SB Nation - Brandon Williams

Post Game Thoughts :: Nebraska Cornhuskers Edition

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

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

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

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

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

The Storylines ::

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Q&A With Double T Nation - Insight Into The Texas Tech Red Raiders

Jon Johnston — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 16:19:41 -0000

More photos » by Donna McWilliam - AP

Brandon Carter, freak, will be between Ndamukong Suh and Tech quarterbacks. Tattoos and face paint can't help him in that regard, but the battle between the two will be one to watch!

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Tech seems like a hard team to gauge. They've had some internal struggles, two losses in a row to ranked teams and a quarterback change.

Instead of insinuating and grasping, it's easiest to ask people who know the answers. In this case, that would be Seth at Double T Nation, our SB Nation Texas Tech site. He joins us for a blogger Q&A.

It's hard to gauge what's going on at Tech. It seemed like things were coming apart after the loss to Houston, Twittergate and Brandon Carter's suspension. Where is this team right now?

There may not be a team that deals with drama better than Texas Tech. In regards to RG Brandon Carter's suspension, he wasn't suspended because he was on Twitter, he was suspended for what happened after the Houston game (i.e. being angry, very angry, about the loss). I thought LB Marlon Williams' tweet was inappropriate (i.e., why is he here waiting on Leach for practice), but it turns out that practice was canceled so really it's not that big of a deal.

As it turns out, giving 18 to 22 year old kids a place to voice any and every concern might not be such a good idea. If the team was in any sort of disarray, it was after the Houston loss and the lackluster first half against New Mexico. There's the thought that QB Taylor Potts still wasn't right after the hit against UT and his rough play was a result of that. In steps 6'4" and all 180 pounds QB Steven Sheffield who seems to have captured the attention of this team and has been lights out against New Mexico and Kansas State. The ship has been righted, at least for now.

Potts or Sheffield? or Both?

I like both. Potts has taken quite a bit of criticism because he's thrown some interceptions, and he hasn't been perfect, but I do not believe that his performances against Texas and Houston were the reasons Texas Tech lost. Did he play perfectly those games, certainly not, but he wasn't the sole reason for either of those losses. Potts still has a 2:1 TD to INT ratio and was part of the team was at the top of the nation in passing. I think Potts' struggles have been exaggerated a bit and I try to keep in mind that he's a 20 or 21 year old kid who got the crap knocked out of him and wasn't quite the same since.

With Sheffield at the helm, he's been absolutely electric and the team seems to have responded to his energy. The last two games, Sheffield has been near perfect, sans a couple of interceptions, one in each game. Sheffield is a bit more mobile and more likely to dodge pressure. Sheffield's arm isn't quite as strong as Potts, but he can still make all of the throws required by this offense. If I had to pick a starter for the Nebraska game, I'd go with the hot-hand in Sheffield. If I had to pick a quarterback who I think who has the better chance to lead the program going forward, I'd pick Potts. Sheffield's been great but he hasn't been tested . . . yet.

What receivers should Husker fans be watching?

All of them? Seriously, it's somewhat ridiculous to see so many receivers step up each game.

Tramain Swindall has consistently been this team's leading receiver and averaging almost 20 YPC, which is ridiculous in this offense. Detron Lewis was expected to replace Crabtree in some respects, but Swindall's been electric, and Lewis has been a tad injured and reliable, but hasn't really had a break-out game.

Alexander Torres has proven to be a very reliable receiver outside, he won't beat you deep, but he'll catch just about anything thrown his way and he's pretty strong. Lyle Leong has been relatively quite since his 3 touchdown performance against Rice, but he's still a threat.

Nebraska will still need to account for the running backs who have been really good catching the ball out of the backfield (Harrison Jeffers is averaging 10.5 YPC and Baron Batch is averaging 8.87 YPC).

Tech has been exceptional at home, horrible on the road. 2008: 4 for 5 in road games last year (losses - OU); 2007: 3 for 6 (Oklahoma St., Missouri and Texas); 2006: 3 for 6 (TCU, Colorado, and OU). Can you explain such a huge discrepancy?

I think programs that are struggling to break-through to an upper tier of the football elite tend to do this for a period of time. Last year was an exception, and I think that most teams that make it to middling bowl games tend to follow the same path that Texas Tech has (i.e. win the non-conference home games + beat the crappy teams on the road = bowl game).

I'm not sure I can explain it other than it's tough to win on the road and for a program trying to make that jump, I think it just comes down to having better players and that happens over time. And for the record I think a Texas and OU would have worse road game records if they didn't have a neutral game at the Cotton Bowl. I went to Norman last year and cannot imagine what that town would be if Texas were to ever roll into town and the same thought goes for Austin.

Last year's game was weird in that Nebraska held the ball for around 40 minutes. We don't have the same ball control passing offense we had last year (although we're working on it). Where should Nebraska attack if we're going to be successful on offense?

Even if Nebraska doesn't have the same type of offense, I think I'd stick with a similar plan of just taking what the defense will give you. Texas Tech defensive coordinator Ruffin McNeill has had quite a bit of success relying on his offense to outscore the defense, and I've always thought that Leach and McNeill discuss prior to the game how creative he needs to be to be successful on defense.

Some games, McNeill will stunt and blitz more than others. Surprisingly, Texas Tech leads the conference in sacks, this after losing their top guys in Brandon Williams and McKinner Dixon. Most of that success is due to out-working opponents and I think the Cornhuskers would be wise emphasize the quick passing game. Nebraska will have success running the ball against Texas Tech and I think that the key will be if the Texas Tech offense can score quickly, taking Nebraska out of what they might do best.

SB Nation Big 12 Roundtable - Week 5 Recap

RPT — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 14:30:14 -0000

This week's SB Nation Big 12 Roundtable Recap takes a look at some of the different thoughts expressed around the Big 12 blogosphere. This week's participants included Corn Nation, Bring On The Cats, Rock M Nation, I Am The 12th Man, Rock Chalk Talk, Double T Nation, Clone Chronicles, and Crimson and Cream Machine.

1. Is it time for the Big 12 to collectively pour one out for the departure of Baylor quarterback Robert "Hot Tub" Griffin? Even if your team benefits from his injury, are you sad to see one of the conference's premier playmakers done for the season?

Beergut of I Am The 12th Man sends his condolences for Baylor losing both an outstanding athlete and a role model:

I think most Big 12 bloggers have already mentioned Griffin's injury, and sent along their condolences in their own way. As I have already pointed out, Griffin's season-ending injury means my pick for first team All-Big 12 QB is done, and my pick for the upset of the year, Baylor over texas in Waco, lost its foundation. Griffin is a thrill to watch on the field when he is playing, and I think all Big 12 bloggers are college football fans at heart, regardless of our team affilitation, so we are all sad to see him out for the year. I think it is also important to note that despite Griffin's freakish athletic ability, he wasn't a brash or cocky person who talked trash or made you hate him; he let his play on the field do the talking for him, in an example of class I wish more athletes would follow. This makes Griffin's injury doubly sad, because he is a positive role model of how exceptional star athletes should act.

2. Play the role of Mythbusters for us. If you could dispel one national perception of your team, what would it be?

TB of Bring On The Cats echoes the sentiments of his colleagues in getting annoyed by the Snyder return talk:

It gets tiring to see various iterations of this theme: "Boy, K-State is bad, I bet Snyder wishes he had stayed retired!" Not because they say we are bad, because we are, but because it completely misses the boat. As bad as we are this year, it doesn't even compare to Snyder's first-first year, 1989. We hadn't won a game in three years and were thrilled when we beat a terrible North Texas team. Clearly, we are a terrible team this year, but we've won two games at this point and have at least hung around in the other two. Granted, we may have seen our last victory of the season, but rest assured that Bill Snyder has seen worse. Much, much worse.

Crimson and Cream Machine takes issue with a few perceptions, both in the long and short terms:

Well, the national perception of Oklahoma is that they are a great team that plays very well in the regular season, wins lots of conference championships but just can't seem to win a bowl game. How am I supposed to dispel that?

I guess that I could point out that Bob Stoops and his team did win the 2000 BCS Championship 13-2 over Florida State in the Orange Bowl, or the 2002 Cotton Bowl, or the 2003 Rose Bowl or even the 2005 Holiday Bowl. I just don't think those answers would suffice. Oh...wait...you mean the actual team on the field?

Well there is the perception that the offensive line if horrible and un-cohesive. I can dispel that very quickly by telling you to look at the last two games. Sure I realize that the competition was Idaho State and Tulsa but the issues with this line weren't physical they were mental. The last eight quarters of Sooner football have shown this unit to be mentally focused to reach their physical potential.

3. Give us the name of one player on each side of the ball on your team that everyone else in the conference may not know about or fully appreciate.

Husker Mike of Corn Nation sends some love the way of an emerging deep threat (and Name of the Year candidate) in the Nebraska receiving corps:

On offense, it's Curenski Gilleylen. He's the deep threat who's averaging nearly 32 yards a catch. Last year, he had the dropsies. This year, he's made some great catches on some huge gainers. Worry too much about the short stuff, and Gilleylen will beat you deep.

Alright, I redact that statement about Gilleylen winning Name of the Year. That honor could very well go to Rock Chalk Talk's defensive nominee in this category:

DE Maxwell Onyegbule. A lot of different directions I could go with this one, but I'll go with Max O. He's been dominant so far this season, finally showing the talent and ability he's only shown flashes of before this season.

Clone Chronicles talks up its under-the-radar tailback:

Alexander Robinson. I would hope everyone else has heard of him, but I don't read much about him at all. For a guy that's 10th in the nation in rushing yards so far, that's really too bad. We've heard all the hype about Helu in Nebraska, but Robinsion is a mere 9 yards behind him in total thus far.

Seth of Double T Nation finds a hidden gem and a silver lining from Tech's exodus of ends:

On the defense, how about DE Daniel Howard. I've had an obvious man-crush on Howard for the better part of the summer and part of that is because you can tell the guy is a hard worker, and although he's not as gifted as the more well-known defensive ends who left early for a various of reasons (Brandon Williams, McKinner Dixon and Brandon Sesay) he is by far one of the hardest workers you'll see at defensive end. And that's not one of those back-handed compliments (i.e., he's scrappy therefore he's a good player), but Howard is a legitimate threat and an offensive tackle cannot afford to take a play off against Howard. Thus far in this young season, Howard has been the steadying force at defensive end as Texas Tech has battled injuries, pulling in 19 tackles and 3 sacks.

4. OU vs. Da U: Who ya' got?

Here's what I had to say at Rock M Nation:

Give me Oklahoma. I know the competition hasn't been top notch, but the Sooner offense seems to have gotten its act together since Week 1. Furthermore, Miami wunderkind Jacory Harris got a dose of reality last week when the speed and aggressiveness of Bud Foster's defense at Virginia Tech completely threw Harris and the Miami offense off rhythm. The bad news for Miami is that Oklahoma has that same kind of speed, a better defensive line, and a somewhat similarly respected defensive mind in Brent Venables.

5. Give us your Offensive Player of the Week, Defensive Player of the Week, and Storyline of the Week for last week.

Offensive Player of the Week: In all, five players garnered nominations, and this week's honors were nearly split between two Missouri Tigers. The combined success of a prodigious Friday night in Reno made the award a race between Danario Alexander and Blaine Gabbert, with Alexander defeating his quarterback three votes to two. Other nominees included Jerrod Johnson, Brandon Banks, and Alexander Robinson.

Defensive Player of the Week: It's a tie for defensive player of the week, as conference award-winner Earl Thomas of Texas and Kansas' Chris Harris each received three votes. Texas' Emmanuel Acho and Missouri's Sean Weatherspoon each earned individual votes as well.

Storyline of the Week: As sad as it is, the tear in Robert Griffin's ACL is the runaway winner. As I type this, I'm beginning to wonder if maybe "runaway winner" was a poor choice of vocabulary.

6. Power Poll! Rank the teams 1-12 based on who would win on a neutral field.

Team (Average ranking)

1. Texas (1.000)
2. Oklahoma (2.000
3. Oklahoma State (4.250)
4. Nebraska (4.500)
5. Missouri (4.625)
6. Kansas (4.875)
7. Texas Tech (7.125)
8. Texas A&M (7.625)
9. Baylor (9.750)
10. Iowa State (10.000)
11. Kansas State (10.750)
12. Colorado (11.500)

Double-T Nation Daily Diatribe :: 09.03.09

Seth C — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 11:24:26 -0000

Odds and Ends

Sprinting Towards Tier 1 Status: Because Texas Tech raised $24.5 million, the state of Texas is matching $21.5 million in funding. This is huge, huge news. And I'll echo the thoughts of Ayleein at RaiderAde in that you have one person to thank, and that person is Kent Hance, who didn't mince words when it comes to competing and "winning" at this particular game:

"I think it sends a very strong signal that we're out on the forefront," Hance said, adding he would have been embarrassed if Tech had not come out on top.

You betcha Mr. Hance. I may be reading too much into those comments, but personally, I think Hance sees this not only as an opportunity to further Texas Tech, but also as a competition and something tells me that Hance doesn't like to lose at anything.

College Football Starts: Here's your weekend schedule and I'll be staying up late tonight catch the Boise St. Broncos and the Oregon Ducks. Cannot. Wait.

Texas Tech Football

Texas Tech Football Notebook: LAJ's Don Williams has some good nuggets this morning, including the notion that DE Ryan Haliburton will most likely back-up Rajon Henley at LDE due to the fact that Sandy Riley is apparently out with an injury (this may be a blessing in disguise as there will be a need for experienced defensive ends in 2010 and Haliburton is the most likely player to receive playing time) . . . still no decision on the left tackle position as Terry McDaniel and Chris Olson continue to fight for that spot, as are Donnie Carona and Ryan Erxleben . . . the staff is still not sure if they intend on redshirting WR Eric Ward (I think they need to let him get some time, especially if he's going to be the primary backup to Edward Britton and should expect some time next year) . . .

Fighting Sioux: LAJ's Adam Zuvanich writes a fairly presumptuous article about how the North Dakota Fighting Sioux know that there may not be much of a chance on Saturday (I've just never heard a team admit that). Here's UND head coach Chris Mussman:

"Obviously, we know what we’re up against with that quality of an opponent," said second-year North Dakota head coach Chris Mussman, whose team opens its season on Saturday at Texas Tech. "At this time with our program, it’s probably not the best time to be playing that game, but we’re going to try to make the most of it."

The official UND website has some news and notes and UND QB Jake Landry is anxious to get on the field;

"I'm ready to finally get out and play a football game," Landry said. "We've been in camp for over a month now, and we're ready to get out there and play somebody different."

What??? Honestly, I was a tad bit shocked whenever I read ESPN's Tim Griffin's rankings of the Big 12 defenses and was shocked to read that he thinks the Red Raiders have the 4th best defense in the Big 12. Now, Griffin readily admits that the drop-off from 1-3 to 4 is steep (I would also admit this) and this is only one man's opinion, but I still think that this is about right:

This is where the big drop-off starts from the top three teams. The Red Raiders will miss pass-rushing threats McKinner Dixon and Brandon Williams from last season, but have an experienced unit back. Rajon Henley and Brandon Sharpe are set to fill in as the pass-rushing threats and Colby Whitlock can be a terror at times -- particularly against Texas. Brian Duncan is a producer and the team’s leading tackler at middle linebacker. Jamar Wall is one of the better cover corners in the league. But the unit will depend on the improvement of two projected starters: redshirt freshman free safety Cody Davis and strong safety Franklin Mitchem.

Not entirely accurate as Daniel Howard should get the start next to Henley. But this is the Texas Tech defense in a nutshell and I really think the difference is how quickly will Cody Davis and Franklin Mitchem adjust to their roles and pick up their play. Overall, I do think there's an upgrade in athleticism in that the combination of Davis and Mitchem I think is more athletic that Darcel McBath and Daniel Charbonnet with Charbonnet being the player that I think there's a slight upgrade in the athleticism. Lots to look forward to this season.

Neglected Audio and Video: Fox34 on the Red Raiders preparing for North Dakota:

Big 12 Links: Barking Carnival continues the tour with the state of the union for their pals, the Oklahoma Sooners . . . ESPN's Tim Griffin on why Oklahoma St. needs a second receiver to develop (remember that the starting tight end just left the team) . . .

2010 Recruits: Tom Lemming released his top 25 at each position and I found a couple of Red Raider commits, including QB Scotty Young as the #11 pro-style quarterback and WR Karone Boone as the #4 wide receiver . . .

Alumni: Article from Jay Paris on new Chargers offensive lineman Louis Vasquez . . .

Texas Tech: 2009 Projections

Bill C. — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 15:00:11 -0000

Yesterday we looked at projections for OU...today, it's off to the pirate ship known as Lubbock, Texas!

Dude. Shave.

Until 2008, Mike Leach's tenure at Texas Tech had been startlingly consistent. Starting in 2000, Leach's Red Raiders have won 7, 7, 9, 8, 8, 9, 8, 9, and 11 games. There's a slight upward trend there, but clearly after losing Michael Crabtree and Graham Harrell, not to mention some key defensive cogs like defensive ends Brandon Williams and McKinner Dixon and safety Darcel McBath, Tech is likely to take a step backwards in 2009. If history is any indication, that step backwards will land them back in 8-win territory for at least a year, and as luck would have it, that's what the projections suggest as well!

2009 BTBS Projections

Date	Opponent	Proj. W/L	Margin	Record	Conf. Rec.
9/5	North Dakota	W	+36.3	1-0
9/12	Rice	W	+22.9	2-0
9/19	at Texas	L	-19.0	2-1	0-1
9/26	at Houston	W	+6.2	3-1
10/3	New Mexico	W	+21.2	4-1
10/10	Kansas State	W	+9.8	5-1	1-1
10/17	at Nebraska	L	-3.2	5-2	1-2
10/24	Texas A&M	W	+7.9	6-2	2-2
10/31	Kansas	W	+0.5	7-2	3-2
11/14	at Oklahoma State	L	-7.1	7-3	3-3
11/21	Oklahoma	L	-8.8	7-4	3-4
11/28	vs Baylor	W	+3.7	8-4	4-4

Using the one-touchdown test, if Tech is a touchdown better than expected, then the Nebraska game likely flips, and the OSU and OU games come within reach. If they're a touchdown worse, then Houston, Kansas, Baylor and ATM all become losable.

In all, 8-4 was both my gut response and the numbers' pick. You know Tech's offense will be just fine, but the production will slip at least a smidge, and the defense is an interesting mix of exciting and experienced (guys like Colby Whitlock and Bront Bird are interesting guys to watch) and thin and questionable (Will they generate any sort of pass rush? And will a relatively green secondary be able to handle the OSU's and KU's on the schedule?). In the end, I think the defense steps backwards more than the offense, and that makes the biggest difference in a three-game fall, from 11-2 to 8-4, in 2009.

Tomorrow: Off to College Station we go...

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.

Double-T Nation Daily Diatribe // 08.17.09

Seth C — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 11:48:29 -0000

Odds and Ends

I'm Back: Safe and sound, everything is good, although I woke up late this morning and I'm just now getting the opportunity to take a look at DTN. Yesterday was my wife's birthday and part of her present was to not be distracted with DTN. Mission accomplished.

In any event, I'm incredibly happy to be back and a huge thanks to everyone, and I do mean everyone, who helped keep DTN running. It's very cool to come back and see so many new FanPosts, comments, and FanShots. I'll take the time to read everything tonight.

One last thing. I'm probably going to repeat a couple of links because you guys did such a great job linking to everything, so I apologize in advance.

Texas Tech Football

Offensive Line Shuffle: LAJ's Don Williams writes about the offensive line shuffle, but it appears that the play of LaAdrian Waddle has caused offensive line coach Matt Moore to move Waddle to right tackle, and Joe King to right guard, who is backing up Mickey Okafor. Also, it appears that Chris Olson is slightly ahead of Terry McDaniel for that left tackle spot:

Between now and then, one of the key position battles — not just on the line, but for the team as a whole — is at left tackle, where Olson and McDaniel have taken turns with the starters.

"Olson’s probably ahead right now,’’ Moore said, "but they’re really making it a hard decision.’’

Tech Notes: LAJ's Don Williams also has his Tech Notes which included news on the following :: the competition between Ryan Erxleben and Donnie Carona for the punter position is up for grabs, as well as the candidates for returning punts and kicks . . . IR Adam James had a tremendous day yesterday . . . freshman S Will Ford is working the nickel:

"We’re just experimenting with one (nickel back) at a time right now, trying to figure out what we have,’’ defensive coordinator Ruffin McNeill said. "We’ll see who can do what. Nothing’s been solidified.’’

. . . freshman D.J. Johnson is impressing at cornerback, despite never having played the position . . . and finally, some practice notes.

Henley Move: FWSTs Dwain Price features DE Rajon Henley, who sounds confident about the defensive line this year:

"We lost Brandon Williams, but overall if you look back, it’s been the same guys the last two to three years," Henley said. "Overall, I think we’ll be a better d-line than last year.

"We know each other well, we worked so hard this summer, we love being here and we love the sport. So I think we’ll do a lot better than we did last year, even though we did have a successful d-line last year."

Mays Spotlight: LAJ's Don Williams and RedRaiderSports.com's Brian Lane each talked with freshman receiver Derrick Mays.

Texas Tech at #20 in Sporting News Top 100: Surprisingly, Texas Tech comes in at #20 in the Sporting News Top 100, and I say surprisingly because I don't know if Texas Tech has had a higher rating by any other publication or major news outlet.

WR Torres Video: For those of you asking about WR Alex Torres, RRS.com has a post-practice interview with Torres:

Torres not looking ahead @ Rivals Video

Double-T Nation Daily Diatribe // 08.10.09

Seth C — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 11:09:09 -0000

Odds and Ends

Schedule This Week: I've got a preview of the Nebraska Cornhuskers going up this morning and five players that you may have forgotten, but probably shouldn't that's scheduled to be posted tomorrow morning. I'm going to be out of town (fly fishing somewhere in New Mexico and Colorado) starting Wednesday night and I won't be back until late Sunday night. I've never fly fished before, so I'm really looking forward to trip.

Funny Stuff: The continuation of BOTC's Panjandrum's Adventures of the Big 12: Redemption (and a Man Named Texas A&M) and yes, I think you'll enjoy this.

Texas Tech Football

Pearlie Is a Great Name: LAJ's Don Williams features freshman DT Pearlie Graves who feels confident about what he can do for Texas Tech:

"I feel confident,’’ said Graves, who was an all-state player last fall for an Oklahoma Class 5A team at Tulsa East Central. "I know people are going to expect a lot from me. I’m going to give it all I’ve got and give all I can and push myself. I know if I push myself, I’m going to reach my goals.’’

Defensive coordinator Ruffin McNeill likes Graves' work ethic, who gained 20 pounds during the offseason:

"I like his attitude,’’ McNeill said Sunday. "I like his work ethic. He’s done real well in his classroom work. I like his athleticism. He’s really a strong player. You can tell that right now, even not in pads. I liked his explosion off the ball in high school. I saw it (on the first day of practice). I like what he’s bringing to the table so far.’’

Red Raider Football Notebook: LAJ's Williams also has a bunch of notes from Sunday's practice: some notes on the receiver battle, including Rashad Hawk falling behind a bit . . . freshman Kerry Hyder will be playing defensive end rather than linebacker and could eventually be the Joker replacement:

"He could grow into one of those left (defensive) ends with that power and strength,’’ McNeill said. "He was an all-state basketball player and all-state in football, so that tells you he’s got some athleticism. That’s what I liked about Kerry.’’

And Captain Mike Leach will be featured in Texas Monthly in September . . .

Replacing Players, It Happens: The Chron's Jordan Godwin with a fairly generic article on Texas Tech having to replace players on offense and defense. If you've been with DTN since the Big 12 Media Days, then you're fine just sticking here.

Need BCS Bowl: Paul Westerdawg of Georgia Sports Blog with his yearly list of coaches without a BCS Bowl and the Captain is tied with Virginia's Al Groh, Missouri's Gary Pinkel and Rutger's Greg Schiano.

Beard? Not so Much: The Doc, Doug and Holly asked on Friday about if everyone had seen the beard on our Red Raiders' newest QB, Taylor Potts, and currently, it's more of a fu-man-chu, but it should be back to beard form by this evening (huge hat-tip RRS.com's Aaron Dickens):

~~Neglected~~ Audio, Video and Photos: It's only neglected if it takes me a couple of days to link to it, and DTN and others appear to be on top of things. First, thanks to DTN's own djollie111 for posting photos from practice 1, practice two and even going so far as to post some video. Huzzah! Also, I had Aaron Dickens at RedRaiderSports.com email me and the guys at RRS.com will also be posting video much more often this season. Thus, we've got practice highlights from Sunday:

Practice Highlights - August 9th @ Rivals Video

And an informal Captain Leach press conference after practice:

Leach likes what he sees @ Rivals Video

Scouting the Enemy: DMN's Mike Heika writes that the rivalry between the Big 12 North and the Big 12 South is a tad lopsided . . . Tilting at Windmills takes a look at the Oklahoma St. defense . . .SAEN's Mike Finger takes a look at the Longhorn defensive line . . . The Chron's Sam Kahn, Jr. writes that the Rice offense is looking to re-load, not rebuild . . .

Alumni: DallasCowboys.com profiles DE/LB Brandon Williams . . . It appears that it may not be long before QB Graham Harrell gets a shot at quarterbacking the Saskatchewan Roughriders . . .

Double-T Nation Daily Diatribe // 08.05.09

Seth C — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 11:12:10 -0000

Texas Tech Football

Congrats to RB Baron Batch who was named to the 2009 Doak Walker Award watch list. So yesterday, Taylor Potts was named to the to the Davey O'Brien Award watch list and now Batch is recognized for his play. This is actually an impressive and well-deserve feat for Batch, who has battled back from serious injury to be one of the toughest and most talented running backs I've ever watched at Texas Tech.

CFN has come out with their preseason poll and your Red Raiders check in at #33, which seems a little high for me, behind the likes of North Carolina and Tennessee. This bit seems a tad extreme, and although I'm concerned about the pass rush, I don't think that desperate is the right word:

What to expect on defense: A desperate hope for a pass rush. After losing Brandon Williams to the NFL and McKinner Dixon to academic issues, the Red Raider line needs to figure out how to get into the backfield on a regular basis. Daniel Howard has a great burst and could be the breakout player on one side, while part-tackle, part-end Ra'Jon Henley will be counted on in a variety of ways. In a dream world, Brandon Sesay is half as good as his hype after coming out of the JUCO ranks last year.

Smart Football's Chris Brown is on vacation but dug up an article from former TAMU coach Bob Davie about some of the practice drills that helps the Texas Tech quarterbacks throw all of those damned completions:

Settle-noose: This is basically a warm-up drill. The receivers begin out quarter speed and shuffle between two cones, "settling" nearer to one than the other, as if they were two zone defenders. The quarterback takes a drop -- again, reduced speed -- and throws the ball, aiming for the receiver but away from the nearer "defender." The receiver uses good catching form and bursts upfield after making the catch. You can see how this simple drill sets up the entire theory of their offense, which relies on finding seams in the zones and quarterbacks throwing between defenders.

Pat-n-go: This is another simple drill. Most teams use a form of "route lines," or quarterbacks dropping and receivers running routes on "air" -- i.e. with no defenders. The one clever insight here is that one group of QBs and receivers lines up on opposite from another. This way they can complete a pass, have the receiver burst as if scoring, and simply get in line on the opposite side of the field, rather than have to run back through. Just another way they get more repetitions.

Routes on air: Probably their best drill. The coaches line up garbage cans or bags or whathaveyou where defenders would drop for a zone. Then all five receivers and/or runningbacks line up, and they call a play. Five quarterbacks (or four and a manager, etc) each drop back and throw the ball to a receiver. Here's the deal: if you're the QB who should throw it to the first read, you drop back and throw it to him. If you are assigned to the third read, well you drop back, look at #1, then #2, then #3 and throw it to him. Same goes for #2, #4, and even #5. Moreover, every receiver who runs the route catches a ball and practices scoring. Then the quarterbacks rotate over -- i.e. if you threw it to #2 now you throw it to #3, etc -- and a new group of receivers steps in. This way quarterbacks absolutely learn all their reads and practice it every day (how many reps like this does the third or fourth string guy at another school get?), and they also practice throwing it to all their receivers. Each time they do this

7-on-7 and man-to-man: These are what they sound like, and most do these drills. One-on-one or man-to-man involves the receivers going against press man in practice, while 7-on-7 is like a real scrimmage, minus the linemen.

The Press Democrat's Matt Maiocco updated the WR Michael Crabtree contract negotiation with the San Francisco 49ers and this seems like a fairly wide gap:

My wife, Sarah, asked me a good question last night: How far apart are the 49ers and Michael Crabtree, in terms of actual dollars?

Answer: First, it seems to me that the major difference is more philosophical. Like the real-estate market, it's all about comparables. Crabtree's agent, Eugene Parker, wants one set of comparables as the basis, while - as I understand it - the 49ers believe it's pretty straight-forward based on where Crabtree was selected in the draft.

So if I were to take an educated-but-uninformed guess, I'd say the sides are in the neighborhood of $8-10 million apart in guaranteed money.

Scouting the Enemy: SAEN's Brent Zwerneman writes that QB Todd Reesing is a big reason for Kansas' success . . . Corn Nation's Husker Mike previews the Oklahoma Sooners . . . Rock M Nation's Bill C's takes a look at the Kansas State offense beyond the box . . . Waco Tribune's John Werner writes that the Baylor Bears hope to improve based on their experience . . .

Texas Tech Basketball

Former Red Raider Charlie Burgess continues his quest to make the Belize National Team and talks a bit about playing for Bob Knight:

Charlie Burgess, National Team
"Oh man that was a great day because not only will I remember that but everybody remembers I played on that team. He passed it off rough you know as one of the all time winningest coaches in Kentucky and with Bob Knight they just took it to another pedestal.Everybody knew he was a great coach but after he achieved that, it was like all things possible you could do."

Jules Vasquez,
"What was that like playing with the man regarded as one of the greatest basketball minds in the United States basketball?"

Charlie Burgess,
"Oh it was challenging, extremely tough because everyday was like a test, you test your mind everyday. He puts you through certain situations and sees if you could overcome them or not. So it just builds your character as a person and as a man. I got a lot of respect for him because he made me a lot of who I am today."

Jules Vasquez,
"Did he throw any chairs at you?"

Charlie Burgess,
"No, unfortunately I haven’t gotten a chair thrown at me but I got a couple of f-bombs dropped on me but apart from that it was a great experience, I can’t really complain too much about it. I wouldn’t change it for the world."

Double-T Nation Daily Diatribe // 08.03.09

Seth C — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 11:23:48 -0000

Odds and Ends

It's strange typing out 08.03.09 this morning. It doesn't seem like August should be here already, but it is, which means that practice is right around the corner, this Saturday in fact, before the big concert (more on that later).

Texas Tech Football

The first place to start this morning is with the LAJ's Don Williams, who has a pre-practice report. There's a ton of good stuff in the article and I thought we'd take it bit-by-bit. Williams writes about the battle at left tackle, talking about how at the end of the spring, it was between Terry McDaniel and Chris Olson and offensive line coach appears to be willing to let the two of them fight it out:

"I’m going to have to find out who’s going to win it,’’ said line coach Matt Moore, who didn’t put a time frame on making the determination. "They’ve both had really good off-seasons. They’ve pushed themselves harder than they ever have. Olson’s gotten stronger and has experience on his side, but Terry’s just so massive.’’

I have no idea which way Moore will go on this, but I really like McDaniel. He could be a four-year starter if he gets the nod, at left tackle, and that's almost unheard of. Olson is talented as well, nothing against him, and I get the feeling he's going to get some burn somewhere along the line, but McDaniel is pretty good.

Follow me after the jump for more news, notes and links on your Red Raiders.

Williams then writes about defensive coordinator Ruffin McNeill and wanting 8 to 10 "playable players" to play along the defensive line. The strange thing here is that Williams mentions Ryan Haliburton by name as a player to step-up along the defensive line along with Chris Perry and Brandon Sharpe. Haliburton was okay during the spring, but he looked like a guy that still needs to add some strength and size to compete on the Big 12 level.

If I had to give my ten players: Rajon Henley, Richard Jones, Colby Whitlock, Daniel Howard, Brandon Sharpe, Victor Hunter, Chris Perry, Brandon Sesay, Pearlie Graves and Myles Wade.

And finally, looking at the defensive backfield, especially the safeties and the voluminous number of freshmen defensive backs. The most interesting thing here is that the defense didn't work on any nickel or dime packages during the spring. Huh. That seems strange. Here's McNeill:

"We wanted to wait until we got all the freshmen here,’’ McNeill said. "We’ve talked about the packages and what we want to do front-wise, coverage-wise, blitz-wise, but we didn’t want to do personnel finalization until the freshmen arrived.’’

Also of note, Texas Tech's practice is going to be worked around Captain Mike Leach's schedule, which includes going to to the John Mellencamp, Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson concert. Lots of other notes in the article, and I'll encourage you to click on through with notes on Kyle Clark, Joel Gray, LaAdrian Waddle, James Scott, Stefan Loucks and Aaron Charbonnet.

I posted the video on Friday, but TechPrezNB forwarded to me the accompanying article from NewsOK's Brandon Chatmon on DT Colby Whitlock, and as we discuss whether or not stars and offers matter with new Texas Tech commit Coby Coleman, let's not forget Whitlock, who had almost no offers and was lowly rated by the scouting services:

Few expected this type of impact from Whitlock coming out of high school. Several schools including Oklahoma and Oklahoma State passed on the opportunity to land him and Rivals.com rated him a three-star player. It's a good thing recruiting rankings and evaluations didn't matter to Whitlock.

"I'm not a person who that stuff means a lot to me," Whitlock said of being overlooked out of high school. "As long as some people are giving me looks I didn't mind it. I don't think that's real important, like the star rating, I think that's a joke, they miss (evaluate) a lot. Stuff like that has no importance."

I'll take Whitlock's word for it.

Again, I can't say that I understand all of the math, but Football Outsider's Bill Connelly (also of Rock M Nation) writes that Texas Tech had the best offensive line last year. And in terms of giving up sacks, Texas Tech's offensive line was significantly better than Oklahoma's line:

Not surprisingly, Texas Tech and Oklahoma possessed the best two pass blocking lines in the country. What is a surprise, however, was just how much better Texas Tech's unit was than everybody else. Third-place Boise State's SkRt+ was much closer to Middle Tennessee's (20th) than to Texas Tech's. Only Oklahoma had a SkRt+ within 100 of Tech's.

Snip

In case you were keeping score, here were the lines that finished in the nation's Top 20 in both Line Yards+ and Sack Rate+: Texas Tech (3rd in LY+, 1st in SkRt+), Oklahoma (5th, 2nd), Florida (1st, 8th), and Penn State (4th, 18th). Tech and Florida return a reasonable amount of experience here in 2009, while Oklahoma and PSU are lagging behind a bit in that department.

Fox34 is continuing their countdown of the top 25 players, and checking in at #5 is RB Harrison Jeffers:

It appears that former Red Raider Brandon Williams is doing well in his professional career. DMN's Tim McMahon writes that the Dallas Cowboys LB coach is happy with Williams progress:

"Victor Butler and Brandon Williams are what we consider doing things right now that give us hope that they have a chance to help us this year," Herring said. "They're showing some pass-rush skills -- things that are instinctive. They're explosive off the ball, quick get-off. Every day they're understanding the tempo and the speed of the game, learning how to use their fundamentals and their hands. They're showing some improvement every practice that gives you a feeling or hope that they will help us this year -- somehow, some way, at least special teams and definitely pass rush."

I found a couple of notes on recruiting, something that I really don't cover unless it's just finding video and links on new commitments, but thought I'd pass these two things along. New Texas Tech commit, WR Shawn Corker, attended some event earlier this week and this was written about his performance:

At WR, new Texas Tech commit Shawn Corker showed why he was one of the most coveted WR's in the state this year. He has no weakness.

And apparently another Florida WR, Kadron Boone, (he's a 4-star guy) is down to his final three teams: OU, Georgia and Texas Tech.

Big 12 Stuff: AAS's Kirk Bohl's asks if the Big 12 is overrated . . . The Oklahoman polled the players at the Big 12 Media Days and asked them a bunch of questions regarding the conference, including best and worst uniforms, best and worst fans, best and worst mascots, etc. (see the links on the right -- "Related Stories") . . . CT's Dave Matter writes that Big 12 defenses are still playing catch-up to the offense . . . DMN's Chuck Carlton lays out the likelihood of the Big 12 in 2009 running into the same scenario in 2008, a three-way tie . . . Tulsa World's Dave Sittler writes that the Big 12 North have become easy targets

Scouting the Enemy: SAEN's Brent Zwerneman writes about Nebraska Cornhuster defensive superstar, Ndamukong Suh . . . NY Times college football blog, the Quad, thinks the Houston Cougars are #30 team in the nation . . .