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RED RAIDERS (5-3, 2-2) HOPE TO REBOUND AGAINST JAYHAWKS (5-2, 1-2)

Where: Jones Stadium, Lubbock

When: 2:30 Central

TV: ABC Regional

Weather: 70, Sunny, Light Wind

Line: Opened at Tech -7, now Tech -6.5 (don't know why)

The greatest humiliation in life, is to work hard on something from which you expect great appreciation, and then fail to get it.  - Edgar Watson Howe

That may sum up Potts dramatic come back last week against the Aggies. But this week brings another Big 12 challenge in the red and blue of the Kansas Jayhawks. But before we get to this week, a quick look back at last week's game...

!@#$!@!@#$#$!@#$ WTF! I think that pretty much covers it. The Aggies who haven't won since 1993 came in to Lubbock and put a beat down on the Red Raiders that NOBODY expected (and yes, no Aggies expected that either). Tech put up 520 yds of offense but managed to combine that with 5 turnovers, three by Potts. And the defense, which was looking so good got absolutely shredded for 559 yards, by the Texas A&M Aggies. GOOD LORD. The highlight was starting the second half our by allowing the Aggies to come right out and score to go up 35-14. And that's when I gladly turned off the radio and grabbed another beer.

 So Tech has to regroup again and try to salvage something from this season with the KU Jayhawks coming to town. I'm betting the folks at ABC are thrilled that they signed this game for the 2:30 time slot. At this time last week, it was a potential battle of Top 15 teams, now its the game that nobody really wants to see of two unranked teams. Sweet.

 I really have no idea what kind of team Kansas is, which can be said of pretty much every team in D1 football right now. This year is just nuts. And thank god we don't have a playoff system, but rather a BCS gooblygook mess that won't let teams from all conference fight it out on the field. Great idea. KU is still riding the remains of their 2007 12-1 season with a stunning Orange Bowl win. The pub that this team earned is still paying dividends to this day, because there is no way a tea8-5 team from last year should have gotten the poll love that KU got this year except for the typical bias of coaches and writer polls who reward current teams with ranking based of prior years results.

KU started this year on fire with a 5-0 record. Which is great, except it was against Northern Colorado, UTEP, Duke, Souther Miss . I believe they were favored in every game and they took care of business. But then the level of competition changed with the start of conference play and they went 1-2 against Iowa State, Colorado and OU.

 Mangino has done a fantastic job for KU and has taken a this team to new levels. With three more wins, he will own the KU Football Victory record for a coach with 53 wins. and the past few seasons, his record is 25-8 which is amazing, even in the Big 12 NORTH.

Mangino, like his former OU coaching buddy Leach, brought in a new offensive focused system which performed above expectations. KU, unlike Tech, took care of business in their magical year and they got to the promised $14MM plus land of the BCS. He's brought in a stud QB in Reesing and they've ridden him as far as he can take them. Just a winld coincidence that Reesing's W/L record happens to be 25-8 too. Look for WRs Meier and Briscoe to have big rebound games against Tech. The good news is that KUs running game is hurting with their lead RB Sharp going down with an injury only to return against CU (29 yds) and OU (14).

So a quick look at Tech. Well, here's the bad news, apparently Potts from all appearances is still dealing with the effects of the concusion he suffered against New Mexico. Sheffield is possibly dealing with a broken toe which tends to hurt a skill position player. So rumor is Tech will start our third string redshirt freshman Seth Doege. If you heard of him before his KSU mopup duty, then you are a recruting dork. The guys dad was hired by a West Texas high school coach so that Seth would play for them. On problem, he blew out one knee his junior year early in the season and then completed the cycle by blowing out his other knee his senior year. the last time he saw live action before Oct 10 of this year was in the 2005 Texas High School playoffs. Again, sweet.

So Tech's defense got shredded, the QB position is a mess and our running game left the building again. I'm sure Leach's "Fat Girlfriend" speech will be the motivating factor that everyone needs. I'm still pulling for Tech to do their job.

Texas Tech - 31

KU - 27

FUN WITH NUMBERS

TEXAS A&M 52 Tech 30

thats about as much fun with numbers as i'm having right now