Double-T Nation

Open Game Day Thread :: Texas Tech Red Raiders vs. Kansas Jayhawks

2010-03-11T16:30:18Z

GAME	INFORMATION
THE GOOD GUYS:	Texas Tech Red Raiders (17-14, 4-12)
THE BAD GUYS:	Kansas Jayhawks (29-2, 15-1)
LOCATION:	Sprint Center : Kansas City, MO
DATE:	March 11, 2010
TIME:	11:37 a.m. CST
TV:	ESPN 360
RADIO:	Affiliates
GAME CAST:	Fox Sports
OPPONENT BLOG:	Rock Chalk Talk

GO RAIDERS . . .

Post Game Thoughts :: Texas Tech Red Raiders 82, Colorado Buffaloes 67

2010-03-11T12:40:40Z

More photos » David Zalubowski - AP

Browse more photos »

Texas Tech Red Raiders 82, Colorado Buffaloes 67
SB Nation Box Score
Record :: 17-14, 4-11
Up Next :: 03.11.2010 : Kansas Jayhawks (29-2, 5-10)
Time :: 11:30 a.m.
Television :: ESPN 360 : ESPN2

The Result :: A Little Bit of Fire: Watching that team yesterday was different in that I thought that yesterday, for whatever reason, the team played with more fire than I've seen in quite some time. Colorado is a good matchup for Texas Tech in that they aren't a big team and don't have a legitimate post player that can score (just like Texas Tech). For once, the Red Raiders out-rebounded a team by 10 boards, shot better from the field and shot 9 more free throws (30 to 21) than the Buff. That's a pretty easy recipie, but the problem is that the Red Raiders don't have the favorable matchups against what looks to be one of the four number one seeds in the Jayhawks.

Keeping Up Online :: I just discovered this so I hope to to catch too much flak, but on the official Big 12 site, you can apparently watch the games at your office and keep working on those TPS reports. Also make sure and check out the SB Nation Big 12 Tournament story stream.

The Storylines ::

A Balanced Team: The entire team contributed to the win, sans PF Darko Cohadarevic and C Robert Lewandowski who saw little to no time yesterday. Again, this team didn't need post players against Colorado, but it was nice to get some balanced scoring and good defense from all over the court. SG Nick Okorie continues his sharp-shooting streak (6 of 8 from the floor) and finished with 18 points. That's some damn fine efficiency. SF Brad Reese, who has struggled to find any sort of consistency scoring, had 16 points on 13 shots and the good thing about Reese is that he's not shooting three-point shots (only 2 yesterday) but instead shooting inside the arc, which is good. PG John Roberson was really good, scoring 19 point and finishing with 9 assists for the game.

Recaps: LAJ's Courtney Linehan and DT's Mike Graham recap yesterday's game. Linehan writes that it was the Texas Tech defense that forced 19 Colorado turnovers, but this bit was shocking about how the team prepares:

He said the difference Wednesday happened in those pre-game practices. For the first time all season players began asking questions when they didn’t understand something about the scouting report.

Knight said the questions helped him prepare the team.

"They’ve been practicing their butts off, but they finally started asking questions, telling us when they didn’t understand," Knight said. "I think the last couple days of practice were great because I could explain things and make sure they knew."

I'm not sure what to say here. Is it the players for not stepping up or the coaching staff for not explaining things better? None of this makes any sense.

Graham writes that Pat Knight is hoping for an NIT birth:

The good news for the Red Raiders is the win gives them a better chance of being considered by the NIT selection committee.

"I think we should be in," Knight said. "I know it’s been a tough three weeks, but we’re also in the best league in the country. Five out of those teams we played were ranked. We’ve played good basketball this year. For them to overlook us and overlook a team in the best conference would be a shame. But there’s always human error when it’s not a computer doing (the selections). So when you’ve got a group of guys there deciding people’s fate, you just don’t know what’s going to happen.

"But I honestly believe we deserve it."

Linehan also writes that because Darko and Lew didn't play yesterday, they should both be very fresh for today's game against the Jayhawks:

Lewandowski, a 6-10 sophomore, knows he will have to be nearly flawless on both ends of the court if Tech is to have any hope at winning.

"Cole Aldrich is one of the best players in the country," Lewandowski said. "You have to go out there and know you can play and hold your own."

If nothing else, Lewandowski and fellow forward Darko Cohadarevic should be fresh for the game. Lewandowski averages more than 10 minutes per game but did not play Wednesday. Cohadarevic remained in the starting lineup, but saw just nine minutes.

The forwards warmed the bench because Tech was trying to match up with a smaller, quicker Colorado team.

"They were great on the bench, didn’t sulk," coach Pat Knight said after Tuesday’s win. "I told them, ‘Boys, you’ve got no choice. You’re up tomorrow.’ They’re each going to play half the game."

The MVP :: PG John Roberson: 19 points, 9 assists, 4 TO's, 5 rebounds and 3 steals. Hell of a game, although Okorie's streak deserves a second mention.

Four Factors, Player Impact, Stat Comparison and Game Flow: Terrific graphs from StatSheet after the jump:

Four Factors:

NCAA Basketball Stats

Player Impact:

College Basketball Stats

Stat Comparison:

College Basketball Stats

Game Flow:

NCAA Basketball Stats

Double-T Nation Daily Diatribe :: 03.11.10

2010-03-11T11:56:51Z

Texas Tech (8-6) vs. Gonzaga (5-5)
Location: Dan Law Field : Lubbock, TX
Radio: Affiliates

Date	Start Time	Texas Tech Starting Pitcher	Gonzaga Starting Pitcher	Result
3.9.10	12:00 p.m.	Jay Johnson W, 1-2	Billy Moon L, 1-1	W: 9-7
3.10.10	12:00 p.m.	Scott Erzinger L, 0-1	Tyler Olson W, 1-0	L: 9-13

Outfield:
LF - Michael Reed (Sr.); CF - Taylor Ashby (Sr.); RF - Barrett Barnes (Fr.)
Infield:
SS - Joey Kenworthy (Sr.) 2ND - Nick Popescu (Jr.);
3RD - Justin Berry (SO.) 1ST - Stephen Hagen (Jr.)
C - Jeremy Mayo (So.)
DH - Scott LeJeune (So.)

*Click on the score for boxscore. Texas Tech series preview (pdf).

The Game: Lots of questionable pitching, for both teams, as it appears that the wind was blowing out all game long. Starter Scott Erzinger (2.0 IP; 6 H; 4 ER; 0 BB; 3 SO) wasn't effective and neither was any other reliever, except for Scott Flora who got the final out of the game. Colt Farrar (3.0 IP; 2 H; 2 ER; 1 BB; 0 SO) was probably the best of the bunch, while Louis Head (2.0 IP; 6 H; 4 ER; 0 BB; 0 SO) had a similar line to Erzinger. On the offense, DH Scott LeJeune (3-5; 1 RBI) and 1B Stephen Hagen (3-4; 2 RBI; 1 HR) led the offense with three hits each. SS Joey Kenwothy, RB Barrett Barnes, PH Bonhan Hough (1 HR) and Taylor Ashby each also had at least one RBI. Despite the offense, it just wasn't enough to keep pace with Gonzaga.

Recaps: LAJ's George Watson has the recap from yesterday's game, but the big news is that head coach Dan Spencer has juggled his pitching staff and Jay Johnson is out as the closer, Chad Bettis is back in as the closer. Here's Watson:

Dan Law Field already plays like an airport runway, so the last thing a weary and thin Texas Tech pitching staff needed to do was leave balls up where Gonzaga hitters could make use of the jet stream.
That’s exactly what happened Wednesday. The Bulldogs took advantage of a howling wind blowing out to left, crushing three home runs in the first five innings and seven total en route to a 13-9 win against the Red Raiders.

Whenever the Red Raiders put up some runs, the Zags scored right behind them.

"You need to get some zeros after you score," head coach Dan Spencer said. "And I understand the yard was playing small today, but you’ve got to make better pitches. Some of it was wind. Some of it was good swings on balls up in the zone. They’re a good hitting bunch and if you get the ball up on a day like today it’s going to go."

Official Site Post Game Quotes (link):

Head Coach Dan Spencer on starting pitcher Scott Erzinger's performance today:
"I think Scott (Erzinger) was okay. He throws a borderline pitch, 2-2, to the three-hole hitter and he balls it. The next pitch he hits it out. Then he gives up three or four consecutive hits. Scott just had a hard time. He got ahead for the most part. He'd have two strikes and then couldn't finish. He couldn't make a quality pitch to end the at-bat. Scott's a redshirt freshman and he's learning on the fly. We're asking him to do some things because of our pitching situation. So we're asking him to do some things before he's quite ready. I'm sure we're going to ask again so we'll just go back to work and continue to grind it out."

Head Coach Dan Spencer on the closing situation now with Bettis back in the bullpen:
"I think there's going to be days you see Jay (Johnson) there still because maybe Chad (Bettis) was burned. I think we'll use them as a two-headed beast. I would think if they are both available, you'll see Jay first and then Chad behind him. We like that fact. Our job now is to try and get the ball to them late. Try to get the ball to them with the lead and shorten the game a little bit."

Not Playing Fair: LAJ's Matthew Mcgowan writes that Captain Mike Leach isn't being fair in his request for records from Frenship I.S.D. in regards as to when current head coach Tommy Tuberville's children enrolled in school. Apparently, Judge Sowder has scheduled a hearing to rule on Leach's request for discovery and here's Texas Tech lawya Dicky Gregg:

"We are extremely disappointed that Coach Leach and his attorneys have chosen to invade the privacy of Coach Tuberville and his family through the issuance of a needless subpoena to the Frenship ISD," wrote Dicky Grigg, an Austin-based attorney for Tech. "The subpoena issued by Coach Leach's attorneys is clearly so broad that it could encompass homework assignments, grades, and even medical information about Coach Tuberville's children."

Grigg goes on to write that Leach, through the nature of the request, is fueling a "ridiculous conspiracy theory" that Tech had begun courting Tuberville before firing him.

I too think it was over-reaching and it appears that the judge may be siding with Texas Tech on this one issue, but I guess we'll see.

Texas Tech Pro Day: DT's Adam Coleman writes about the Texas Tech Pro Day that's scheduled to happen today at Jones AT&T Stadium. DTN favorite Daniel Howard, who has been training in Florida, had this to day about the process:

Howard is optimistic about his chances of getting drafted and landing on an NFL roster. He said he already has worked out in front of scouts and he’s had contact with a few teams.

Howard said he is just concentrated on getting to an NFL camp, and whether he makes a team depends on what he does there.

"It all just kind of feels normal to me because I’ve expected this for so long," he said. "It’s just been my dream ever since I was little. Now it’s kind of like, ‘I got my shot.’"

From reading the article, you can add CB Jamar Wall, C Shawn Byrnes, DE Brandon Sharpe, RT Marlon Winn and RG Brandon Carter.

Tuberville Named to AFCA Board of Trustees: Per the official site, Texas Tech head coach Tommy Tuberville was named to the American Football Coaches Association's Board of Trustee. I'm not sure what the AFCA actually does and I have no interest in looking up what they do, but congrats to Tubs!

Open Game Day Thread :: Texas Tech Red Raiders vs. Colorado Buffaloes

2010-03-10T16:30:37Z

GAME	INFORMATION
THE GOOD GUYS:	Texas Tech Red Raiders (16-14, 4-12)
THE BAD GUYS:	Colorado Buffaloes (15-15, 6-10)
LOCATION:	Sprint Center : Kansas City, MO
DATE:	March 10, 2010
TIME:	11:37 a.m. CST
TV:	ESPN 360
RADIO:	Affiliates
GAME CAST:	Fox Sports
OPPONENT BLOG:	The Ralphie Report

GO RAIDERS . . .

Tale of the Tape: Part 1

2010-03-10T14:15:26Z

"Well, hello ladies. . ."

This post, the first in a three part series, will attempt to get to address the question, "Who is the better coach?"

Tuberville or Leach?

In the course of this discussion, these posts will also attempt to validate and disprove some of the perceptions about Leach and Tuberville's past accomplishments.

Based on a simple reading of Overall Winning Percentage, a common sentiment is that while Leach might have a higher winning percentage (66.1%) than Tuberville (64.7%) overall, Tuberville’s teams played and beat more challenging opponents than did Leach’s Texas Tech teams by virtue of playing in the SEC and playing more substantive non-conference competition.

Leach supporters counter that Leach did more with less. Tubervillites point to Auburn’s undefeated 2004 season as the ultimate trump card.

Table 1. Overall Winning Percentage

Coach	Winning Percentage
Leach	66.1%
Tuberville - Auburn	67.5%
Tuberville - Mississippi	55.4%
Tuberville - Aggregate	64.7%

So which side has the better argument?

I make no promises to answer that question (sorry), but I do hope to provide you with enough ammunition to make you dangerous.

Let’s get the ball rolling with our favorite topic - Non-Conference Patsies.

Wins versus Non-conference Patsies

Non-conference patsies can sometimes be hard to define, but to paraphrase former Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart, you know one when you see one.

It has been claimed by some that Mike Leach's record benefited from an overly soft schedule. Whether that is the case will not be addressed here, however, as the list below reveals, both Tuberville’s and Leach’s records were amply padded by road kill in the form of patsies over their respective tenures.

Table 2. The Patsies – A Walk Down Memory Lane

	Leach		Tuberville- Auburn		Tuberville - Mississippi
2000	UL Lafayette Utah State New Mexico North Texas	1999	Appalachian State Central Florida Idaho	1995	Indiana State Tulane Memphis
2001	New Mexico SF Austin NorthTexas	2000	Northern Illinois Louisiana Tech Wyoming	1996	Idaho State VMI Arkansas State
2002	SMU	2001	Louisiana Tech Ball State	1997	Central Florida SMU
2003	SMU	2002	Western Kentucky Louisiana Monroe Syracuse	1998	Memphis SMU Arkansas State
2004	SMU	2003	Western Kentucky Louisiana Monroe
2005	Indiana State Sam Houston Florida International	2004	Citadel Louisiana Tech Louisiana Monroe
2006	SE Louisiana SMU UTEP	2005	Ball State Western Kentucky
2007	Rice SMU UTEP NW State	2006	Buffalo Tulane Arkansas State
2008	East Washington SMU UMass	2007	Tennessee Tech New Mexico State
2009	North Dakota State Rice New Mexico	2008	Tennessee-Martin Louisiana Monroe
Totals	26-0		25-0		11-0

Notes: Texas Tech played New Mexico 6 times during Leach's tenure, but the Lobos only appear 3 times on this list. The New Mexico teams of 2002, 2003, 2004 all received bowl bids, hence none of the New Mexico teams from those years appear on this list. The 2001 New Mexico team was 6-5 in 2000, but did not receive a bowl bid, hence that team remains on this list. In Tuberville’s case, I did not include 5-7 Kansas State (2007); 7-6 bowl bound Southern Mississippi State (2008); 9-4 bowl bound South Florida (a 2007 Auburn loss); 6-6 non-bowl bound Washington State; or 7-6 bowl bound Georgia Tech (2003), but chose to include 4-8 Syracuse (2002). Feel free to add our subtract these opponents as you will.

As we can see, both Leach and Tuberville, while at Auburn, scheduled an almost equal number of patsies over their respective tenures. Leach played 26 patsies at Texas Tech. Tuberville played 25 patsies while at Auburn. If we were to deduct games versus patsies from the both coaches' overall records, we would adjust their record as follows:

Table 3. Overall Record – Adjusted for Patsies

	Leach	Tuberville Auburn	Tuberville Mississippi	Tuberville Aggregate
Actual Total Wins	84	85	25	110
Actual Total Losses	43	41	20	61
Actual Total Winning Percentage	66.1%	67.5%	55.6%	64.3%

Patsie Adjusted Wins	58	60	14	74
Patsie Adjusted Losses	43	41	20	65
Patsie Adjusted Winning Percentage	57.4%	59.4%	41.1%	53.2%
Patsie Adjustment Factor	-8.7%	-8.1%	-14.5%	-11.1%

When you account for the Patsie Factor, Leach’s overall winning percentage declines by 8.7% while Tuberville’s Auburn winning percentage declines by 8.1%, and Tuberville’s aggregate winning percentage drops by 11.1%.

For the sake of not splitting hairs, I think it is probably fair to say that both Tuberville and Leach got a similarly nice bump in their overall records by deigning to play their fair share of patsies over the years.

Schedule versus Ranked Opponents

Putting the patsies to one side, what about Auburn’s purported superior schedule and specifically its more challenging non-conference schedule you ask? Didn’t Auburn, by virtue of playing in the SEC and its more masculine non-conference schedule, have a higher degree of difficulty than Texas Tech over the years?

We break down the schedule into three components

Number of games versus ranked non conference opponents
Number of games versus ranked bowl opponents
Number of games versus ranked in-conference opponents

Table 4. Breakdown of Ranked Opponents

	Ranked Non Conference Opponents	Ranked Conference Opponents	Ranked Bowl Opponents	Total Ranked Opponents	Average Number of Ranked Opponents per Year
Leach	3	26	3	32	3.2
Tuberville-Auburn	3	33	5	41	4.1
Tuberville-Ole Miss	0	13	0	13	3.3
Tuberville-Aggregate	3	46	5	54	3.9

In 10 years Leach’s teams played ranked opponents on 32 occasions – of which 3 of those opponents were non-conference opponents while another 3 were ranked opponents in bowl games. On average Texas Tech played 3.2 ranked teams per year including bowls.

In 14 years, while at Auburn and Ole Miss, Tuberville’s teams played ranked opponents on 54 occasions – of which, like Texas Tech, three of those opponents were non conference opponents while another 5 were ranked opponents in bowl games. On average, Auburn played 4.1 ranked opponents per year during Tuberville’s tenure. While at Mississippi, Tuberville played 3.5 ranked teams per season. In Tuberville’s aggregate tenure he played 3.9 ranked opponents per year.

When we examine Texas Tech’s schedule and Auburn’s schedule, we see that Auburn’s marginal advantage in the number of ranked opponents is a function of playing in the SEC and not an overly taxing non-conference schedule.

Non Conference Schedule - Ranked Opponents

During Leach’s tenure at Texas Tech and Tuberville’s tenure at Auburn, there was relatively little difference between the two schools’ non-conference schedules. Each school actually played the same number of ranked non-conference teams during Tuberville’s and Leach’s respective tenure.

Table 5. Ranked Non Conference Opponents

Leach

Tuberville-Auburn

Tuberville-Mississippi

2002: Ohio State (1), L

2002: NC State (12), L

2003: Mississippi (13), W

2001: Syracuse (16), W

2002: USC (4), L

2003: USC (1), L

No ranked Opponents

Record 1-2

Average Opponent Rank: 8.7

Record: 1-2

Average Opponent Rank: 7.0

Leach and Tuberville achieved the same record against ranked non-conference opponents. Tuberville’s degree of difficulty was slightly higher than Leach’s.

Note: All references to ranked opponents are based on end of season AP polls only.

Bowl Schedule versus Ranked Opponents

Over a 10 year period, Auburn played against 5 ranked bowl opponents while Texas Tech played against 3 ranked bowl opponents:

Table 6. Ranked Bowl Opponents

Leach

Tuberville - Auburn

Tuberville - Mississipi

2004: California (9), W

2008: Alabama (8), L

2009: Mississippi (14), L

2000: Michigan (11), L

2002: Penn State (16), W

2003: Virginia Tech (10), W

2005: Wisconsin (15), L

2006: Clemson (21), W

No Ranked Opponents

Record 1-2

Average Opponent Rank: 10.3

Record: 3-2

Average Opponent Rank: 14.6

As we see from the discussion above, Tuberville played two more ranked bowl opponent than did Leach. Tuberville had a better record, but Leach’s degree of difficulty, based on end of season AP Polls, was higher.

Ranked In-Conference Opponents

Finally, let's take a look at the ranked in-conference opponents faced by both coaches during their respective tenures.

Table 7. Ranked Conference Opponents

	Leach		Tuberville- Auburn		Tuberville - Mississippi
2000	Oklahoma-1 Nebraska-8 Texas-12	1999	Tennessee-9 Florida-12 Mississippi St-13 Georgia-16 Arkansas-17 Mississippi-22	1995	Florida-2 Alabama-21 Auburn-22
2001	Texas -5 Nebraska-6 Oklahoma-8	2000	Florida-10 Florida-10 Georgia-20 LSU-22 Mississipi State-24	1996	Tennessee-9 Alabama-11 LSU-12 Auburn-24
2002	Oklahoma-5 Texas-6 Colorado-20	2001	Florida-3 LSU-7 Georgia-20	1997	Tennessee-7 Georgia-10 Auburn-11 LSU-13
2003	Oklahoma - 3 Texas -12	2002	Georgia-3 Alabama-11	1998	Georgia-14 Arkansas-16
2004	Oklahoma-3 Texas-5	2003	LSU-2 Mississippi-13 Tennesee-15
2005	Texas-1 Oklahoma-22 Nebraska-24	2004	Georgia-7 Tennessee-13 LSU-16
2006	Oklahoma-11 Texas-13	2005	LSU-6 Alabama-8 Georgia-10
2007	Missouri-4 Oklahoma-8 Texas-10	2006	Florida-1 LSU-3 Arkansas-15 Georgia-23
2008	Texas-4 Oklahoma-5 Oklahoma State-16	2007	LSU-1 Georgia-2
2009	Texas - 2 Nebraska -14	2008	Georgia-13
Totals	7-19		13-18		1-12

Leach generated a 7-19 record against ranked conference opponents over 10 years, a winning percentage of 36.8%. The majority of those wins were generated over the past five years when Leach went 6-7 against ranked opponents.

While at Auburn, Tuberville generated a 13-18 record against ranked conference opponents over 10 years, achieving a winning percentage of 41.9%. The majority of those wins occurred during the six year period spanning 2002 to 2006 during which time Tuberville’s teams went 11-5 against ranked opponents.

While at Mississippi, Tuberville generated a 1-12 record against ranked opponents over 4 years, achieving a winning percentage of 7.7%. Mississippi’s lone victory came against #13 ranked LSU in 1997.

In aggregate, Tuberville generated a 14-30 record, good for a 31.8% winning percentage against in-conference opponents, slightly less than Leach’s 36.8% winning percentage.

Although Tuberville’s teams played more ranked in-conference opponents (3.3 ranked in-conference teams per year) than did Leach’s teams (2.6 ranked in-conference teams per year) , Leach’s degree of difficulty, based on the average ranking of his opponent (8.8) was higher than Auburn’s Tuberville-led teams (11.2) and Tuberville's Mississippi teams (13.2).

Conclusion

This discussion illustrates that the scheduling differences between Auburn and Texas Tech during Leach's and Tuberville's respective tenures are not as disparate as some might presume.

Although Tuberville's Auburn teams played a total of 7 more ranked opponents in the regular season than did Texas Tech under Leach, that difference came from playing in-conference ranked opponents. However, Leach's teams, based on taking the average rankings of its ranked in-conference opponents, actually faced a higher degree of difficulty than did Tuberville's Auburn teams versus ranked in-conference opponents.

Some Texas Tech fans hope that with Tuberville on board, Texas Tech should strive to improve its non-conference schedule to be more in line with a program like Auburn. However, this sentiment is somewhat misplaced.

As we see from this discussion, there was little difference between the football programs' non-conference schedules. Both programs also benefited roughly equally from playing out-matched non-conference opponents.

It appears that having learned the lesson that scheduling quality non-conference competition does not actually benefit a team's final record, ranking or bowl placement, neither Leach’s teams nor Tuberville’s teams have actually played a ranked-non-conference opponent since 2003.

-----------------

Next Post: Tale of Tape Part 2: Comparing Performance

Double-T Nation Daily Diatribe :: 03.10.10

2010-03-10T12:38:45Z

This Frustrates Me, But It Shouldn't: So yesterday morning I mentioned my birthday was yesterday and also the same day as our former Captain (thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes) and that DTN DD was published at 6:05 a.m. So then DMN College Blog Todd Davis mentions, at 8:45 a.m., Leach's birthday without so much as a link. Does anyone here believe that Davis had Leach's birthday penciled in on his palm pilot? I spend almost all morning every morning linking to various newspapers and news outlets and it's always frustrating when it's pretty evident that they read DTN and don't even throw up a link to acknowledge where they got the idea (which even got a link on College Football Talk). I don't get it, but that's just the way it is. I know that there's a good working relationship between the baseball folks at the DMN and various bloggers, but that sort of acknowledgment has never been extended my way. I find it incredibly frustrating, but I guess I shouldn't. The biggest difference between the DMN college blog is that it's just regurgitating someone else's work and there's hardly ever (except when Mike Graham makes an appearance - more on that later) anything original on the blog. Quite frankly, it's a joke, and to distinguish the two, see Columbia Tribune's Dave Matter for an example of how it's supposed to work.

Congrats Are In Order: You probably know the name Mike Graham, who is a student writer at the Daily Toreador, in part because I've referenced his name probably a few hundred times on DTN, but he appears to have found a gig working for the Dallas Morning News. Congrats to Mike, job well done (I realize the irony of ripping the DMN in the previous paragraph, but this is about Graham getting his foot in the door and that's a good thing).

Texas Tech (8-5) vs. Gonzaga (4-4)
Location: Dan Law Field : Lubbock, TX
Radio: Affiliates

Date	Start Time	Texas Tech Starting Pitcher	Gonzaga Starting Pitcher	Result
3.9.10	12:00 p.m.	Jay Johnson W, 1-2	Billy Moon L, 1-1	W: 9-7
3.10.10	12:00 p.m.	Scott Erzinger (0-0, 12.27)	TBA -	-

Outfield:
LF - Michael Reed (Sr.); CF - Taylor Ashby (Sr.); RF - Barrett Barnes (Fr.)
Infield:
SS - Joey Kenworthy (Sr.) 2ND - Nick Popescu (Jr.);
3RD - Justin Berry (SO.) 1ST - Stephen Hagen (Jr.)
C - Jeremy Mayo (So.)
DH - Scott LeJeune (So.)

*Click on the score for boxscore. Texas Tech series preview (pdf).

The Game: SP Brandon Petite (1.2 IP; 2 H; 4 ER; 3 BB; 1 SO) didn't work out so well, but John Neely (4.0 IP; 3 H; 2 ER; 0 BB; 5 SO) was pretty good in relief. The strange twist of the game was that Chad Bettis (2.0 IP; 1 H; 0 ER; 1 BB; 4 SO) pitched the final two innings to get the save (much more on this below) while Jay Johnson, the former closer (1.1 IP; 2 H; 1 R; 0 ER; 2 BB; 2 SO), also pitched in relief. We mentioned after this weekend's games to watch out for the errors and the Red Raiders had two more errors, SS Joey Kenworthy and SP Brandon Petite. Good work from the offense that was led by 3B Nick Popescu (2-3; 3 RBI) and SS Joey Kenworthy (3-5; 2 R; 1 RBI). Both 1B Barrett Barnes (1-4; 2 RBI) and 2B Garrett Totten (1-4; 2 RBI) each also had two RBI for the game.

The key to the game, though, was Neely, who relieved struggling starter Brandon Petite in the second after Petite gave up four runs on two hits and three walks in 12/3 innings. Neely allowed three of the first four batters he faced to reach base. But after Mark Castellitto tripled leading off the third, Neely retired the next nine Bulldogs (4-5) he faced, allowing Tech to get to the sixth with a 7-5 lead.
The Red Raider offense, which was shut down for the most part in Houston, put together two solid rallies, one when trailing 5-2 after the second and the other with the game tied in the seventh.

Nick Popescu tied a career high with three RBIs on a pair of bloop hits, a two-run double in the first and a go-ahead single with runners at the corners in the seventh. In all, the Red Raiders pounded out 13 hits.

There's one thing about Spencer that I like. He doesn't eff around if his team is struggling. If a player isn't performing, he's making changes.

Official Site Post Game Quotes (link): There's actually some interesting quotes so make sure and check them out:

Head Coach Dan Spencer on the pitching shakeups tonight and how well they worked: :
"They did for the most part. We're a work in progress on the mound. We are trying to find guys that basically will just compete, throw strikes and give ourselves a chance to play. We feel our strength is the way we play defense because we can cover some ground and do some different things. We feel like most the time we can score. We just need to throw more strikes. That's where we are addressing. We are going to try and ride the guys without getting a guy hurt obviously. But we are going to ride the guys that throw strikes. I thought John Neely was great. He made a lot of zeros. By moving Chad (Bettis) to the bullpen, allows you to use Jay (Johnson) earlier and that worked out. Having Chad in the game at the end of the game, is a good feeling."

Video Recap: DT's Brett Winegarner:

Game Today
#9 Texas Tech Red Raiders (16-14, 4-12) vs. #8 Colorado Buffaloes (15-15, 6-10)
Time: 11:37 a.m.
Location: Spring Center : Kansas City, MO
Television: Big 12 Network : ESPN360
Open Game Day Thread: 10:30 a.m.

So Many Previews: There's a ton out there and I don't have time to preview this morning's game. Thankfully, there's lots of good writers who care about this more than me:

Rock M Nation's Bill C. - preview of today's games
SB Nation's Peter Bean - Big 12 Tournament preview and Story Stream
Big 12 Hoops Evan Pfaff - on why each team can win or lose the Big 12 Tournament
Rush the Court's Patrick Sellars - Big 12 Tournament preview

Short Turnaround: LAJ's Courtney Linehan writes about the short turnaround for both Texas Tech and Colorado and C Robert Lewandowski talks about the need for this team to have better intensity:

"We didn’t have intensity, we didn’t have the wherewithal to do what we needed to just play," Lewandowski said. "Lapses in our mental game kind of hurt us."

Head coach Pat Knight says that it's easier to prepare for a team when you last lost to them:

"The one thing about losing is that I think it’s easier to prepare if you have to play someone again if you lose," Knight said. "You’re kind of ticked off and you did something to lose, so now you can try to correct that."

Game Attire and More Singletary Magic: DMN's Mike Graham has a blog post on why PK wears casual clothes to the games:

"I've got a contract with Under Armour," said Knight, adding that the Big 12 does not allow coaches to wear lapel pins, and so he wears Under Armour golf shirts instead of the company's lapel pins.

"I pattern myself after football coaches," Knight said. "You don't see them with coats and ties on the sidelines, it's a golf shirt or a sweatshirt. So I just like to be comfortable. If it was up to me, George Raveling did the greatest thing when he was at Iowa. They all wore sweatsuits, matching sweatsuits when he coached at Iowa.

"His whole thing was, 'This is what I wear in practice, why wouldn't I wear in practice, what I coach in 99 percent of the time, why wouldn't I wear that for games?' I think if guys want to wear suits, fine. But I don't see the reason for it. We're coaches. I'm not a model. I'm just fortunate enough that my university allows me to wear casual attire, but a lot of it has to do with Under Armour.

I've never cared about what a coach wears, so long as the team wins. Suit, polo shirt, cargo shorts, whatever. This probably stems from the thought that I wear a shirt and tie every day and I absolutely hate it.

Graham also wonders if SF Mike Singletary has any more Big 12 Tournament magic after his 43 point performance last year:

"I think it's always going to be in the back of my mind," Singletary said Monday. "Thinking that I have that in me, hopefully it can happen again against Colorado, and hopefully throughout the whole tournament."

Regaining Winning Feeling: FWST's Dwain Price writes that the Red Raiders hope to regain that winning feeling after losing seven straight and head coach Pat Knight was very complimentary of his defense:

"We play defense like that sieve you've got to drain the spaghetti with," he said. "It's just like holes all over the place -- like the dam that breaks."

That problem for the Red Raiders was evident during Saturday night's regular-season finale at Colorado.

Tech shot 50.8 percent from the field and scored 90 points on the road but still lost by 11 points.

That's because Colorado shot 58.8 percent from the field and converted 7-of-16 3-pointers and 34-of-48 free throws on its way to 101 points.

"Going over the tape, we barely even got one stop," Knight said. "And it's not just getting one stop.

"You've got to put two or three stops together, come down and score, and get another couple stops together."

Baylor's Drew and Recruiting Tactics: ESPNDallas' Jeff Caplan has an interesting article about Baylor head coach Scott Drew and his somewhat controversial recruiting tactics. Go read the whole thing, but I wanted to pull a couple of blockquotes from the article:

For example, Drew mailed a flier to recruits that showed a picture of him standing between former Texas Tech coach Bob Knight and former Texas A&M coach Billy Gillispie with a caption that read: "Which of these Big 12 coaches has signed a McDonald's All-American?"

A big, red X was stamped across Knight and another across Gillispie. That tactic, along with other negative recruiting mailers throughout the years, has infuriated some conference coaches.

Drew apologized for the flier, but only after Knight cornered him in a bathroom during Big 12 Conference meetings and told him the coaching profession doesn't operate that way. Drew hasn't surrendered his aggressive approach, a recruiting style that one source familiar with the conference deemed "the most negative recruiting in the country."

Snip.

At last year's Big 12 tournament, Texas coach Rick Barnes had harsh words for Drew, stemming from Drew's hiring of Dwon Clifton as director of player development, a newly created position. Clifton happened to be the AAU coach of Kentucky freshman superstar John Wall. Although Drew isn't the only coach adding AAU coaches to his staff, many consider it a shady practice. It ultimately did not pay off in Wall's recruitment, but Barnes made it clear he didn't like it.

"There's a line that he knows that he can't cross with me," Barnes told The New York Times. Asked whether he had anything else to say about Drew's recruiting practices, Barnes said, "I wish I could."

This is one thing that I've always admired about PK, is that he doesn't dip his toe into unquestionable recruiting tactics, but now that the Texas Tech program has struggled to take off, would you trade Drew's recruiting tactics for PK's integrity, or is this one of those situations where you can have both, integrity and strong recruiting, but it's just not happening right now with PK?

Talk with Brewer: DMN College Blog's Mike Graham has been busy as he talked with recent QB commit Michael Brewer:

Q: Why did you commit to Texas Tech?

MB: They're bringing in a new coaching staff, and I really like coach [Tommy] Tuberville and all the guys that he's bringing in around him. I felt like [offensive coordinator Neal Brown's] new offense would be the best for me out of all the options I had. I feel very blessed and grateful to have all the options that I had, but there was no other place that I wanted to be at the end of the day.

Q: Was it a tough decision to turn down a grayshirt offer from Texas?

MB: It was pretty tough. They wanted me to grayshirt which was, all it was, was coming in a semester late and be their quarterback in the 2012 class. Comparing all the schools that I had, I felt like Texas Tech was the best fit for me. It's close to home so my family can watch me every week, and I'm really excited to get to work with coach Brown and coach Tuberville.

Go read the whole thing.

Tubs in Midland: Head coach Tommy Tuberville was in Midland yesterday and CBS 7 has some video of yesterday's event. Perhaps RaiderDoc can give us a rundown of yesterday's festivities.

More Videos: The official site has some more videos, specifically interviews with Offensive Coordinator Neal Brown, Defensive Coordinator James Willis, Outside Receivers Coach Tommy Mainord and Running Backs Coach Chad Scott. There's no link and the video player is really small, but I'm just trying to get you through the day.

Texas Tech Depth Chartin' :: The Offensive Line

2010-03-09T15:00:30Z

More photos » Mike Fuentes - AP

Browse more photos »

Previously on Texas Tech Depth Chartin' :: The Quarterbacks :: The Running Backs :: The Receivers ::

Overall: First things first, Chris Olson will be a backup at just about every position. I only have him as a backup at left tackle, but truthfully, he'll probably back up every position and if any newcomer struggles, then I could see Olson step in just about anywhere and any position. I'd still consider right tackle and right guard to be somewhat of question marks and I feel fairly confident in left tackle, left guard and center. Still, this team will be replacing three starters for the second year in a row. This team went from 5th in the nation, giving up 1 sack per game in 2008 to giving up 2.38 sacks a game, good for 87th in the nation. For those of you keeping score, the offensive line gave up 13.0 sacks in 2008 and 31.0 sacks in 2009. For those of you who are curious, the Troy Trojans gave up 13.0 sacks in 2009 (tied with Texas Tech) and 25.0 sacks in 2009 (60th in the nation).

I think you'll see more movement in the backup roles and Tuberville has spoken about how he'd like to get players that are smaller than 6'5" or 6'7" to play the guard and/or center positions, i.e. 6'2" or 6'4", which I don't think is a big deal and might actually a bit of a benefit, especially considering that other than Potts and Sheffield, there's not a quarterback taller than 6'3" on the roster.

Follow me after the jump.

Left Tackle

Player	Ht/Wt	Year	Probable Role
Terry McDaniel	6-7/335	SO	Starter
Chris Olson	6-5/296	SR	First Backup
Kyle Clark	6-5/277	RS FR	Second Backup

Who Is Gone: No one.

Who Is Still Around: Terry McDaniel: By the end of the year last year, McDaniel was re-habbing his knee and getting back into playing shape. McDaniel played in five of the first seven games and despite being a redshirt freshman, there was no question, at least in my mind, that McDaniel could be the left tacle for this team for four years. McDaniel tore up his knee against Nebraska (I think) and I'm incredibly hopeful that McDaniel keeps all of the quickness he displayed as a redshirt freshman. McDaniel had the requisite size and strength to dominate this position for a long time and although I'm probably being incredibly optimistic, he could be headed to the NFL if he stays healthy (and there's no reason to believe that McDaniel won't stay healthy as I think this is McDaniel's first injury).

Chris Olson: Olson finished the year as the starting left tackle, but I think that McDaniel is the superior player. As mentioned above, I could probably list Olson as the backup for every position, but for now, we're going to limit him to left tackle. OL coach Matt Moore has stated a number of times that Olson is one of the most versatile players he has and has the ability to play any position, including center, along the offensive line. That type of versatility will get Olson plenty of playing time this year. The thought that there won't be one position that won't struggle probably isn't realistic, but what I do believe is realistic is the thought that if that happens, there is a senior who is more than capable of filling whatever role is needed.

Kyle Clark: Clark was the highest rated offensive lineman coming out of the 2009 recruiting class. He was redshirted all of last year as he was a bit small (weighing in at 267) to be considered for very much playing time in 2009. Clark still projects to be a very good lineman and Moore compared Clark to LG Edwards (discussed below) and I think he trained at left guard all of last year, but I could see Clark playing either position on the left side of the ball and considering Olson is a senior, I think the thought of having a player that is capable of playing either guard or tackle, I think Clark is the guy for that job.

Left Guard

Player	Ht/Wt	Year	Probable Role
Lonnie Edwards	6-5/290	JR	Starter
Blake Emert	6-5/287	SO	Possible Starter
James Polk	6-7/290	FR	Redshirt

Who Is Gone: No one.

Who Is Still Around: Lonnie Edwards: Edwards was by far and away, the best offensive lineman on the Texas Tech line last year, and yes, I'm including Brandon Carter. After not starting early, and not even seeing the field against Houston and Kansas St., Edwards went on a fairly convincing run of excellent play and absolutely nailed down the left guard spot for the next two years. The only thing I'll mention is that if there's another spot along the line that needs help, I could envision a situtation where Moore may want to move Edwards around, but I think I'd prefer to see Edwards simply stay at the left guard position.

Blake Emert: I'll fully admit that I don't know much about Emert. In fact, I don't think Emert has seen one snap, special teams or otherwise, during his time at Texas Tech. This is yet another reason why Olson is truly a backup at a handful of positions because overall, the line is pretty thin.

James Polk: I still haven't seen any film on Polk, although I know it's out there. Polk fits the old mold of the type of player that Moore wanted and although putting him here is the exact opposite of what Tuberville wants out of his line and Moore commented that Polk is the perfect size for a tackle, but the guard positions are pretty thin at this point and the way that Moore moves players around, I wouldn't be surprised to see Polk start out at guard and eventually move to a tackle position.

Center

Player	Ht/Wt	Year	Probable Role
Justin Keown	6-4/302	SR	Starter
Joel Gray	6-6/306	RS FR	First Backup

Who Is Gone: Stephen Hamby wasn't a world beater, but he was pretty good. When we talk about replacing linemen, I think Keown replacing Hamby is one position where I think it's at least a push, and possibly an upgrade. FR Matt Goetz was dismissed from the team at some time during the year. I guess this is one of those situations where I'm not sure if we'll miss him if he never truly made an impact, but Goetz's departure led the staff to have to move some players around because the center spot is a bit scary.

Who Is Still Around: Justin Keown: For whatever reason, I thought that Keown was going to struggle, but after seeing him play last year while Hamby was injured, I was honestly more impressed with the way that Keown played than Hamby. It's a shame that Keown will only have one year under center, and I have my doubts that Gray will see any time at center, but I think Keown is going to be a keeper and probably better and more consistent than Hamby.

Joel Gray: Gray is here out of necessity. I've watched film on Gray and he seems too tall to play center, not that he's clumsy by any means, but he's freaking 6'6". As mentioned earlier, Tuberville is going to start moving to smaller linemen at the guard and center position and I think that Gray is merely a placeholder for the time being. Gray played left tackle in high school, got out of his stance fairly quickly, and if it weren't for Clark, I think that Gray could be the left or right tackle of the future. And this isn't to say that I don't think that Gray can play the center position, because I think he has the intelligence to do so buat at this point, I think it's about being able to get low enough to be effective.

Right Guard

Player	Ht/Wt	Year	Probable Role
Mickey Okafor	6-7/310	SO	Compete for Starter
Deveric Gallington	6-4/350	JR	Compete for Starter
Aleon Calhoun	6-7/315	FR	Redshirt

Who Is Gone: Brandon Carter was a constant at the right guard for two years, although Moore tried him out at left tackle, right tackle and just about everywhere else, but the truth is that he was probably best suited to always play the right guard position. I think he'll be missed, but I think Moore will have quality options at this position.

Who Is Still Around: Mikey Okafor: Coming out of high school Okafor was one of those athletes that was more than just a big body, he was actually pretty athletic and just needed to add some strength and a bit of size. Okafor is also pre-dental, which means that he's already smarter than me. The thing that worries me about Okafor or Gallington is that last year, when Okafor needed to take over for Carter, he was noticably not as good as Carter. Last year, Okafor was only a redshirt freshman and I'm hoping like hell he's watching film from the Kansas game where he and Waddle helped QB Seth Doege get pounded in the first half. There's improvement that needs to happen here, but it's not as if Okafor doesn't have the ability.

Deveric Gallington: The thing that bothers me about Gallington is that he was beat out by a redshirt freshman. Gallington obviously has the size to play the guard position, but I'm thinking that he may not have the quickness to play. At the end of the day, I'm hoping that both Okafor and Gallington push each other this spring and fight for this job.

Aleon Calhoun: Ideally, I think Calhoun is set up to be a right guard. Just an absolute beast of a human, he's not the most mobile guy in the world and has a bit of trouble getting off the ball, but I'm hoping that with the emphasis on the quickness and conditioning, that Calhoun will be able to adjust smoothly.

Right Tackle

Player	Ht/Wt	Year	Probable Role
LaAdrian Waddle	6-6/350	SO	Possible Starter
Joe King	6-6/319	SO	First Backup
Beau Carpenter	6-7/275	FR	Redshirt

Who Is Gone: Marlon Winn struggled his senior year. I thought last year that he was absolutely going to have the opportunity to make a name for himself. Winn took too many plays off and it was Winn that allowed the hit on Potts during the Texas game. I liked Winn as a person, but when he took plays off, it was awfully detrimental to the team.

Who Is Still Around: LaAdrian Waddle: If Moore is willing to remove a redshirt on an offensive lineman then I'm intrigued. Waddle wasn't highly recruited, but he was good enough to pass over King. As mentioned above, Waddle struggled against Kansas, but he must have shown something in practice for Moore to take off that redshirt. He gets out of his tance incredibly quickly and if he's done anything over the offseason, then I'm guessing that he's going to be fine at right tackle. With most young players, it's about consistency.

Joe King: King is one of those players that I've seen, but didn't have a strong opinion either way. He wasn't awful in last year's spring game, but he wasn't great either. King is one of those type of players that's been under the radar and obviously passed over by a younger player. If King can't pass Waddle, then maybe King eventually changes positions.

Beau Carpenter: I'm very excited about Carpenter, although the one thing I worry about is that he put on quite a bit of weight from his junior to senior year. Carpenter has always had a large frame and I'm guessing that his ability to put on weight was more of a matter of maturation and hard work more than anything else. Not to mention, Carpenter is already on campus and going through workouts, which means he's already graduated from high school. It may take Carpenter a year or two to get adjusted, but there's something to the fact that he wants to get on to campus and start to work.

Double-T Nation Daily Diatribe :: 03.09.10

2010-03-09T12:05:16Z

Happy Birthday to Me and Captain Leach: That's right, your intrepid blogger and the Captain both have birthdays today. I always thought that this was some sort of karma that myself and Leach shared a birthday, but now I don't know what to make of it . . . just coincidence I guess. I any event, I hope Leach has a great birthday and looks forwards to those tremendously fun depositions scheduled for Friday.

Still Needing Pitching: LAJ's George Watson writes that although the team has improved (and I would agree that there is an upgrade in talent over two years ago) that this team still needs to find some pitching:

The only pitcher - and I mean ONLY pitcher - who has shown consistency on the mound in every single outing has been junior right-hander Bobby Doran. He's thrown three solid to outstanding games, including keeping Tech around in Saturday's 3-2 loss to Rice, and what does he have to show for it?

A record of 0-0. He's received three no-decisions in games Tech has gone 1-2 in, beating Michigan 4-2, losing to Washington State 6-3 and to Rice on Saturday.

Other than Doran, no pitcher has put together two solid outings.

Not Friday starter Chad Bettis, who has allowed 11 earned runs and 19 hits in 14 innings covering his last two starts.

Not supposed shut-down closer Jay Johnson, who sports an 0-2 record, a 6.10 ERA and who took the loss against Rice after opening the ninth with a walk and his fourth hit batter of the season that led to the eventual winning run.

Not Sunday starter Louis Head, who has thrown just 51/3 innings in his last two starts combined and giving up 10 earned runs and 11 hits in those two outings.

Watson's conclusion is that someone on the pitching staff needs to step up. Good read.

Tough Spot: DT's Mike Graham writes that due to this team's seven game losing streak, that it's put this team in a tough spot:

Okorie believes it was the result of a snowball effect.

"I just feel like we lost a couple, then a couple of players lost confidence in what they’re able to do," he said. "They got out of their row, they’re not doing what they normally do. I just feel like we have to take a step back and kind of talk to each other and just kind of figure out how we can get everybody back into their row."

Fortunately for the Red Raiders, their conference collapse only pushed them back to the No. 9 seed in the tournament where they will square off with their most familiar foe in No. 8-seeded Colorado at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday in Kansas City, Mo.

However, the losing streak has cost the Red Raiders almost all hope of postseason play.

Big 12 Tournament Preview: Basketball Prospectus' Kevin Pelton previews the Big 12 Tournament and had this to say about Texas Tech:

9. Texas Tech: The Red Raiders got off to a 9-0 start this season and even cracked the polls at one point. But Tech enters the Big 12 Tournament on a seven-game losing streak. Tech might still salvage an NIT bid with a win over Colorado, but the Buffaloes can say the same thing. Pat Knight's team was subpar on both ends of the floor and his genetic abhorrence of three-point shots quells any hopes of overcoming Tech's lack of top-shelf talent. The Red Raiders, especially junior John Roberson, actually shoot the deep ball pretty well. They just don't take enough of them.

Brewer Has Big Shoes to Fill: LAJ's Don Williams talks with newest commit, Lake Travis QB Michael Brewer, who has family history with UT and with Lubbock. Brewer, who intends on graduating in December of next year and will be on campus in the spring (much like Beau Carpenter did this year) talks about the new and <sarc>completely revamped</sarc> Texas Tech offense what type of quarterback he is:

Brewer said among the pluses to joining Tech is that Brown’s offense is similar to what he’s been running at Lake Travis.

"I’ve briefly seen just a little bit of film on some of the stuff they’re going to be running,’’ he said. "It’s a really fast-paced, no-huddle, hurry-up offense. Running the ball. Throwing the ball all around the field. Rolling out. Running the quarterback — not a lot, but just enough.’’

Brewer also seems well-suited for Brown’s offense in the latter regard. He carried the ball 114 times for 615 yards and 23 touchdowns last season.

"I’m a pass-first and then run-second guy,’’ he said. "But if necessary, I can run the ball.’’

Leach Scheduled for Depositions: A short article from the LAJ regarding Leach's scheduled depositions on Friday, but the big news appears to be that Leach's attorneys are wanting the school records of Tommy Tuberville's children from Frenship I.S.D. I've said it a number of times, I'm an attorney, but not a trial attorney, but this seems a bit desperate on Leach's attorneys standpoint, but I think when you make requests for things, you throw out the casting net and hope like hell that you pull in something. Someone from the DTN Law Review who is more than likely much more qualified than myself can chime in with their two cents.

Success and/or Recruiting Success Breeds Recruiting Success and/or Success: Football Outsiders' Bill Connelly (who also writes for ESPN and Rock M Nation) has a really interesting post about how vital recruiting success is to success on the field. I won't try to summarize this, but just direct you to go read the whole thing.

Recruiting on the High Plains :: QB Michael Brewer

2010-03-08T12:05:09Z

How about that? Texas Tech gets their 2011 quarterback in March of 2010. Not bad.

As an aside, please note that I've added the DTN profile link to each and every player on the sidebar widget as well as YouTube links, if available. If anyone ever finds any free video of a player, then please email me or let me know. Also, I've put a link to the 2010 and 2009 classes at the bottom of the widget on the sidebar.

The Measurables:

Michael Brewer
Position: QB
YouTube: Clip 1 : Clip 2
Rivals Profile N/A
Scout Profile
ESPN Profile 45 Grade
Ht: 6'1"
Wt: 175 lbs
Forty: 4.70
High School: Lake Travis (Austin, TX)

Links and video after the jump.

The Player Speaks: The Statesman HS blog, The Varsity, talked with Brewer, who naturally, had good things to say about Texas Tech and head coach Tommy Tuberville:

"Coach (Tommy) Tuberville is a first-class guy, and so is the rest of the (Tech) staff," Brewer said. "Over this process I built a good relationship with them, and I’m really excited about the changes they’re making and how everything is going to work.

And Max Hall of the Statesman also had this from Brewer, who is relieved that the process is over with:

"I felt like the program is on the up and up, and for them to be on the up and up from where they’ve already gotten means a lot to me," Brewer said. "It’s a huge relief, a nice burden to have off my shoulders, and I’m ready to concentrate on spring ball."

The Statesman's Randy Riggs writes that the Texas Longhorns did offer Brewer a grayshirt this year, but Brewer decided to pass:

Texas already has three young quarterbacks on its roster, including starter Garrett Gilbert, Brewer's predecessor at Lake Travis. The Horns also have a commitment for 2011 from quarterback David Ash of Belton.

"It was a great opportunity," Brewer said of Texas' offer. "It's a great program, and I have a lot of friends who play there, and the coaches are all great guys.

"But Tech just felt like a better fit for me. It's nothing against Texas. I grew up watching them, and I'm still going to be a fan except when they play us."

There seems to be a bit of a discussion as to whether or not the Longhorns really wanted Brewer and I think the Longhorns probably wanted their cake and eat it too in that they Brewer did meet with UT offensive coordinator Greg Davis and BON's Ghost of Big Roy thought that he was pretty close to eventual QB commit David Ash out of Belton, but apparently the coaching staff like Ash a bit better. The Longhorns are also a bit quarterback heavy in that they signed Connor Wood and Case McCoy in the 2010 class along with Garrett Gilbert. To sum it up, I think Texas wanted Brewer, but Brewer was too good to accept a greyshirt and I don't think Brewer should have accepted a greyshirt. Brewer has the talent and ability to play just about anywhere and I'm sure that Longhorns wanted him (he is a UT legacy), but just not bad enough to take him over Ash.

I don't know if the term "stole" needs to be used when talking about any commit. I think, given the scenario above, that Brewer took the best offer on the table in Texas Tech. It's a long ways away from next February (signing day) and aside from the prospect of Texas Tech having a top-notch quarterback in play, that's really something to sell to other high school players. Talent breeds more talent and Brewer looks to be pretty good.

Scouting Report: We have highlight videos below and from what I can tell, he's got good mobility and a decent arm. I'm always a little suspicious about highlight videos because every player looks unbelievable, so I try to look at the little things on a player, and in Brewer's case, he does look comfortable throwing on the run and although he's more on the side of Sheffield in terms of size, he's not afraid to tuck the ball and run. Brewer's throwing motion is a little funny, but it's not awful. Brewer was the offense for Lake Travis and his statistics for 2009 are off the chart:

Passing: 256 completions and 367 attempts (69.7%) : 4,450 yards : 43 touchdowns : 7 interceptions
Rushing: 114 rushing attempts : 615 yards : 5.39 average : 23 touchdowns

Video:

The 2011 Class:

Position	Commitment
QB	Michael Brewer (6-1/175)
RB	-
WR	Javares McRoy (5-9/165)
OL	-
DL	-
LB	Devon Hocutt (6-0/260)
DB	-

Michael, welcome to Texas Tech and Git Your Guns Up!

Double-T Nation Daily Diatribe :: 03.08.10

2010-03-08T11:52:49Z

Texas Tech (7-5) vs. TCU, Rice and Houston
Location: Minute Maid Park : Houston, TX
Radio: Affiliates

Date	Start Time	Texas Tech Starting Pitcher	Opponent Starting Pitcher	Result
3.5.10	12:00 p.m.	Chad Bettis L, 2-1	Steven Maxwell-TCU W, 3-0	L: 2-11
3.6.10	7:00 p.m.	Jay Johnson L, 0-2	Matthew Reckling-Rice W, 1-0	L: 2-3
3.7.10	2:30 p.m.	Louis Head L, 1-1	Taylor Hammack-Houston W, 1-0	L: 8-15

Outfield:
LF - Michael Reed (Sr.); CF - Taylor Ashby (Sr.); RF - Barrett Barnes (Fr.)
Infield:
SS - Joey Kenworthy (Sr.) 2ND - Garrett Totten (So.);
3RD - Nick Popescu (Jr.) 1ST - Stephen Hagen (Jr.)
C - Jeremy Mayo (So.)
DH - Scott LeJeune (So.)

*Click on the score for boxscore. Texas Tech series preview (pdf).

The Game: Ugh. It's all about pitching and there's not a lot of depth of pitching at Texas Tech. Starter Louis Head (1.1 IP; 4 H; 6 R; 5 ER; 3 BB; 1 SO) and Justin Cooper (0.0 IP; 6 H; 6 ER; 0 BB; 0 SO) were absolutely awful. No one likes to lose games, but Spencer is trying to find guys that can pitch, some of it includes testing out young guys like Head, who struggled as a freshman and you hope matures, but Spencer has to find a third starter by the time conference play starts. I've only started following baseball closely over the past three years, but the one thing I've noticed is that its pretty rare for teams to have that consistent third starter, and those teams that are really good, have that third starter.

One other issue that needs to be discussed when discussing the pitching is that in the first three innings, the defense had 4 errors, and 5 errors for the game. Head, C Jeremy Mayo who had 2, and 3B Justin Berry had errors during these awful first two innings. Berry was replaced after the 4th inning and Mayo was replaced in the 3rd inning. I have no idea if each of these players being pulled as a result of shoddy defense, but I'm guessing there's something to this.

LF Michael Reed (2-4; 3 RBI; 2 BB) and SS Joey Kenworthy (2-4; 1 RBI; 2 BB) led the offense. The biggest problem yesterday was that 1B Barrett Barnes (0-5) and DH Scott LeJeune (1-5; 1 RBI) didn't fare very well in the middle of the Texas Tech lineup.

Recaps: DT's Adam Coleman has the recap, but nothing from yesterday's game.

Roberson and Singletary, All-Big 12 Honorable Mention: LAJ's Courtney Linehan and DT's Mike Graham both write about PG John Roberson and SF Mike Singletary being named to the All-Big 12 Honorable Mention of the Big 12 All-Big 12 Teams. Linehan talked with Singletary:

"We haven’t really talked about next year, not yet, just because we don’t know what the rest of this year has in store for us," Singletary said. "We don’t know what’s going to happen with the NIT, we don’t know what’s going to happen in the Big 12 tournament, but we do know we have a good foundation, we have a good nucleus of guys who will come back next year and show that potential."

One of the Losers: Yahoo! Sports' Jason King has the very typical winners and losers list, but of particular note is that head coach Pat Knight's performance is starting to gain national attention:

Pat Knight – The Texas Tech coach will enter the 2010-11 campaign under pressure after losing seven straight to end the regular season. At 4-12, Texas Tech only improved by one game over last year’s 3-13 Big 12 record. The final loss – a 101-90 setback at Colorado on Saturday – was particularly embarrassing.

Red Raider Hardball :: Texas Tech Loses to Rice in the 9th

2010-03-07T10:57:17Z

Texas Tech (7-4) vs. TCU (6-1), Rice (5-4) and Houston (2-5)
Location: Minute Maid Park : Houston, TX
Radio: Affiliates

Date	Start Time	Texas Tech Starting Pitcher	Opponent Starting Pitcher	Result
3.5.10	12:00 p.m.	Chad Bettis L, 2-1	Steven Maxwell-TCU W, 3-0	L: 2-11
3.6.10	7:00 p.m.	Jay Johnson L, 0-2	Matthew Reckling-Rice W, 1-0	L: 2-3
3.7.10	2:30 p.m.	TBA -	TBA-Houston -	-

Outfield:
LF - Michael Reed (Sr.); CF - Taylor Ashby (Sr.); RF - Barrett Barnes (Fr.)
Infield:
SS - Joey Kenworthy (Sr.) 2ND - Garrett Totten (So.);
3RD - Nick Popescu (Jr.) 1ST - Stephen Hagen (Jr.)
C - Jeremy Mayo (So.)
DH - Scott LeJeune (So.)

*Click on the score for boxscore. Texas Tech series preview (pdf).

The Game: A tough, well-played game where the starting pitcher only gives up 2 runs in over 7 innings. It's a loss, a tough loss in the 9th inning, but I'll take a tough competitive performance in non-conference play. Still, this team needs a win today against Houston. SP Bobby Doran (7.0 IP; 7 H; 2 ER; 0 BB; 5 SO) was tremendous from the mound, but the bullpen gave up the lead in the 9th inning as closer Jay Johnson (1.2 IP; 1 H; 1 ER; 2 BB; 2 SO) lost his second game of the year. The only worrisome part is that Johnson is supposed to be this team's closer and I hope that he's learning from his mistakes. At the heart of Johnson's problems was starting off the 9th inning by issuing a walk, hitting a batter, and then Rice manufactured a run. The offense was even more quiet than it was yesterday, managing only two hits for the game. Little used RF Bonham Hough (1-4; 2 RBI; 1 R; 1 HR) homered with CF Taylor Ashby on base for Texas Tech's only runs of the game.

Recaps: LAJ's George Watson has the recap:

Trailing 2-0, Tech tied the game in the seventh when senior outfielder Bonham Hough crushed a two-run home run to left after senior outfielder Taylor Ashby drew a two-out walk. The Red Raiders then put the go-ahead run at third with less than one out when senior shorstop Joey Kenworthy walked, stole second and went to third on a wild pitch.
But Rice reliever Craig Manuel rallied to end the threat by striking out sophomore designated hitter Scott LeJeune and getting junior catcher Jeremy Mayo to pop up to end the inning. Rice then got the go-ahead run in the ninth against Tech closer Jay Johnson (0-2). The junior left-hander gave up a leadoff walk to Jeremy Rathjen and hit Anthony Rendon. Chad Mozingo then hit into a fielder’s choice that erased Rendon and kept the double play in order, but Hague fisted an inside pitch from Johnson just over the infield into shallow left to score Rathjen.

The loss wasted another solid performance by Tech starter Bobby Doran, who took his third straight no-decision in as many starts.

Official Site Post Game Quotes (link):

Head Coach Dan Spencer Opening Statement:
That's a tough game to lose. We got back in the game and we had a runner on third in the eighth with less than two outs and had the guy we wanted hitting and their guy made a pitch and our guy struck out. We didn't get a lot of hits. We had some opportunities because I thought we were patient with their left-hander and got some walks and had some runners on base.
We gave ourselves some opportunities to maybe lose some battles early but win the war in the end and we just didn't finish it outside of Bonham (Hough) really jumping a ball and really getting us going, getting us even. Offensively, we were average at best, but we really pitched well. Bobby (Doran) gave us a chance to win and Jay kept us in the game in the eighth and it came down to giving them a couple of free bases in the ninth and a bloop single makes us pay.

SS Joey Kenworthy on the level of competition at the Houston College Classic::
I think what we saw was that's the difference between being good and being great. Spence told us in the postgame talk that you can be good if you want, but if you want to be great you have to win late in ballgames and be clutch in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings like they did.

"Our problem is we had chances to cut into stuff and we either made a bad play or a dumb play,"...

2010-03-07T10:35:27Z

"Our problem is we had chances to cut into stuff and we either made a bad play or a dumb play," Tech coach Pat Knight said. "… That’s just been the M.O. for three weeks."

This time the result was a 101-90 loss to Colorado, the Red Raiders’ seventh consecutive loss. It locks in Tech as the No. 9 team in the Big 12 Conference Tournament, with a rematch against Colorado scheduled for 11:30 a.m. Wednesday.

Knight assumed all responsibility for the string of losses, but had no explanation for what’s gone wrong as Tech dropped from 4-5 in conference less than a month ago to its final record of 4-12.

"I’ve done a bad job for three weeks," Knight said. "I have got to figure out some way to turn it around. These kids have played hard, but it falls on me."

Buffs hand Red Raiders seventh straight loss | Red Raiders

Lots of interesting things also on the StatSheet page for this game, including the incredible lack of defense: Colorado shot eFG% of 65% and had 48 free throw attempts.

Again, the only player that cared was Nick Okorie, who finished with 34 points on 11 of 16 from the floor. That's 7 losses in a row and this team finished with one more conference win than last year.

Open Game Day Thread :: Texas Tech Red Raiders vs. Colorado Buffaloes

2010-03-06T20:00:31Z

GAME	INFORMATION
THE GOOD GUYS:	Texas Tech Red Raiders (16-13, 411)
THE BAD GUYS:	Colorado Buffaloes (14-15, 5-10)
LOCATION:	The Coors Center : Boulder, CO
DATE:	March 6, 2010
TIME:	3:00 p.m. CST
TV:	Big 12 Network : ESPN 360
RADIO:	Affiliates
GAME CAST:	Fox Sports
OPPONENT BLOG:	The Ralphie Report

GO RAIDERS . . .

Texas Tech Official Athletic Site

2010-03-06T13:53:28Z

Texas Tech Official Athletic Site

There are three new videos on the main football page: 4th quarter workouts; a Q&A with HC Tommy Tuberville; and some video of the RRC Luncheon and Dinner (Tuberville, DC James Willis, OC Neal Brown). Nothing earth shattering, but it's something.

Also, if you have Ad Blocker, make sure and turn it off as it was blocking my ability to see the video and it's only taken me two days to figure it out.

Singletary blamed it on too little motivation, which leads to an inability to end opponents’ r...

2010-03-06T12:52:25Z

Singletary blamed it on too little motivation, which leads to an inability to end opponents’ runs.

"When Baylor got on a run we didn’t end it, we didn’t hit that one bucket to silence it," he said of the Bears’ effort to eliminate Tech’s 11-point lead on Tuesday. "We’ve got to learn from those."

Colorado comes into the game having defeated Iowa State and Nebraska in the past week. The Buffs will lock up the No. 8 seed if they beat Tech, or fall to ninth with a loss.

That means Colorado is likely to end its regular season and begin its conference tournament against the same opponent, in this case Tech, for the first time since the 1984-85 season.

Tech, on the other hand, isn’t worried about history yet. It just wants the win.

"We’ve got to try to finish this season as hard as we can," forward Darko Cohadarevic said. "It’s over now. We’re on a six-game losing streak, which is not a great situation to be in, but we’ve got to finish it strong. We’ve got to try, at least."

Red Raiders prepared for Princeton offense, Colorado | Red Raiders

I'm too tired and beaten down to write a preview this morning. I hope this team can get a win on the road, but I think Colorado has some good young talent. The Open Game Day Thread will go up at 2:00 p.m.

Red Raider Hardball :: Texas Tech Falls to TCU, 11-2

2010-03-06T12:47:41Z

Texas Tech (7-2) vs. TCU (6-1), Rice (5-4) and Houston (2-5)
Location: Minute Maid Park : Houston, TX
Radio: Affiliates

Date	Start Time	Texas Tech Starting Pitcher	Opponent Starting Pitcher	Result
3.5.10	12:00 p.m.	Chad Bettis L, 2-1)	Steven Maxwell-TCU W, 3-0	L: 2-11
3.6.10	7:00 p.m.	Bobby Doran (0-0, 3.75)	TBA-Rice -	-
3.7.10	2:30 p.m.	TBA -	TBA-Houston -	-

Outfield:
LF - Michael Reed (Sr.); CF - Taylor Ashby (Sr.); RF - Barrett Barnes (Fr.)
Infield:
SS - Joey Kenworthy (Sr.) 2ND - Garrett Totten (So.);
3RD - Nick Popescu (Jr.) 1ST - Stephen Hagen (Jr.)
C - Jeremy Mayo (So.)
DH - Scott LeJeune (So.)

*Click on the score for boxscore. Texas Tech series preview (pdf).

The Game: I'm short for time this morning, but Bettis had both a good and bad outing. The good: he struck out 9 batters. The bad: he gave up 11 hits and 7 earned runs (6.0 IP; 11 H; 7 ER; 2 BB; 9 SO). If there's anything that this game should teach us, it's that although I think the program is making improvements, it's still a ways away from being elite. TCU is an elite baseball school and I hope like heck that Spencer can take this group to that point, but the program isn't there quite yet. With that being said, the offense also struggled, managin only 7 hits for the game and 2 runs. RF Barrett Barnes (2-4; 1 RBI) and LF Michael Reed (2-4; 1 R) led the offense.

Recaps: LAJ's George Watson has the recap:

For the first two weeks of the season, the Texas Tech baseball team had been lucky enough that the mistakes it had made hadn’t cost it too much in terms of runs allowed or victories missed.
But No. 7 TCU jumped on every Red Raider miscue Friday and made them pay dearly.

The Horned Frogs touched starter Chad Bettis for five runs in the first three innings and seven over six, then put away an 11-2 victory with four runs against the Tech bullpen.

Bettis tied a career high with nine strikeouts, but also allowed 11 hits and walked a pair in suffering his first loss of the season.

"It just wasn’t my day today," said Bettis (2-1), who will face the same Horned Frogs on Friday to open a three-game series in Fort Worth. "I felt good, and the zone was a little tight, but that wasn’t the problem. They were seeing everything well, they’re good hitters and were waiting on the fastball. I’ve got to make some adjustments by next weekend."

Tech gets 2011 QB

2010-03-05T23:54:18Z

Tech gets 2011 QB

Good to the QB out of the way, now they can focus on the rest of the offense.

Ed. Seth C: I'm working on a write-up that will probably go to the front page on Monday. Nevertheless, cuss and discuss here.

Wow. Espn Blogger Picks Tech LAST in Big12 South.

2010-03-05T17:01:30Z

Wow. Espn Blogger Picks Tech LAST in Big12 South.

Wow. Espn's Newest Clueless Blogger Picks Tech LAST in Big12 South. I though Tim Griffin was bad at times, but you have to wonder how these people get jobs.

Texas Tech Depth Chartin' :: The Receivers

2010-03-05T12:00:21Z

Sue Ogrocki - AP

View full size photo »

Previously on Texas Tech Depth Chartin' :: The Quarterbacks :: The Running Backs ::

Overall: I'm personally of the opinion that this is as talented and deep group of players in the Big 12. Biased? Absolutely. The entire receiving corps loses only one significant player from last year, Edward Britton, and returns virtually every contributor from a year ago. When trying to put together these depth charts, I always run into issues when trying to project past the top two players, and would even suggest that I have a problem projecting the top player. Take the inside receiver spots, H and Y. Towards the end of the year, Zouzalik was clearly the starter and Swindall was in Leach's doghouse for a bit. My rational for starting Swindall over Zouzalik is nothing more than I think that Zouzalik should take over Lewis' spot next year and be an absolute beast. Not to mention, I still believe that Swindall has a tremendous amount of potential and now it's up to him to do something with all of that talent. In any event, the point is that all of this is incredibly fluid, especially with a new coaching staff. I fully admit that there's a certain amount of futility with trying to designate positions for players when there hasn't even been a practice, but this is the sort of thing that's fun.

Lots of good discussion after the jump.

H Receiver

Player	Ht/Wt	Year	Probable Role
Tramain Swindall	6-3/180	JR	Possible Starter
Cornelius Douglas	5-9/193	SO	First Backup
Adam James	6-3/215	JR	Compete for Second Backup
Benjamin McRoy	5-9/160	FR	Redshirt

Who Is Gone: No one.

Who Is Still Around: Tramain Swindall: As mentioned above this could easily go to either Zouzalik or Swindall, but it's Swindall for now. I really like Swindall's ability to break open games and he probably has as much, if not more, talent than any receiver on the roster. Swindall has the potential to absolutely explode and be a game-changing reciever. I'm guessing that Leach's biggest problem with Swindall was consistency. It's about working hard to get open each and every play and I would imagine that Swindall had a tough time figuring that out, which is why Zouzalik passed him on the depth chart. Swindall was one of the players that supported the Leach termination and I'll find it incredibly interesting if he takes advantage of the new coaching staff or if he'll continue to think he's entitled to play because of the talent.

Cornelius Douglas: Douglas saw a few snaps last year, especially during non-conference play and was also worked into the quarterback position of the Wildcat formation that Leach liked to use, again early in the season. Douglas is a gifted athlete, but he had the propensity to drop passes (I think he also did this in last year's spring game) who played quarterback and in the secondary. Perhaps this is just a case where it's taking some tiem for Douglas to adjust to the receiver position, but he needs to find a spot on the field relatively soon, otherwise he could eventually get passed over by equally as talented players.

Adam James: If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all. No comment.

Benjamin McRoy: McRoy should greyshirt this year, or if some scholarships open up, it may not be such a bad idea to get him in the system. Ben shouldn't see a second of action this year.

Y Receiver

Player	Ht/Wt	Year	Probable Role
Detron Lewis	6-1/205	SR	Starter
Austin Zouzalik	6-1/181	SO	Possible Starter
Aaron Fisher	6-3/182	RS FR	Backup

Who Is Gone: No one.

Who Is Still Around: Detron Lewis: If there was a year for Lewis to shine, it's this year. This isn't to say that Lewis didn't have his moments, but his performance was just too inconsistent last year. You can blame some of all of the receivers troubles on the inconsistent quarterback play, but a player of Lewis' talents should not have a game where he only has 1 catch for 11 yards. I do think it's fairly amazing to watch Lewis' progression through the years as he has morphed from a nice sized reciever as a true freshman to the size of a running back on the inside receiver spot. At 6'1" and 205 pounds, he's about as big as Batch and now he just needs to play like it. Typically, this receiver spot has been played by Eric Morris and Danny Amendola and they've been awfully productive. I think Lewis adds something a little big different, which is the ability to run over players (at least he should) with his size. I'm torn as to whether or not Lewis' weight gain is beneficial as it may also be a factor in not getting as open as he did in 2008, but this is his opportunity.

Austin Zouzalik: Again, I could easily see Zouzalik starting over Swindall. Zouzalik truly turned it on towards the end of the year last year. In fact over the last three games of the season, Zouzalik averaged 69 yards and 4.6 receiptions a game. Slowly but surely, Zouzalik has forced himself onto the field towards the end of the year. One of the reasons why I think that Zouzalik stays at this Y Receiver position is that this is the same position that Eric Morris and Danny Amendola had so much success during their last year and I think that it may not be a bad idea to have Zouzalik, who might be one of the most dependable receivers, to continue the succsss at this position.

Aaron Fisher: A lot of folks projected Fisher to be an outside receiver because he had so many game-breaking plays in high school, but the current staff and the former staff both wanted fisher inside. Fisher was always known as somewhat of a technician in that he is a very precise route-runner and has excellent hands. I think that Fisher (along with Celestie and Ward) are somewhat forgotten, but they shouldn't be. Fisher has tremendous talent, the sort of talent that you're shocked he doesn't play sooner. When he hits the field, he's going to be good.

X Receiver

Player	Ht/Wt	Year	Probable Role
Lyle Leong	6-1/165	SR	Starter
Eric Ward	5-11/202	RS FR	First Backup
E.J. Celestie	5-11/174	RS FR	Second Backup

Who Is Gone: Edward Britton's reign on the X receiver position is over. This should be a difference maker at this position, and I'll be interested to see if Leong and the rest can make plays on a consistent basis.

Who Is Still Around: Lyle Leong: Leong actually out-performed Britton as Britton slowly devolved from a receiver that was supposed to open up the field, to a merely average receiver. Leong though does have plenty of talent, famous for that leaping ability that makes him a good target for quarterbacks and a tough cover for a lot of defensive backs. I think I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Leong's hands. And this isn't to say that Leong doesn't have his fair share of drops, but he's a darn reliable receiver that just happens to be an athletic freak of nature.

Eric Ward: When Ward entered the program last spring, there was quite a bit of discussion that Ward would immediately force himself onto the field. Ward's biggest criticism coming out of high school was that he was not a consistent route-runner and that apparently held him back this year. There's no doubt that Ward is a terrific athlete and a tremendous talent, but it sounds as if its the little things that Ward needed to refine during his redshirt year.

E.J. Celestie: This is the exact type of player that Tuberville wants. A speed guy that's probably a bit raw. The one thing that I noticed when watching his old high school film was that he's absolutely explosive, but he goes down awfully easily and doesn't run over players. That's something that Celestie can improve upon and I wouldn't necessarily look for Celestie to play this year, but he'll get a shot soon enough, perhaps in the return game.

Z Receiver

Player	Ht/Wt	Year	Probable Role
Alexander Torres	6-2/196	SO	Starter
Jacoby Franks	6-1/185	JR	First Backup
Derrick Mays	6-0/166	RS FR	Second Backup
Shawn Corker	6-1/183	FR	Redshirt

Who Is Gone: No one.

Who Is Still Around: Alexander Torres: One of the best freshmen in the country last year returns, but Torres has some competition. Torres isn't as gifted athletically as his competitors, but he is incredibly consistent. I think I'd prefer to have more of a game-breaker at this Z-Receiver, but Torres gives you a big target that seemingly gets open game after game. And despite not thinking that Torres a huge playmaker, he still finished with over 12 yards per catch. Not bad.

Jacoby Franks: I'm not real sure what to think of Franks to be honest with you. In high school, Franks was a true deep threat and the type of receiver that you would have thought would be taking over Crabtree's old position. But with Franks, is a consistency issue (I think I've said that before). He has all of the talent to be a difference-maker, but he's been passed over on the depth chart by Torres. I'm going to be very interested to see how Franks adjusts to the new coaching regime.

Derrick Mays: This is one player that I haven't seen a lick of video. What I've been told is that Mays is a world-class athlete with speed to burn. Legitimate 4.4 speed (which is very good). The one thing that interests me is that it appears that Mays hasn't put on any weight (the weight listed above is from the current roster). Maybe someone else can give some insight as to Mays' ability.

Shawn Corker: Corker is certainly a player that has the ability to make a difference. I don't know that he plays a down this year, but that's okay. I'm hoping that he absolutely tears it up on the practice squad. Aside from Ward, I think that Corker is the other young player that can eventually become a play-maker for this team. I credit Corker's commitment as a part of the Crabtree-Effect, i.e. that it was Crabtree's success that led Corker to consider Texas Tech.

DTN T-Shirts :: Round Three

2010-03-05T11:38:00Z

Round Two is in the Books: Congrats to TTUMAR and San Antonio Red Raider for their combined effort in producing the second round victory (round one went to ayleein) Here's the winning submission for round two:

DTN Store Open for Business: And for those of you who want to get a jump on purchasing some t-shirts, the DTN Store is now open. I'll be adding a widget to the front page, probably over the weekend.

Round Three is After the Jump: Again, vote for your favorite, and keep in mind that we'll do 3 or 4 total shirts. Same as last time, if I've missed a design, please let me know in the comments, shoot me an email or if I presented the wrong design, then I apologize in advance.

Option #1 - Tech Pirate

Ed: keep in mind we would have to purchase original artwork, but maybe this is something I can eventually get done.

Double-T Nation

Open Game Day Thread :: Texas Tech Red Raiders vs. Kansas Jayhawks

GO RAIDERS . . .

Post Game Thoughts :: Texas Tech Red Raiders 82, Colorado Buffaloes 67

Double-T Nation Daily Diatribe :: 03.11.10

Open Game Day Thread :: Texas Tech Red Raiders vs. Colorado Buffaloes

GO RAIDERS . . .

Tale of the Tape: Part 1

Double-T Nation Daily Diatribe :: 03.10.10

Texas Tech Depth Chartin' :: The Offensive Line

Left Tackle

Left Guard

Center

Right Guard

Right Tackle

Double-T Nation Daily Diatribe :: 03.09.10

Recruiting on the High Plains :: QB Michael Brewer

Michael, welcome to Texas Tech and Git Your Guns Up!

Double-T Nation Daily Diatribe :: 03.08.10

Red Raider Hardball :: Texas Tech Loses to Rice in the 9th

"Our problem is we had chances to cut into stuff and we either made a bad play or a dumb play,"...

Open Game Day Thread :: Texas Tech Red Raiders vs. Colorado Buffaloes

GO RAIDERS . . .

Texas Tech Official Athletic Site

Texas Tech Official Athletic Site

Singletary blamed it on too little motivation, which leads to an inability to end opponents’ r...

Red Raider Hardball :: Texas Tech Falls to TCU, 11-2

Tech gets 2011 QB

Tech gets 2011 QB

Wow. Espn Blogger Picks Tech LAST in Big12 South.

Wow. Espn Blogger Picks Tech LAST in Big12 South.

Texas Tech Depth Chartin' :: The Receivers

H Receiver

Y Receiver

X Receiver

Z Receiver

DTN T-Shirts :: Round Three

Option #1 - Tech Pirate

Option #2 - TTUMAR

Option #3 - TTUMAR

Option #4 - redraidersax

Option #5 - saber

Option #6 - merrik

Option #7 - bmaxw

Option #8 - bmaxw

Option #9 - TTPilk645

Vote on the first annual DTN t-shirt third place winner.