SB Nation User Blog: Seth C

Five Reasons Texas Tech Will Win :: Oklahoma St. Cowboys Edition

Seth C — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 11:52:57 -0000

by Mike Fuentes - AP

18 days ago: Texas Tech head coach Mike Leach talks with his team in the second quarter of an NCAA college football game against Texas A&M in Lubbock, Texas, Saturday, Oct. 24, 2009. (AP Photo/Mike Fuentes)

View full size photo »

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 St. Cowboys Edition Edition.

Reason #1 :: Bye Week Rest: It's rare that a team gets a entire week to get healthy this late in the year. I can't be totally sure, but perhaps this season more than others, the team needed a break. I do not want to try to exaggerate the strain of a collegiate football player and his studies, but I'm sure it's not easy. Couple that with the fact that there's a certain level of focus that's required each and every week (some weeks more than other -- ahem). There's no doubt that the actual time away from the field helped heal those nagging injuries that kept out Brett Dewhurst, Will Ford, Brandon Carter, and getting Steven Sheffield back to a point where he's practicing with the team. And hopefully this week, the team is anxious and excited to get back on the field. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, or somesuch. All I know is that there's no excuse for this team not to be 100% ready to play on Saturday.

Reason #2 :: Deferring to the Run: After the Kansas game, there was quite a bit of credit given to QB Taylor Potts making the right call at the line of scrimmage to simply give the ball to RB Baron Batch for huge gains and essentially breaking that game open. I think it was great to see the team give credit where credit was due, and if there was any situation where the team may have suffered some discension amongst it's players, I got the feeling that the team rallied for Potts. If there was ever a case where the entire offense must work together in order to make the right calls and reads, it was the 2nd half against Kansas. If one part of that process fails, then the plays don't happen, the blocks do not get blocked and the offense forces plays where it's not necessary. I don't think anyone could have guessed that the arrival of Potts in the 2nd half of the Kansas may have been the seminal moment where the team decided to come together, but I'd be pretty happy if it was.

Reason #3 :: Wearing Them Down: I'm going out on a limb here, but this is an optimistic look, right? In any event, one of the biggest issues that this team has had all year is the health of the defensive line, in particular the defensive ends. If it's not one of the 3 of Daniel Howard, Brandon Sharpe or Rajon Henley, it's sometimes been 2 of them. But this week, all 3 players are healthy, along with LB Bront Bird, who will and could see plenty of time in the hybrid/joker position, you've got at the very least an opportunity to wear down the Cowboys offensive line. I haven't watched enough Oklahoma St. football to know if they've faced 3 very solid pass rushers in the Texas Tech trio. I've said it 100 times on DTN, but this group may not make an immediate impact, but I think that at some point they'll out-work the OSU offensive line. I'm hoping like hell that there's still a bit of chip on their shoulder for the TAMU performance and they constantly work and force OSU into some mistakes.

Reason #4 :: Big Time Playmakers: The Oklahoma St. team seems to me to be a bunch of grinders, which can be both blessing and a curse. The Cowboys were robbed of the two offensive players that were going to be difference makers for them this year, although it appears that RB Kendall Hunter is becoming more healthy by the minute. The thing about both units is that I don't think that there's a player on either side of the ball, sans Okung, who I think can dominate a game or who scares the piss out of me from a big play perspective. If you make a comparison with the Texas Tech offense or defnese, I think you could make the case that the Texas Tech offense has a handful of potential playmakers and the defense has their stalwarts as well. That's not to say that the Cowboys don't have players that can't or won't make play, but with the loss of Bryant and the loss of Hunter for most of the year, I think the OSU offense has lacked a certain punch and that lack of punch has me feeling confident.

Reason #5 :: Tough Losses at Home: Oklahoma St. has had a rough go at it at home against ranked teams this year. The 2 OSU losses were to both Houston and Texas. You'd think that perhaps this trend is to say that OSU doesn't want to lose at home again, but perhaps the truth of the matter might be that OSU might not be as tough at home as other Big 12 opponents. Obviously, these 2 losses were to 2 very talented teams, the Red Raiders can certainly attest to that, but OSU lost 3 fumbles and threw another interception against Houston and had 1 lost fumble and 4 interceptions against Texas. Not surprisingly, OSU lost 2 of the 3 games where the Cowboys had a negative turnover margin (the lone win was against Grambling). Perhaps most of all, the worrisome part for Pokes is that in those big games, you've got to value the ball and every possession. I'm not completely convinced that Oklahoma St. has figured this out.

Double-T Nation Daily Diatribe :: 11.12.09

Seth C — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 10:57:12 -0000

2010 Schedule Madness: As you guys have already found out, Texas Tech released their 2010 schedule and, although it's not set in stone apparently, the TCU Horned Frogs game may be delayed to 2011 and 2012 as Texas Tech AD Gerald Myers has shuffled the deck chairs in order to get more television time. Here is Myers on late Wednesday per FWST's Stefan Stevenson:

"That schedule is really unofficial," Myers said. "We’ve still got some work to do on that. We don’t have the contracts signed for a couple of those games. We just inadvertently got that up on our Web site."

I think I'm firmly on the side of the fence that Texas Tech has to take chances in order to get more face time and the additional revenue that being on ESPN, ABC or ESPN2 brings to the program is a big part of this program's continued success. Since I wasn't in any sort of meeting regarding the schedule, I again assume that this simply came down to money and how much money Texas Tech could maximize out of the former opponents versus the new opponents. We discussed the disparity in coaches salaries yesterday and this is just another way to try and get that a little more even.

Sheffield Continues Improvement: LAJ's Don Williams writes that QB Steven Sheffield continues to do a little more in 11-on-11 team drills:

During Wednesday’s team period, Taylor Potts took about two-thirds of the snaps at quarterback, Sheffield about one-third and Seth Doege none, the A-J learned. That being the case, it appears likely Potts will get the start on Saturday when Tech plays No. 17 Oklahoma State in Stillwater, Okla.

Sharpe Near Nation's Best: FWST's Dwain Price talks with Captain Mike Leach about why DE Brandon Sharpe is having:

"I think he's a little better than you've seen so far,'' Leach said. "There is a level of timing, and as you have success you see it and it's reinforced in your mind a little bit. You keep rolling along and it gets better and better.

"I think that's what's happening now with the timing and visualization of what can happen if you do this technique and that technique really fast. I think as he gets rewarded more, then he will improve more.''

Oklahoma St. Cowboy and Big 12 Links: Per the Daily O'Collegian, safety Victor Johnson tore his ACL on Wednesday and is out for the rest of the year . . . NewsOK's Brandon Chatman on the Cowboys chances to go to a BCS bowl . . . Rock M Nation's Bill C.'s Beyond the Box Score picks for the week (the computers say to pick OSU) . . . Phil Steel also picks the Cowboys . . . FWST's Jimmy Burch has the remedy for the Big 12 teams' woes . . . DT's Adam Coleman writes that the Oklahoma St. offense is still potent . . . LAJ's Adam Zuvanich writes that the OSU offense is led by LT Russell Okung . . . Rivals.com's Olin Buchanan previews the Big 12 weekend . . .

2010 Signees: LAJ's Courtney Linehan runs down the 2010 men's basketball signees and right now, SG James Outler is the only official signee, but also expected to send in their letters of intent are PG Javarez Willis and PF Paul Cooper. Here's Linehan and Outler on head coach Pat Knight:

Jamel Outler knew when college coaches weren’t quite honest about their plans if he played for them. He remembers some saying they had four open scholarships, even though he’d look at their rosters and see only one guard leaving this season. It made him wonder how serious schools really were if they offered one spot to four different players and agreed to take the first one who would commit.

Outler says it was never that way with Texas Tech.

"Coach Pat (Knight) was so laid-back, so relaxed, so honest," Outler said. "He was the only coach who was recruiting me like that."

South Dakota Preview: DT's Mike Graham takes a look at the Red Raiders first opponent, the South Dakota Coyotes, as this is their 2nd full season as a Division I team, but are also expected to win their conference and have the preseason player of the year in Tyler Cain.

Explanation of Tempo-Free Stats: The Only Colors (SBN's Michigan St. blog) has an excellent explanation of tempo-free stats.

Big 12 Previews: DMN . . . FWST . . . Chron . . .

Local Players Sign: LAJ's George Watson and Adam Zuvanich write about the three local players who have signed with the baseball team: Coronado's C Mason Randolph and 3B/P Hunter Scott and Monterey's P Ryan Reagor.

Five Reasons Texas Tech Will Lose :: Oklahoma St. Cowboys Edition

Seth C — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 12:11:18 -0000

This weekly feature considers five reasons why Texas Tech will win and five reasons Texas Tech will lose to each opponent. Check back tomorrow for "Five Reasons Texas Tech Will Win :: Oklahoma St. Cowboys Edition".

Reason #1 :: Which Team Will Show Up: It was just 3 weeks ago in that this Texas Tech defense gave up 321 yards to a TAMU offense that was about 30th in the country in rushing offense. This week, the Red Raiders face off against the 20th best rushing offense in the country and the majority of the carries are being split between 3 players: RB Keith Toston (155 att. for 882 yds), RB Beau Johnson (74 att. for 297 yds) and QB Zac Robinson (76 att. for 203 yds). The Texas Tech defense would be well served to look back at that TAMU tape and remind themselves that simply rushing up the field without containing Robinson will be a huge mistake. In other words, it can happen. Granted, the Red Raiders didn't have the luxury of having DE Brandon Sharpe fully healthy for that game, but the key is that the same team that showed up against Kansas St., Nebraska and Kansas needs to show up on Saturday.

Reason #2 :: Defensive No-Names: Quick, name one starter for the OSU defense. You could probably say that CB Perrish Cox and possibly is known amongst college football enthusiasts and I think you could have said that Patrick Levine is a familiar name, but the Oklahoma St. defense is getting the job done quietly. Sure, they've had their bad games, including the Houston game where the defense gave up 512 total yards and the Texas game where the offense struggled with turnovers and attempting to keep pace with the Longhorns, but relatively speaking, the defense has been pretty good. Donald Booker, Ugo Chinasa and Richetti Jones are leading the pass rush, but as a unit this group is average. The same goes for TFL, where the team is again fairly average in this area and is led by Lucien Antoine, Donald Booker and Richetti Jones. The team leader in interceptions is linebacker Patrick Levine with 4, while Perrish Cox and Terrance Anderson each have 2. OSU's defensive coordinator Bill Young is doing an excellent job of stopping the run, as the defense has given up less than 100 yards for the past 4 games (Missouri, Baylor, Texas and Iowa St.), and despite what you may read, stopping the run is traditionally a good sign for a defense.

Reason #3 :: Replacing Playmakers: A program has depth if a team can lose it's 2 most imporant players and still only have 2 losses for the year. The loss of WR Dez Bryant and RB Kendall Hunter have been huge for the Cowboys, although it's not as if schools do not have to replace players all the time. The production is slightly off from last year (about 80 yards a game from 2008), but without a player on the outside, or a play-making tight end to help loosen the field, this offense has really been very efficient and pretty good for most of the year. It's not as explosive, but the cowboys are still averaging almost 200 yards rushing a game and WR Hubert Anyiam isn't as explosive as Bryant, but he's shown the ability to have big games, including 119 yards against Mizzou.

Reason #4 :: Pass Defense: In OSU's 7 wins this year, they are holding opponents to a 105.00 passer rating, 10 interceptions and 7 touchdowns. The Cowboys sit right behind the Red Raiders in passes defended and have 11 interceptions, 45 passes broken up, which is good for 56 passes defended for the year. OSU has the athletes to play good pass defense, pressuring receivers and creating turnovers. Much like Texas Tech, the Cowboys have slowly but surely improved the type of athlete. The difference between these two schools is that OSU has not yet found a defensive lineman that opposing teams must account for during the game, but perhaps that's further testament to Young's ability to coach in that he's having success without a standout player along the front four. Make no mistake that defensive coordinator Bill Young and the players are taking this game personally, after what happened last year and after the Houston loss:

On if the Oklahoma State players feel challenged to stop the pass after the Houston game: "I certainly hope they feel that way. We all feel that way. Our coaches and players, we all feel that way. We didn’t play as well as we needed to against Houston and it’s an opportunity to bounce back and show that we can do that and it’s going to be a tremendous challenge for us because they are the ones that invented the offense that Houston ran."

Reason #5 :: No Sacks: The Texas Tech pass rush versus the Oklahoma St. offensive line is truly an interesting matchup. The Cowboys have only given up 4 sacks . . . for the year, which is good for 1st in the nation. The Red Raiders are tied for 3rd in the nation in sacks. The Oklahoma St. offensive line begins with LT Russell Okung who may be the best offensive lineman in the country, certainly the Big 12. You would expect that this is a matchup between DE Brandon Sharpe and perhaps DE Daniel Howard goes up against Okung in the hopes that the Red Raiders can get Sharpe matched up against RT Brady Bond, who is good, but not as good as Okung. This matchup makes me nervous because I do think the offensive line does an outstanding job of protecting the quarterback and getting a positive push on opposing defensive lines. In fact, the Cowboys are 1st in the conference in tackles for loss allowed at 3.22 (the team closest to the Cowboys is Iowa St. at 4.40).

Double-T Nation Daily Diatribe :: 11.11.09

Seth C — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 11:03:45 -0000

Hat-Tip to Veterans: Thanks to all of those Veterans who served this country. Send some good thoughts and mojo our veterans way today or tell them how much you appreciate them. And a special hat-tip to my old man, who was a corp commander at TAMU, graduated as a commissioned officer, originally stationed in Salt Lake City, UT, and did a tour in Vietnam.

Coach and Mad Dog: The Dagger's Eamonn Brennan is previewing the interesting teams leading up to the start of the season and yesterday he previewed the Tulsa Hurricanes. Tulsa is where I went to law school and I also attended almost every home basketball game because when I was at school there, Bill Self was the head coach and you could tell he was a special coach, destined for bigger and better things. In any event, Brennan wrote the following:

According to the ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia, Tulsa has two insane basketball fans with whom I would very much like to shake hands. Known as "Mad Dog and Coach," which sounds like a dumb sports talk radio show, the duo celebrate their love for Tulsa basketball in interesting ways. Mad Dog (real name: Ken Penn) has been attending games since 1977, where he wears a rubber snout and barks at the opposing team. (Note: This man is fully grown.) Meanwhile, Coach does what you'd expect, I guess: dresses up in a suit and tie and paces the Tulsa sideline screaming at officials. Some people will take any excuse to dress up in a suit.

This is absolutely true and amazing all at the same time. Mad Dog is a real person and he does wear a dog mask. If I remember correctly, he works for the school in some capacity. I've actually talked with Mad Dog and he's a good guy. I'd also add that Coach is a real live person and he might be a bit off, but I could be wrong. But yes, Coach does wear a suit, he does loosen the tie as the game goes on and literally acts like a coach as the game is being played but from what I understand is in no way associated with the team. These two guys alone are reason enough to go to a Tulsa basketball game.

Football Notebook - Sheffield Practices! OMG!! LAJ's Don Williams football notebook details that QB Steven Sheffield took some snaps at quarterback, while QB Taylor Potts took a majority of the snaps. Here's Williams:

The Avalanche-Journal later learned Sheffield took a few snaps in the 11-on-11 team period, but the large majority went to Taylor Potts. Seth Doege, who started Tech’s last game but was replaced by Potts at halftime, didn’t get any snaps in team period, the A-J learned.

Williams also talks with DC McNeill regarding the difference between RB's Kendall Hunter and Keith Totson:

"If you had to say a difference, 5 (Toston’s uniform number) is probably more of a slasher guy with speed, and Kendall’s a shifty guy with speed," McNeill said. "But both of them really can run the football, inside the tackles and outside."

Coaching Salaries: Good find by Barking Carnival, USA Today tracked down, through the Freedom of Information Act, the assistant coaching salaries for college football. As you would expect, Texas is at the top of the list, along with Tennessee. BC has a good Big 12 conference breakdown. And yes, this is a situation where there are those that have and those that do not and that gap is widening each and every day.

Not surprising, Ruffin McNeill is Texas Tech's highest paid assistant coach:

Ruffin McNeill: $325,000
Matt Moore: $236,000
Carlos Mainord: $190,000
Lincoln Riley: $190,000
Charlie Sadler: $180,000
Dennis Simmons: :189,800
Eric Russell: $185,000
Brian Mitchell: $180,000
Clay McGuire: $160,000

Wall Thinks About Bryant: ESPN's Tim Griffin talks with CB Jamar Wall and will miss playing OSU's WR Dez Bryant, the best receiver in the Big 12:

"It’s a disappointment because I like the challenge," Wall said. "Playing against him gives you a chance to show how well you can play."

And Wall talks about the change in the defense from two years ago with Lyle Setencich was replaced by DC McNeill:

"Everything about us has been changed with him transforming us," Wall said. "He brought a different mindset to our defense. He’s pushing us, but knows what he can expect from us."

The difference could be seen in the Red Raiders’ most recent victory, a 42-21 triumph over Kansas. Tech produced six sacks, nine tackles for losses, 10 deflected passes and forced two fumbles.

"You can see 11 guys swarming to the ball," Wall said. "It’s a bunch of small things, but it gives us a different demeanor. It’s all because of Coach Ruff."

McNeill's Defensive Improvement: DT's Alex Ybarra and FWST's Dwain Price each write about the aforementioned defensive improvement DC McNeill has brought to Texas Tech (please click on the DT story for what might be the best Ruffin McNeill photo ever). CB Jamar Wall comments again his passion for playing for McNeill:

"His enthusiasm and the love he has for us, you can see the passion in his eyes every time he talks to us," Wall said. "For someone to be that passionate about his team and that he would do that for us — run through walls or take a bullet for us — it just makes you play harder. I mean if he’ll do it, why not do it for him?"

And Captain Mike Leach loves what McNeill has brought to the defense:

"That's when we made the change and played harder (on defense),'' Leach said. "Ruffin brings a lot of enthusiasm and inspiration.

"He's got a lot of enthusiasm personally and I think it rubs off on the players. We have a more inspired unit out there.''

I don't think we should ever discount how much the players love playing for McNeill. McNeill certainly has his faults, but he seems to be a tremendous father figure for the players, which probably plays a huge factor in recruiting.

Lofty Goals: LAJ's Don Williams writes that the Red Raiders continue to have the same lofty goals of a possible Cotton Bowl birth. McNeill acknowledge that November may be the most important month for football:

"We talk to them about the month of November being what people remember, trying to make sure we put together a great month of November,’’ defensive coordinator Ruffin McNeill said after Tuesday’s practice. "That’s what we talk to them about as a whole. But as coach (Mike) Leach does, we still go back to one game a week, and the most important one is the one this week against Oklahoma State.’’

And WR Alexander Torres is focused:

"Our biggest goal right now is that we have three games left in the Big 12 Conference, and our goal obviously is to win them all,’’ flanker Alex Torres said. "We are not going to try and worry about what other people do and who beats who and this and that. We are just going to try and think about what we can control and to get out there and practice like we want to play.’’

Oklahoma St. Cowboy and Big 12 Links: TR's dedfischer scouts the OSU Cowboys . . . NewsOK's John Helsley has an Oklahoma St. notebook . . . BCSE's Robert Cessna with a Big 12 notebook . . .

Neglected Video: Fox34 with a look at Oklahoma St.:

Improved Fitness: DT's Mike Graham writes that the basketball team has improved their strength and conditioning over the course of the offseason. Here's SF Mike Singletary:

"I wanted to be quicker, and I wanted to be faster, I wanted to jump higher and stuff like that," Singletary said. "We felt like 215, 217 (pounds) would be a great weight for me. Last year I played at like 230. We just felt that was too heavy. It was just a combination of weight training and a combination of dieting and watching what you eat. Just eating a lot of things that are good for you."

Also of note, C Robert Lewandowski gained 8 pounds over the offseason, which is encouraging and given what I perceive to be Lew's work-ethic.

Double-T Nation Daily Diatribe :: 11.10.09

Seth C — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 10:50:59 -0000

What's Cool and What's Not Cool: I'm working on a post (maybe tomorrow or Thursday) to let everyone know what you can and what you cannot use as far as subscription based material. I'll mention this later, but the basic rule is that if you're disclosing information straight from a subscription based service then you'd be doing me a favor in not posting it. If you can find information creatively or hear information on the radio or receive a text message then feel free to post.

Part of the reason I try to be so careful is that I'm merely an independent contractor with SBN, which means that although I have plenty of technical support, a tremendous platform to write, and I think the network would have my back on some issues, but should I get sued individually, I'm on my own. To get sued would be a stretch for this type of stuff and to be honest I have a good working relationship with the guys from RRS.com, but I'd really prefer not to have to hire an attorney and pay for a legal defense if it ever comes to that.

It's really about my own self-preservation more than anything else. DTN is a hobby in the purest sense of the word and I don't ever want to be involved in any sort of lawsuit for something that I consider fun. This is why it's just easier to delete stuff or constantly warn you guys about what I think is appropriate or not appropriate.

And last, but not least, one of the reasons I started DTN because I did not and still do not pay for any subscription. I wanted an outlet and I thought others might want an outlet too. The thing about information is that there will almost always be a first person to break the story, but in today's world, if the story is truly big, it's going to break much sooner than a few years ago. Personally, I'm willing to wait to find out the information for free. Sure, it would be great to know, but DTN has never broken any news and probably never will. If you're visiting DTN for breaking Texas Tech news and can't live without that information then you may want to join one of the services.

Starting QB a Super Secret: FWST's Dwain Price writes that head coach Mike Leach is being coy about who will start and play at quarterback this week:

"We’ll see how it is comes [today]," Leach said, when asked about having Sheffield back at practice this week. "It always is good to have more options. The more the merrier."

And Price talked with WR Alexander Torres who thinks that QB Steven Sheffield is still playing tentatively:

"I know Sheffield, his leg is still tentative," wide receiver Alex Torres said Monday. "I don’t know exactly the whole injury situation and what’s the deal with that, but right now I’m not too sure what [the starting quarterback spot is] going to look like."

Swinging Your Sword: LAJ's Don Williams and DT's Alex Ybarra both write about Captain Mike Leach's improvisation abilities in his appearance in Friday Night Lights (there's NewsChannel 11 video after the jump). Leach tried to improvise:

"It was kind of scripted and then it was kind of, ‘Well, here’s the scenario; do what you want,’ ’’ Leach said. "’Include this, this, this and this.’ Actually, in the original (filming), there’s stuff about Napoleon, Daniel Boone, grizzly bears, raccoons, a bunch of stuff. We covered a lot of bases, and they picked from what they wanted.’’

There's also the mention that Leach grabbed the burrito from the coach's hand, however, this did not make the cut. CB Jamar Wall said that Leach's speech to the coach in his truck lasted only 60 seconds, but the real deal can last for a while:

"We’ve definitely had that,’’ senior cornerback Jamar Wall said. "One meeting (this year), that’s all we did was talk about waving the sword one way or another. They just got a small taste of it. We got hours of it.’’

And Leach also talks about finding and testing your inner pirate:

"I think it’s always tested,’’ he said. "I think it’s tested in practice. I think it’s tested individually and team-wise. I think you’ve got to keep battling away. You don’t ever want there to be a level of resignation where (players think), ‘Oh well, that’s it.’

"If you don’t enjoy the battle, and if you don’t enjoy going from one point to the next, you’re kind of in the wrong business. Football’s just designed to have one obstacle after the next. That’s why it exists to begin with. There’s going to be ups and downs, but you’ve got to enjoy battling it every day, I think.’’

Many Love the Pirate: LAJ's Adam Zuvanich has a note book of sorts, but during yesterday's teleconference many coaches were asked about Leach's impact on the Big 12. Here's OU's Bob Stoops:

"I’m just excited for Mike," said Oklahoma’s Bob Stoops, who hired Leach to be his first offensive coordinator with the Sooners in 1999. "He has done a great job there with Tech, and he did a great job for us the first year he was here. I obviously felt he could be a head coach when I hired him, and that was my words to him: ‘If he did a good job at Oklahoma, he’d have the opportunity to be a head coach.’ But I didn’t know it would be the first year. He’s a done a great job, and all of us still keep in touch with Mike and we’re happy for him."

And Mizzou's Gary Pinkel:

"We certainly stole some ideas six, seven years ago to try to build my program here at Mizzou," Pinkel said. "… He’s a great football coach, and the proof is the consistency with how he wins."

Oklahoma St. Cowboy and Big 12 Links: The Tulsa World talks with head coach Mike Gundy about Texas Tech . . . Crimson and Cream Machine's dishingoutdimes on Auston English and Brody Eldridge being out for the rest of the year . . . NewsOK's John Helsley with an OSU notebook . . . NewsOK's Brandon Chatmon writes that Oklahoma St. defensive coordinator Bill Young has had success in holding the Texas Tech offense . . . Tulsa World's Dave Sittler also writes about Bill Young and his effect on the Cowboys . . . LAJ's Adam Zuvanich looks back at Texas Tech's last visit to Stillwater . . . DT's Adam Coleman on the 2009 version of the Big 12 not being as glamorous the 2008 version . . .

Honoring Veterans: The opening game between Texas Tech and South Dakota is going to be honoring this country's veterans and first responders. I'm sure that you guys are anxiously waiting on my preview for this game, but you'll have to wait until Friday. I know, I'm a sorry S.O.B.

Promised video:

Crunching the Numbers :: Oklahoma St. Cowboys Edition

Seth C — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 11:40:21 -0000

Texas Tech Red Raiders
(6-3, 3-2)

vs.

Oklahoma St. Cowboys
(7-2, 4-1)

Game Information:
Date: November 14, 2009 :: Time: 7:00 p.m. CST :: Weather: Stillwater, OK
TV: ABC :: Radio: Affiliates :: Game Cast: Fox Sports

I'm going to be pressed for time this week. I was able to have a preview of the numbers between the two teams and rather than give my 5 thoughts, I'd love to hear any thoughts that you may have about these two teams based on the statistics. You can find additional statistics on both teams here: Texas Tech and Oklahoma St.

CATEGORY	STATISTIC (NCAA RANK, CONF. RANK)	WINNER
TTU Pass Offense vs. OSU Pass Defense	400.44 (2, 1) 237.33 (87, 10)
TTU Rush Offense vs. OSU Rush Defense	73.56 (116, 12) 94.00 (9, 3)
OSU Pass Offense vs. TTU Pass Defense	212.11 (71, 9) 232.78 (77, 6)
OSU Rush Offense vs. TTU Rush Defense	196.00 (20, 1) 122.78 (44, 8)
TTU Scoring Offense vs. OSU Scoring Defense	40.22 (4, 2) 21.00 (33, 4)
OSU Scoring Offense vs. TTU Scoring Defense	34.11 (17, 4) 23.44 (55, 7)

Team Leaders


STATISTIC	TEXAS TECH	OKLAHOMA ST.
Passing	Taylor Potts :: 195-290 : 2,221 : 15 : 9	Zac Robinson :: 149-228 : 1,832 : 14 : 7
Rushing	Baron Batch :: 93 : 531 : 10	Keith Toston :: 155 : 882 : 9
Receiving	Detron Lewis :: 46 : 625 : 5	Hubert Anyiam :: 35 : 416 : 2
Punt Returns	Austin Zouzalik :: 16 : 161 : 0	Perrish Cox :: 9 : 75 : 0
Kickoff Returns	Eric Stephens :: 21 : 543 : 0	Perrish Cox :: 20 : 474 : 0
Tackles	Brian Duncan :: 62	Donald Booker :: 63
Sacks	Brandon Sharpe :: 10.5 : 63	Donald Booker :: 4.0 : 27
Tackles for Loss	Brandon Sharpe :: 11.5 : 65	Lucien Antoine :: 6.0 : 17
Interceptions	Will Ford :: 1 : 0 : 0 D.J. Johnson :: 1 : 7 : 0 Franklin Mitchem :: 1 : 7 : 0 Marlon Williams :: 1 : 0 : 0 LaRon Moore :: 1 : 3 : 0	Patrick Lavine :: 4 : 4 : 0

Double-T Nation Daily Diatribe :: 11.09.09

Seth C — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 10:57:49 -0000

Veterans Day: It's not quite Veterans Day and as you guys and gals know, I try not to send you to links that aren't worth your time, but I thought this was fascinating. The Denver Post followed a high school graduate through his armed services recruitment, basic training, deployment and return from combat through photographs and an accompanying story. The photos alone tell a fascinating story.

SBN Turns 6: SB Nation turns 6 years old and I think DTN has been around since November of 2006 with 475 visitors for the entire first month. DTN is about to hit the 1,000,000 visitor mark, maybe some time in December.

Special Teams Focus: LAJ's Don Williams features the work the players have put into the special teams and ST coach Eric Russell. Russell is focused on Oklahoma St.:

"They’re very athletic and they do some different things,’’ Russell said over the weekend, "so I think it’s going to be a heck of a challenge and I’m anxious to see how we physically match up and schematically match up with them. There’s no doubt these next few (games), every week something can change on one of those plays.’’

And Russell thinks that the special teams units had a good week, 2 weeks ago, but that sort of performance must be an every week occurence:

"Like I told the players,’’ Russell said, "it was a good game, but to get all excited about it … You’ve got to understand that’s what expectations need to be. We want this to be an every-week thing where we kind of control and dominate field position.’’

Oklahoma St. Cowboy Links: NewsOK looks at the Red Raiders . . . NewsOK's Brandon Chatman writes that the Cowboys have a huge challenge in Texas Tech . . .

Big 12 Basketball Preview: Good college basketball blog Rush The Court has an excellent preview of the Big 12.

Double-T Nation Daily Diatribe :: 11.08.09

Seth C — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 10:52:20 -0000

Pretty Please: I'm going to be gone all day, and I'd just ask you guys to do me one favor. Please do not post premium content. I'm not going to be near a computer for most of the day and evening and this would make my life infinitely better. If a kid de-commits or plays another sport at another school and it's made it to the public arena, then feel free to discuss, over-react, type out "OMG!!!" a bunch, etc. In fact, I'll give someone $1 million DTN Bucks for the first person to find the information without relying on a subscription based service (Disclaimer: DTN Bucks is not U.S. legal tender or legal tender anywhere and is completely worthless).

Back at Practice: LAJ's Don Williams writes that things were a little rusty, but the Red Raiders are getting more healthy. Here's Williams:

The open week, as it is designed to do, might have helped the Red Raiders heal. Offensive guard Brandon Carter and defensive backs Will Ford and Brett Dewhurst, all battling injuries lately, were in pads at the end of Saturday’s workout.

Quarterback Steven Sheffield remains out with a broken left foot and isn’t likely to return before the Nov. 21 home finale against Oklahoma, if then.

And Captain Mike Leach is going to start focusing on fundamentals:

"The biggest thing is just figure out what’s the most advantageous for your team, and so it wasn’t a real struggle,’’ he said. "Now we just want focus on fundamentals and being sharp at the little things.’’

Second Closed Scrimmage: LAJ's Courtney Linehan writes about how the team has already had one closed scrimmage against Arizona St. and will have a second closed scrimmage against New Mexico St. today. Head coach Pat Knight let his players just play against the Sun Devils and is going to have a more structured approach to today's scrimmage:

"We’ll treat it like a game so they get used to what they’re going to have to go through next week from a scouting standpoint," Knight said. "But I wanted one game where they just went in on their own against a good opponent to see how they can handle themselves."

And the staff hopes to utilize the scrimmages to improve the team:

About one fourth of the game looked good on both ends of the court. During the other three quarters, however, Knight saw some regression.

"For the rest they went back to some bad habits they had from last year or high school or junior college," he said. "It was good. It gives us a week of tape to really get on them."

Using that tape as a teaching tool led to several good practice sessions last week. Today the coaching staff will reassess the team’s progress based on its improvements during the last seven days.

Week 10 NCAA Football Buffet: Previewing All The Games Worth Consuming - SB Nation

Seth C — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 11:34:21 -0000

Week 10 NCAA Football Buffet: Previewing All The Games Worth Consuming - SB Nation

No news out there today. Consider this your open thread to discuss Alabama vs. LSU or whatever floats your boat.

Double-T Nation Daily Diatribe :: 11.06.09

Seth C — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:23:23 -0000

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

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

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

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

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

Mike Leach on FNL (via jrad115)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Snip

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

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

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

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

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

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

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