Wisdom of the Crowd

PREVIEW: TEXAS TECH VS BAYLOR

GUNS UP RAIDERS — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 17:05:57 GMT

#7 Tech Attempts to Recover Against Baylor

Where: Lubbock, TX

When: Saturday 2:30

Weather: Rainy, high in 49

Line: Tech -21.5

" I can't tell ya baby what went wrong
I can't make you feel what you felt so long ago
I'll let it show
I can't give you back what's been hurt
Heartaches come and go and all that's left are the words
I can't let go" - Cinderella 80s legends

That's a pretty good take on what all Red Raider fans feel like now. A much shorter take is WHAT IN THE NAME OF ALL THAT IS HOLY HAPPENED AGAINST OU?

I think the only team that could walk away with any dignity might have been special teams after the horrid performance Saturday night (did OU score against them, I don't know as there was too many minutes where I had to walk away from the TV to puke). I'll give Tech credit, when the wheels fell off this wagon, they fell off, turned around and blew up the entire wagon and everyone on it.

But there is the small ray of sunshine left for Tech fans. If the Red Raiders take care of business and Okie St. pulls the upset, then Tech goes to KC to take on Mizzou for Big 12 title game. If not, then it's the Cotton Bowl against Ole Miss (or so it seems right now) and I'll bet the farm on Ole Miss as they will want to be there and Tech won't.

There's not a whole lot to breakdown on this Baylor team. They are very much like the first few Tech teams under Leach. Briles has come in and brought the Air Raid offense with him and put the ball in Robert Griffin's hands and let him do what he can. And so far this year, Griffin has done an amazing job given what he has to work with. Baylor is coming off a huge win against the Aggies and they will make their season by knocking Tech off.

Therefore this game comes down to two people motivating a team that is questioning who they are. Leach has to get the offense settled back down. Harrell had his Graham Game and looked terrible and was pushing the ball way too much. And the line crumbled. OU obviously did a great job of making last second adjustment and disguising what they were doing which rattled Tech all night. I don't think there is any way Baylor can attempt a similar strategy as they don't have the athletes to do it with. On defense McNeil has got to basically tell these guys a) forget about the OU game and remember what you've done all season and b) if you don't wrap up on a tackle or duck your head and run past a tackle go look for a place on the bench as you obviously don't need to be on the field.

Prediction - Tech 48 Baylor 31

FUN WITH NUMBERS

20 - miles per hour that a spooked Turkey can run

50 - percent of original Mayflower pilgrims who survived to first thanksgiving

3 - Number of days that the original Thanksgiving lasted, could anyone handle 3 Detroit Lions games in a row?

Texas Tech vs Oklahoma Preview

GUNS UP RAIDERS — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 03:56:28 GMT

#2 Texas Tech (10-0, 6-0 Big 12) Tackles #5 Oklahoma (9-1, 5-1 Big 12)

Where: Norman Oklahoma

When: 7 pm

TV: ABC National game (plus game day, c'mon Corso pick OU)

Weather: mid 40s but clear

Here's what I wrote two weeks ago:

" Make it through this week and get to your BYE, you're almost assured of a BCS game regardless of what happens in Norman."

Well, maybe I was a little ahead of myself on that one. This is just another Big 12 South game, with the following on the line (in chronological order, not necessarily importance):

Big 12 South Title
Big 12 Conference Title
Heisman Trophy
BCS game
BCS National Title Game

Needless to say, I will make sure to have the beer on ice, the HD turned on and the kids in bed by 7:00 pm Saturday night. Its amazing that two Big 12 schools have had back-to-back-to-back-to-back stretches of games this season that have meant everything. UT stumbled on their last one against Tech. Tech HAS to win to go where they never have gone before. So let's tackle these bullet points one at a time.

Big 12 South Title

Beat OU, the Big 12 is Tech's for the first time. That's not too much to ask. Just go into Norman, where Stoops and crew have won 23 straight games at home. 23 straight. That's getting into 90's era Nebraska territory. Oh yeah, and these guys are good.

I will not delve into stats galore here. No need. OU is frickin' loaded on the offensive side of the ball. They can bomb and they can run, they can block, holy crap they can do it all. BUT what can their defense do. Injuries have flat out killed this squad. Losing Ryan Reynolds against the Horns was huge. Reynolds was, and is, a bad ****. He was the on-field coach and heart of that team. Losing two Des is even bigger for OU. Harrell has been killing healthy defensive because this Tony Siragusa-esque offensive line has given up only 5 sacks.

This game comes down to 12 men. Bradford vs Harrell and Tech's O-line against OU's O-line. Either team will live and die based on these two units peformance.

Big 12 Conference Title

Whoever comes out of this game, and wins their last game, goes to KC to play Mizzou in the Big 12 title game. I really think that UT will have a good argument about being left out, but their win over OU will have been in the beginning of October and all the voters remember is they lost to Tech on TV and OU would have beaten Tech to make this debatable. But screw that. If Tech wins, we don't have to worry about this. What we can all worry about is who gets the second at-large BCS bid and who goes to the Cotton Bowl (yeah I know there is history there, but that bowl is a dump.)

Heisman Trophy

With less than 10 seconds left in the UT vs Tech game, Colt McCoy had this in the bag. Then Harrell hit Crabtree and it all of a sudden became an open competition. What you've seen in the press for weeks now is how close the race is between Harrell, Bradford and McCoy. Because Crabtree is only putting up super human numbers rather than Sam Cassell-alien hybrid numbers, he's out of it. Bad news is there's a guy named Tebow who had one bad game, but who's team will jump Alabama in the SEC title game and be set-up to win the BCS title. Did I mention he plays in the SEC? Did I mention he is the defending Heisman Trophy finalist? Don't count him out. The Midwest press will divide their votes amongst the Big 8 and SWC loyalties. The east coast press will back Tebow. It will come down to the West Coast voters.

BCS Game and BCS Title Game

Well I'm tired of writing so I'll combine these. If Tech wins and takes care of business against Baylor, I really think they go to the title game regardless. BCS title game doesn't care so much about fan support, hotel rooms, bar tabs etc that every other bowl game worries about. They want a game and I'll be damned but they seem to want controversy. If Tech loses, then it comes down to popularity contest and that can get ugly. At the end of the day, Tech's history (AND THE FACT THAT TULSA BAILED ON THE FIRST GAME OF THE SEASON ESSENTIALLY FORCING TECH TO SCHEDULE A CRAP SCHOOL) and the way "the system" works will pretty much ensure a New Year's in Dallas.

Amazing to say, but I think Tech has the better D this time.

Texas Tech - 38

OU - 28

FUN WITH NUMBERS

1 Seasons that Coach Leach spent at OU working for Stoops

4-0 Tech's road record this year

1996 Last time Tech won in Norman

Tech Preview - Im a Man, Im 40 Rematch

GUNS UP RAIDERS — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 02:46:53 GMT

#2/#3 Texas Tech (9-0, 5-0 Big 12) vs. #8 Oklahoma State Cowboys (8-1, 4-1 Big 12)

Where: Lubbock, Jones Stadium

When: Saturday, 7:00 PM central

TV: ABC (again)

Weather: Clear with temp dropping to 40s

Line: Tech -3

Classic OSU Video after last year's Tech game:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoMmbUmKN0E

Classic Tech Video that's at least Oklahoma related:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXWdwW08ksA

Well if you've missed the past week, there's been a pretty big election and as far as I'm concerned a much bigger upset with the Red Raiders upsetting the then #1 UT Longhorns. Just to be sure we won, I've watched the game every day this week, ordered the DVD, bought the t-shirt, the poster and made a few donations on behalf of my longhorn friends to the Jones Stadium Renovation fund (check the mail boys). I can now gloat about this for the next 350 some odd days until next year's match up. Good times.

Unfortunately for all Tech players, coaches, staff and students the UT game is over and nobody else cares about this. It's a new week with another BIG challenge. If Tech stumbles here against the #8 team then the BCS hopes go bye-bye. Make it through this week and get to your BYE, you're almost assured of a BCS game regardless of what happens in Norman. But before we get to OU, let's just look at who is coming onto the plains next.

The Oklahoma State Cowboys are coming to town with only one loss, and that was a close game to UT. If an 8-1 team could sneak up on anyone, I guess that's possible (see USF last year) but if Tech somehow lets this OSU team sneak up on them then get ready for the meltdown of all meltdowns from Coach Leach.

In case anyone has forgotten, last year's OSU team put up 610 yards of offense against the Raiders, winning the game when Crabtree dropped a TD with seconds left in the game. You know this isn't the SWC or Big 8 anymore when 718 yds of offense and 45 points don't win you the game. This was the final straw for Leach and led to the stepping down (a gentle way of saying firing) of Lyle Setencich as D-Coordinator and the promotion of Ruffin McNeil to D-Coordinator and Assistant Head Hoach. And while some have said that this year's OSU team is completely different from last year's team, this offense returns 8 starters (losing a huge RB in Savage). While they "disappointed" last year, two of their losses were by 1 point to the Aggies and 3 to the Longhorns, so they very easily could have been a 9 win team last year alone.

Basically OSU comes into the game with the 4 Horseman of the Apocalypse approach. Zac Robinson (Conquest) calls all the shots for them at QB and when he's not being the nation's most efficient passer, he can also move out and beat you running the ball (see McCoy, Colt). Behind him you've got Kendall Hunter (War) picking up from where Savage left off on the ground with over 1200 yards rushing. Moving outside there's TE Brandon Pettigrew (Famine) whose big 50 yard reception last year sealed the win for the Cowboys. He also happens to be getting a lot of hype as being a Rd 1 NFL draft pick. And just for the sake of keeping with the theme, there is Death or rather Dez Bryant, aka Evil Crabtree. 6-2, 215 lbs with 60 receptions this season and 15 TDs (tied with the CrabMan).

They also seem to have a pretty good D that returns 6 starters from last year's squad. Statistically they'd probably be ranked much higher than they are, but their offense has put so many points on the board that they are playing 2^nd team and trainers towards the end of games when they are giving up points.

So what does Tech need to do? How about a repeat performance of last Saturday's game, especially from the offensive and defensive lines? You put that much pressure on Robinson he won't have time get rid of the ball to his main weapons and if you move the line of scrimmage back a yard or two or three like you did against UT, the running game will immediately be hosed. Offensively the Red Raiders have to come out firing the ball as usual. Spread the defense out, move the chains, then use that spacing to setup the run and short routes that can turn into big gains.

This week everyone has said the right things to the press, but secretly they've probably been looking back at Saturday night's game too. At 7:00 pm Saturday night, they better have it strapped on and ready to go, the Cowboys are looking for their shot and don't care who Tech beat. The responsibility of getting the players ready to play this week is the biggest challenge for Leach and company.

I hope they do it.

TX Tech - 49

OSU - 42

FUN WITH NUMBERS

7 - Number of times that the #2 ranked team lost during last year's season.

500 - Total wins for the Tech program after last week's win over UT.

11 - Longest current winning streak in the nation, currently owned by Texas Tech.

GUNS UP.

Texas Tech Defeats Horns and History

GUNS UP RAIDERS — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 17:13:01 GMT

TEXAS TECH REACHES THE NEXT LEVEL

"but what level??" - dieon sanders

for many reasons this season, namely the fact that Tech's first few games weren't on TV, I didn't write a recap. My main reason for this is that I wasn't at the game or I wasn't able to watch the game so the entire post would have been based off radio play by play or wire stories.

But as this was the Texas game which was covered gloriously by ABC, and we won, why not put something out. Tech was put on a pedestal all week long, just asking for the Raiders to do the usual. To show up, put up a fight, but go back to the locker room with a loss and say what a great accomplishment it was just to compete with a program like the Horns. And that dang near happened. But something funky was blowing in the winds of West Texas last night.

I don't know if I can stress this enough, but while Crabtree and Harrell will get a ton of pub from last night's game, this win belongs to the beasts on the O and the D lines. I really have no idea who put on the Red and Black for Tech on the defensive line last night but they were unbelievable. While the Tech team ended UT's shot at the BCS championship, Tech's D line ended Colt McCoy's chances of winning the Heisman that he had wrapped up based on what he'd done all season long. I've never seen consistent pressure like what the SWARM defense put on Colt all game long. And just when I kept waiting for him to run a draw or keep for a ton of yards, they exceeded expectations and shut him down (with the exception of that 90 yard bomb that put the fear of god in all Tech fans).

What it all comes down to for this game is coaching. And for the first time all season, the UT all-star coaching staff didn't beat the other team. And that is because Leach and Ruffin McNeil completely dominated the offensive and defensive challenges that a game against the #1 team in the nation and your biggest nemesis posed.

On the offensive side of the ball Leach called what may be the best game of his Tech coaching career. He never seemed to let the situation, or most importantly the opponent, impact his decisions on what to call in to Harrell. He's obviously made some changes to his approach. McNeil on the other hand did the most outstanding job of any defensive coordinator in the Leach era. This defense has been based all season long on a bend but don't break approach until last night. This team flat out got after it. Tech consistently put pressure on McCoy with 3 and 4 linemen with an amazing amount of success. And when they blitzed they cranked up the pressure enough to counter any chance that the Longhorns had on getting the ball out quickly Shipley, the number one target.

Shoot, I could try and breakdown the ins and outs of this game all day. But what this game came down to is what we were all counting on. The team with the ball last was going to have a shot to win the game. And I'll say right now that I had NO faith that Harrell could put away the past and pull this off. But he obviously had other ideas.

The final drive by Tech was a masterpiece of the 2 Minute drill. And that final play (while I'll never know what #12 for UT was thinking) was a testament to why Michael Crabtree is the biggest recruiting coup of the Leach era. Graham put the ball where it needed to be and Crabtree did the rest, end of game.

So the Big 12 South is now Tech's to own. OSU is next on the list and they are a great team. The good thing is that this team beat Tech last year so the chances of Tech looking ahead should be diminished. However seeing yourself on the cover of every major paper and possibly Sports Illustrated is sure to get into everyone's ego. The coaches next biggest obstacle now that UT has been conquered, is to focus on what is ahead.

All Nittany Lions fans can begin justifying the Big 10 bs schedule now!

PREVIEW: TEXAS TECH VS UT

GUNS UP RAIDERS — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 17:49:45 GMT

WRECK ‘EM TECH!!!

#6/#5 Texas Tech (8-0, 4-0 Big 12) Tries to Topple #1 Texas (8-0, 4-0 Big 12)

Where: Jones Stadium Lubbock, Tx

When: 7:00 PM central

TV: ABC and GAMEDAY from Lubbock

Weather: Clear, temp dropping throughout game

Line: UT - 4.5 (and moving down)

"Happiness is Lubbock, TX in my rearview window" - Mac Davis

"That will be the day" - Buddy Holly

"When Pigs Fly" - Bulletboys (seriously)

Basically those three songs summarize a lot of what I've been thinking about this week in regards to what is without question the BIGGEST game that has ever occurred in the history of the hub city. I am hoping that the Horns will be so beaten down by 11:00 PM Saturday night that the only happiness they will have will be seeing Lubbock in the rearview mirror, but based on history that's as likely as seeing Pigs Fly. (sidenote: Smooth Up In Ya by the BulletBoys may be one of the most under appreciated hair metal songs of all time).

At the beginning of the season, both UT and Tech fans were hoping to get to November undefeated for this matchup. Tech had a manageable schedule but had the past oh twenty years of surprise losses that made everyone think this wasn't possible. UT on the other hand had OU, Mizzou and OK State to battle through. So here we are, both teams have made it through unscathed as far as records go and most importantly health wise. I don't think there is one significant injury on either roster. Which is why ESPN and every sports outlet including the greatness that is Sports Illustrated is making this game THE game of the weekend, even overshadowing the SEC showdown between Florida and Georgia (I never would have expected that). Flights are soldout, hotels have been booked for weeks so it's time for a showdown in the Hub City.

As much as it pains me to say it, this UT team is for real. Note that I said team. The title season of Vince Young was exactly that. It was VY all day long. What that team accomplished is amazing, but very similar to what you see at the high school level and sometimes college (Va Tech of the Vick era). You have an athletic freak who is a man among boys and you ride him as far as he'll take you. It worked. But this team is different. They are dangerous on so many different levels.

First and foremost you have Colt McCoy (WARNING: Listen for Brent Musberger to use his fake southern accent and drawal out colt's name repeatedly, dude you were born in Portland Oregon, live with it). This guy is unfreakingreal. He's completing over 82% of his passes and is in complete control of this team. And if by some miracle you take away the passing game, he can kill you with his feet. He's still leading UT in rushing yards and is deceptively fast. He's got two main targets in Shipley and Cosby. Shipley has been on fire for weeks and does an outstanding job of finding the holes in zone defense sitting down and getting the ball. Cosby just flat out gets after it. On the defensive side of the ball, they've got playmakers as well which ain't a shock. DE Orakpo has 9 sacks on the year already and he's backed by a linebacking corps spearheaded by Roddrick Muckelroy he of the 76 tackles.

So what's the weakness here? Basically you've got a few things that Tech has to exploit. Somehow you have to take the game out of Colt's hands and put it into the hands of their RBs. That's risky as Tech still struggle's against the run and the time of possession would immediately go UT's way, but McCoy will kill you through the air. How do you do that? First hit him often (legally). Don't take 15 yard roughing the passer penalties, but put a lick on him everytime. And if he scrambles, light him up. Take Shipley out of the mix. He is to McCoy what Witten is to Romo. Finally, you got to hide/disguise your coverages until the last second. McCoy is too smart to show your hand early and if you play w/ a lot of cushion on those receivers you'll get bombed. Offensively, Tech has to do a fantastic job of testing their secondary from the get go. Muchamp is not going to just rely on dropping 8 and rushing three. Tech's line is too good, so he's going to be sending the house time and again. Harrell has shown a tendency to get down once he's under pressure over the year's (though not this season) and UT will look to mess with him early. Deep routes and quick over the middle routes on top of blitzing LBs is going to be key.

Now that I've sang the praises of UT enough, I've got to call out some good things about Tech. First and foremost, this game will be won at the line of scrimmage. And right now, you've got to give credit to Tech's offensive line. It took until the 7^th game of the season for the starting line to give up two sacks in one game as they'd only given up 1 sack for all other games COMBINED. On top of that, the running game of Woods and Batch is contributing in ways that you haven't seen in the South Plains since the SWC days. And then there is Crabtree, who is still the best WR in the nation, though he may be hobbled.

And the defense may have turned a corner. Granted its been a fairly typical year for the Tech D, but from halftime of the A&M game it seems like there may have been a turn around.

Basically this is the opportunity of a lifetime for Texas Tech, Coach Leach and all Red Raiders. While Tech has been the most consistent Big 12 program as far as winning goes, that's because we've averaging 7-8 wins a year. Tech hasn't had an implosion season but has not had that next level season either. And that's why when it comes to the national mindset; Tech is still ranked behind A&M as the 3^rd school in Texas. But things can change. Look at what happened with in Florida with FSU and even Miami to some extent. The system is set to reward the long term winners and when you get that opportunity to knock them off you got to take care of business. A close loss just doesn't cut it anymore.

So that said, let's go with Tech 45 - UT 42 (oh and it's a game winning field goal by our walk-on kicker who does it).

FUN WITH NUMBERS

499 - # of total wins by Tech, getting 500 against UT would be nice

9-9 - Matt Williams won free rent, then walked on and nailed all his PATs last week, Disney story in the making

42-14 - Yep, UT leads this series in a whopping fashion.

Preview: #6 Texas Tech vs #18 Kansas

GUNS UP RAIDERS — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 01:59:30 GMT

Red Raiders (7-0, 3-0 Big 12) vs Jayhawks (5-2. 2-1)!

Where: Lawrence, KS

When: 11:00 am central

TV: ESPN

Weather: Sunny high 60s

Line: KU by 1 or Pick

The line for this game should be all the motivation that the Red Raiders need for this week. They are undefeated, have beaten three big 12 teams (though not the strongest of the bunch), two of them on the road (one being College Station) and still not only got dropped in the polls by not winning enough, but now they are going to the state of Kansas again and are not favored. That’s a pretty big slap in the face for this team and I hope it does the trick of motivating the Red Raiders to come out firing on all cylinders from the get go.

They better because if you give the Mad Dingo an inch, he’ll take a mile quickly and Tech will be playing from behind all day. Last year was just an incredible year for that Jayhawk squad going 12-1 and just losing on freaking game to Missouri to ruin that season. What they were able to do from a historically weak football team was just amazing. And really frustrating for Tech fans as we’ve waited decades for our magical season to appear.

But coming into this season, there was lots of doubt out there purely based on the bi-annual (I think that’s the right usage of that word) changing of who the Big 12 North and South teams draw from the opposing division. Out went Baylor, A&M, and Oklahoma State and in came Oklahoma, Texas and Texas Tech. Just from that change alone you’re going from 2-1 (if not 3-0 most years) to 1-2 or god willing 0-3 just based on talent alone. But if a team was going to do it, Kansas coming of a 12 win season and returning 15 starters was going to be the one to do it.

This team is stacked with talent. Todd Reesing is incredible and he’s got a great core of guys blocking for him. And in case you missed it, his receivers are pretty good too. Last week alone this team put up 491 yards of offense, with Reesing going 24-41 for 342 yards and Dezmon Briscoe pulling in 12 catches for 269 yards.

But this team has got to score because (Tech readers you’ve seen this before) they can’t seem to stop anybody. This year against some of the bigger named teams (USF, Iowa State, Colorado and OU) they are giving up a little over 32 points per game. Look at those teams again. With the exception of OU, should a defensive unit returning over half their starters from a year ago, be giving up that much? They are basically giving up double the points they gave up on average from last year. That could be what Tech is able to exploit to win this game.

And Tech will have to, because if the defensive team that was playing against the lowly Aggies in the first half of last week’s game shows up again, this game could easily have a score looking like an NBA game. I was literally sick after that half and ended up running a guest who had brought his son over to play with mine during the game out at half (sorry about that, I hope the boy didn’t repeat any of the words he learned). The Aggies literally shredded this defense. But what gives me a shimmer of hope is that whatever adjustments Ruffin McNeil and his staff put in, they worked like a charm. For everyone who tuned this game out let me just point out that any time you hold a Big 12 offense to 32 yards in a half, that is HUGE!

On top of that, Tech’s offense did something that they have done too rarely in the Mike Leach era. They had drives of 9, 10, 12 and 12 plays and had the ball for 22 minutes or so of the second half. Your defense can’t give up points if they ain’t on the field.

But one big warning sign that I hope has been addressed. Tech’s special teams are freaking terrible. Yes, you’ve read the reports right. A student (who does have some kicking experience) won a between quarters kicking contest for free rent and a month later he’s now going to be either the top kicker or replacement kicker if Carona misses again. If you listened to this game live, it was very funny because Leach had the trainers grab the kid bring on the sideline and offered him a try out during the game.

So, lots of offense and some busted special teams plays is what we’ll see in this one. 56-55 final score is very real possibility. Whoever has the ball last wins.

FUN WITH NUMBERS

30-5 – that was the score at half the last time Tech played against Kansas in Lawrence. KU was winning.

31-30 – Final score with Tech coming back to win on huge RUN.

3,899 – total yards of offense to date for the Red Raiders this season

1 – spots that the Texas Tech Red Raiders dropped in both polls last week

Which leads me to a brief rant this week about polls. Actually what’s the point in bitching about this. I’ll just say this what’s more impressive, beating Baylor at your own place or going to play a school that hates you in front of 83,000 swaying fans (including a few hundred with swords and a mental complex)???

Preview - Texas Tech vs Texas A&M

GUNS UP RAIDERS — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 03:46:55 GMT

#5 Texas Tech (6-0, 2-0 Big 12) vs Aggies (2-4, 0-2 Big 12)

Where: College Station

When: 11:00 am central

TV: FSN - HD

Line: Tech -21

Did you know that there are three types of Aggies?
Those who can count and those who can't

Ok, the Aggie joke is out of the way. It was just too easy to pass up. So finally we have a game this week that ALL Tech fans will be tuned in for. You've had your huskers, wolfpack, mustangs yada yada yada. What every Tech fan cares about every season is two games, the horns (which has been a terrible series for the past 15 years or so) and the Aggies (a much much better series for Red Raider faitful). I still think any Tech coach could go 2-10 and retain his job as long as those two wins were against the ags and horns.

At the beginning of the year I had a few email exchanges with one of my friends where I said that the Aggies were on the cusp of something big and that 7 or 8 wins was not out of the question for them. I personally believe that this team, administration, alumni and student body could not wait to get rid of Dennis Franchione (speaking of, didn't ESPN hire him? I haven't heard or seen him since August). What an arrogant ****. I really thought that all the Aggies needed was a change in coaching approach and that Mike Sherman certainly would be the answer. Well I guess I was wrong. I'm starting to believe that the NFL coach just has a fundamental misunderstanding of the college game. In the NFL, you can have a great year by winning your home games and 1 or 2 road games. You're expected to lose on the road and that's OK. But the BCS system is not setup for that. It's wrong, but literally every game counts and losing to Arkansas State (Sherman), North Texas (Spike) or Rice (Mackovic) is something you cannot recover from and you will get the boot.

But what the Aggies have is what counts in college football. It's called a brand. Many of the sportswriters and talking heads remember the Jackie Sherrill days and the glory days of the junction boys. And that's why you get the benefit of the doubt most years when it comes to polls and recruits still opt for A&M rather than Tech, TCU or an out of state school. It's not relevant anymore, but that's the power of a brand. Go ask Apple.

So who is the 2008 Texas A&M team? It's a team in transition. Truly I thought that Stephen McGee was the man. He's beat Texas twice and he can take a pounding, but Sherman wants to establish his own team and the best way for a new coach to do that is by putting in his own QB. So enters Jerrod Johnson thanks to an injury to McGee. He's completing 60% of his passes and bumps that to 70% on 3^rd downs which keeps the chains moving. After being misused for two season, Javorski Lane was moved to fullback. This is purely for draft positioning so A&M might have a day 1 pick. If you want someone to run the ball over and over and wear out a team, then you give it to Lane. Goodson is now the starting back with over 5 yards a carry, but is only picking up 60 something yards a game. The Aggies are airing it out more and have a plethora (Si jefe!) of recievers averaging over 10 yards per reception.

So the offense is in transition, at least you have the vaunted A&M defense. Rrriiiggghhttt. More peanut brittle? We have some left over from last year's fundraiser. (see Wildcats).This defense is terrible. Overall they are ranked 88^th. That is absolutely shocking. A&M was a team that had mediocre offense but studs across the board on defense for decades. But somehow this changed and I have no idea how or why. You can't blaim Slocum for the recruiting anymore. That's too far gone. Something has happened at A&M and it needs to be fixed. The offenses in the Big 12 are too dynamic for anyone to expect the SWC days again, but #88 ain't right.

Enough of the aggies, let's look at tech. The offense works. That's all you can say, especially after that Nebraska game. When you have the ball for about 1/3 of the game and put up 37 points, something is right. Crabtree is still having a great year and somehow Tech's dug up two great running backs. And thank god for that because....

Defense and special teams blow. Now it was only one game for the SWARM defense, so I'll give them the benefit of the doubt for one week, but that was horrible. Looking at Nebraska's offensive production for the entire season, maybe giving up 31 pts isn't too bad, but letting the other team hold onto the ball for 40+ minutes is crazy! Get them off the field. And I'm happy to report that Tech's freshman kicker Corona has been replaced on extra point and short field goal duties. Have of the kids from Dallas go to Tech every year, can we not find one soccer player who wants to throw on some pads and play football. Jesus.

So, regardless of what the Aggies say, this is a big game. It's in College Station and one of the most impressive stadiums in the US. But, it's the Aggies. They will not get up for this game. I see Tech winning easily. 42-20.

FUN WITH NUMBERS

#5 - yep, that's the highest Tech has ever been ranked. And its by the coaches poll which is the only one that counts.

1 - one time this year that the Aggies have had more takeaways than turnovers this season (+3 against New Mexico)

10 of 13 - The Aggies are right. This isn't a rivalry because Tech has been dominated this for years. They've won 10 of the last 13.

Preview: Texas Tech (#7) vs Nebraska

GUNS UP RAIDERS — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 03:18:43 GMT

NEBRASKA (3-2, 0-1 BIG 12) AT TEXAS

TECH (5-0, 1-0 BIG 12)

Where: Lubbock, TX

When: Saturday 2:00 PM Central

TV: FSN (even in HD)

Line: Tech -20.5

November 30, 2003 - Nebraska Fires Frank Solich after going 9-3. Nebraska's new AD at the time was quoted saying "I refuse to let the program gravitate into mediocrity," Steve Pederson said the day he announced Solich's firing. "We won't surrender the Big 12 to Oklahoma and Texas."

Flash forward four years later and Pederson and his premiere coach Bill Callahan are fired.

Callahan's four-year record was 27-22, with three of those wins coming against opponents in the division formerly known as I-AA. He was 15-18 against the Big 12, 0-7 against top 10 opponents and 3-10 against the Top 25. He was 0-17 in games in which the Huskers trailed at halftime.

Mediocrity? You be the judge.

Its amazing to see what one bad hire can do to any program. Look at UT during the Mackovic era if you want to see another example. Here's an idea for an interview question for any AD "What is your opinion of the importance of (fill in your state) high school football and the coaches?" If the candidate turns up his nose or acts like an arrogant **** towards the biggest talent pipeline you have, then you may want to look at another candidate.

Well anyways, Nebraska went back to the drawing board and brought back Tom Osbourne to be the new/old AD, who in turn brought back Bo Pelini to be the head coach who should have been the next head coach if you really needed to fire Solich. Side note - I'm betting that Steve Pederson has a kick **** MBA from a really ‘great' school that tells you step #1 in any new job is to fire everyone from the past and bring in your own staff. Brilliant.

Pelini's been thrown into the deep end and asked to survive year #1 and focus on rebuilding Nebraska to what it once was, the most hated program in football outside of Miami. So far it's off to a rough start. Nebraska enters the Tech game at 3-2 which sounds reasonable. Except for one little detail; who they have played. They started the year 3-0 against W. Michigan, San Jose State and New Mexico State and have gotten beat the last two games against Virginia Tech (maybe an off year for them) and Missouri (who's dang good). They've given up 35 and 52 pts respectively to those two teams. Joe Ganz is their senior QB who's putting up almost 260 yds in the air with 10 TDs. But what amazes me is that this is a team that's abandoned their running tradition and are still relying on a committee approach where nobody is really standing out from the rest of the pack.

Which to me screams TRAP GAME!!!

The last time Nebraska came to Tech they left getting pounded 70-10 which was the end to a beautiful Bellagio Sportsbook day in Vegas that started with OU killing UT, but I digress. If your in Lubbock for school, there's two things you need to have, a) at least one friend whose over 21 who can go to the strip to buy you beer and b) cable tv to remind you there is something going on outside of the plains of West Texas. Tech's rolling and its only natural for these players to read the paper or watch ESPN's 9 different channels and see that they are #7 in the nation knowing that one top 5 team is definetly losing this weekend (go OU!). This is the time of year when Tech plays the Big 12 North and lets its guard down. Nebraska still owns this series 7-2 overall and this is an afternoon game, so Jone Stadium will still be crazy, but not as crazy as a 6pm kickoff.

So far Tech is doing exactly what a #7 team should do. They are taking care of business on both sides of the ball. Harrell just set another record for Tech, bypassing Kliff Kingsbury for career passing yards after the Kansas State game. Crabtree is now averaging over 100 yds receiving with 8 TDs with triple coverage half the time. And Tech's running game is sniffing 150 yds per game which ain't bad for Tech.

But here's what we were all waiting for. The SWARM Defense is alive. Total defense is 48^th in the nation. Nothing to write home about, unless your Tech then you should be really pumped. And the Red Raiders are getting the turnover, with both fumbles and ints.

But again, I think trap game. I see Harrell throwing some costly picks and Leach doing the usual going for it on 4^th in your own of the field. 31-24 final. I hope Tech proves me wrong.

FUN WITH NUMBERS

70 - Total wins Leach now has as head coach of Texas Tech. 12 shy of Spike ****.

1 - Total sacks in 262 pass attempts given up by Tech's O-line

7 - Tech has the Big 12's current longest winning streak at 7 conference games

Texas Tech (#8) vs Kansas State Preview

GUNS UP RAIDERS — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 21:21:32 GMT

Red Raiders Begin Big 12 Play

Tech (4-0) vs Kansas State Wildcats (3-1)

Where: Manhattan, Kansas

When: 2:30 central

TV: ABC

Weather: Partly Cloudy and Windy

Now that all of the exciting games against the small division teams are over, Tech kicks off the 2008 Big 12 Conference schedule with a trip up north to take on the KSU Wildcats. This is the first true test for either of these teams, so who knows what will happen.

The biggest question in this game is what Kansas State team will show up. The 2007 squad finished up the month of September 3-1 with another huge win over #10 ranked Texas on the road. They were the bomb. And then they only won two more games the rest of the season and missed out on a bowl game. A series of 4^th quarter collapses and losses to fellow terrible Big 12 North teams Iowa State and Nebraska have put the crosshairs squarely on Coach Ron Prince for 2008.

Just like almost every other school, you still have no idea who these Wildcats are. They’ve beaten up on North Texas, Montana State and Louisiana Lafayette. The only real team they’ve faced was Louisville (2-2) and they gave up 38 points to them. Their offense is lead by QB Josh Freeman who has 6 rushing TDs and 11 TDs in the air. They’ve got a motley crew of running backs, but you probably can’t tell one from the other. The defense is giving up 371yds per game, a ton of that on the ground, but again its Louisville and North Texas and are currently the #77 defense in the land.

By all accounts, this should mean that Tech has an absolute field day with these guys. Not only is the offense firing, they’re actually mixing in a ground attack as well. The Red Raiders are averaging 146.5 yards per game rushing with Shannon Woods averaging 6.4 yds per carry and 7 TDs on the year. He’s got one more TD than Crabtree, who is off of last years ridiculous pace but that is probably due to a lot of double coverage (plus some drops that Leach has been pissed about).

The defense is going to really have to prove its as improved as we’re hoping it is. Let’s be honest, Tech is rolling and giving up less than 17 pts per game on average, but if you rip KSU for who they’ve played, you’ve got to do the same for Tech. Tech has not had to line-up against a QB of Freeman’s caliber yet and with their no-huddle attack, if the defensive ends don’t keep contain, he’ll breaksome BIG runs. This is a tough matchup that will require the secondary to be able to push off of blocks and support the run defense. Good news is so far, Tech is taking teams to 3 & out consistently and keeping Tech’s offense on the field.

And here’s where the “But wait it’s Tech” line comes in. In Big 12 play, Tech is batting .500 against teams from the North division (18-18 since 1996). For whatever reason, Tech historically has challenges away from the friendly confines of Jones SBC/AT&T Stadium. Maybe it’s the lack of cow dung in the air or water not tasting weird. And Harrell has to show that he can handle some adversity and turn it around in-game and not crumble.

But as I said, let’s ride this bandwagon as far as we can. Tech is doing all it’s supposed to right now. So, I think Tech comes out slow, may even go down by 3 pts by mid-second quarter, but then they blow ‘em out in the second half.

Tech 42

KSU 24

FUN WITH NUMBERS

1976 – the last time Texas Tech was ranked this high

10 – Number of interceptions this season by the SWARM defense of Tech, tied for #1 in the nation with Vanderbilt (not a typo)

7 – current amount Tech’s favored by in Vegas

The Lost Weekend ??? No Game

GUNS UP RAIDERS — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 03:17:30 GMT

WHO IS BYE???

Well, now that the Red Raiders are 4-0 after man-handling a FCS team (guns up, I guess) its time for their bye week. Funny story, back when I was in Lubbock a caller came on the local radio show and asked "Who is BYE and when is the game? I know who BYU is, but I've never heard of BYE." True story. Gotta love the passionate sports fans of the Hub City.

So with Tech taking the weekend off, let's take a quick trip around the Top 25. Oh that's right I forgot to mention that Tech is #10. Let's hope that sticks after the KSU game.

USC vs. Oregon State

After watching the Beavers lose to Stanford to open the year and get throttled by Penn State, I once again swore off ever betting on this team. And as I write what have they done? Oh, they are just up 21-0 at half over USC. I can't imagine what is happening in Athens GA right about now. I doubt that this holds for the 2^nd half, but that would be great.

UT vs Arkansas

When I saw this game on the schedule, I was pumped. This was going to be the trap game for the Horns that put 1 of at least 2, god willing 3 losses on their record this year. And then Petrino's team took the field against Alabama and any hopes of an upset just disappeared. These guys are not good, at all. And quite frankly they deserve what they get after the whole Houston Nutt fiasco. Every time I've seen UT so far, I've been very impressed with every part of the team except the secondary. Colt is looking amazing. So, the big challenge will be, can UT cover the 28.5?

TCU vs OU

The battle of two unbeatens. But I'm not buying this year's TCU team because they haven't played anybody (yes people who comment, neither has Tech, I get it). OU hasn't played anybody really either, but who they've played they've hung "half a hundred on ‘em." This team is scary and conceivably could come into the game as the next #1 team in the nation.

Tennessee vs Auburn

This is always a great game. And with the way these two offenses have been firing as of late, both are only averaging 21 pts, it could be a massive slug fest. Auburns got a great defense, so I figure they will win. Still curious why Tennessee's AD thought that they needed to give Fulmer an extension? Head coaching contracts are the most one-sided joke in all of sports. The coach can leave any time he wants, or he can get fired, but still be owned millions. I think John Makovic might still be cashing checks from UT.

Wisconsin vs Michigan

And somewhere Lloyd Carr is giggling. Did Big Blue really expect the transition to Rich Rod to be this painful? Surely not. And I'm betting that it's got to be hard to justify all those transfers and rumors of him just being a horses **** with this record. Playing at home might be the biggest advantage they have for this game. Wisconsin is scary good. And the October 11 matchup between the Badgers and Penn State, which usually equals a TLC Flip This House Marathon to me, all of a sudden becomes The Dark Knight II with Heath Ledger coming back from the dead (I may pay for that).

Alabama vs Georgia

The hands down game of the week. I still don't like Saban, but the man can coach. This Crimson Tide team is way above where anybody expected them to be with two blowout wins on their record. Georgia came into the season with a ton of pressure and all they've done is win. In pretty much any other sport, that's all that should matter. But this is BcS football, where appearances and scores are more important than who you play. Playing at home is a huge plus here, and breaking out the black unis is cool. But at the end of the day, it's going to come down to offense versus defense and I just don't think Georgia's offense is ready for Alabama's D. This could be a SEC classic that comes down to a field goal at the end.

And finally, I'm in no way a Detroit Lions fan, but thank god Millen is gone. If they take a WR in the first round of the draft next year there may be a riot.