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Tech lands no players on All Big-12 team, projected to finish second to last for the 2023 season

2022-07-13T10:00:00-05:00

Petre Thomas-USA TODAY Sports

With the Big 12 Football Media Preseason Poll/Teams released late last week, it’s pretty clear that there is little faith in the Red Raiders this season

In the middle of last week the preseason All Big-12 Media First-Team as well as their rankings of the teams and boy there were not kind to Texas Tech.

Coming off of a year where the Red Raiders made it to a bowl game when they probably shouldn’t have and then proceeded to make some major improvements in the offseason, one would think that their would be some optimism going into this season. That doesn’t seem to be the case as they were picked to finish ninth out of ten teams and had no players on the All Big-12 team.

The most egregious out of the two is where they are picked to finish as Kansas is the only team beneath them. We should be no lower than seventh as I don’t see how West Virginia or TCU made significant enough improvements to be seen as better teams than us heading into this season.

West Virginia did add JT Daniels at quarterback as well as Red Raider great Graham Harrell to be the offensive coordinator. The two were together at USC for a short period of time and Daniels said that Harrell being there was a big factor in why he chose to play there. However, Daniels has failed to secure starting jobs at both of his previous stops and most of this projecting of the Mountaineers is projecting that Daniels will excel with lesser talent that he had at significantly better schools that he was at before this.

TCU lost the best player to ever come to their school as far as rankings go in Zach Evans. They added a lot in the transfer portal, but as long as they’re rolling Max Duggan out at quarterback there’s no way that they are that much better of a football team than us.

As for the rest of the conference I’m okay with them being ahead of us for now. I was surprised to see Oklahoma State at three behind Baylor and Oklahoma in that order. The Cowboys are bringing back some of that talented defense that won them plenty of games last year, and I have more faith in Spencer Sanders improving than JT Daniels making West Virginia significantly better than they were last year.

As far as the All Big-12 Football Team goes, there weren’t many grievances with the lack of Tech players. Personally I think that Austin McNamara is the best punter in the conference but Michael Turk from Oklahoma is someone that I respect as well. Jaylon Hutchings is another guy that I could see making this team, but he’s the definition of a guy whose production doesn’t always show up on the stat sheet.

By the end of the year I wouldn’t be surprised to see some Red Raiders making the conferences first-team. Hutchings and McNamara are two guys that I can see there at the end of the year.

Krishon Merriweather and Dimitri Moore, two guys at the linebacker position that I can see stepping up and being leaders. Along with them on defense the secondary seems to have a few guys with potential to have big years and end up getting that recognition at the end of the season.

On offense I think that the winner of the quarterback battle has a chance to be first team Big-12 and more in Zach Kittleys offense. Myles Price is another guy that I like to have a big year, and we have two tight ends that could have big years alongside each other in Mason Tharp and Baylor Cupp. On the offensive line I would love to see Caleb Rogers take a big step and help raise this groups production which would help the overall production of the offense out tremendously.

Preseason rankings and projections are just that. We have no idea how this year could play out with all of the changes that have happened to most of the teams. Oklahoma is a completely different team but still has the talent on the roster to produce, and there seems to be better defensive play in the conference going on than I’ve seen in recent history.

Whether or not Tech has the belief from the outside world doesn’t matter, we’ve made significant steps forward and are trending in the right direction. It’s going to be too late for people to realize that when we’re competing for conference championships and winning recruiting battles that we shouldn’t be, which we already are.

Texas Tech Football is going to make a lot of people eat their words this year.

Hub City Homers #42: Realignment update and Tech has fat stacks

2022-07-12T22:15:34-05:00

Tech is positioned for the future.

Well, that announcement was just objectively sweet. I am quite tired tonight do I am not going to dive as deep as usual into the episode for this preview, but the moral of the story is Tech is sitting quite pretty.

We start on the realignment front, talking the latest rumors (and lack of actual news). Diving into some more realignment possibilities, the arrogance of Utah fans, and what in the world could the ACC and PAC12 be thinking with another dumb handshake alliance.

After that we break down the future from that angle, we also talk the huge investment to renovate the south endzone. 200 million smackaroos is nothing to sneeze at, so we talk about what all this means for Tech, and in the NIL era is there still value in cash drops like that.

It is a great episode folks, give it a listen! And don’t forget to subscribe to our podcast wherever you listen (Apple, Spotify, hell I think we are even on Google).

Realignment talks foreshadow upcoming Big 12 Media Days

2022-07-06T11:45:00-05:00

Big 12 Conference

What does the future of the Big 12 look like?

It seems not all that long ago we were in a state of panic over the future of the Big 12 Conference. Texas and OU were going to the SEC, and conferences were going to start picking teams off left and right. Some schools would definitely find homes, while others would be left out in the cold to adapt or die in a G5 conference.

What a difference 11+ months make...right?

If you have been off of social media, not around a TV, or generally under a rock for the past 10 or so days, you might have missed the news that USC and UCLA are leaving the PAC 12 for the Big 10 in the coming years, most likely for the 2024 Academic Year. Now, while the PAC 12 has been eager to negotiate new media rights for the future after 2024, not many schools have expressed interest in doing so, thus, almost guaranteeing the dissolving of “The Conference of Champions”.

USC and UCLA have been accepted as members of the Big Ten beginning in 2024 sources tell CBS Sports. @PeteThamel first to report.
— Dennis Dodd (@dennisdoddcbs) June 30, 2022

The Big 12 has been in talks since then with six schools. Those schools are Arizona, Arizona State, Utah, Colorado, Washington, and Oregon. If the conference was successful in luring these six to the Big 12 for 2024, The Big 12 will have expanded to 18 teams, including the arrival of BYU, Cincinnati, Houston, and UCF.

Hypothetically, you could have all sorts of scenarios when it comes to how to divide the conference. There is always the north/south idea, or the east/west divider. You could also make an argument for a geographical “pod” system, helping the Texas schools stay together and continue playing every football season.

No matter what your preference is when it comes to layout, the sentiment is the same: This conference could look VERY different in just two or three years time.

We could be talking about Texas Tech and Oregon playing, Utah and BYU re-hashing “The Holy War” rivalry, all while UCF and TCU are playing in Orlando. While the latter of those scenarios is a given, the idea of teams stretching from Orlando, Florida, all the way to Seattle, Washington, all but guarantees an intriguing schedule of games for fans across the country.

However, the other argument would be the angry yells of people who say, “Why would I be excited about Arizona playing West Virginia at 1 am my time?” While there is some merit to that argument as well, I think new matchups are good for the game, as long as you can keep some familiarity.

Utah and BYU would need to play every year, as would the Texas schools and Oklahoma State. Arizona and Arizona State, along with Oregon and Washington as well. This type of schedule shouldn’t be hard to come up with, and this way it satisfies both sides of the spectrum, the nay-sayers, and the all-in groups.

While I am typing this, we don’t know what will happen with realignment, but, we do know this: There are many intriguing story lines happening right now, with the current lineup of teams.

Can OU continue its run without Lincoln Riley? How does Texas Tech shape up after year one in the McGuire era? Can Adrian Martinez bring K-State back to glory in the conference? Will Texas ever be “back”? These are four storylines and we haven’t even mentioned the two teams that were in the championship game last year in Oklahoma State and Baylor.

Big 12 Media Days are July 13-14 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, with new commissioner Brett Yormark in attendance, along with representatives from all 10 current schools.

Introducing: , the fifth commissioner of the

https://t.co/1TnK0EgBHO pic.twitter.com/wxnBCtRlEH
— Big 12 Conference (@Big12Conference) June 29, 2022

Realignment will be the headline, but I’m also looking forward to the other storylines for this season as well.

Until something concrete happens, all we can do is speculate.

Hub City Homers #41: Realignment is back and worse than ever

2022-07-01T07:30:00-05:00

Well, it happened once again.

Once again, realignment is back to make a mess of college sports. Once again unprecedented greed has made another set of teams abandon long standing rivalry, tradition, and common care of its athletes to leap into another conference for a huge payday.

USC and UCAL, two faded powers who have long since been relevant in college football, have leveraged their market and brands to head to the Big 10. Who cares that this will ruin the academic schedules of their athletes? Who cares that traveling to Rutgers for a weekend baseball series is absolutely brutal and incredibly expensive?

The guys break down this development, what it means for the sport, and much more importantly what it means for Tech. Can the Big 12 now go on offense? Who should they target? Is there any chance the PAC12 can stop the bleeding or is their fate now sealed?

I hate this for college sports, but it does open a world of possibilities for the conference. Listen in on what the guys think happens next!

Texas Tech is three improvements from achieving true success this season

2022-06-29T13:23:28-05:00

Petre Thomas-USA TODAY Sports

The Red Raiders finished last year strong, but there’s always room to grow. Here are a few key improvements they could make that might have them in the conversation for the conference title

There’s a different feeling around the football program at Texas Tech going into this season and it all starts with head coach Joey McGuire. His energy is starting to rub off onto the team and everyone is excited to see what this program is capable of both this year and the years to come with the player’s that have committed to this team so far.

Last year ended on a high note with a victory in the Liberty Bowl that had many looking forward to this upcoming season. The guys showed some resilience, but at the same time there were still plenty of things that could’ve been improved upon that must be addressed this offseason if we want to string together multiple bowl appearances in a row for the first time since they went to six straight from 2008-2013.

I’ve identified three key things to improve upon that could have us not only appearing in a bowl game but possibly fighting for a chance at the Big 12 Title.

Bringing Smart Pressure on Defense-

After watching Tech’s defense last season and seeing them bring pressure on an inconsistent basis it seems only fair that we would see them bring the heat more often this year with the changes made on the defensive end.

Tech has tried to often in the past to just drop as many guys as possible and allow these talented college quarterbacks to have all the time in the world to wait for somebody to get open. This is why pass rushers are never really talked about throughout the season at Tech because there’s no one that makes an impact getting to the quarterback.

Blitzing the offense is obviously a solid strategy when trying to get them off balance and force sacks/turnovers, and Tim DeRuyter loves to bring all kinds of it. He’s also shown an ability to know just when to bring it and where to bring it from.

Tyree Wilson is a guy that has been talked about quite a bit this offseason after finishing the year with a two sack performance in the bowl game. He has been injured throughout the offseason and is going to need to be healthy in order to help Tech bring pressure on a consistent basis. The outside linebackers as well as the defensive linemen will all be relied upon to get to the quarterback and allow the talented secondary to make plays on the ball.

It may sound cliché to say that bringing pressure on defense is a key, but when you’ve had as bad of a pass rush as Tech has had it’s warranted.

Finding a Number One Target at Receiver-

This one might not seem like a big deal, but a lot of the great teams in college football seem to have a guy on the outside that stands out as the clear number one guy.

Looking at some of the better teams in football in recent history you’ll find guys like Ja’Marr Chase, DeVonta Smith and CeeDee Lamb stand out in their respective receiving groups that were filled with other talented guys.

This Texas Tech receiving group is filled with potential, and the likely guy to take on that role would be Myles Price. He has inside/outside versatility as is able to run the entire route tree, giving Tech a chance to put him wherever they please in order to get him the ball in order to force the defense to make him a priority. Doing that would leave the rest of the guys with favorable matchups that our talented quarterbacks could take advantage of.

This offense under Zach Kittley was at its best when Jereth Sterns was getting the ball 10+ times a game. With the amount of times that Tech will likely be passing there will be plenty of targets to go around. The key is having guys that they know they can rely on to pick up the yardage they need will be the difference between converting key downs and having to have the best punter in the nation in Austin McNamara come out and pin the opposing offense deep into their own territory.

Finding the Right Offensive Line Combination Early-

Last year it seemed like guys were shuffling around the line too often or not being replaced after strings of bad play. That can’t be the case this year with a new offense being implemented that will require the guys up front to protect the quarterback much more often and give him time to get the ball out to the playmakers.

By the time we get to week 1 I’m hoping that we can find the right combination up front that will stay that way the rest of the season barring injuries. Some of those guys will have a few years of starting experience under their belt already and have a lot of that pressure on them to make sure that everyone is communicating and knows their assignments.

The returnees/new additions have my hopes high for what this group could potentially be. I would love to see Caleb Rogers take that step forward and make himself known as a dominant presence at the Tackle position. He’s going to be the Left Tackle most likely and will have to do much better than our guys did their last year.

Hub City Homers #40: A year in review

2022-06-23T15:50:12-05:00

The offseason is long and full of terror.

One full year since we started this podcast. We are in our second dead period as a podcast, a full sporting season down.

This experiment of an unedited, largely on the fly podcast has been quite the ride. Tech athletics are in a state of change, with lofty expectations and a renewed sense of excitement. But to look ahead, Jack and I decided to take a look back.

We talk about the decision Kirby made to move on from Wells, the highs and lows of basketball, and what went wrong with baseball and how can those lessons be applied to next season.

Thanks for listening to us, and as long as one of you all out there continue to be interested we will keep recording! Stay tuned for a lot more exciting content, as we all count down the long offseason to football and the start of the Joey McGuire era.

Coach McGuire will have manageable goals in Year One

2022-06-13T15:50:00-05:00

Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images

The expectation game is always the toughest for a new head coach.

Coach McGuire has lit a fire under the Texas Tech football program. A large recruiting class for 2023 sits near the top of the rankings. High profile transfers have come in to help support his red hot new staff.

But for any first year head coach the most important game to win is the expectations game. Matt Wells failed miserably in year one to build any momentum, and drastically undershot expectations culminating with the embarrassing loss to Kansas.

Coach McGuire will look to avoid that same fate in his first season. But that does beg the question, what should be the expectation?

The staff is extremely competent, with both coordinators having success to prove their systems. But do they have the pieces on campus right now for a big run?

Reviewing the returning production, Texas Tech has questions in the receiving corp, the offensive line, the linebacker corp, and the quarterback position.

There is talent there, but a lot of questions of what will actually happens. However, key returners have boosted the secondary, the defensive line looks actually deep for the first time in awhile, and the running back group is the best in the conference.

75% of success in year one is just what pieces are already there/can you bring in through the portal. But that 25%, which installing anew culture and coaching the kids up, is the difference between 5-7 and 7-5.

Now let’s take a closer look at the schedule.

Not the easiest nonconference schedule, going on the road to NCState who looks like a top 15 team and having a rising Houston program looking to build on a successful season. If Tech can split those two games, that would be a massive win.

Up next, Texas has to be a win. At home, and with the next two games being brutal tests, Tech has to get it done against a Texas teams with holes all over the roster. It won’t be easy, but it is a must win.

Splitting Kansas State and Oklahoma State will be quite the task, but if it can be done that would be massive. Followed by 2 wins out of the next three (most likely West Virginia and TCU) would have the season rolling. The last three games are all winnable, with Kansas being a surefire win and an depleted Iowa State squad first. Beating OU will be tough, but the Sooners look vulnerable for the first time in recent memory.

What would the most likely case equate to as I just described? 7-5 and a bowl trip.

To me, that is a reasonable expectation in year one. Either 6-6 or 7-5. The talent is there, and I am not asking for the moon. If McGuire can just do that, Tech will be positioned extremely well in Year’s Two and Three.

Hub City Homers #39: Baseball season comes to a close

2022-06-09T20:35:51-05:00

The team tries to get some closure after a tough end to the season.

That in fact, as experts say, sucked. A very frustrating baseball season comes to an end as one of the weirdest seasons in recent memory ends with a lack of offensive pop in Statesboro.

The Hub City team tries to bring some closure to the season, looking at what went wrong in the regional, and highlighting how the embattled pitching staff stepped up in a big way. Then the guys look to the future, talking behind the scenes moves that could be made, and look at who is coming back.

With the offseason upon us the Hub City team is going to widen scope a bit, talking all kinds of sporting news that effects Tech. Once football is right around the corner, we will start previewing the season, but until then you will get a mix of all kinds of topics. From recruiting, to golf, to big trends in the NCAA.