SB Nation User Blog: kayakyakr

Texas Tech uses late defense and rushing to defeat Kansas 42 - 21

kayakyakr — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 23:23:09 -0000

Baron Batch takes over the game to close it out, good rebound after Texas A&M and a good game going into our bye week.

Game gifs here: gifs

Post comments here.

Game gifs

kayakyakr — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 23:14:04 -0000

So when the game is on ABC, I can record it for this process. Since I want this to be a fanpost, I'll explain my process.

Basically, I convert the game files from my recording, cut them up with virtualdub, import them into Photoshop, resize and cut one of every 2, 2 of 3, or 3 of 4 frames, and save it to gif.

The most time consuming part is converting the files. Usually that's because each one (about 15-20 minutes of video) takes up around 2-5 gigs of space. I use my 1.5 TB drive to hold them, so I'm not too worried about running out of space, but I make sure to clear out the leftovers before the next weekend.

More gifs will be in the comments as I can put em together:

Open 2nd Half Thread :: Texas A&M Aggies v. Texas Tech Red Raiders

kayakyakr — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 00:32:59 -0000

Aggies surprising TTU, up 28-14 and they get the ball back in the 2nd half. Thoughts? Catch the 2nd half here.

Kayakyakr's Week 3 Report Card

kayakyakr — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 20:31:45 -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:

Kayakyakr's Week 2 Report Card

kayakyakr — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 03:08:17 -0000

Muuuuuch better game this week. I mean, all aspects of the game were improved. Read after the jump for my grades. (writing this on the road this week, so, nothing too fancy)

Offense
QB: I'm going to go out on a limb and say that Potts wasn't the most improved player on the field this week. I'll get to who was a bit later. Still, great improvement from the first week. 7 TDs, 450 yards, no ints. He started the game hot, got on a cold streak, throwing behind his receivers, but got everything fixed at halftime and came out firing. My only gripe is that he was 63% overall, though his WR's didn't help. I grade Potts as an A. Sticks was good in his series as well.
RB: So this was a better, more complete game by the RB's. Batch was a blocking machine, though he only averaged 3 yards per carry. Jeffers had the longest carry of the night at 16 yards and a good 4.6 yard average. 4 carries just isn't enough to let this guy get going, though. Stephens had 3 carries with a 5.7 yard average. The entire unit only produced 52 yards on the ground, but another 4 catches, 82 yards and a touchdown. B- for the entire unit, with an A for Stephens. He had a great game and Torres' personal foul stole a return TD for him. Electric.
WR: Mixed opinions on the performance of the WR's tonight. Detron pulled up lame with some sort of hamstring thing and if he's out for any length of time (read: next week), we're in a bit of trouble. Still, he dropped a big pass, sadly. Britton, he was dropful today, and we really need more out of him, especially when he's able to get as open as he does. On the other hand, Swindall and Leong had great games, over 100 yards each. Zouzalik is the real deal as well. Torres had a productive day but I seem to remember him dropping a few too. Unit score B-, though I'll give Swindall and Leong A's as well.
OL: This was the most improved unit of the night. We were more effective on the ground (even if we barely had many more yards), and 0 sacks and I only remember 2 hurries. They weren't perfect and I think they will need to be next week for us to beat UT, but that was a solid B+ night.

Defense
DL: 7 sacks. 7 Sacks! What a day for the defensive line. They got a bit lose in the 2nd, getting gashed for a few 5+ yard runs, but it was a solid A effort. The big news for us is how hurt is Ra'Jon Henley. It seems like they were going to be trying to get him back on the field and then decided against that and booted him. Hopefully that's a good sign.
LB: Fair B night for this team. I mean, as a unit they were involved in a lot of tackles, got our interception, and their fair share of sacks. Problem is, we still got beat up pretty bad in the short passing game.
DB: I really don't know how I can grade them yet. Neither team we played tried the deep ball regularly. Their longest pass was a 27 yarder on a broken play. We either make a stop right away after a short pass or give em an easy first down. Is a B- a fair grade for this unit? Franklin Mitchem was all over the place and was laying the wood very well.

Special Teams
As someone remarked in the game thread, we're just going to have to put up with something going wrong with our special teams. Today was penalties (calling back a 92 yard kickoff return) and a missed XP and Field Goal. Carona was great on kickoffs and our return team is great (I say Stephens and Zouzalik are the most dangerous pair and Zou and Stephens for punt returns). Stephens is just too dangerous to not have him on the field.

I promise, I'll work on my format for this next week (though you'd have to wait until Sunday) if you guys want a bit better a readable report card, eh?

Texas Tech 55, Rice 10 Postgame Thread

kayakyakr — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 02:30:54 -0000

Post your postgame comments here. I'mma work on a report card, i think.

Kayakyakr's Week 1 Report Card

kayakyakr — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 06:23:56 -0000

Offense

QB - TTU’s offense centers around the QB. If he’s not playing, the team isn’t playing. Tonight, I think we saw what we might get this season: a raw qb who is going to throw a long ways but may make some mistakes. He had a So he had 400+ yards passing, the most for a 1st time starter, but he also threw 3 ints to a D-1AA team. Speaking of, I really must give props to North Dakota, they hung tough with TTU, made for a lot of unhappy Tech fans expecting a blowout. I’m going to give Potts a C. His mistakes helped make this a closer game than it should have been, but it wasn’t all on him.

RB - You know, to be honest, we didn’t see much of the running backs. Baron Batch had 9 carries for 30 yards. Nearly half his total came on one 13 yard carry. Jeffers got two carries and broke a nice one late while Stephens got a carry for nothing, and McCorkle and Crawford didn’t touch the ball. Jeffers did show a bit of all that they were talking about in the passing game, being 1 ankle tackle away from a TD twice and a block or two away a couple more times. For me, the running backs get an incomplete because of the lack of meaningful touches. I put their lack of production mostly on:

OL - I don’t know if I was more disappointed in a unit on this team outside of the OL. They gave up only one sack but allowed a fair bit of pressure and got absolutely NO push for the running backs. That goalline series that took 4 tries was the peak of this ineffectiveness. I felt our best run blockers were returning this year, but it didn’t seem that way. The backs continually needed to make a man miss behind the line of scrimmage to get any yards, there’s something going wrong with the lines. I give the OL a D on the night.

Read the rest after the break.

WR - Here’s what I saw with the WR’s: Torres is the real thing, Britton dropped a few of the routine passes but caught some pretty tough ones and apparently had the block of the night, Leong is a player, and Detron is ridiculous. Zouzalik and Douglas seemed to be a little lost under the bright lights. I expect them to play better next week. James is a threat in the redzone, but I’m still a little disappointed with the production of our slot receivers outside of Detron. Franks is the only other receiver that I didn’t mention and I’m not really sure what to think about him: I can only remember his name mentioned once, when he almost pulled down a crazy TD pass, but he did catch 2 other passes. It’s hard to give this unit a grade but I’m going to have to go with a C+. They were productive, but had too many drops to get into the B range

Overall - The offense had troubles. A lot of penalties (as is usual for a 1st game), ints, my least favorite playcall (a fade route on 4th down). I grade the entire unit as a B-. Why a B-? The mistakes of the unit could be placed on individual players. Without those mistakes, the team looks much different.

Defense

DL - Undoubtedly our best unit of the night, they managed to pressure the QB often and didn’t give up many big runs. UND only averaged 2.5 yards a carry and I’m happy with that. A

LB - All night, these guys were at the line of scrimmage and in the backfield. Great night of run support. My only knock on them is that the only real way we were being hurt was in the short passing game. B+

DB - Again, my knock against the entire defense was the short passing game. I don’t think that North Dakota tried to go downfield so our safeties over the top were fairly untested. I’m tempted to give this unit an incomplete on the night, and so I will. If I had to chose, I’d say an A for effort B for execution. You can’t argue with 4.8 yards/attempt, 6.7 yards/reception, and, if I heard right, minimal yards after catch.

Overall - Tonight, the overall defensive performance is a C+. Why is my overall performance so much lower than any of the unit rankings? Our team had 11 total penalties, and the defense had their fair share a lot at very inopportune times.

Special Teams

I’ll just write a paragraph about this. Tonight’s highs for special teams: 28 yard return average, 12.5 punt return average, 6/6 in kicks and Carona does well as a left-footed punter. The low: giving up that fake field goal had Raider Nation in melt-down mode. B+ and knocked down only because of the fake.

So, in closing, no, this isn’t the end of the world, and I don’t want to hear that it is Mr. Tech92. Taylor is going to be ok, and if he isn’t, I’ll just have to be wrong. Again, growing pains that we’re going to have to go through. I believe this team will take this game as a learning experience and come back out next weekend much sharper against Rice. We’ll see. (PS Keep in mind, these ratings are from my listening to it on the radio, so there you have it).

DTN Roundtable - North Dakota Week

kayakyakr — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 01:17:58 -0000

This is the week 1 edition of the DTN Roundtable. Inside, your faithful writers (and other hangers on) answer a few questions about TTU football and other such interests. This week, we keep it short, only 3 questions. Feel free to ask any questions you may have, and you may see them in next week's edition. Also, if anyone wants to be fancy and make me a DTN Roundtable banner, that'd be awesome.

1) Which player will you be watching (or listening) for the most in this Saturday's game?

Tech92 - Potts. Obviously as the QB goes, so goes Tech's fortunes. Though ND is not going to be a great measuring stick, I do want to see (hear) how he does when a game is still up for grabs. I don't have doubts, per se, but I work in a results oriented business - and he plays a results oriented position - so until he shows he can be the guy, I am edgy. We've seen guys with tons of talent cave in when the pressure is all on them. I don't expect that to be the case, but there's always that little devil on the other shoulder that keeps me from being too gung ho. Yet.

Seth - Unfortunately, I'll be listening, but I'll really be listening intently on the defensive side of the ball. I don't know that I could pick just one player and if you were to ask this question again next week, I'd probably say the same thing in that I'm incredibly curious as to how the defensive line, especially the defensive ends, will play out. I'm a little bit disappointed in that I don't know how much playing time some of the starters will receive, and I have no ideas as to the competition that Texas Tech will face against North Dakota. I'll also say that I'm interested in the safeties, although I think they'll be fine. I think more than anything else, and this is me looking too far ahead, but North Dakota and Rice aren't necessarily about those two teams, it's about what's after them. I'm probably putting too much pressure on one game, on the road, in an early conference showdown, but these first two games are about getting ready for the third game.
NM99 - Offense: James. I was somewhat surprised to see him at the top of the depth chart and wonder if that will continue. Also, RB. I'm not sure if we'll see Batch this game or not, if so I expect limited action. I'm interested to see how the other guys perform outside of practice.
Defense: Bird. Last year he was on like white on rice some games and was lost somewhere near the concession stand in others. I hope to see more signs of consistency.
djollie111 - Offense: I'll be looking at the H-receiver position to see if the battle is still on between James and Swindall. I expect both of them to get similar reps in this first game, so I'll be wanting to see who does a little better, and if James is the clear leader as the staff has suggested..
Defense: Safeties. Is the young talent that good or are we just making the best out of the situation?
Kayakyakr - I'll be listening for Eric Stephens. This fall, he's been getting a lot of press. Watch for him to factor in as a blocking back and as a kick returner.

2) Which game featuring a future TTU opponent are you going to be watching most intently this weekend (and why)?

Tech92 - Georgia at OSU. I want to see if OSU is worth all of the pre-season puffery they have received. I think they are stacked on offense, but like most Big XII schools, what is the defense going to look like? I am sure they will put up some points, but can they stop a Georgia team that is young at some key positions?
djollie111 - I will be looking at Oklahoma State, just because that game has the most potential to affect us. Should OSU lose, it could drop them considerably, and should the voters decide that OSU is not up to its billing, they may also believe Tech has a better shot at winning in Stillwater, which may slingshot us up in the polls.
NM99 - I also say OSU. Most at stake.
Seth - Most likely I'll be watching the Georgia vs. Oklahoma State game and the BYU vs. Oklahoma game. Personally, I think Georgia wins a close game in Stillwater, but I'm still not sold on the OSU defense being great and I'm curious to see how Dez Bryant is able to dominate as the only receiving playmaker for OSU. As far as the Sooners are concerned, I'm curious to see how many large and in charge Tongans and Polynesian players BYU will push around the starting tight end, starting at center. I don't think BYU wins, but I do think that OU may have to re-think this idea of plugging a tight end at center with a week to go before the game. If Sam Bradford can't get out from under center (that's an exaggeration) then I don't know how effective he can be.
Kayakyakr - While everyone else is going to be watching the OSU game (and Seth will be watching the OU game), I'm going to be watching the Baylor @ Wake game. Yes, the Baylor game. They're the question mark. We know that OSU is going to be pretty good, even if they're not as good as their rank. Baylor is supposed to be a surprise team this year, and they open with a good test to see if they're going to be all that.

3) Let's play some season-long true/false:

- Potts will go under center more than 5 times in the ND game. True - 2, False - 3

Kayakyakr - I say false, but only because Taylor will be out of the game before he gets the chance. A QB will be under center more than 5 times

- Texas Tech will win one game they "shouldn't" and will lose a game they "shouldn't" this season. True - 3, False - 2

Tech92 - With last year as the exception, that is a Leach quirk. I'm not going out on some big limb when I say they likely drop a winnable game, and lose one they should have won. That doesn't mean they'll lose to a lesser team, however. There may well be an instance where they lead OU by a few TDs, only to lose at the end. Or where they may be getting dominated all game by a UT and end up winning on a goofy TD at the end.
Seth - I think this season will play out like it should, and I'm not counting OSU as a team that Texas Tech should lose to.

- Harrison Jeffers will have more rushing yards than Baron Batch against ND. True - 3, False - 2

Tech92 - True, only because this one will be out of hand before halftime and he'll get the bulk of the work to give Batch some rest and protect that elbow.
Seth - TRUE, but only because Jeffers should see more time than Batch. Remember, I'm looking two weeks ahead.
Kayakyakr - No, the order will be Stephens, Batch, Jeffers. Neither Batch or Jeffers will play in the 2nd half.

- Tramain Swindall will have worked his way out of the doghouse and will be starting by the A&M game. True - 3, False - 2

Seth - TRUE. This whole doghouse routine tends to motivate players well enough and the only bargaining chip that a coach has is playing time. It's not the most pleasant chip to have to play, but I think Swindall knows that he's got a very good opportunity to be a featured receiver in this offense. It doesn't make any sense to sulk or be disappointed, but rather pull yourself up by the bootstraps and move forward.
Kayakyakr - True, he's too much of a talent to keep on the scout team all year.
Tech92 - I think this guy is in for a long season.

Double-T Nation Daily Diatribe // 08.14.09

kayakyakr — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 03:52:00 -0000

Texas Tech Football

Baron Batch is going to be ok: This is a major, major relief because it seems like Baron will be back in time for the UT game (or earlier). Joe Schad, ESPN, gives him 3-6 weeks (Hat-tip TT4EVER). Don Williams has this report on Baron's activities today:

Batch, wearing a brace that covered most of his left arm, did some conditioning work such as riding a stationary bike. Later in the afternoon, he had the arm in a lighter sling as he watched the team period at the end of practice.

Brandon Carter, He's a piece of (art) work: More good, non-local press for Brandon Carter

"Nothing is exempt from being tattooed,’’ he said. "My body is a canvas.’’ Nothing? "There’s always skin somewhere,’’ he said. "We went downhill at the end last year,’’ Carter said. "And the leadership went downhill. I’m going to make sure that doesn’t happen again.’’ That’s a bold promise of keeping order from a guy whose first tattoo was the word "Chaos.’’

Daily Don Williams: Today, Mr. Williams details statuses in position battles. First, in his notes, Don goes into more details on Torres' hold on the starting spot and Crawford's injury status. In a separate article, we visit the battle still raging for Tech’s No. 2 QB job. About Sheffield:

"He responds (favorably) from a bad play," Leach said later. "If he has a bad play, it’ll be just, like, one play. He’s always done a really good job of stimulating the unit and keeping those guys excited to play out there. He’s better at not getting frantic."

Not to be outdone, Doege has also been working hard this summer:

Doege said part of his progress comes naturally from more practice time. This summer, he tried to speed up the process behind the scenes. "I’ve been in the film room a lot," he said. "That’s helped a lot, getting mental reps and knowing where to go with the ball."

Leach says QB Taylor Potts best of 1st-year bunch: Nothing we didn't know already, but a lot of pub coming from the Chicago Tribune. I'm really digging this national coverage of our team. This one has a few nice Leach quotes:

"He had that whole John Wayne quality," Leach said. "The ultimate dust and tumbleweeds coming from Abilene, quiet kind of guy. Even now he kind of is."

And how Potts was taught to run the offense:

"He said don't throw interceptions and don't get sacked," Potts said, recalling Leach's mantra in spring practices. "As long as I do that there's really no way we can lose the ball."

Alumni: Brandon Williams is dinged up. Too bad, I was really hoping to see him play tonight. Wes Welker's also dinged up a bit. In the Patriots vs Eagles game, Sammy Morris had 12 carries for 45 yards and a 14 yard reception, while Danny got 1 catch for 8 yards (in his only look), 1 punt return for 13 yards and 1 kick return for 28 yards. With Philly drafting Maclin as a slot/returner and bringing in Vick for who knows what, Amendola's got stiff competition to make the team.

Scouting the enemy: Tim Griffin makes a few predictions for A&M's season. Finally, the Chicago Tribute gives TTU another mention while detailing Bill Snyder's return to coaching:

Snyder is trying to rebuild Kansas State at a time when Oklahoma contends for the national championship almost every season, Kansas and Missouri are perennial top 25 programs and Nebraska is back on the rise. Texas and Texas Tech are powerhouses.

Double-T Nation Daily Diatribe // 08.13.09

kayakyakr — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 03:42:47 -0000

Odds and Ends

Filling In: With Seth out of town, I'm going to try to write a the diatribe today and Friday and maybe even on for Saturday. I hope I can live up to and not embarrass him while he's gone. I seem to have picked a very slow day to get started, though we have 2 very big events happen. We'll start with the good news.

Texas Tech Football

Urell Johnson, Red Raider: That's right folks, 2 commitments this week! This time it's Urell Johnson, a CB from New Orleans. He's had a busy summer, first committing and decommitting to and from Southern Miss then tearing his ACL (good lord this is an injury filled Diatribe, more later).

The Measurables:

via vmedia.rivals.com

Urell Johnson
Position: DB
Rivals Profile
Scout Profile
ESPN Profile 76 Grade
Ht: 6'0"
Wt: 180 lbs
Forty: 4.50(ish)
High School: O. Perry Walker High School (New Orleans, LA)

This is the only public article about Johnson's commitment right now. He will be sitting out this season, sadly, but he should be ready to go once he's on Tech's campus.

Johnson, who will not play this season due to a partial tear of an anterior cruciate ligament suffered this summer, said he delivered his commitment Wednesday night via telephone to Texas Tech Coach Mike Leach, Johnson’s pledge to the Red Raiders came approximately one month after making an initial commitment to Southern Mississippi that he retracted.

ESPN says, in short, that Johnson is a more natural safety, with good speed, better than average reaction time, and good cover skills. I'll let you guys wander over to his ESPN profile to read it all. Finally, no video anywhere yet, sorry.

Baron Batch, Injured: Bad, Bad news guys. Baron Batch took a wicked hit and landed on his arm badly. As Mr Williams tells it:

Batch was hit by defensive tackle Chris Perry and landed awkwardly on the arm. The injured arm was immobilized with an air cast. A few moments later, Batch was taken from the Tech football facility in a private vehicle, accompanied by Tech medical staff.

Batch appeared to be favoring his forearm or elbow.

Bad, bad news. We're currently 5 weeks from the UT game. I really hope that it's minor enough that we'll see him back in time. Speedy recovery Baron.

Few other good notes in there, including Eric Ward's switch to Split End (Behind Britton and Leong)

Speedy Jeffers hopes to prove his worth in backfield: from Don Williams, a good article on Harrison Jeffers who we may need more than we thought. Rather candid interview.

... He might have just a little bit of insecurity about it all. "I just don’t want to disappoint people," he said. "I just want to show people what I have brought to the table. I’m just playing, really. All I’m doing is just what I was taught to do and what I live to do, just run the ball."

Highly suggest reading the full thing.

Quick hits: Free article series worth reading on Rivals: RedRaiderSports.com - Freshman Focus: S Terrance Bullitt. Also if you guys haven't been keeping up, there's a practice blog too, Letters Of Marque, up at the Texas Tech official site.