work to do to get better and put ourselves in a position to make a move."

And pitcher Chad Bettis says that the team has to go out and compete:

"That was really rough, but we’ve got to come out and have short memories," said Bettis, whose 3.98 ERA still leads the team. "We’ve got to come out and play hard and make sure we give the team the ability to win. We’ve got to throw strikes and compete."

Double-T Nation Daily Diatribe // 04.28.09

Seth C — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 11:43:40 -0000

Odds and Ends

DTN's Best of Lubbock

That went down much better than I ever would have thought. For those of you who didn't check in yesterday, here's the link to reader submissions for best Mexican food. I'll have a poll on Friday.

I'd also love to take any suggestions for topics. I was thinking as follows: pre-game bar; post-game bar; motel/hotel; hamburger; Italian; steak; etc. If anyone has one partucular subject close to their heart, put it in the comments.

DTN Schedule

I've scheduled the Red Offense and Red Defense to be posted at noon today and noon tomorrow. I've already done the White Offense and the White Defense. For those of you who can't wait until noon, check out Tortilla Retort's review of the defense. That will conclude the spring review for the football team and I'm going to have some basketball stuff coming up later in the week.

Texas Tech Football

Mike Leach Makes Friends

This is so delicious, I can hardly contain myself. Last night, I found a quote from TAMU head coach Mike Sherman questioning why Mike Leach would make a comment on QB Stephen McGee. Here's Leach's original comment on McGee, for those of you living in a cave:

"I'm happy for Stephen McGee," said Texas Tech coach Mike Leach, whose quarterback, Graham Harrell, was not drafted. "The Dallas Cowboys like him more than his coaches at A&M did."

Now, here's the quote from Sherman:

"I don't understand Coach Leach's comments about Stephen McGee," Sherman said Monday. "He was named our starter until he got injured. I've always believed in Stephen's character and I've always believed in his talent, and I always will. I see him having an outstanding NFL career. "Coach Leach is in no position to comment about my relationship with Stephen McGee."

First, I don't think Leach directly spoke to McGee's relationship with Sherman. In fact, he was very ambiguous, which was probably his intent as I initially read the comment, it was a shot at former TAMU coach Dennis Franchione. Second, I would tend to agree, I think that Leach probably believes that McGee wasn't utilized properly while under Franchione and the truth of the matter, despite his sprained shoulder, was that the Aggies were better off starting Jerrod Johnson.

But thankfully, Leach isn't about to let anyone else have the last word:

Monday night, Leach said he didn't intend anything derogatory toward A&M, its coaching staff or McGee.
Nor was he targeting McGee's relationship with Sherman or Franchione, Leach said.

"There's been far more rhetoric around this than I ever would have expected," Leach said. "Under the best of circumstances, there is some variance in how people assess and discuss quarterbacks because everybody is looking for different things. ...

"But based on all the fuss and commotion on this, I can't help but wonder what round Coach Sherman would have drafted Stephen McGee, given the fact he was once a head coach in the NFL."

As for an apology?

"I'm not sorry for what I said," Leach said. "I'm sorry if they feel offended."

So there it is, and this bleeds into yesterday's excellent conversation regarding whether or not it's beneficial for Leach to continually stick up for his players or if others look at it as whinning. What we can say is that there's no doubt where Leach stands:

"The truth of the matter is that the NFL drafts quarterbacks notoriously bad. That's indisputable. ... I don't have an answer for why they don't have a skill for drafting a quarterback. Well, I think the priorities are out of order. Accurate and makes good decisions needs to be a priority, not something they need to teach him, because they don't do that very well."

And:

"Michael Crabtree has been more successful as a receiver than that guy has as a coach," Leach said of Mangini.
"Michael isn't a diva. He's too shy to be like that. My definition of a diva is someone who's loud and self-absorbed. Michael is the furthest thing from loud that I've seen.

"Let's see how all those non-divas do up in Cleveland this year."

He absolutely thinks his players are the best and he'll stick up for his quarterback, hell or high water. I wonder too if Sherman will have the last word, and I hope he does. I'd love to hear from Sherman where he would have picked McGee. I'm sure that if Leach were in charge of the draft, he would have flipped a coin between Michael Crabtree and Graham Harrell and picked the other second.

Daniel Charbonnet and Stephen Hamby Get Tryouts

LAJ's Don Willilams reports that S Daniel Charbonnet and C Stephen Hamby will get tryouts with NFL Clubs. Charbonnet will get a shot with the Chicago Bears and Hamby with the Washington Redskins. Send a good thought both these guys way.

Texas Tech Basketball

Hardwood Series Games Confirmed

Per the DMN College Sports Blog, the pairings for the Hardwood Series was released yesterday and the Red Raiders will host the Washington Huskies on Thursday, December 3, 2009.

Texas Tech Baseball

Throwback Uniforms, Make Me Happy

Found this video via UniWatch Blog, which details the Red Raiders throwback uniforms from two weekends ago:

As an aside, I'd love to be able to buy one of those hats. Wink, wink, nod, nod.

Red Raiders Hoping to Regroup

DT's Jon Arnold writes that the baseball team tries to recoup after the 3-game sweep in Missouri. Head coach Dan Spencer hopes there's no effect from the series going forward:

"The obvious thing about the series was we couldn't get anybody out consistently," Tech coach Dan Spencer said. "I would like to think there wasn't any carry over effect over the games, but there might have been."

Previewing Texas Tech vs. Ole Miss: Offensive Line

Seth C — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 18:00:07 -0000

OFFENSIVE LINE

Player	Ht/Wt	Class	Position
Stephen Hamby	6'3"/292	Sr.	Center
Brandon Carter	6'7"/354	Jr.	Guard
Louis Vasquez	6'6"/335	Sr.	Guard
Marlon Winn	6'6"/325	Jr.	Tackle
Rylan Reed	6'7"/305	Sr.	Tackle
Ryan Hale	6'1"/227	Sr.	Fullback/Tight End
Adam James	6'3"/217	Fr.	Tight End
Daverin Geralds	6'2"/312	Jr.	Center
Maurice Miller	6'4"/343	Sr.	Guard
Darryl Harris	6'3"/300	Sr.	Guard
John Jerry	6'5"/350	Jr.	Tackle
Michael Oher	6'5"/318	Sr.	Tackle
David Traxler	6'6"/255	Sr.	Tight End

Texas Tech

Scary

I was trying to figure out a statistical method of determining the overall play of the offensive lines and although I don't have the mathematical smarts of Rock M Nation I did come up with a few metrics to figure out offensive line play.

Up first, passing stats. Texas Tech gave up 5 sacks for 604 passing attempts, which turns out to be 1 sack for every 120.8 attempts. In terms of a percentage, the Red Raiders are giving up a sack at a 0.83% rate, which is unbelievable. This offensive line has done an unbelievable job of keeping Graham Harrell upright all season long. I wish I had the time to look at offensive lines and how they have historically done as this seems almost unbelievable considering the volume of attempts that Texas Tech has. Granted, most of those throws are short passes, but still, this offensive line is outstanding at protecting it's quarterback.

The running statistics are plainly yards per attempt, where Texas Tech averages 4.71 yards per attempt and to top it off, Texas Tech averages a touchdown for every 10.82 attempts (303 rushing attempts and 28 touchdowns). For comparison purposes, this leads the nation. Again, pretty amazing stats for a team that primarily passes. Nationally, just basing this off of yards per attempt, Texas Tech sits 31st in the nation.

Post-season awards have seen quite a few of Texas Tech's offensive linemen receive accolades. Brandon Carter was named to Phil Steele's 1st team offense and the AFCA coaches' All-America team. Louis Vasquez was named to Steele's 3rd team offense. Rylan Reed was named to the Walter Camp All-American team and ESPN's 1st team all big 12. Bottom line, three of the five offensive linemen have been named on various all-america teams for their play this year (Brandon Carter, Rylan Reed and Louis Vasquez).

Quite frankly, this is an offensive line that folks have noticed and may have missed the most consistent lineman in right tackle, Marlon Winn.

Mississippi

Michael Oher, dominating tackle.

Same stats above apply to grade out Ole Miss' line. Ole Miss gave up 23 sacks in 311 passing attempts, which works out to be one sack for every 13.52 passing attempts. In terms of a percentage, Ole Miss was giving up a sack 7.40% of the time, and as mentioned above, Texas Tech's percentage was 0.83%. These Ole Miss numbers aren't bad, in fact, I think they are pretty good.

As far as rushing statistics, Ole Miss is averaging 4.62 yards per attempt. Nationally, this puts Ole Miss at 36th in the nation in yards per attempt, which is a very good rate. As far as attempts per touchdowns, Ole Miss is scoring 1 touchdown for every 25.05 rushing attempt (476 attempts and 19 touchdowns). This ranks 68th nationally and puts Ole Miss near the top half of punching the ball in the endzone rushing the ball.

Michael Oher is the unquestioned leader of this offensive line and future top 10 pick in the NFL and much like Crabtree, would be silly for me to name every All-American team Oher is on, because it's probably every one. To put it simply, he is absolutely dominating. Michael Oher is to Ole Miss as Michael Crabtree is to Texas Tech.

Tackle John Jerry is on Steele's 2nd All-SEC team , as well as 1st team All-SEC according to the AP, and Ole Miss' other offensive line standout.

Conclusion:

A close matchup again, but a slight edge to Texas Tech. Ole Miss has one absolutely dominating tackle in Oher and Jerry is an All-SEC performer. It bothers me that Ole Miss has given up so many sacks relative to the number of passes. The Texas Tech line does a better job of protecting it's quarterback and is slightly better running the ball on a yards per attempt analysis.

I know that this is looking a little one-sided, but it's not even close to being over. Be patient Ole Miss fans.

Previous Matchups

Quarterbacks :: Running Backs :: Receiver :: Offensive Line :: Defensive Line :: Linebackers :: Secondary :: Special Teams :: Coaching

Matchup	Advantage
Quarterback
Running Back
Receivers
Offensive Line

Poll

Who do you think wins this matchup of offensive lines?

Texas Tech

222 votes

Mississippi

120 votes

342 votes | Poll has closed