SB Nation User Blog: centexraider

Texas Tech's season after the brink a struggle

centexraider — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 01:11:58 -0000

Texas Tech's season after the brink a struggle

Reporter basically rehashes the stuff we are all familiar with. In fact she has exactly zero new information she just regurgitates other reporters work. Guess her editor told her to write something about the Red Raiders because they have done so little work on the team for the last 3 months. So she did. Ain’t Google great.

Mandel predicts Bowl assignment

centexraider — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 21:35:59 -0000

Mandel predicts Bowl assignment

Sports Illustrated making wild claims to know how the last 4 weeks of the CFB season will play out. Check out where the Raiders gofor a Bowl.

Random things to worry about versus Okie Lite

centexraider — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 12:50:57 -0000

First thing to worry about is the OSU fan base apparently doesn’t have an SB Nation website. I find that curious in the first place and worrying in the second?? Like no Cowboy fans around this neighborhood WTF?

For a while when Tech was down and we didn’t play them I was fan of theirs - Barry Sanders,Thurman Thomas and other great running backs etc etc. Now that they are one of the up and comers like us seeking to dethrone OU, ut and or sometimes NU, now not so much. I have seen 6 out of the 9 games they’ve played and it’s been in a word impressive.

I worry our O line won’t be able to whip the OSU def line. Another game and another Raider combination of blockers. If ever we need a senior like S. Byrnes to show out and lead this unit it is this game. Minimize pressure on the Tech QB folks. OSU Def Coordinator is readying a pin your ears back pass rush on T. Potts et al.

Pokes are playing solid defense and pretty neat special teams’ execution. Most worrying is the dreaded balance of the run and pass combo. Its kind of funny to me as a fan of a team led by a nonconformist, trend setter to watch Mike Gundy cling like a zealot to old school principles of playing the game. IE run first. He is definitely a product of Coach Pat Jones and others whom he grew up under. Only one funny comment about his style – he must be hell to have in the house. Just think about it everything must be balanced. Big cans opposite little cans in the cabinets. Furniture equidistant from the walls. Grass mowed in a single direction with no overlap. Conformity. Whew. I will give this to Mike Gundy he doesn’t play around with people who can’t stay on the straight and narrow as it concerns team rules. Pelini and Leach are like minded. Good on you fellows.

The team he coaches though is downright good. I was impressed how they jumped up off the mat after being slugged by Houston. We found out about those Cougars didn’t we? And with the exception of the ut game OSU executes very good football on all three sides of the ball. Early in the year I pooh poohed their defensive scheme. Not so much today. They had trouble with Houston and ut’ s passing game but so did the Raiders secondary .

It’s the running attack the Raiders defense must worry about. Mr. K. Toston and Z. Robinson are fast and the linemen are committed to run blocking. If the front 4 of the Raider D line doesn’t knock somebody’s wang in the dirt from the get go it’s going to be a brawl. Clogging up the middle and funneling the runners to the Raider line backers is job 1.

Fan Participation. For the Ut game the OSU athletic admin put up a series of white plastic tarp barriers to keep the fans away from the horn bench. I guess I should worry about small liquor bottles flying thru the air. I wonder if we get the same treatment or that’s just a #2 team in the nation amenity? I remember Antonio Huffman saying an OSU fan reached over and popped him on the helmet during a game. Just so someone says it Boone P. stadium - it’s a noisy bellicose, crowded place and the Raider defense needs to take the crowd out of it. 5 x OSU turnovers forced by the Tech defenders would just about do it.

Who starts? Why worry ? After the refreshing and over blown news that Sticks was "healthy" I quickly came back down to earth. It just doesn’t matter. By that I mean it’s a position on the unit, the other 10 players have to up their game to compensate for whatever intangible "we" fans feel isn’t on the field. So stop worrying about it. My feelings on the Tech QB situation is just this: manage the game. Check to the run. No turnovers. Week before last vs. the Jayhawks we had 3 serious mistakes on offense, the 3 x turnovers and 5 sacks. I don’t think we can give up 3 x QB miscues and win in Stillwater. Quoting a previous post or just reinforcing an earlier thought /statement on this game the Raider offense needs to score on every possession. It’s a lot like the Austin game from that perspective. I do think the Raider O line can win this fight. Just enough time delivered for the short pass, just enough screen execution and blocks on shovel passes to keep the OSU offense sidelined. My worry is we start to press. The Raiders have enough talent on offense to score 35 to 50 points. As a unit they just need to make routine plays and score on every trip to the Red Zone. OSU is actually the tight ones. IMO. They are just trying to hold onto their top 25 ranking. Seriously I think the Pokes are tight as a drum.

The special team play for the cowboys is pretty darned good. I think they have 4 punts or kick offs returned for TDs. 3 plus x blocks? And no dropped or muffed balls by returners ? I worry we will need 4 x FG’s to win this one. It would alleviate my bad stomach if the Raider coverage teams could get the ball loose from the Cowboys once per half.

I worry we will see the Raiders field the same lackluster defense that they showed against aTm, up in Stillwater. I would love to see the Raider defense which corked Nebraska. Though it’s not likely for Coaches R. McNeil, C. Sadler or C. Mainord to be lackadaisical after all this is the scene of the crime from 2007. The place where L. Setencich lost his job. Folks usually remember where they got their asses beat. So no worries on defense fellow Raiders. Wreck em Baby!

Texas Tech Becoming Defensive? Red Raiders' D Leading Way to Bowl Game

centexraider — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 17:26:12 -0000

Texas Tech Becoming Defensive? Red Raiders' D Leading Way to Bowl Game

Stephen Johnson writes a nice article on Techs future Bowl possibilities. Everything good hinges on great defensive play by the Raiders. I have to agree.

No drama but Military Families here at Fort Hood need your prayers

centexraider — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 22:26:52 -0000

We have experienced a very large tragedy here at FT Hood. No details are forth coming yet and I‘ll let the Public Affairs folks and the Chain of Command inform everyone. The news guys will out eveything.

But on a human note the Families of these Soldiers and civilian workers here on Ft Hood need your prayers. Ft Hood and our neighboring communities deal with combat losses nearly every day. But these senseless acts really do diminish us all. Thanks. Keep the faith. Send your prayers.

Random things to worry about vs. the Bye week.

centexraider — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 16:41:07 -0000

The bye is tough. The bye is merciless.

The bye helps you get healthy and by my count we have at least 5 x starters or key players hurt. Terry McDaniel, Brandon Carter, W. Ford, Steven Sheffield, Sam Fehoko All of whom the Raiders will need at Stillwater.

Watched the ut folks beat up the Cowboys on Saturday night. Darned if the longhorn defense didn’t dominate those guys in the second half. Sort of rattled the receivers and pressured Zac Robinson. He just kept getting less and less accurate. Result 4 x picks. 2 x for TD’s. The thing about going to Stillwater is it’s tight, noisy and Leach doesn’t seem to get a great effort out of the team in that venue. Not exactly setting the world on fire in Stillwater is Mike? Played well enough I suppose just never seems to get the Cowboys heads down and keep them down. It’s even a bad loss from the 05 season as I recall. 07 Stilwater game doesnt count - IMO - because we could have won it in the waning seconds.That's just football.

I am little suspicious about bye weeks – the preparation - that is just based on last year’s crappy result in Norman. Of course the intangibles like the pressure, a # 2 national ranking, and media hype all coupled with trying to do too much seemed to plague that group.This group doen't have most of those intangibles. Stillwater is likely to be excited but not half as fired up as those Sooners were in 08. (Maybe) Watching the Raiders joust with KU all afternoon- 52 plus minutes - I ‘m pretty sure we don’t have to worry that the team will be too hyped or tight going into Boone P’s stadium. In fact I’d expect them to be pretty loose because I’m sure the Raiders won’t be favored.

But some random factoids.

Oklahoma State now ranks 13th nationally in rushing defense. OSU Def Coord. Young has a weekly goal to hold the opposition to fewer than 100 rushing yards. The Cowboys limited Texas to 99 (3.1 per attempt).

Last Saturday’s Longhorn figures exactly match OSU’s season averages of 99.0 rushing yards allowed per game and 3.1 allowed per attempt.

It is becoming more obvious that Young might have been the best coordinator hire in college football this year. That last bit was an OSU newspaper opinion. Earlier in the year I commented that I didn’t think this defensive coordinator could work miracles in a single spring practice period plus one season of concentrated work. 27 offensive points by ut and maybe I’m beginning to be a believer.

Just based on our offensive struggles vs. aTm and KU without Sticks I am pretty concerned we’ll see another low scoring effort. By that I mean Raiders only put up 35 – or so points. Without a crushing Tech defensive effort that’s probably not going to cut it. Despite the success of the 4th Quarter run game vs. KU I am unconvinced the Raiders will run on the Cowboys. The special teams play for the Raiders basically put the Jayhawks away. No returns. No gaffes. A near punt block and Lord have mercy a trick play by the special teams snapping to Ryan Hale for a Raider first down. You can bet Mike Gundy notices that detail. So very late in the game Special teams delivered the short field for Batch’s last score.

The Raiders are suspect on away game performance (efforts) against ranked opponents. That probably qualifies as a blinding flash of the obvious.

In road games this year Tech is on the wrong side of 60 % with losses @ ut, UH, and a huge win in Lincoln.

The Tech injury news is appalling. We are going to start a 7th different O line rotation. Sticks isn’t going to play. Potts is probably still a little dinged up. He has a displayed limited touch. The wide receivers need glue on the fingers. Can OSU afford to think about us right now? Well they play Iowa State this Saturday in Ames and they will be favored by 3 scores at minimum. So I ask you fellow DTNers what is the game plan for the bye week? Yes the Raiders heal up; yes get your academics straight. Yes Coaches go out and recruit. Yes get tough with the conditioning work. The rub is the preparation phase. BTW I don’t like Leach being out of Lubbock during the season and here’s why. It’s the polish and execution of the offense which worries me. Yes it’s great to see the Head Pirate on National TV, TTU gets a push in the advertising game. That’s all wonderful feel good stuff. Smiley faces etc. ESPN gets chuckles I am fine with all that. But I am not fine with a loss of team focus. Final random thoughts I always felt watching the Raiders against Ol’ Miss last year that they looked like they needed 2 or 3 more days of practice. Timing, route running and defensive recognition all looked a step slow. Let’s hope we see none of that in Stillwater in 10 days. Team sports is all about momentum and coaches know this. So no worries? It’s a bye week. Right?

Random things to worry about versus The Jayhawks

centexraider — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 21:22:46 -0000

Reesing is hot. Doege is not: That’s a worry not a prediction. It’s pretty uncommon for the Raider offense to stomp on its crank twice in row during the season. Meaning the dropped passes of last week are rarely repeated. So I don’t look for Doege to have trouble connecting. I expect the sticky hands of the WR’s to be just that. I do expect whatever Leach QB plays next Saturday to have some trials and tribulations getting into the end zone. For all the football reasons we know. Compressed field. Less ground to defend, refs aren’t perfect, a great defensive energy with your backs to the wall etc etc. I do expect M. Williams to kick lights out FGs when called upon.

Not expecting Mangino or Leach to go for it on 4th down in the Red Zone. I am expecting Doege to break out over 300 yards and I am expecting Reesing to have several tipped passes. I can't speak for you folks but I will take an ugly win say Tech 28 – Ku 20 that sounds okay in October. I Have had enough bitter losses for this season than you very much.

Raiders’ defense vents their collective bowls again: Linebackers are doing sprints and up downs in the sand pit this week after their dismal showing against aTm. Collective refocus on tackling drills or put it this way minimize the arm tackling. Just beat the Kansas RBs and TEs up, if they go out for a pass put the redirect hit on them. Screen? Blow them up. Defensive linemen T. Reesing is short get your hands up. He might surprise you and try to throw around you and it might be an errant pass. DB’s make a play on the ball. I am not expecting the Ruffin inspired defense to sulk up, rather the reverse I’d say a fired up squad hands several Jayhawks their heads. Note the aTm post game comment from Colby Whitlock. The boys aren’t going to escape the wrathful coaches practice style beat down. I.e. the beatings will continue until moral improves.

Why can’t we return a kick for a score? Raiders are overdue for a big return and I don’t want to see anything resembling a great KO return against us. Ideally I would worry if the Raiders punt more than twice all game against the Jayhawks. Offense stay on the field and run the clock down. No hangovers please. Special teams be dominating.

Who is afraid of the Raiders offensive line. Or what planet is the Kansas Defensive Coordinator from ? Blocking sets the tone. Block well and live. Err.. win. These are college kids and the team could suffer a hangover effect. To date you haven’t seen that type reaction to adversity. The team appears to be cohesive and supportive. So I would expect they will " Cowboy Up" and get ready to battle the Jayhawks. On paper its pretty even matchup for whatever that’s worth. TV has been good to the Raiders in the sense that I haven’t seen any quit. In fact I didn’t see them quit in person against the Aggies. What I did see was a defense which seem confused that a tall relatively fast QB could A. hide the ball on his hip then hand off to a legitimately fast RB coming into a gap created by a pulling guard i.e. the trap play. I saw defensive players take one step too far in pursuit. I saw linebackers in overreacting to the play action / fake, then the required Tech defender attempted arm tackle failure. I saw defensive linemen with pads too high. I didn’t see them whip an Aggie lineman. The Aggie running backs really helped their line by continuing to churn away. Goes to wanting it more. More often than not rewarded with 5 plus yards at a crack. I saw Raider DB’s being out jumped for lofted up passes. B. I saw a Raider offense which except for 4 x drives, ok 5 x drives with the 4th Quarter fumble sort of get wooden. Slow to get back on the ball. Not take what was given and not punch the Aggie defenders in the mouth. The O line should ..should mind you have been able to move these smaller Aggie guys around. Nope the Aggies started dictating the tempo. This must not be allowed against the Jayhawks. This brings me to C. Kansas has smallish quick set of linemen too. Expect more of the same type game planning. To their credit when not getting penalties the Raider O line and offense in general moved the ball. Then a break down occurs Potts / Doege gets hurried / hit, fumble / miscue and the offense sets up the defense in a bad way. By my count the Raiders gave the Aggies a short field 4 x times In the second half. So I worry about a loss type hangover. Note the Husker vs. the Cyclones last Saturday very ugly my friends.

I don’t want to worry about a sulky quiet Raider crowd. Noise baby more noise…

No let up, dominate every phase of the game against ATM

centexraider — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 00:43:03 -0000

It’s well known tendency that the Raiders play down to the perceived level of the competition. That’s not to say the players aren’t going all out it just seems to be an erratic and misfiring level of performance. Like TTU versus Colorado in 07. As we all would like to see a level of maturity displayed in that the Raiders play a superior game despite the perceived level the competition is at. Literally get on top of the opponent and manhandle them. All things being equal everyone is trying hard, Raiders and Aggies, but one team must display the skill and level of execution to dominate. Both teams have good coaches with stellar pedigrees, way cool facilities, coupled to tutors, athletic dorms and swag clothing contracts. The level at which the division one game is played at is a huge moral, emotional, preparatory sort of beast. It literally consumes the participants. Being that the game is a one of collisions, chaos and repetition it’s no wonder you see strange events like Appalachian State defeating Michigan. Not a very easy problem to neatly construct in fact it defies the mathematicians ability to neatly sum up or figure out to a gnats a$$. To determine why such seemingly insane events happen is a real mystrey. That being said this game against an Arch Rival Texas A& M and they are - no matter how down they may seem - they are going to throw their punches and bodies all over the field. It is likely to be a very hard fought affair. Aggies really want to save the season. Raiders really want to prove it was no fluke that they are a rising program ranked in the Top 25 and moving towards the level of the elite 30 or so NCCAA teams. The emotional factor hinges mostly on the mindset of a bunch of 18 – 22 year olds. They must come out spitting and run over the opponent to gain - no to wrench the initiative away and dominate the opponent. When you recruit, train, condition and coach a group to execute as 11 members of a team the result becomes predictable. Anything but a berserkers emotional effort is whipped. Talent is a great attribute but desire trumps all. Talent and desire is a relentless avalanche ergo you get the USC, Penn State type consistent winners turning into dominating teams. Let’s look for a relentless level of desire by our Raiders coupled with talented athletes to skull drag the Aggies. Make a statement in the Big 12. A TTU team heading towards a satisfying, overdue and well earned finish of the season. . Onto the game. Go Tech. Wreck the Aggies!

Random things to worry about against Texas A & M

centexraider — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 16:08:40 -0000

First of all we all need to get ready for a verbal lashing by Beergut. And a lecture on how we aren't worthy of Tier 1 status- yet.

Next get ready for the wounded and cornered animal syndrome. If you think someone like Baylor is ready for A Bowl game you haven’t seen anything yet from the Aggie faithful. They actually have been to some in the past few years and by golly they really want some more.

Defense: A& M’s Jerrod Johnson –is a good QB, he is a great passer and he has several good receivers. They need help with the O line. Staying upright and not scrambling if he gets to do those things he can sting the Raider secondary. Last Saturday the Raider Dline rattled the Husker QB and tipped or broke up passes and I know I’m going to hell for saying it tackled in space rather well. For A&M an uncomplicated blocking scheme would help these big uglies as well. What can they do is try to play ball control and insert trick plays for some extra pop. Defensively we have seen several meltdowns in the Aggie secondary last week vs K state ouch! But Von Miller is the real deal. I think they are probably down in the mouth but Joe Kines is not going to let them slack off in Lubbock. Heck the governor will probably show up. And the Aggie band despite the rumors will attend. And march.

Offensively: It’s important for the Raiders to take what’s given. Limit the number of opportunities for A& M to get a big play no I’m not espousing a conservative strategy here just don’t want the wounded beast to get the Sticks induced pick "6". Let’s hope our own thinness on O line is not an issue. A very healthy dose of Raider blast blocking and a steady diet of Batch, Jeffers and Stephens is in order. Sweep, dive then sweep again. Except for Von Miller we may have a bit more speed (Do you think?) than the Aggie d line. On a serious note these guys are dangerous and can rise up (unless) the Raiders - must be / are/ very, very careful and very fired up. The usual formula would be prescribed. Tech must get up 2 plus scores and play downhill. I was very pleasantly surprised the defense got a TD against NE. Howards score was just a flat A$$ed heads up alert play. There may be an opportunity for the secondary to do the same to A& M just based on Jerrod Johnson forcing things i.e. a desperation mentality. The Raiders need to play fired up but patiently induce/create/ force the Aggie mistake then push it down the field very methodically. I like the fact that our sack hurry ratio is up- I swear 5 or 6 time vs. NE the D ends were leaping at Zac Lee’s outstretched throwing arm as he released the ball. We will need more of this.

Special team must refuse to allow the trick play. Mike Sherman is an old hand at this stuff. He saw the Notre Dame hide out play vs USC. I think we could see several of these type plays. BTW isn’t Ryan Tannehill the holder? And he is a real QB/Wr . I.e. he came into last year’s game as QB. Sherman wants TD’s not FG’s last week’s win against NE just reinforced this thought. To get any kind of hope going they must match the Raiders scoring. Guess I ‘m trying to say allow no momentum changers. Desperation may cause them to create somthing we have not seen. Be on your guard special teamers! In all the congratulatory posts we forgot our two covergae gaffes and a less than impressive return game for the Raiders. Except for the E. Stephens 4th Quarter return to spark the nail in the coffin final Tech drive.

Reacting to adversity: The home team view: Excute, reset, excute again. The injury to our O-linemen T. McDaniel and S. Byrnes is a tough blow. Getting the 3rd string QB ready is mandatory. Potts will play but must be protected. Don’t be surprised by a running back reprise. They - the RB's are now the strength of the team. Like last week deal with the adversity Raiders. Either Potts or Doege must quite simply just manage the game. Use the weapons, let the Aggie defense over commit then stick a knife in them with the E.Britton, B.Batch, H. Jeffers, D.Lewis and T. Swindal weapons. Don’t over try just push down steadily and cause the Aggie offense to implode and their defense to melt down. Defense just smother the Aggie run game. I feel the team, coaches and support staff are ready: remember it’s a reload event. I don’t think anyone on this forum really cares about an ugly win. Just win then sort out the details later. Raider team leaders know it’s the last half of the season. Steady Boys just steady as she goes.

Its at home, I love the Jones. It’s worth the drive to Lubbock. And the place will be rocking. I can feel a sellout. Wreck Em!

Random things to worry about against Nebraska

centexraider — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 16:24:39 -0000

Just in time for league road play we begin a new controversy. New tech starting QB (he’s fun to watch), Secondary playing well. LB’s leading the team in tackles. The sack total is clawing upward to replace the 22 each by M. Dixon and B. Williams. Every Tech receiver seems to have suddenly regained their sure handedness (is that a word?).

Things to worry about: Not so sticky hands for the defense. By my count we dropped 3 x catchable interceptions against K state. We’ll need those three turnovers against Z. Lee and the Husker offense. Just based on Helu and Burkheads running in the Mizzou game looks to be very tough match up for the Raider Dline. Graves, Wade and Perry need to step up and help out Hunter, Whitlock and Jones. The NE O line is pretty fearsome lot. Without an effective rotation we’ll see the starters gasping for air very quickly. Heres to hoping D. Howard is back at and @100%. Ugh. We really need three tipped Zac Lee passes in this one.

On offense the roll out or more politely run away from whichever side Mr. Suh is on seems to be in order. I know CPT Leach never changes plays or schemes but somehow we’ve got to get 100 yards rushing on Nebraska. It’s just imperative. If we don’t make the NE LB’s respect the run our short throwing game is going to be just that. Short. No gain. Ineffective. These guys tackle very well in space. I’d say NE defense is just about equal to UT’s just bit slower in the secondary. But much better D line performers than UT’s. Here to hoping that Stephens, Jeffers and most especially Batch can have a big day. I am liking what I see from the O line and Sticks is a slippery character but this opponent is making money rushing only 4. It’s working for them and they aren’t giving anybody more than 3.5 seconds to get the ball out. Last time I checked none of our receivers runs a sub 3.5 forty. Without a Raider run game it’s problematic if we can prevail with YAC yardage against these sure handed tacklers.

Special teams: Raider Kick coverage is improving but remember this is the NE team which parlayed 2 x monster series off of special teams play and scored 7 points on us in Lubbock in 08. A 50 plus yard kickoff return - result a missed FG as time expired in the first half. Their kicker barely missed it too - only because of 2 x holding penalties by NE pushed them back. Late in the game the fake FG for a first and goal resulted in a NE TD and ultimately an overtime scare fest because of a missed extra point by Tech. So what am I predicting for this unit? Well we almost got 2 x blocked punts against K state. Pelini also saw this so don’t expect any foul ups by NE special teams here. However a strip of the return man by the Raiders would be very timely. We need a big day from this unit just to ensure Sticks gets the opportunity to get us 2 x scores up on the Big Red machine.

Last the Road game odds.

I am sick of a Leach team going to a stadium not named the Jones and having a poor showing. Let’s do a 2 year recount of not so good away games: Stillwater 07 ok it was exciting, Austin 07 a letdown, Gator bowl ugly up the last minute, Reno 08 what the heck over?, Norman 09 Oh crap! Dallas in 09 nope still jinxed, Austin 09 again disappointed and then Houston by 1 x point !?! Let’s just stop having weak performances on 55 % of the road trips please.