First off I would like to say that Im not giving up on Tubberville. I actually think he will bring us wins, just it won't be this year but next. All I'm doing is asking a question. If we could hire a new head coach today who would you want it to be and why. Dana Holgerson? Lincoln Riley? Robert Anae? Gus Malzahn? Or maybe someone more  defensive minded such as, Coach Ruff(maybe not all that defensive minded), or Gary Patterson. Fuss, Cuss, and Discuss so we might forget about all the terrible things that we saw yesterday afternoon.

Will you still watch college football in a world with only 4 major football conferences?

Will you still watch college football in a world without an underdog?

Will you still watch college football in a world without the NCAA?

Will you still watch college football when hundred year old rivalry games are thrown in the dust?

Will you still watch college football  when tech goes to depressing WSU for a conference game?

Will you still watch college football when it turns into "Who makes the most money?" not "Who won the most games?"

Will you still watch college football when your all time winningest coach is fired for letting a kid stay in an air conditioned room?

Will you still watch college football in a world where the board of regents hold as much power in the team as do the coaches?

Will you still watch college football in a world where we say no to Boise State, and tell them everything that they have built up in the last 10 years doesn't matter because its Idaho?

Hopefully things don't change as much as I think they will, but I feel as if we're losing track of whats really important. Parody. Thats what college football is really all about, and is why I fell in love with it as a child. I will always take interest in college football, but I wonder if as the decades progress if the youth will fall in love with it as did I without that parody? I really feel this could cause loss of interest as the years go by. Again, I will say hopefully everything will stay the same, but its becoming more and more apparent to me that all that any of this is about is money. Thats why the captain is no longer at the helm of our ship. Thats why Baylor and Kansas + others might find themselves cold and alone on the metaphorical streets of college sports

Any thoughts? Where do we go from here? Most importantly where does the Big 12 go from here? What do you thing will happen with the Kansas schools, Baylor, and Missouri? Is a mega conference really the solution? I still just don't know. In the wise words of Bob Dylan I will say this is for sure. "The times they are a changin."

 Well I guess its official now. Nebraska to the Big 10. Colorado to the PAC-10 and probably the rest of the Big-12 south soon to follow. Of course none of this is official till 2012 and it might not happen unless 9 out of the 12 schools in the Big 12 agree so that there are no tremendous money losses over the next 2 years by any of these schools. But I think its fair to say that this is just a technicality and whats happened has happened. Done. The  Big 12 is through. Time to move on and forget all of our wonderful childhood memories of those classic rivalries of the Big 8. The intimantness of the SWC. How great it was to have the combination of both. Nebraska vs Oklahoma. The Border War between Missouri and Kansas.  I will even miss playing Nebraska even though we have killed them of late. And what will happen to Baylor. They have always been the lovable losers. When you play them its almost a guaranteed win, but every week you wish and hope that they can pull off an upset vs the classic powerhouses in Texas and Oklahoma. But now it appears they have no where to go in this new conference order thatsabout to take shape. And how about your Kansas schools. For K-State the Big 12 is what made them along with the glory days of there football program when Bill Snyder didn't have Alzheimer's. For Kansas there basketball program has become the most consistent in the nation throughout there tenure in the Big 12. But you know what I will miss the most? The conference which made Tech into the consistent winner it is today. Which changed the way America played football by introducing the spread offense. That let a pirate captain grow and become everyones favorite personality. If in 20 years we finally become national champs or if it happens in 1 year, the glory days of us beating Texas with the catch, the 70-10 thrashing we laid down on Nebraska, or maybe even the dominance over A&M will be considered the foundation of what started greatness. It certainly is what enabled us to get this invitation to PAC-10. So now I will name some of my favorite memories from our days in the Big 12 in order of relevance for me.

1. "The Catch"

This was the highpoint for me in our days of Big 12 play. Michael Crabtree said that he saw it happen in a vision before the ball was even snapped. Certainly it was a vision from heaven for me. If we hadn't won this game you very well migh've seen a different team considered for PAC 10 exspansionas this was really a coming out party for all affiliated with Texas Tech.

2. 70-10 Nebraska gets CORNPONED

This was the night that as Tech fans we just said no. No to being second class citizens. To being the whooping boys of the classic powerhouse teams. How sweet the sight of an unnecassary blowout curtesy of the Captain. Nebraska fans still have nightmares about this.

3. Phantom First Down

As a kid watching great Tech teams in the mid 90's I would always complain about how Tech just never seemed to get any breaks. This was our first big break. 4th and 4 with less than a minute remaining and Danny AMENdola makes a first down grab. But he didn't. After watching the replay it was clear that he didn't make it across the first down marker. Couldnt find a pic of it. Oh well sucks to be Oklahoma in this instance

Well there you have it all my favorite moments of our days in the Big 12. Im sure there are many others that I failed to mention so leave them in comments.

RIP BIG-12. Thanks for the memories, and of course national relevance

Just imagine. Your 20 years old, athletic, and the big man on campus playing college football for a top 25 BCS bowl team. What do you do with your talent? You go and throw it all away for a seamlessly stupid reason. It just happens. But it just drives me nuts when guys do this kind of thing. It makes me feel for these guys and wonder what will happen to them. I still wish despite never caring about Ohio State that Maurice Claurett would break through with an NFL football team even after he tried to beat the system and enter the draft as a true freshmen. The reason I care is because I feel its an injustice to the football world not to see what these guys really could accomplish with there talent. I would've really liked to have seen the kind of year that Jeremiah Masoli could've had this year at Oregon. But alas he has been kicked off the team for yet another attempt at burglary. Just thinking about it reminds me of some instances where this happened at Tech. So now here are two what-ifs for me just off the top of my head that I really feel could have changed the history of tech football. If you think of more leave them in comments.

Bryron Hanspard

Once upon a time there was an athletic running back named Byron Hanspard. God told him to go to Tech over the likes of schools such as Notre Dame and we rejoiced. He went on to have the best year any Tech running back ever had and was on his way for maybe an even better year. Unfortunately God told him not to go to school and he ended the year with a 0.0 gpa. Man I remember watching this guy play and just being amazed by all the talent.Great speed, great size, and he was in the perfect system to shine. What if he had just taken care of business and come back for 1 more year.

Robert Johnson

Introducing the Captains first big splash recruit! Robeeeeeeeeerrrrt Joooohhhhhnnnsooon! I still haven't forgotten all the excitement that this JUCO 5 star brought when he commited to Tech. Remember? Do you? This was supposed to be our Vince Young.(Actually at the time he was our Micheal Vick because Vince Young was terrible)Unfortunately he found his way on the Captains bad side and although he earned back that respect through hard work he never got to play the position he came to Tech to play. QUAR-TER- BACK. Sadly a lot of people didn't think he could do it. I still wish he could have. He was a gamer and a natural athlete. What if RJ9 had had just 1 season leading our vaunted air raid?

Im fairly new to football Ive only been following it for about 2 years so by no means do I consider myself to be an expert, but like all fans there is a reason that I follow it and that is for all the exitement you get when your team scores a goal. In my case Everton. So naturally I look for a player who can create and make exiting things happen anytime the ball is at his feet. My favorite player? Mikel Arteta. Now fuss cuss and discuss, and please tell who your favorite everton player is and why.

Thanks

USA World Cup 2010 TIM HOWARD MVP

Spring footballs over, Rivals/ESPN haven't released there recruit rankings yet and the college football world is going into hibernation till two-a-days. Thankfully theres the dtn a magical place where questions are asked and always answered in the best way. So in honor of DTN to occupy my time and hopefully yours heres the Official Football Questions/Answers/really just opinion Post.

Continue reading this post »

I remember the first year I really started to get into texas tech football. It was 2000 and I watched as new head coach mike leach completly dismantled a New Mexico defense with what announcers called a "gimmicky" offense. 10 years later look what we have. But then again look what we've lost. The past 3 months have probably been the most stressfull ever for me as a tech fan. After getting over the grief my biggest concern was of course that the crazy offense that has made tech tick is still going to be the same in the coming season. So for weeks now I have been trying to study the air raid and what makes this possibly the best offensive scheme in college football. I have found its really not all that complicated. I have watched atleast 30 games where about 75% of our offensive yardage came from 1 play the mesh.(Look at bottom of page for plays) As you can see its a very simple play but leach used it very effectively along with about four other plays.

1.) Shallow cross

2.) Y Stick

3.)  Y corner

4.) Four vertical/ Flood

These 5 plays along with a zone running play and a draw play proved very effective for us year after year
and won us many games. But now things have changed. Neal Brown is the head man and from what I can tell from the few games I have watched while he was at troy he does not believe so much  in these 5 plays as much as leach did. Granted in watching tape I did see these plays run by him but not the same way. Coach Brown used the four verticals scheme much more than what we ever did and this is why. When running the four verticals play there can be no route reading. This basically means that the defenders if they are in man can not tell what routes the receivers are going to run when the ball is snapped because there basically just running straight ahead not horizontal where it could easily be reacted upon as the mesh or shallow cross. So the defense dictates the routes is what it all comes down too. If the defense is in man then u will see comeback and curl routes by the receivers. If in cover 2 youll see hunt routes across the board. Also I expect to see some extra run plays. Here is what we will probably see most of the time this year as our 8 plays.

1.) Four Verticals/ Flood

2.) Zone running

3.) HB power

4.) Mesh

5.) Shallow cross

6.) QB Draw

7.) Bubble screen

8.) Jailbreak screen

So as u can see the offense wont change but philosophies will. We'll be moving at a faster tempo and feature a couple new formations. The best that we could hope for is a Auburn/Houston hybrid. Or lets just call it the new and improved air raid. Hopefully just as "gimmicky" as ever just as I like it.

PS any internet videos that u can find of Troy or tech online from the last 2 years would be much appreciated Ive already bought about 200 dollars worth off the internet.

PPS sorry if the plays arent clear and my grammar sucked.