Despite that we are all still reeling from the loss on Saturday, I was looking at RaiderPower.com and noticed that Tech has moved up to #11 in the country for the 2011 recruiting class according to Scout. 

http://texastech.scout.com/

I know we still have a long way to go until signing day, but does anyone have any idea if we've ever been this high at any point in the year?  I would guess not, but I don't have any basis for saying that.  Maybe someone who has followed recruiting longer than me can help me out.

This bump in the ratings seemed to mainly be due to the addition of DL Jon Lewis, but also more importantly that DL James Castleman has been bumped up to 4 stars (even though Rivals still hasn't bothered to rank him at all!).  That makes six 4 star recruits now.  The ratings should also go up a little more after the juco DB Justin Rogers and postgrad DB Jeremy Reynolds get ranked.

When was the last time Tech's recruiting class ranking was higher than the offense ranking?  Hmmm.

Just a minor bright spot for Red Raider Nation while we have to endure another 11 days until the next game.

http://espn.go.com/blog/ncfnation/tag/_/name/fearless-predictions-083010

"10. Texas Tech will be in the top third of the league in turnover differential. They will be in the bottom third in scoring defense. How will that manifest itself in the win column? I have no idea. That's why we play the games, folks."

He starts out on the right track by predicting some weird stuff.  Top third in turnover differential = giving up lots of points?  Ok, if you say so.  I guess that's why it's fearless.

But then he goes on with the PREDICTION by asking a question and saying that he has no idea of the answer.  This is the stuff of which blogging legends are made, folks.  Have an asinine prediction and then back off it and claim ignorance.  Brilliant. 

Graham Harrell led a nice TD drive for the Packers in the 4th Quarter, going 5/6 for 62 yards.  He didn't get anothe drive because they returned a kickoff for a TD on what would have been their last possession.  He looked really sharp in his limited duty, though, and the commentators had some positive things to say about him and TTU.  All of Green Bay's offense was in high gear tonight.

Then I saw the highlights for the Rams vs. Patriots game.  Welker vs. Amendola.  Welker had 2 grabs for 41 yards after coming back early from his knee injury.  Amendola is doing it again this year also, all over the field.  He caught 5 passes for 50 yards, while also returning kicks 2/47 yards and punts 3/50 yards.  Sam Bradford looked really good also as their starter.

Way to represent Tech guys!  Can't wait to see Crabtree build on last year's success to start to dominate also!

I've just got a couple of esp(i)n things to get off my chest...

First off is the newest blogger Ubben.  His latest journalistic genius has Tech at #7 in the conference behind Ksu in his latest power ranking!  (which is getting better after placing Tech at last in the South in the Spring).  wow.  what exactly does Ksu have going for it to justify this?  Because they have one decent running back and a battle between three mediocre quaterbacks?  I know they are in the North, so that makes them more likely to win more games than if they are in the South, but this is a POWER ranking.  Can anyone seriously say they have the same "power", talent, and potential as any of the top 5 teams in the South?

And i know that Tech has some big coaching changes and all, but why is it that our defense is such a huge mystery (which hurts us in the "power ranking") but aTm also has a totally new DC and defensive scheme but is seemingly less of a concern?  Ttu's defense was not bad last year while aTm's was horrible, yet aTm is still ranked #5?  I really could not care less about Ubben's ranking, it just baffles me with his reasoning.  Compare anything between Tech and aTm and look what you have...

Skill positions...both returning great talent.

Offensive line...both plugging in young players due to graduation.

Defense...both with new schemes and new coordinators.

Record last year...Tech 9-4, aTm 6-7

This is why pre-season rankings of any kind are a joke.  I know it's just one guy's opinion, but open up your eyes, little guy. At the moment, Tech and aTm have almost the same things going for them.

And as a sidenote, someone needs to let the guy know that it's not really a "poll" if he's the only one voting.

Also, I saw College Football Live today.  Andre Ware was questioning Ut's top 5 ranking.  I don't doubt that since they do have plenty of changes to deal with.  However, he said he thought that Ut was not even the best team in Texas.  And who did he say was better?  Drumroll.......Tcu and Houston were both better than Ut!  And he said it with all seriousness.  Wow, that is quite a statement to make.  Tcu can have an argument after last season's 12-1 bcs season and return of plenty of talent, but Houston?  Did their defense suddenly sprout some pubes so they can sit at the big-boy table?  Did he see Keenum's (6 int) performance in the ?? Bowl against Air Force?  That statement just blew my mind.  Rant over.

I was just looking at Scout's Raider Power and noticed that Jace Amaro and LeRaven Clark have both been bumped up to 4 stars!  This makes (4) 4 star guys for 2011, adding to our RB duo of Kenny Williams and Bradley Marquez.  I'm thinking that at least OL Tony Morales will get bumped up eventually also.

Rivals already has Willams, Amaro, Morales, and QB Michael Brewer as 4 stars.  It seems like some of the other guys are right on the border too.

I know it's not all about the "stars", but it sure is good PR when other recruits see all the 4* guys on the list of commits. 

Le'Raven Clark is the newest commit, adding to the second half of the Morales twins that committed on Friday.  According to Rivals, he is the #30 ranked OL and 3 stars, adding to the Morales bros who are #7 and #17.  Clark also has an impressive list of offers from schools, including Nebraska, Mizzou, TCU, Utah, OSU, and a whole lot of mid/lower tier teams. (I know we are superior to all of these schools, but it's comforting to know that we can beat them out.)

This is great that we've gotten a few OL commits recently since this is definitely the highest need for us at the moment.  I know I can sleep a little better now knowing that this high need is being addressed in a great way.  AFter signing 2 RB's and a bunch of LB's, I was starting to get worried that some of our priorities were not entirely in order.  We can get all the great 4 star QB's, RB's, and WR's in the world, but it won't mean squat if we don't get a few decent Big Uglies to pave the way for them.

I'm no expert, but I'm thinking we should go after 1 more OL, another top-notch WR now to replace the one that decommited and also concentrate on the DL.  This is shaping up to be one helluva class. 

Sort of making history.

If you follow MLB, you are aware that Stephen Strasburg is making his Major League debut tonight.  Strasburg was the overall #1 pick in last year's draft by the Washington Nationals out of San Diego State University.  He also happens to be the most hyped rookie in a long time, having been compared to some of the greatest pitchers in history.  He has been dominant so far in the minors and looks prepared for the big leagues.  Tonight has been a much-anticipated night for a long time.

Anyhow, I guess it is time to relate this to Texas Tech.

In tonight's game between the Nationals and Pittsburg Pirates, the opposing pitcher to Strasburg just happens to be former Texas Tech pitcher Jeff Karstens.  He was taken in the 19th round of the 2003 draft and has spent a couple of years with the Yankees before Pittsburg.  He is not a big name, but could be a piece of trivia in the future.  He is currently out-pitching Strasburg with the Pirates winning 2-1 at the moment (it's only in the 6th inning).  If he holds on for the win and Strasburg's career lives up to the hype, Karstens will always be able to say that he was better than one of the greats (for at least 1 game).  And he got to have Bob Costas talk about him in his monumental tone of voice.

**(The Nationals just took the lead, so typing this may be a complete waste of time).

To wrap this up, this isn't quite as big as Dallas Braden's perfect game, but it is another bit of Texas Tech baseball trivia.

http://espn.go.com/blog/big12/post/_/id/8533/d-j-monroes-dwi-charge-dismissed

UT's D.J. Monroe got his DWI charge dismissed.  Huh.  I'm not surprised, is anyone else?  The only thing I'm surprised about is that it took this long.  I guess because it was in Hays County, they had to pull a couple extra strings instead of taking care of it at the scene if it were in Travis County.  The DWI charge got dropped to "obstructing a passageway."  I'm not sure exactly what that is, but it sounds like something any college kid would love to be charged with at 2 a.m. after a party instead of DWI.

Mack suspended Monroe for the last three games of the season, but will evaluate the situation and decide whether or not to let him play against Alabama.  Hmmm.  I wonder what he will decide.  Let's see what kind of integrity and class this guy has.  He instituted a "zero tolerance" policy in 2007, so lets see if that is still in effect. (http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=2962514)

So in case there was any doubt, this just further proves that if you are a star at UT, the law does not apply to you.  I know there have been plenty of cases, but the othe one from this year that sticks out in my mind is when Sergio Kindle ran into an apartment building "texting", left the scene to sleep it off, and then turned himself in to his coaches/team lawyer in the morning to get the story straight.  I guess this is what they instructed him to do after his previous DWI in 2007.

http://www.redraiders.com/2009/12/10/ex-vol-dt-committed-to-tech/

His name is Donald Langley.  He looks like a pretty good player for Tech.  The article says that he will enroll for the spring semester, so that will be good to work out with the team in the spring and be ready to possibly play next fall.  He was a 4 star recruit coming out of high school (in which he played a 5th year?), was recruited by OU, Penn St., aTm, and many others, played at Tennessee for a year, did not get along with Kiffin, quit to play JUCO, and now has verbally committed to Tech, but is still taking a trip to Arkansas this weekend.  Wow, what a story.

I guess we shouldn't celebrate until next week, though, until he actually says no to Arkansas, signs on the dotted line and shows up for class in January.  We've had some success with JUCO DT's in the past, so hopefully he keeps up the tradition.  Maybe these JUCO's like what they see at Tech and see potential after the breakout year that Brandon Sharpe had.  I know there were some rumors about some other DT's they were trying to recruit also, but this one sounds ok to me.  Anybody know anything else about this kid?

Check out the site meter at the bottom (or the link).  Sometime on Monday DTN should hit visitor number 1 million! 

Way to go Seth and the whole DTN community!  I've been on here for a year and a half and am still amazed at how much work and quality information you are able to put into this site.  I've seen multiple blogs get started and then fizzle out or update every now and then, but Seth's hard work and persistence have kept DTN growing into a great place where us Red Raiders can feed our addiction to all-things Texas Tech.

I'm sure I'm not the only one who wants to say this and I wish we could buy you a cake or a beer or something, but thanks Seth!  You're one helluva a great guy and ambassador from the Red Raider community!  This Guns Up is in honor of Seth!

http://www.sitemeter.com/?a=stats&s=s28doubletnation

So our bowl possibilities have been narrowed down considerably after the events of this week.  With the win over OU and with Nebraska winning, that pretty much sealed us to be the 4th pick from the Big 12 and shut out our slim hopes of a Cotton Bowl.  Our realistic possibilities (assuming a win over Baylor) are now about 90% Alamo Bowl and 10% Holiday Bowl.  The only way we make it to the Holiday Bowl are 1) Nebraska beats UT in the Big12 Championship game to earn automatic BCS bid and UT also goes to the BCS as an at-large or 2) if UT wins the Big12 and OSU beats OU and manages to get picked as an at large in the BCS over some other (possibly more deserving in Boise, Iowa, or Penn St.) teams.  I'm thinking Alamo Bowl, but San Diego would look pretty damn good after some of the adversities the team has faced this year. 

As far as an opponent, the Alamo Bowl would see either Northwestern or Wisconsin I think.  In the Holiday Bowl, I'm guessing Oregon State or Stanford are in the best position.  If I'm off and you have better ideas, let me know.


Either can be a nice springboard into next year with plenty of talent returning and some new confidence in Nick, Sticks, Karam, Doege, or whoever else wants to step up and take the starting QB job.  It will be sad to see some of the guys gone, especially those that have really been leaders and stepped up like Jamar Wall, Brandon Sharpe, Brandon Carter, Marlon Williams and Winn, Shawn Byrnes, Daniel Howard, and Rajon Henly, but our younger guys have really showed a lot of potential this year.

Oh, and congratulations to our new all-time winningest coach!  Aaaargghh!!

Sorry to scare anybody...

Actually Danny Amendola got licked pretty hard returning a kick (against the lowly Lions of all teams) and suffered a concussion in the process.  He walked off the field but did not remember doing it.  Hope all is well with him!  He is actually having a decent rookie season receiving kicks, punts, and making catches as a receiver.  All of this considering he wasn't drafted and he's playing on the Rams.  Welker, Crabtree(finally), and Amendola(unexpectedly) are all representing Texas Tech well as receivers at the next level.

There is a little video that shows it with the brief story...
http://www.sportingnews.com/blog/the_sporting_blog/entry/view/41431/danny_amendola_got_blown_up_real_good

Let me preface this by saying that I don't think Tech should be ranked at this time.  2 losses and no major win does not earn any type of ranking.  This is not why I'm writing this.

Most teams by now have played 5-6 games, so we are getting a good feel for who can do what, although there are still some certain mysteries out there with teams that haven't played much of anybody.  My complaint right now is with all the polls at the moment.  Surprise, surprise.  The ridiculousness (is that a word?) abounds. 

My main beef at the the moment is the placement of OU.  First of all, in the USA coaches poll, they are ranked 1 spot higher than a team that beat them, Byu. 

Let's examine their body of work.  First off, they have 2 losses already.  That's right, they have alread lost 40% of their games.  Look at the polls and they are the only team with 2 losses.  Oh, but they were so close!  Only one point each.  And to two ranked teams.  Which two ranked teams?  One in the Mountain West (in a "neutral" venue much more favorable to OU)who got BLOWN OUT at home and another to an ACC team who also has a steep loss to a top team.  BYU right now is ranked 17-19 and Miami is ranked 9-12.  None of these teams are considered championship material at the moment. Solid but not the greatest teams in the country.  Both will probably lose one or two more games by the end of the season. 

Yes, OU has some key player losses, but so does everybody.  Look how many teams right now have had to deal with injuries, especially to their QB.  It seems really high this year compared to normal.  But that is football and you have to deal with it.  A loss is still a loss.  You should have prepared your backup better if that is the excuse for losing.

So, they must have some kind of strong win to keep their ranking in the top 25.  Nope.  3 wins over nobody.  Baylor, Tulsa, and Idaho State are the bottom of the barrell.  I'm just wondering if they will really fall out of the polls if they lose to Texas next weekend.  Hmmm, i'm sure pollsters will have a rationale to keep them in there.

Compare them to what Tech has done so far.  4 wins over bottom of the barrell teams.  2 road losses to ranked teams, by 10 points to the undefeated #2 team IN THE COUNTRY and by 1 point #17 Conf. USA team with a quality road win and a bad road loss.  This while hurting from signifcant player losses.  Guess Tech should prepared backups better.

How are these two different?  I know it's from OU's name, but this is ridiculous.  I"m not saying Tech should be ranked, because they haven't earned it.  I am saying OU should not be ranked because they haven't earned it.

Who should take their place?  How about 1 loss Wisconsin to #7 Ohio State? 

Man, you never like to see guys get hurt and miss playing time, but it turns out OU's Jermaine Gresham is going to be out for the whole year.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=4455155

This is very significant for OU, as well as the rest of the Big 12.  At the moment, the OU game looks a lot more winnable for Tech.  Gresham was their go-to receiver and was probably the best tight end in the country.  He tore Tech apart last year.  Like Bradford, he passed up the draft to come back and try to win at OU.  With Bradford out (they say 2-4 weeks, but I keep hearing that that injury is hard to judge) and now Gresham, OU's offense is looking quite questionable.  OU would have been better off having both of them enter the draft so they would have all spring and summer to fill the positions.  Now they're thrown into panic mode as they have to deal with two highly critical needs. 

They still have a very stout defense, but we all know that you need some serious offense in the Big 12 South. 

You gotta think that UT is the pretty clear favorite now to win the Big 12.  What is everyone else's thoughts about this?  I think this is huge news for us, even though you never want to see somebody go down like this.

Surprisingly, according to Pat Forde at ESPN, the Tech/AtM conflict is the #6 current rivalry in college football right now.  Unsurprisingly, OU/UT is number 1.  Here's the story:

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=forde_pat&id=4297677&sportCat=ncf

 From pirates and soldiers to draft pick controversies and goal post jousting, I find it hilarious that people totally unassociated with either program can identify the bitter feud between the two schools as a rivalry.  Most fans of Tech also recognize this status.  But the proud Aggie gods cannot find a place in their schedule of hallowed traditions to include Tech as a rival.  That is the humor in the whole situation.

I know the standard response from AtM fans will be something along the lines of, "Tech is not a rival.  They are so pathetic and classless that they can't get a real rival.  blah, blah, academics, blah, blah.  UT is our real rival and we beat them a couple times recently."  (Wait the last sentence should've read, "t.u. is our real rival...")  UT is so far ahead of AtM in football right now, though, many longhorn fans would probably be surprised to find out that the Aggies are still fielding a team. 

Tech's program is ahead of the Aggies also, but the off-field drama and hatred is what has propelled this rivalry so far up.  In fact, AtM should be happy that this whole "rivalry" thing is panning out.  It's about the only way they can get any press outside of Fran-gate and people trying to analyze if they will be able to compete with Baylor for 5th place this year or not.

So here's to the official #6 rivalry! (whether they like it or not.)

I read an article in either the Bryan paper or the Houston Chron (sorry I can't find it now to provide the link, but I think it was Bryan. If you know what I'm talking about, please post it!) that said that having McGee recruited is a product of Sherman's connections to the NFL and will help recruiting.  That is pure BS. 

This battle of words will have no effect on QB recruiting.  Either a kid wants to go to college and lead the country in passing or they can go play for a 4-8 team where their role on the team is to possibly throw or possibly get slammed in the option (aka getting hurt) or whatever else the coaches "feel will help them win."

First, if Sherman's NFL connections were so great, wouldn't he still be coaching there instead of dropping to a has-been football program at the college level? 

Second, Sherman didn't recruit McGee, so it's not as if he can take full responsibility to say that his "NFL eye" brought him into AtM or got him drafted.  His impressive showing at the combine was the sole reason for that (combination of decent size/strength, brain, and mostly speed). 

Third, if a kid is big enough and has certain tools, he will be considered an NFL prospect (see Freeman and kid out at WTAMU).  Going to AtM or anywhere else will not magically change that at all.  In fact, apparently going to AtM could possibly be a hindrance because the coaches are not able enough to effectively utilize the skills and translate them into team success.  One positive, though, is that this future nfl qb should be fresh and well rested after sitting on the bench for most of the season.

If we do the math, only about 10 D-1 QB's and a few D-2, were drafted (out of about 115 teams, although I don't know how many seniors were actually available), and most of those were in lower rounds.  So even if they're not the protypical mold that the nfl has created, a talented kid who wants success can go play for Leach, knowing that realistically and statistically that making it to the NFL AND being able to succeed there is a long shot for anyone.  If they only want a mediocre college career and the slim possibility of team success while banking on the crapshoot of the nfl draft, they can try AtM.  But beware, AtM is not known as a "quarterback factory" and the sun shines on every dog's ass sometimes. 

Are there any schools that consistently have qb's drafted, besides USC?  The draft is quite fickle when it comes to this.  Additionally, I'm not an expert at this, but I don't imagine there is a whole world of difference between getting drafted in the 6th or 7th rounds and being a free agent trying out at some mini camps, besides maybe some contract issues.

The whole point is that is that the draft is about the INDIVDUAL attributes and has nothing to do with the team (unless it is negative, i.e. "system" quarterback.)  

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/shutdown_corner/post/Texas-Tech-coach-rips-Mangini-for-calling-Crabtr?urn=nfl,159005

Here is an entertaining article about Leach's reaction to the newly conceived perception of Crabs as a diva.  In addition to pointing out Al Davis' first class seat on the crazy train, Leach rips Browns coach Mangini pretty hard.  I don't think many of Tech's players will be headed to Cleveland in the near future.  If I was a player, though, I wouldn't be too broken up about it.  Cleveland is not in my top 10 desirable places to live.  I even found a video to back this up...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysmLA5TqbIY&feature=player_embedded

Tech Baseball won 2 out of 3 ballgames over a ranked Aggies team this weekend.  Sure it was at home, but considering the season this team has endured and some of the inexplicable non-conference losses, this is quite an accomplishment.  Spencer definitely has these guys in the right direction.  Admittedly I haven't followed the baseball team as much as I did when I lived in Lubbock, but it seems that a little more consistency and we've got a pretty good team.  Keep it up guys!

Take a look at the following article...

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3937665

Will Mack Brown ever let this go?  He is inviting "BCS gurus" to explain to him the nuances of the BCS system.  Give me a break.  This guy knows exactly how the system works, and he has worked it to his advantage before.  Remember 2004, I think, when ol' Mack begged for his votes and got them to arrive in the Rose Bowl.  They even tried this past year, with their whole "45-35" campaign.

He knows better than anybody the politicking involved, in addition to all the things the voters look for.  He knows that it was a three way tie, nullifying the head to head argument.  He knows that he still lost a game.  He knows that OU finished the season in a much stronger and convincing manner.  He knows that OU's out-of-conference schedule was stronger than his.  He knows that OU's loss came earlier in the season.  He knows that the BCS doesn't always make sense, just as he knows there are always winners and losers.  More people just felt (and voted) that OU was the superior team at the end of the season.

Now he's STILL playing the role of the pathetic little victim.  Does he really expect sympathy, especially after their lackluster performance against an over-rated Ohio State?  Does he think that anyone outside of Austin really cares that the almighty UT still feels like they were screwed?  Ask Utah how they feel, Mack.

Obviously Mack understands the system perfectly.  He is already kicking off his campaign for next season to be the National Champs.  Even before a snap gets taken on the field, he is trying to grab votes away from OU.  He wants everyone to remember how bad they've been treated to get some sympathy votes and try to cover up a pathetically awful out of conference schedule in 2009.  In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if the reason they wanted to move the Tech game up so early in the year was to give the voters some reason to forget that they are playing:

Sept. 5 Louisiana-Monroe
Sept. 12 at Wyoming
Sept. 26 UTEP
Nov. 7 UCF

And what exactly is Mack going to ask these BCS gurus?  Maybe he wants to find out if UT needs more media exposure, because we all know that we never hear about them on Espn. 

I sure wish I had the time and money to blow on having "experts" explain to me a process that was set up by a bunch of men just like Mack himself.