SB Nation - Richard Jones

Post Game Thoughts :: Oklahoma Sooners Edition

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

by Sue Ogrocki - AP

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

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

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

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

The Storylines ::

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Five Reasons Texas Tech Will Win ::Oklahoma Sooners Edition

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Matchups :: Texas A&M Aggies Edition

Seth C — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 17:01:11 -0000

More photos » by Nati Harnik - AP

2 months ago: Texas Tech's Brandon Sharpe (92) swats down a throw by Nebraska quarterback Zac Lee (5), as Nebraska's Ricky Henry (74) and Marcel Jones (78) block Texas Tech's Colby Whitlock (93), in the first half of their NCAA college football game in Lincoln, Neb., Saturday, Oct. 17, 2009.(AP Photo/Nati Harnik)

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Texas A&M Aggies (3-3, 0-2)

vs.

Texas Tech Red Raiders (5-2, 2-1)

Game Information:
Date: October 24, 2009 :: Time: 6:00 p.m. CST :: Weather: Lubbock, TX
TV: None :: Radio: Affiliates :: Game Cast: Fox Sports

The figures next to the team name are, in order, yards per game / national rank / conference rank.

Texas Tech Passing Offense vs. Texas A&M Passing Defense

Texas Tech (413.57 / 2 / 1): Not surprisingly, the Texas Tech offense struggled a bit against Nebraska, but a win is a win, especially when it's on the road against a nationally ranked opponent, and you beat that opponent by 21. QB Steven Sheffield was a manager, and since all indications lean towards Taylor Potts or Seth Doege taking the reins on Saturday, then I'm hoping that he takes the same advice that Leach gave Sheffield:

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.

I do think that Potts is a quality quarterback, and if there's one thing that Leach has consistently been able to do since he's been here is to coach up a quarterback or two. I don't think that's going to stop and although Potts wasn't perfect (again, there is no perfect QB other than St. Tebow) he's still pretty damned good. If it's 3rd string Seth Doege, then I'm concerned about his ability to play on such a high level without so much experience, but I trust Leach. I think it's a testament to the receivers on this team, but each week, we're seeing a different receiver step up and make plays. In fact, after a few weeks of Tramain Swindall leading this team in receiving, Detron Lewis is back on top. And to jazz you just a tad bit more, there's less than 120 yards separating the top 4 receivers. In other words, one great game and you could see Alexander Torres, Lyle Leong, Swindall or Lewis lead this team.

Texas A&M (226.67 / 73 / 6): The Aggies really haven't played a true passing team, except for Arkansas, and TAMU promptly gave up 271 yards and 4 touchdowns. We're going to continue to talk about this until there are a few more conference games to compare, but TAMU has faced Oklahoma St. and Kansas St. thus far in conference play. Not exactly passing teams and it's hard to gauge whether or not the pass defense is truly struggling (73rd in the nation) or if it's going to get worse. I did have the opportunity to watch quite a bit of the OSU game and I thought that the Aggies do have athletes in the secondary, but they're young, and that's a bad combination going into the meat of the Big 12 schedule. A big part of the pass defense success is the outstanding play of Von Miller, who already has 10 sacks, which includes 12.5 tackles for a loss. And aside from Miller, no player has more than 2 sacks for the year, perhaps indicative of the bigger problems at TAMU, there's talent at certain positions, but it's not enough to win a bunch of football games.

Verdict: I'm nervous about this pick, especially if Potts cannot play, but I'll still take Texas Tech.

Texas Tech Rushing Offense vs. Texas A&M Rushing Defense

Texas Tech (70.43 / 118 / 12): It would be easy to say that the Red Raiders ignored the rushing game on Saturday, and there were times that I thought that the line did a good job of creating holes, but 14 rushes between RB Baron Batch and Harrison Jeffers just isn't going to be enough. Again, the rating looks much worse than it probably is, due in part because Potts took so many sacks earlier in the year (he's working on that . . . promise). The loss of LT Terry McDaniel could prove to be a huge loss for this team I don't know if OL coach Moore has many more options other than to start Chris Olson at left tackle. The only other player that's received significant time is Mikey Okafor at right guard, who was later benched in favor of moving Brandon Carter back to the right side.

Texas A&M (166.83 / 88 / 11): There's going to be a similar theme that I have with the Aggies in that I do think there's talent there, but it's young talent. The Aggies have played two teams that feature their running game and gave up 169 yards and 3 touchdowns to Oklahoma St. and 232 yards and 6 touchdowns to Kansas St. The defensive line features 2 freshmen or sophmores and the linebacking corps also has a freshman and sophomore. Garrick Williams and Kyle Mangum are the linebackers who make most of the plays. The Aggies are 37th in the nation in tackles for a loss, but as mentioned above, Miller is responsible for 12.5 of thoese tackles, which means that the Aggies have 1 player truly making plays thus far.

Verdict: Despite the Aggies looking as bad recently been.

Texas A&M Passing Offense vs. Texas Tech Passing Defense

Texas A&M (320.50 / 6 / 3): The skill position players for TAMU are actually fairly talented and for this reason alone, you shouldn't overlook the Aggies. Freshman WR Uzoma Nwachukwu has been tremendous thus far this year while WR's Ryan Tannehill and Howard Morrow each have over 20 catches. TE Jamie McCoy is an offensive threat, with 21 catches for 251 yards. QB Jarrod Johnson has been remarkably good, not Heisman worthy, but he's been pretty good with a horrible offensive line. Johnson isn't as accurate as you might want him to be, but he's still completing 57.8% of of his passes and has 16 touchdowns to only 3 interceptions. As mentioned before, the offensive line has allowed 2.67 sacks a game, which is good for 95h in the nation. That's been Johnson's problem all year, the young offensive line,

Texas Tech (238.57 / 89 / 8): The Texas Tech pass defense has been good, not great and this is something that I keep mentioning, and it's something that's going to have to continue this week, is not to ge beat deep. The pass defense isn't great, but the pass efficiency defense (I really don't know what this is) is at 40th in the nation. In any event, the secondary is also healthy, except that S Will Ford may be out, but there's been enough guys who have seen sufficient reps that I'm not too concerned about losing Ford. The Red Raiders are 8th in the nation in sacks, led by their DE's: Brandon Sharpe (8), Daniel Howard (5) and Rajon Henley (3).

Verdict: I like Johnson, Tannehill and Nwachuksu, but it's the pass blocking that's the problem.

Texas A&M Rushing Offense vs. Texas Tech Rushing Defense

Texas A&M (156.83 / 49 / 5): Prior to this game, I wondered how much the Aggies were actually running the ball, expecting a bit more production from RB's Cyrus Gray and Christine Michael. Both are supposedly heralded, especially Michael, who's had 11 to 14 rushing attempts since the first game. This unit isn't bad, in fact the Aggies are 49th in the nation in rushing offense, which is pretty good, but maybe the point I was trying to make at the beginning, is that why not slow the game down just a tad bit more, in the hopes that the Aggies could hang onto the ball, and chew up some of that time of possession.

Texas Tech (101.86 / 24 / 5): The rush defense has been consistently good all year, and I keep mentioning this point, but the key to a good defense is being able to stop the run. The rush defense is only allowing 3.05 yards a game and despite some rough patches against Texas (135) and Houston (144), the Red Raiders only gave up 70 yards to Nebraska that is averaging 151 yards a game and 116 yards to Kansas St. that is averaging 184 yards a game. DT's Colby Whitlock and Richard Jones aren't showing up in the box score, but coupled with the outstanding and oftentimes overlooked play of the linebackers, this unit is slowly but surely becoming adept at stopping the run. I thought DE Rajon Henley's play last week deserved mention, especially against the run. I thought he was outstanding.

Verdict: I'll take the Red Raiders again.

Matchups :: Nebraska Cornhuskers Edition

Seth C — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 17:00:55 -0000

Texas Tech Red Raiders (4-2, 1-1)

vs.

Nebraska Cornhuskers (4-1, 1-0)

Game Information:
October 17, 2009 :: 2:30 p.m. CST :: Weather: Lincoln, NE
TV: FSN :: Radio: Affiliates :: Game Cast: Fox Sports

The figures next to the team name are, in order: yards per game / national rank / conference rank.

Texas Tech Passing Offense vs. Nebraska Passing Defense

Texas Tech (443.50 / 2 / 1): QB Steven Sheffield has been electric in two games for Texas Tech, albeit he's done it against two teams that aren't top 25 teams, like Nebraska. In 1.5 games for the Red Raiders, Sheffield is 53-70 for 780 yards, 11 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. Not to be too critical, but Sheffield's interception on Saturday night seemed like a play where Sheffield had determined where he was going to go as the play was snapped. That cannot happen against Nebraska. Tramain Swindall has become this team's playmaker amongst the receivers, averaging 92.8 yards a game and 19.33 yards per catch. The rest of the group is rounding out their roles. I think I mentioned last week that Texas Tech would need at least 1 receiver to step up their game, and right now, Swindall is in a zone. The bigger the threat that Swindall is, the easier it becomes for Detron Lewis, Alexander Torres and Lyle Leong. And this doesn't even take into account Jacoby Franks big night (3 receptions, 99 yards and 1 touchdown) against KSU. Quite simply, there's a lot of receiving threats out there and Sheffield is finding them. There's no doubt that the offensive line has looked better in the last two games, in part because Sheffield's mobility has allowed him additional time, but this unit still leads the conference in sacks allowed at 13 and must play like a cohesive unit. Perhaps the matchup of the night will be RG Brandon Carter and the below-mentioned Suh.

Nebraska (162.60 / 14 / 1): The Cornhusker pass defends begins and ends with DT Ndamukong Suh, who may be the best player in college football right now, and has an unbelievable stat line: 32 tackles (leads team), 5.5 TFL (leads team), 3 sacks (leads team), 7 passes broken up (leads team) and an interception. Suh is an absolute dominate interior defender and to think that Texas Tech's offensive line is going to control Suh to an extent would be wishful thinking. The pass defense is 14th in the nation and have played prolific passing teams such as . . . Missouri, in a rain-storm. In other words, much like Kansas St. last week, the Cornhuskers haven't really played a team that's truly proficient passing the ball other than the Tigers. And to give Nebraska credit, they held Blaine Gabbert to 17-43 for 134 yards and 2 interceptions. I think you'll see a lineup of Prince Amukamara and Alfonzo Dennard at cornerback and Matt O'Hanlon and Larry Asante at safety. Keep in mind that Nebraska has a distinct advantage that other Texas Tech opponents haven't had, which is a dominant player up front. Nebraska has broken up 25 passes during the year and had 17 quarterback hurries. That's 42 pass plays that have been affected by the secondary or the defensive line.

Verdict: This is the strength of the Texas Tech offense and the offense is clicking.

Texas Tech Rushing Offense vs. Nebraska Rushing Defense

Texas Tech (78.00 / 114 / 12): Baby steps. The Red Raiders went from the worst rushing offense in the NCAA to the 114th worst rushing offense, all in one week. But there's progress there to those of us who watch closely. I mentioned after the game on Sunday that the running backs rushed for 182 yards on 21 carries. That's an 8.67 yard per carry average and for a team that's absolutely struggled to garner any sort of run game, the fact that this team has pulled itself up a bit, especially after having such a tough time establishing anything resembling a running game is encouraging. The truth be told though is that the Red Raiders hae steadily improved the rushing game after a somewhat slow start (73 and 60 yards in their first 2 games). It's still tough to be sure what offensive line coach Matt Moore will do, although you would expect that unless something drastic happened, he would settle on the offensive line that would be the most successful against Nebraska, which was to start Lonnie Edwards at LG rather than Chris Olson, who Moore may be figuring will need to give multiple positions a break against the Cornhuskers. The more I think about this idea, the more I like it.

Nebraska (110.80 / 33 / 5): Nebraska is sitting 5th in the conference, although Nebraska has been a team that you could run on (i.e. there's yards to be gained), but the difference is that they are yielding few points on the ground and allowing less than 5 yards a rush. In addition to all-world Suh, the defensive line is rounded out by Barry Turner and Pierre Allen at defensive end and Jared Crick joins Suh up front. I'm not sure how much the linebackers will play on Saturday and would guess that Pelini will adjust with an additional defensive back, which should, in theory, open things up for the Texas Tech running game. When Nebraska is in their base package, I think you'll see Phillip Dillard, Will Compton and Sean Fisher. This is a stout run defense, and last year, I think you might see a defense more focused on the run as Texas Tech and Baron Batch ran for 137 yards on 23 carries and 3 touchdowns.

Verdict: Nebraska, hands down.

Nebraska Passing Offense vs. Texas Tech Passing Defense

Nebraska (236.60 / 44 / 7): I'll be the first to admit that I'm pleasantly surprised by Zac Lee's passing efficiency thus far this year. Lee's been very effective and probably most important to a Pelini offense, he doesn't turn the ball over, with only 3 interceptions this year to 10 touchdowns. Lee's not prolific as his biggest game this year was 340 yards against Arkansas St. A very balanced group of receivers lead the way for Nebraska, including receivers Paul Niles, Curenski Gilleylen, and Chris Brooks. TE Mike McNeill is a receiving threat as he's caught a pass every game thus far this year, but the truth is that the 3 receivers mentioned above are the main threats for Nebraska. Nebraska is 10th in the country in sacks allowed, giving up only 4 all year. Other than RT Marcel Jones, the Nebraska offensive line is a veteran group, including LT Mike Smith, LG Keith Williams, C Jacob Hickman and RG Ricky Henry. We're looking a the short passing game, keeping the Texas Tech offense off of the field and that can be so painful to watch.

Texas Tech (242.50 / 92 / 11): Texas Tech has really struggled here, and this may be an indication that Texas Tech played some proficient passing teams early in Texas and Houston (although the killer game was 316 to New Mexico). Still, this unit has been a little up and down, giving up yards, but not necessarily points. Despite the yardage given up, Texas Tech leads the conference in passes defended, including 33 passes broken up and 4 interceptions. Perhaps part of the reason is that the secondary hasn't been healthy in weeks, as SS Franklin Mitchem was out early in the season, FS Cody Davis was out last week, and LaRon Moore missed almost the entire game last week. This has forced two freshmen, S Will Ford and CB D.J. Johnson to step up their game. Also sitting a-top the conference is Texas Tech (along with Oklahoma) with 18 sacks for the year. Same as the secondary, much of this has been done with players that no on else in the conference would recognize. I've said it before, but it bears repeating, this group isn't as physically gifted as others, but they will out-work out and it seems that this unit gets more sacks late in the game. It's constant pressure.

Verdict: Statistically, I feel like I have to give this to Nebraska.

Nebraska Rushing Offense vs. Texas Tech Rushing Defense

Nebraska (168.00 / 43 / 8): When I first started to look at the numbers, I was surprised that Nebraska was only 8th in the conference in rushing. I was expecting a bit more. RB Roy Helu, Jr. is 13th in the nation in rushing, and was a bit under the weather against Missouri last week. Helu had a monster game against Virginia Tech (169 yards on 28 carries) and that's the sort of thing that bothers me about what Nebraska is capable of on any given night. There's not much behind Helu as true freshman, and DFW guy, Rex Burkhead is seeing the most significant carries behind Helu. Right now, Burkhead is a change of pace sort of back, getting 5 or 6 carries a game, although he's fairly effective.

Texas Tech (107.17 / 28 / 4): I'm shocked by those numbers and I'll keep repeating this and hope that it becomes true, but one of the hallmarks of a team that does well is a good to great rush defense. Much like most other things this early in the season, you can partially blame opponents, but thus far, the Red Raiders have only allowed a little over 100 yards a game. The DT's Colby Whitlock and Richard Jones have quietly been very solid and give plenty of credit to a linebacking corp of Brian Duncan, Bront Bird and Marlon Williams that seem to be getting better game by game. You would think that Duncan and Bird would be tailor made for Nebraska and it will be interesting to see if Whitlock, Jones and Victor Hunter, to an extent, will be able to allow the linebackers to scrape and make plays.

Verdict: Seems strange, but the stats play the winner out here.

Texas Tech Special Teams vs. Nebraska Special Teams

Texas Tech: Freshman P Ryan Erxleben has been a breath of fresh air, handling 14 punts on the year, but being able to pin a few inside the opponents 20 yard line is a nice weapon have, especially in a game that could come down to field position. You'd like to see more consistency from K Donnie Carona kicking off, but he's still 6th in the conference and Matthew Williams hasn't had to kick a lot of field goals, but he has been solid in PAT's (34/35) ending the horror that was 2008. Texas Tech hasn't been spectacular returning punts and tried WR Austin Zouzalik for a number of games, but switched to CB Jamar Wall last week. Wall might be a bit more daring, but Zouzalik is solid. The Red Raiders are 2nd in the conference in kickoff returns, led by true freshman RB Eric Stephens.

Nebraska: P Alex Henry is 6th in the conference in punting. Much like Texas Tech, there's nothing really spectacular there. PK Alex Henery is clutch, making 8 of 9 field goals this year and making all of his PAT's. WR Niles Paul is returning punts, and again, like Texas Tech, aren't lighting the world on fire and as far as kickoff returns, Niles is again, mediocre (59th in the county and 9th in the conference).

Verdict: These teams are about as even as you could be for the most part, with slight advantages in one category over another. PUSH

Double-T Nation Daily Diatribe :: 09.26.09

Seth C — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 11:06:38 -0000

Some Stuff: [Note by Seth C, 09/26/09 8:24 AM CDT ] I just wanted to point you to a couple of additional links this morning. First, the SB Nation college football sports stream is a good place to get your fix for all of the games this morning. Second, is the FanShot of the guys from Patton Productions with the Red Raider Roadshow. Lots of good pre-game video from last week's game.

Rivalry Renewed: LAJ's Don Williams writes that the UH vs. TTU rivalry is coming at a time when Houston is playing lights out. Williams talks with RG Brandon Carter, who is excited that the Cougars are playing at the top of their game:

"So early in the season, I think they’re still going to be hungry to play and excited to play," Carter said. "I wouldn’t have it any other way. I want them at their best, I want us at our best so we can have a good football game."

And CB Brent Nickerson is concerned about the calls that UH offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen will be familiar with on the Texas Tech defense:

"The challenge is, with coach Holgorsen being there, they know a lot of what our defense does," Tech defensive back Brent Nickerson said. "They know a lot of our checks, what we like to do as far as the secondary, as far as our blitzes and as far as our defensive line. But we have great play-calling on defense as well, so we’ll know how to counter their attack."

Jones Becomes a Man: FWST's Dwain Price profiles DT Richard Jones, who acknowledges that had he stayed home in the Houston area, he may not be the man he is today:

"I know if I would have stayed home there’s no telling what kind of trouble I would have been in," Jones said. "Just me being far away from home, I had no choice but to grow up.

"I had to learn how to survive on my own, I had to wake myself up every morning for classes, I learned how to grocery shop, and it made me a better man."

And Brandon Carter has some high praise for Jones:

"I’ve always enjoyed going against him because he challenges me and I believe and hope that I do the same for him," Carter said. "He’s a great athlete with his hands ... not many can move as fast and as quick as he can. I never see him taking plays off."

Go read the whole thing.

Five Good Minutes with Brandon Carter: ESPN's Tim Griffin sits down with RG Brandon Carter to talk about last week's Texas game and the Houston game this week. I thought this answer on the struggling running game was and is worrisome:

Your running game has struggled a little bit early in the season. What are you going to try to do to help improve that against Houston and during the rest of the season?

BC: With the running game, we’re just as close as we can be to getting it fixed. We’re one block from making some of those plays happen. We just can’t afford to make mistakes like that. We did better against Texas, but we’re still far away from where we want to be. And I think eventually, we’ll get there.

Carter sounds positive about the progress, but saying "we're still far away" makes my stomach hurt.

Craig James Set to Call Game: LAJ's Adam Zuvanich talks with ESPN color guy, Craig James, who is set to call a game with his son, Adam James playing. Craig says that he's going to be respectful about the game:

"You can be 100 percent certain that inside I will be going crazy excited about it," he said earlier this week. "But I’ll be fair and have integrity for the broadcast and for University of Houston fans and for college football fans. They don’t want to hear me up there being a homer."

Another Test for Texas Tech: DMN's Chuck Carlton writes that this is the second week in a row that Texas Tech is tested against a very good team.

Texas Tech Blogs: RA's ayleein on why Texas Tech hates Houston . . . TR's dedfischer with some thoughts on college football . . . RRS.com's Joe Yeager looks at the matchups . . .

Houston Cougar Links: The Chron's Steve Campbell dubs QB Case Keenum as Captain Case, who will hopefully lead the Cougars to a win . . . DMN's Kevin Sherrington writes that the Cougars are looking for national respect (as ayleein noted in his article, this was the same thought that Texas Tech fans were asking last year) . . . LAJ's Adam Zuvanich writes that Kliff Kingsbury and Dana Holgorsen bring the knowledge from Lubbock to Houston . . .

Writer Picks: Dr. Saturday's Matt Hinton with some thoughts on a Texas Tech win . . . kinda funny, Sporting News Dave Curtis picks games against his grandmother, his grandmother picks Texas Tech and she has a better overall record . . .RRS.com's staff picks a handful of games . . . NY Times staff is somewhat on board with a Texas Tech win . . .

Big 12 Links: Big12Sports.com's Wendell Barnhouse previews all of the Big 12 games . . . SAEN with a preview of the Big 12 games . . .

2010 Recruits Update: Last night, it appears that Scotty Young was pulled somewhat early as his Denton Ryan Raiders defeated Ft. Worth Rider 52-7 and Young was 21-36 for 320 yards 2 touchdowns and no interceptions (game story) . . . for those of you who want to see a great football game, Southlake Carroll is set to take on Houston area North Shore at 6:00 p.m. on FSN, while Texas Tech commit Jackson Richards for SLC and NS has a Texas commit Trey Hopkins, which should be a great battle . . . ESPN's Julie Turner sits down with LB V.J. Fehoko:

"My brothers both are so supportive. One thing that I know and my brothers told me is that I got to go and see all my trips for myself if I fit in that program," he said. V.J. has one official visit planned so far, a trip to Texas Tech on Nov. 20.

Position Matchups :: Houston Cougars Edition

Seth C — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 17:01:00 -0000

Position matchups after the jump. [Note by Seth C, 09/22/09 12:10 PM CDT ] I was in a hurry so there may be errors.

	MATCHUP
QB/WR: So I think we have a leader. It's real easy to say that you're the leader of an offense, but the truth of it is that unless something happens where you actually lead the team in some form or fashion it's lip service. Taylor Potts can lead this team. I can't talk enough about the play of the receivers. Honestly, guys like Lyle Leong are supposed to be on the rec team, not leading the team with 5 touchdowns. If the Longhorns can't really contain the Texas Tech receivers, then I really don't see any reason for the Cougars to be able to contain them. It would be nice to see Detron Lewis fully healthy, but Tramain Swindall, Austin Zouzalik, Alexander Torres, Edward Britton, etc., have shown they're capable.	QB/WR vs. DB	DB: A good mix of size and experience returns in the secondary for Houston, starting 2 juniors, a senior and a sophomore. The problem with believing their current group, which all return from last year, is really 34th in the nation isn't an indication that they've arrived. In 2008, this group was 91st in the nation and although there's reason to believe in maturation of this group, the biggest competition has been Northwestern St. and Oklahoma St. There's nothing necessarily wrong with the OSU pass defense, but it's a running offense. Cornerback Jamal Robinson has the team's only interception and are only 6th in C-USA in passes defended with 10. I can't say that I've watched any Houston games this year, but I get the feeling that Houston plays a lot like Texas Tech. Let the offense win the game, the defense should bend, but not break.
RB: Just no production. It's a chicken or the egg argument. Is it the offensive line not opening holes or is it the running backs not making plays? Add to these questions, as to whether not Texas Tech is even giving enough carries to their runners, a paltry 17 a game. In 2008 this group was getting 24 carries a game, and this is a situation where not having even a semblence of a running game is going to catch up with Texas Tech sooner rather than later. Right now, Harrison Jeffers is the odd man out because he's lacking in pass defense (a result of the offensive line having trouble) and Baron Batch isn't quite right yet, whether it be fumbles or just not playing up to his potential. Eric Stephens is certainly exciting, but it's tough to do much with only 4 carries a game.	RB vs. LB Push	LB: Like most teams, this unit is lead by their linebackers, including WLB C.J. Cavness, MLB Marcus McGraw, and SLB Matt Nicholson. Both Nicholson and McGraw had a sack last year, so there's a good chance that you'll see the Cougars blitz every so often, but this year, the team has managed two sacks thus far. McGraw and Cavness lead the team in tackles, while reserve Phillip Steward is third. Not to harp on the rush defense too much more (we'll have to talk about it the next position), but in 2 games the Cougars have given up 175 yards a game. That's probably just fine for a team like Texas Tech where the running game has been deficient, but not likely to work against other teams.
OL: One step forward (Rice), two steps back (Texas). That's how this works right now until Moore can find players that he's comfortable with on the field. I don't know that Moore does much with the starting lineup this week, although I wouldn't put anything past him. I think that Moore's biggest problem is that he's not been able to settle on a guard, and it wouldn't at all surprise me to see Terry McDaniel move to guard, just to plug a hole. Moore doesn't seem entirely happy with Lonnie Edwards or Mickey Okafor. Marlon Winn was embarassed by Sergio Kindle on Saturday and I hope like hell he gave Taylor Potts his own personal Tim Tebow speach on Sunday morning that went something like this, "Never again, Taylor. Never again." Despite all of that, you're still talking about a unit that gave Potts 46 opportunites to give up a pass and 3 sacks to a talented UT defense. They're inexperienced, but they'll be fine.	OL vs. DL	DL:As I keep writing this, I realize something that we've all known, in that Houston and Texas Tech are nearly mirror images of each other, it's just that Leach has had longer to get his guys than Sumlin. With that being said, Houston is pitiful against the run, can't get past the line of scrimmage, and can't sack the quarterback. The defensive line isn't small by any means, and NT Isiah Thompson and DT David Hunter are making tackles, by they are by no means getting behind the line of scrimmage. Defensive end Zeke Riser barely shows up in the stats and Tyrell Graham is by far their best pass rusher. The Cougars get credit for taking advantage of turnovers, not that the DL necessarily created them, but the defense is pretty ragged, even early in the season.
DL: I'm not sure that I should talk about any of these players, lest I jinx one of them. No Rajon Henley, Brandon Sharpe or Ryan Haliburton. Instead, you got a team effort that was somehow able to manage 8 tackles for a loss against Texas alone, and 1 sack. If you have the time, go back and watch the defensive line on Saturday. Yep, they got tired, but this group was tremendously effective. If I would have known that Victor Hunter could get in the backfield like he could, I would have suggested the additional hamburgers quite some time ago. Colby Whitlock, Richard Jones, Chris Perry (is really surprising me) and Victor Hunter spent the better part of Saturday containing a Texas offense that's averaging close to 500 yards a game. If you want to talk about production, thus far, the Texas Tech defense is 27th in the nation in rushing defense, 17th in sacks and 4th in TFL.	DL vs. OL	OL: A relatively young and mobile group of offensive linemen that are able block for Beal, get down the field on the bubble screen and give Keenum plenty of time to get the ball down the field. Again, this was a relatively unheralded group before the season started, but thus far this group is 9th in the nation in sacks allowed and leads a rushing offense that's over 118 yards a game. The edge pass protectors are relatively inexperienced in that LT Jacolby Ashworth is a redshirt freshman and RT Jarve Dean is a JUCO transfer. I'm hoping and praying that someone on Texas Tech's roster can take advantage of his inexperience. The middle group are all returning starters: LG Jordan Shoemaker, C Carl Barnett and RG Chris Thompson.
LB: I'm sorta running out of superlatives for this group. Marlon Williams has completely stepped up his game from 2008 in that he's not just out there, he's making plays. Bront Bird has also turned himself into a playmaker and Brian Duncan, who many thought was Texas Tech's most reliable linebacker heading into the season, may be the 3rd best linebacker on this team right now. It's not necessarily difficult how many plays this group is making when Williams, Bird and Duncan are 1, 2 and 4 in tackles and Williams is 1st on the team in TFL (5), while Bird is 2nd (4).	LB vs. RB	RB: Bryce Beall is a phenom, there's no doubt about that. Beall is the typical Texas Tech running back, but he's in a Cougar jersey. As a freshman last year, Beall was unbelievable, and right now, Beall is averaging 68 yard rushing and 46 receiving. I would kill for that type of production right now. Houston is also getting help from 2 freshman running backs in Charles Sims and Chris Wilson. Sims and Wilson got most of their work done against NW St., but there's no doubt that as the season wears on, Beall is this team's biggest and most talented rushing threat.
DB:Considering the players who have not been available the defensive backfield deserves a lot of credit. After 3 games, this unit is 39th in the country in pass defense and 42nd in pass efficiency defense. We like to complain about the bend-but-don't-break methodology of Ruffin McNeill, but thus far, that has proven to be effecitve. FS Cody Davis is 3rd on the team in tackles with 18 and CB Jamar Wall has been an incredibly effective tackler thus far. And perhaps that last statements sums up this group more than anything else, in that they are sure-handed, they are making plays and they're making tackles. I think that's going to be a little tougher with Houston, although UT spreads the ball around as much as many now a days.	DB vs. QB/WR	QB/WR: The skill positions are as scary as you're probably thinking. Not quite as varied as the Texas Tech offense, the Cougars are led by three main receivers, Charles Sims (also a running back), Tyron Carrier and Patrick Edwards. It isn't just one guy that's leading the team in touchdowns and Beall is the only player with more than 1 touchdown. Case Keenum is just as scary and efficient as you think he is, where he's completing 72% of his passes, has thrown only 1 interception in 2 games and is averaging over 9 yards per passing attempt. I don't know what else to say about this group other than they're really good, Keenum knows how to lead this offense and it will be interesting to see how McNeill deals with the Cougar spread offense.

Double-T Nation Daily Diatribe :: 09.22.09

Seth C — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 11:22:33 -0000

Texas Tech Football

Defensive Line Changes Roles: LAJ's Don Williams writes that the defense showed their ability to sacrifice, perhaps personal success, to help the team by switching positions and filling in for players that are suspended on injured. Here's CB Brent Nickerson, who hasn't been mentioned as also having to fill-in, but he certainly did, learn to play safety in a week:

"I’ve never been part of a game like that,’’ Nickerson said Monday, "but what that shows me is we have a lot of soldiers and warriors on our defense, guys that are willing to do anything for a win.’’

And defensive coordinator Ruffin McNeill on his team:

"They’re ready to handle things,’’ defensive coordinator Ruffin McNeill said. "It’s a two-way street. I think the kids trust us enough to know we have the team’s best interest and their best interest at heart. We trust them, but they also trust us. Once you get that, now you have something special. Now you can demand more of each other.’’

And DT Richard Jones makes me giggle:

"To sack Colt McCoy, especially — maybe a future Heisman winner, future NFL player — it was just amazing,’’ Jones said. "I was, like, in shock. I couldn’t believe it. I actually beat a tackle on a speed rush. I’m more like a powerful man. But it was fun. If I had to, I’d do it again.’’

Football Notebook: LAJ's Don Williams writes that the reason that RB Harrison Jeffers has been limited on the field is because he's lacking in pass-blocking, a direct result of the offensive line struggling. Here's Leach on Jeffers, Eric Stephens and Baron Batch:

"The biggest difference is Eric’s more consistent," Leach said Monday. "We have three running backs who I think are neck and neck. We don’t have a guy that I think is ahead of the rest. You’ve got Harrison, who’s the most explosive. You’ve got Stephens, who’s the most consistent, and you’ve got Baron, who’s the most experienced.

. . . RG Brandon Carter talks about the points that Potts wins with the team by taking "the hit":

"We weren’t sure how he was going to react to that," Carter said. "Now that we have seen it, it makes us even more comfortable to have him back there. He’s not going to get all hectic, (and say), ‘Oh, what do I do now? I got hit.’ It’s football. He understands that. We were glad he reacted the way he did."

. . . head coach Mike Leach says that WR Austin Zouzalik is the starting Y receiver, the spot that Detron Lewis usually mans . . .

The Last Time I Talk About Helmet-To-Helmet: RRS.com's Aaron Dickens listened in on the Mike Leach Big 12 media teleconference and he was asked about the helmet-to-helmet on Kindle to Potts:

On whether they coach their players any differently because of the helmet-to-helmet rule:
ML: "You don’t coach any differently. You coach your guys not to do it. It will be real interesting to see how it’s handled. yeah, I think everybody saw it."

On Texas defensive end Sergio Kindle’s apparent helmet-to-helmet hit to Taylor Potts:
ML: "I thought he was extremely tough. Despite being the victim of really obvious helmet-to-helmet contact, he didn’t really allow him to phase him, he continued to play well."

I cannot remember where I read it, but UT defensive coordinator Will Muschamp said that if it wasn't called then it wasn't a penalty, sorta like a holding penalty, and I think that's a real easy rationale to get out of having to comment about his player leading with his helmet, which is fine, that's his prerogative. The fallacy with that argument is that just because you're not caught doesn't mean that it's not right. If I steal something from a store but no one ever catches me, the act in itself is still wrong (unless there is some sort of moral reason I could fall back on, i.e. I was stealing bread to feed my family). If Muschamp feels that it was a legal hit, then I hope Kindle and every UT defender levels the exact same hit and that Muschamp coaches his players to hit that way the entire season. I think if that happens, everyone gets what they deserve.

A Loss Is a Loss: LAJ's Adam Zuvanich writes that despite the good showing, a loss is still a loss, and I would agree, it's time to move on:

Playing in front of the largest crowd to witness a football game in the state of Texas, and with a national television audience tuned in, many said Tech played the second-ranked Longhorns closer than they had expected, perhaps earning the program a greater measure of respect. And for several Tech fans who I spoke with over the weekend, or who posted comments to our stories on redraiders.com, that was satisfying enough.

And there’s been praise all around for quarterback Taylor Potts – who was making his first start on the road, withstood several hits in the pocket and still gave Tech a chance to win – as well as for how the defense performed without two regular ends and a starting safety.

The bottom line, though, is the Raiders are the only team with a Big 12 loss, and they already have as many regular-season losses as they did all of last year.

Houston Cougar Links: It's somewhat sad, but the only new news coming out of Houston on the Cougars was an article in the Tulsa World on how the Cougars have a big opportunity in Texas Tech . . . the previously linked RRS.com's Aaron Dickens article has some thoughts from the Captain on Houston:

On the differences between Texas Tech’s and Houston’s offense:
ML: "They’re into motion more than we are. They motion players around some. I would say that would be one of the biggest things."

On Houston Director of Quality Control, and former Texas Tech quarterback, Kliff Kingsbury:
ML: "He was really a good player here at Tech. I think he was certainly the quarterback that lifted off the passing here at Texas Tech. When we first started, a lot of folks thought I was nuts to throw the ball and thought that Kliff was some guy out there that was just average and throwing it too much. Of course, he went on to rewrite the record books, not just at Tech but nationally. He was really instrumental to where we are today."

On what stands out the most on film about (Case) Keenum:
ML: "I think he does a really good job of leading the offensive unit. I think those guys really draw from his energy and tempo out there. I think he really does a good job. the one thing that he does that all good quarterbacks do is the unit kind of feeds off of them and he makes the other players around him better. i think he’s a good example of that."

Texas Tech & Big 12 Links: FWST's Dwain Price has a notebook from yesterday's teleconference . . . NewsOK's Big 12 Power Rankings has Texas Tech sitting 4th . . . TWAHS has thoughts from Saturday's game as does TR's dedfisher, who had additional thoughts after the post-mortem . . . Husker-Extra with a bit on QB Taylor Potts and some Big 12 conference notes . . .

Texas Tech Basketball

Second Commitment: I'm falling a bit behind as the commitments, both basketball and football are piling up, but Pat Knight and received his second commitment of the year PG Javarez Willis (5-11/170), a point guard originally from L.G. Pinkston in Dallas, but is spending a year at Christian Life Center Academy to get his grades in order (fun fact, former NBA'er Karl Malone is Willis' uncle). Here's Willis' recruiting profiles: ESPN, Rivals and Scout. LAJ's Courtney Linehan talked with Willis about Texas Tech and what he brings to a program:

"People say pretty much the same thing, they want you, this and that," he said. "I got tired of it. I didn’t want to deal with recruiting anymore, and anyway, I felt like Texas Tech was a home."

Describing himself as "an attacker," Willis compares his style to former Texas guard D.J. Augustine. Recruiting Web site Rivals.com said he averaged 14.4 points and 4.5 rebounds per game as a high school senior. Although he’s good at creating scoring opportunities, he said his best skill is his leadership.

"I pick players up," Willis said. "I lead."

Lots of good information in the Linehan article.

ESPN's profile has a short scouting profile:

2009 prospect Javarez "Bean" Willis looks to score from behind the arc off the catch or dribble where he is streaky but has good elevation and release on his jumper. He also likes to attack the rim mostly going to his left where he is strong enough to finish through contact. Willis is an average athlete but competes at all times especially on the offensive end of the floor. At times he will take tough contest shots but he does play hard.

Kayakyakr's Week 3 Report Card

kayakyakr — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 20:42:53 -0000

Texas Tech v. Texas

As I mentioned when I got home last night, I am happy with the moral victory after that game. As a quick rundown, we hung with the #2 team in the nation for 4 quarters, held their offense to its lowest home output of 340 yards since 2007 against KSU (also 340 yards), and I really saw something out of this team that I hoped for but wasn’t sure of. I really don’t want to sound like I’m just trying to spin sunshine, but I honestly have to believe that this TTU team is better than a lot of people picked them to be.

Read on after the break for my positional breakdown

Position	Grade
QB	A
RB	F
WR	A-
OL	D
DL	A
LB	A-
DB	B
ST	F

Offense

QB

Taylor Potts had a great day, considering. I think that a lot of the grades that I’m giving are based on expectations vs performance and Pott’s grade is. Next year, if he has a 3 td, 1 int day against UT, I’d probably grade that a C, but this year, I’m ecstatic with that state line. That was one of my biggest question marks going into this game, "How will Taylor Potts handle his first road start in a hostile environment?" He handled it great, especially since he was being hit pretty much every play and was bouncing right back up. I think I’ve officially joined the Taylor Potts fan club.

If I have any complaint about the QB last night, it’s that he displayed a bit of a lack of situational awareness. I’m mainly talking about that set of series to start the 4th quarter where nothing really happened. I felt that Taylor failed to recognize that UT was bringing all-out pressure at that point and that before then, we had been tearing holes in the UT defense with the dink and dunk offense. It seemed like Potts was looking to go deep, 15+ yards down the field on his pick, fumble, and over half of the other plays in that series. Take what the defense gives you and we take advantage of the stop and punt or McCoy’s pick.

All that said, I still give Taylor an A for his performance on the night. Well deserved.

RB

All I can really say about the RB’s is that they were pretty much completely ineffective on the night. There was 1 18 yard run by Baron and a 12 yard run by Stephens, and outside of that, they never got going. It may have been the oline’s fault, but they’re also getting a poor score on the evening. Even in the passing game, the backs did nothing. And Batch, on the two catches where he looked like he had some room or at least a one-man-to-beat situation, he fumbled, losing one. I’m most disappointed that we didn’t see any of Harrison Jeffers. I’m not sure if he was held out for effort/disciplinary reasons or just because Stephens and Batch are much better in pass protection than him, but I was not happy to see him on the sideline.

I think we had the most room for running from the 2 back set. I really like the concept of handing off to one back while the other one leads. We ran from that set twice that I can remember, each going for short yardage, but I thought I saw the potential for bigger gains from there. I don’t like the 2 TE set anymore because, in order to run from that set, we have to also have a threat to throw. We just don’t have the personnel for that to be an effective formation and we won’t until we get a TE that can block and catch.

I think this is going to be the #1 thing for our coaches to figure out, how do we break open holes in our running game. Yes, it’s called the air raid and we live and die by the pass, but I don’t believe that our offense will play to its best potential until we can consistently gash defenses when they only have 6 men in the box. I give the unit an F and it makes me very sad to do so

WR

We have a very young crew of receivers. I’m pretty sure Lewis was still hampered by his hamstring and he didn’t see many reps, yet I don’t think our receiving corps missed a beat. I loved the constant rotation of receivers and that combined with our no-huddle we ran all night, caused headaches for UT all night long. I think Eddy B had a great makeup game for his drops and had the block of the night on a Zouzalik out route. Leong just knows how to score TD’s and Torres had his high in receptions for the year. I also don’t see what the vitriol for Jacoby Franks is. He had a drop (one of only 2-3 I can remember) early and he had the PI call late (that I think was just as phantom as Crabtree’s PI last year), but aside from that, he turned in his career performance in catches and yards.

I must reiterate that we have an incredibly young group of receivers. I’m giving them a score of A- on the night. The minus is because they did allow themselves to be bumped off of their routes, held up, or gave up on their routes once they felt they had been interfered with.

OL

I think we saw 3 different types of offensive lines last night. The first, was the line that was being blown up and unable to create holes in the defense against a 4 man front. This was also the line that was unable to get out and deliver blocks in front of the backs on screens. We only saw them about 12 plays, but they didn’t do much for us.

The second OL we saw was the OL that was able to withstand 5, 6, and even 7 man rushes to give Taylor just enough time to get the ball into the hands of his receivers 5-15 yards down the field. I like this line.

The third line that we saw was the line that committed false starts and missed blocking assignments and got blown by on speed rushes. This line only reared its ugly head when we were backed up deep near the north endzone or when we were approaching that same endzone going the other direction. While the first offensive line certainly contributes, this is the line that earned a D for their performance.

I’m still impressed with the youth and depth of our line. Oakafor and Edwards are both sophomores and are both solid, despite their false start mistakes. I think Olson’s future is at center (an odd change from LT to center), so the questions next year will be at LT and RT and I’m confident we’ll have that figured out.

Defense

DL

We started this season with 4 DE’s. We took 1 of those to Austin with us. Your 4 DE’s for last night’s game (as determined by the DE warmup group): Daniel Howard – DE – 6’3" 240#; Jonathan Brydon – LB – 6’3" 220#; David Neill – DT – 6’5" 280#; Britton Barbee – DT – 6’2" 296#. Now, in the game, I think we saw the most of Bront Bird playing 3-technique or stand-up end, and Richard Jones, a DT, also lining up at end. I must say that this line unit did an exceptional job considering. Early in the game we stopped up their running game very well and got fair pressure on the QB once we started running stunts and twists in the line. Only one sack but 8 tackles for loss including 3 by Bront Bird.

I have to hand it to the coaching staff. They did the best with what they had and it worked until the 2nd half when UT finally figured out that we were backing our ends to make up for our lack of depth there and leaving the middle of the field without a 2nd level of defender. For what we had and what we were missing, this unit is deserving of that A grade.

LB

The linebackers did a solid job all night. I can only recall them getting outright beat 2-3 times, once on the long Chiles run and twice by Buckner, the Longhorns pseudo-TE. Good game by the backers and very little that I can say about their performance

For a solid night, they get an A but they get a minus tacked on for the missed plays and lack of stops in the 3rd and 4th quarters and a plus for Bront Bird’s ability to play end respectably. So again, A.

DB

On the one hand, our DBs didn’t get beat deep all night. On the other hand, we gave up a lot of underneath catches and 3rd down conversions because of how soft we were playing. I know that was a coaching decision, but I think that it was the wrong one. Our defensive line wasn’t going to be able to come up with the big play and so I don’t see why we shouldn’t try to put our backs in positions to force pass breakups and ints of their own. We pulled down 2 picks off of tipped balls, but because of the yards given up underneath, the unit earns a B.

Special Teams

I’m going to break this up by play type. Kick returns get an A, and I think this is the aspect of the game that Stephens made his greatest impact (not to downplay his in-pocket blocking). They kicked to Stephens every time and every time he took the ball up to the 35-40 except one. Unfortunately, half of those were called back on holding, but we’re close, and Stephens was close to breaking a few of those.

Kickoffs get a C for the night. We gave up about 30 yards per return which is not great, but acceptable. We also had that onside kick attempt that was in and out of the hands of, I think, Ed Britton. If it had worked, that would have evened the difference in the game, so I don’t mind the gamble in the least. I think the biggest keys for our kickoff team will be for Carona to continue to kick the ball deep in the endzone like we know he can (he had one touchback, one kick about 5 yards deep, and the rest of his kicks came down inside the 5), and for the coverage team to continue to get down the field even if Carona is booming kicks out of the endzone.

Punting gets an F for the night. This was the difference in the night, with Carona laying down a poor kick in the middle of the field that was returned for the only TD of the first half. The rest of the night, Erxleben punted for us, kicking a long of 46 but only an average of 38. On the other hand, he also kicked away from Shipley who only got 1 more return for -2 yards.

Punt returns get an incomplete for the night seeing as we never touched one of his punts. It seems like Eric Russell has just as much trouble figuring out that rugby punt as Clay McGuire did. UT has one hell of a punter, though.

Overall, this unit was the difference in the night. UT had that punt return for a touchdown and that was basically the difference in the game. On the plus side, Matt Williams kicked his career long of 41 yards. Way to go Matt. F for the rest of them, though.

Refs

I’m only going to say one thing about the refs:

Post Game Thoughts :: Texas Tech Red Raiders 24, Texas Longhorns 34

Seth C — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 18:38:24 -0000

More photos » by Eric Gay - AP

3 months ago: Texas Tech receiver Lyle Leong (19) catches a pass for a touchdown as Texas defender Chykie Brown (8) looks on during the third quarter of an NCAA college football game in Austin, Texas, Saturday, Sept. 19, 2009. Texas won 34-24 (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

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SBN Box Score :: TTU Box Score

The Result :: Frustrating: I mentioned in this morning's Daily Diatribe that the result was frustrating, but on some level acceptable. As a fan, you always want your team to compete for a number of reasons, most importantly because you're a fan of the team and seeing your team getting blown out of the water is the worst.

Early this week, Leach contemplated the downside of what could happen to a program if you lose early and badly:

"The school’s got a duty to help do the wise thing," he said. "You can get money on the front end, short term, but if it weakens the team overall — then all of a sudden they take a couple more losses that they wouldn’t have or they don’t go to as good a bowl as they might or they miss going to a bowl — you impact a lot of things.
"You impact recruiting. You impact your team’s performance that year. You impact your team’s performance the next year perhaps through recruiting. You impact the mentality of your team as far as their ability to be successful. You may impact their chances once they get to conference, and then ultimately you may impact the chances of how well (a school) can sell seats and market their program."

All of these things considered, I think that the only thing that didn't happen was that the Red Raiders didn't get the win. And to be truthful, there were a lot of positives coming out of that game, despite the loss.

Who Needs Defensive Ends: Seriously, they're all over-rated. Just kidding, sorta. Perhaps this turn of events is what we may consider in the very near future as what turned this defense into what many want it to be. The defense used an odd and effective mix of Daniel Howard, Richard Jones, Bront Bird, Chris Perry, Sam Fehoko and just about anyone else at defensive end. This is a group of versatile and sometimes quick players that were able to contain Texas' most potent weapon in Colt McCoy. I could not have been any more impressed with Bront Bird's play. He was made to play whatever position he was playing on Saturday night. Daniel Howard was a grunt, and I mean that in the most positive way. The guy put forth effort all night and I know that he probably didn't see much, if any rest. Richard Jones surprised me with his quickness.

Besides, it's events like this that can sometimes galvanize a team and Richard Jones mentioned after the game:

On stepping up with a lot of the defensive ends hurt: It was hard with us not being deep at D-line but we had to suck it up and step it up and do what we had to do. I’m proud of everybody that played D-line, I think we played good and we fought until the end, that’s all we could do.

Walk-On's Can Play: I'm sure this happens all of the time. Player gets injured or is awful and player is replaced by a walk-on. SS Franklin Mitchem doesn't even make the trip to Austin and former walk-on Brett Dewhurst more than just filled in for Mitchem.

On experience like for you being a walk on and starting against the No. 2 team: I don’t think of it as the No. 2 team, I think of it as another game, but I have confidence in myself and I go out there and practice like I play. It happened to be Texas, a conference game and everything but I didn’t think of it like that, I just came out here and played the game.

His stat-line for the day was only 5 tackles and 1 TFL, but I thought he played well.

Donnie Carona thought it would be best to simply punt the ball as low and as short as possible and the result is a Shipley punt return for a touchdown. Enter walk-on Ryan Erxleben who was punting for Lake Travis last year and now he's punting in the biggest and best teams in the nation. Erxleben's punting wasn't flawless, but it was just fine I shudder to think what would have happened had he not been in the fold.

Perhaps this exemplifies the biggest difference between Texas and Texas Tech. A Longhorn goes down and they get replaced by an all-state player that has a tremendous pedigree. A Texas Tech player goes down and we're talking about making things work with what we have.

They're All Growns Up: You're seeing some freshmen be difference makers on defense. For those of you who've never seen CB D.J. Johnson, then you're seeing the future at cornerback. Redshirt freshman FS Cody Davis laid the hit on the Longhorn and although the pass was high, perhaps that's the why the ball wasn't caught. Johnson was there to make the play. True freshman RB Eric Stephens looks like a seasoned kick-returner and he's going to return one sooner rather than later. Redshirt freshmen receivers Alexander Torres (7 : 59), Cornelius Douglas and Austin Zouzalik (5 : 73) got playing time on one of the biggest stages in the college football world.

The Offensive MVP :: QB Taylor Potts: I'm going to quote Leach again on his thoughts on Potts, which as I said this morning, may have been the highest praise that I've seen a quarterback receive:

He’s really tough. He got hit hard a number of times and got up. I don’t think it affected his play to the negative. He’s a rare, rare, rare quarterback. There are a lot of great quarterbacks out there that ultimately have great careers that can’t do what I just described, and that is; getting hit really, really, really hard, and then come in the next play, the next series, and march down the field at 10 yards a clip, and he did that twice. I think anyone that had any doubts about Taylor Potts not being able to be a good Division-1 quarterback, I think those can pretty much be dispelled.

Potts finished the day with a less than stellar 6.77 yards per attempt (46-62 : 420 : 3 TD : 1 Int), but I don't recall seeing a Texas Tech quarterback do what he did. He can make just about every throw and despite not going deep very often, he was awfully effective, completing near 75% of his passes.

The Defensive MVP :: LB Bront Bird: Bird catches a lot of crap from me on DTN and I hope I've qualified my complaints this year about Bird in that he's a helluva run defender, but struggles in the passing game. I blame the coaching staff, not Bird, for putting him in those situations, but last night, Bird was a machine. Playing defensive end, a position, he's probably never played before, he finished the day with 8 tackles, 3 TFL and 1 QB hurry. You could make a case that the rest of his linebacker mates could have deserved this honor, each had 10 tackles, or make a case for the beleagured defensive line, but in my opinion Bird deserves this all by himself.

The Special Teams MVP :: P Ryan Erxleben: I mentioned Erxleben above, but averaging 38 yards a punt, getting off a punt that should have been downed inside the UT 5 yard line and coming off the bench completely cold. Again, all as a preferred walk-on and true freshman.

Double-T Nation Daily Diatribe :: 09.20.09

Seth C — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 12:13:32 -0000

More photos » by Eric Gay - AP

That's not a hold. Texas' Colt McCoy (12) runs past Texas Tech defender Bront Bird, right, during the second quarter of their NCAA college football game in Austin, Texas, Saturday, Sept. 19, 2009. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

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Texas Tech Football

Texas Tech Did Not Give Up The Fight: I hate moral victories, but that sure as hell felt like one. For the first time in a long time last night's loss was okay from the standpoint that there was absolutely no give-up in this team despite the injuries, suspensions, etc.

The shot that Taylor Potts took was indicative of the attitude of this team, and I'm happy as hell that he's leading this team, in that this team is better than what everyone thought and the talent gap between the have's and the have-not's is growing less and less each year. There's no doubt that UT held the talent advantage Saturday night, and someone brought this up in the game thread, either Texas isn't as good as I thought they were, Texas Tech is much better than I thought they were, or it's a little bit of both. The latter is usually true in cases like this, but Texas Tech is on the rise.

Again, the emphasize the correlation between Potts and this team, I thought this quote from Mike Leach was perhaps the highest praise I've seen from Leach about one of his quarterbacks, but was true of the entire team:

"He got hit hard a number of times and got up,’’ Leach said. "I don’t think it affected his play to the negative. He’s a rare, rare, rare quarterback. There are a lot of great quarterbacks out there that ultimately have great careers that can’t do what I just described. That is getting hit really, really, really hard, and then come in the next play, the next series, and march down the field at 10 yards a clip. He did that twice.’’

I plan on watching the game again later this morning and then I'm sure you'll see a ton of content from me and the other authors over the next few days.

And to address the officiating, there were missed calls and calls that certainly affected the game. Fans can either live in the past and keep reminding themselves of things that could have or should have been called. Just like 2008 where UT fans complain about the holding from the Texas Tech offensive linemen or Texas Tech fans pointing to the block in the back on the Jordan Shipley punt return that was, then wasn't, but it really was. I hated to see the Sergio Kindle helmet-to-helmet hit, and there's a chance that the NCAA could punish Kindle for next week's game (probably not), but at the end of the day, being upset or blaming the refs for calls or non-calls is non-productive. Besides, I think I learned more about the character of Taylor Potts in that one hit than I might have the whole season.

Game Stories: I would love to link to every game story, but the ones you probably care about the most are LAJ's Don Williams, FWST's Dwain Price, and DT's Alex Ybarra. From Price's article, here's defensive tackle and now, defensive end, Richard Jones:

"It was hard with us not being deep at [defensive] line, but we had to suck it up and step it up and do what we had to do," said tackle Richard Jones, who also played a good portion of the game at defensive end. "I’m proud of everybody that played d-line.

"I think we played good and we fought to the end. That’s all we could do."

Texas Tech Looked Elite: LAJ's Don Williams with an excellent op-ed piece on how Texas Tech's performance did not discredit the thought that the Red Raiders are a program on the rise:

Back in the summer, blue-chip wide receiver Kadron Boone from Ocala, Fla., told me he watched last year’s Texas Tech-Texas game with a mixture of excitement and despair.

Excited, like anyone else, at a classic college football game.

Despair, because Boone thought what fun it would be to play for Texas Tech, and no way would the Red Raiders search for players as far away as Florida. He guessed wrong, of course. Tech coaches started recruiting him not long after, and he committed to the Red Raiders a while back, perhaps signaling a continued shift in the credibility big-time recruits give Tech as a college option.

You know what? I don’t believe the Raiders did much, if anything, to damage that perception here Saturday night. I’d guess that talented teenagers who tuned into the latest installment of Tech-Texas on national television saw the same thing they saw in last year’s 39-33 Tech victory – Mike Leach’s program legitimizing itself as an honest-to-goodness team on the rise. That ought to make a 34-24 setback in the rematch go down a little easier. Tech, so many times humiliated on national television, looked as if it belonged in front of the 101,000 in the stadium and millions at home.

Blogs: RaiderAde's ayleein with some really good questions concerning the officiating . . . Tortilla Retort's RRR with some thoughts on the game . . . Dr. Saturday's Matt Hinton on the Kindle hit . . . SI's Stewart Mandel with some thoughts on the game . . .

Texas Tech Football Notebook: LAJ's Don Williams on punter Ryan Erxleben taking over for Donnie Carona . . . the update on who played at defensive end . . . the offensive line shuffle . . . . SS Brent Dewhurst getting the start . . .

Texas Longhorn Links: The Statesman has a number of articles (duh) including that the Texas defense looks like a national champ, the Texas Tech gambles do not pay off, their pre-game five questions are answered,

SB Nation - Richard Jones

Post Game Thoughts :: Oklahoma Sooners Edition

Five Reasons Texas Tech Will Win ::Oklahoma Sooners Edition

Matchups :: Texas A&M Aggies Edition

vs.

Matchups :: Nebraska Cornhuskers Edition

vs.

Double-T Nation Daily Diatribe :: 09.26.09

Position Matchups :: Houston Cougars Edition

MATCHUP

QB/WR vs. DB

RB vs. LB

Push

OL vs. DL

DL vs. OL

LB vs. RB

DB vs. QB/WR

Double-T Nation Daily Diatribe :: 09.22.09

Texas Tech Football

Texas Tech Basketball

Kayakyakr's Week 3 Report Card

Texas Tech v. Texas

Offense

QB

RB

WR

OL

Defense

DL

LB

DB

Special Teams

Refs

Post Game Thoughts :: Texas Tech Red Raiders 24, Texas Longhorns 34

Double-T Nation Daily Diatribe :: 09.20.09

Texas Tech Football