Competition at kicker

Some might have expected a slam dunk for Donnie Carona in Texas Tech’s kicker competition since the Red Raiders signed him to a scholarship coming out of high school. Carona might very well prevail, but senior Cory Fowler isn’t just giving him the job.

Fowler, who has handled Tech’s onside kickoffs in the past, converted a 47-yard field goal in Wednesday night’s workout at the team’s grass practice fields and was good from 35 and 45 yards in Thursday’s practice inside Jones AT&T Stadium. He and Carona mostly matched each other both nights, with both missing from 52 yards on Thursday. Special teams coach Clay McGuire said Fowler has improved since spring in multiple ways: Leg strength, accuracy, height on the ball and operation time. “We talked in the spring,” McGuire said, “and I told him, Come in, do your job and compete. It’s an open competition. It’s not Donnie’s a starter automatically.’ And he’s done that. He’s worked his butt off all summer, and he’s gotten a lot better.”

Fowler said this camp is different from the last few, because 2007 senior Alex Trlica had been the acknowledged starter in recent years.

“I had more anticipation,” Fowler said. “It definitely helped me focus more, knowing there was going to be competition coming in. It’s a job that I want, doing field goals and stuff, so it definitely kept me focused all summer.”

Carona has an advantage in raw leg strength. Because of that, he’s pretty much a lock to do kickoffs, McGuire said.

But he’s made a favorable first impression in other ways.

“Donnie’s showed a lot of calm and coolness right now for a freshman,” McGuire said. “He had one bad day, came back and was perfect the next day. He’s got a great leg, and he’s a pleasure to coach. He works his butt off. He wants to be great.”

Something new

Texas Tech spent several plays of its 11-on-11 team period Thursday working on a new wrinkle it’s shown this week.

Inside receiver Eric Morris lines up in the backfield next to the quarterback and takes a direct snap. Then Morris either hands off to a running back going one way or fakes and keeps in the other direction.

“TCU does it, but with their quarterback (in Morris’s spot),” Tech coach Mike Leach said. “We may discard it. We may keep it. I don’t know. We think it’s worth messing with.”

Game of concentration

Punt return men Eric Morris, Jamar Wall and Cornelius Douglas spent part of special-teams period trying to field the football while holding other footballs. Assistant coach Dennis Simmons threw up one football at a time in a punt-like trajectory, then the return man would try to catch each new ball while controlling the rest in both arms.

Wall and Morris were each able to catch a sixth while holding five. Douglas was able to control five.

Simmons said it was significant for Morris to get six. The Dallas Cowboys, who have Tech ex Danny Amendola in camp, also do the drill.

“Danny and Eric talk quite often, so they’ll kind of compete to see who can catch the most,” Simmons said. “According to Eric, Danny’s only gotten five. His arms are a little short.”

Comic relief

As they were leaving the field after practice, defensive linemen Brandon Williams, Ra’Jon Henley and Daniel Howard sneaked up on quarterback Graham Harrell from behind and made a playful show of beating him up.

In a scene out of pro wrestling, backup quarterback Taylor Potts, came running out of the dressing room – or from the other end of the field, anyway – to disperse the dirty defensive linemen who were ganging up on his buddy.

In brief

Freshman Cornelius Douglas is projected as an inside receiver, but with veteran wideout Todd Walker missing his fourth straight practice, coaches put Douglas at split end Thursday night. Wide receivers coach Dennis Simmons said it’s a day-to-day decision whether to keep Douglas on the outside or move him back inside. “I just wanted to see what he can do,” Simmons said. … IR Tramain Swindall made the play of the day Thursday, getting behind DBs Brent Nickerson and Anthony Hines to haul in a 55-yard touchdown pass from Graham Harrell. … S Daniel Charbonnet made play after play in spring practice, and he had a couple of interceptions on Thursday, cutting in front of FL Mike Crabtree for one. Charbonnet figures to start if he can beat out Anthony Hines or play key role as an extra DB on passing downs. … DE Sandy Riley made back-to-back plays in 11-on-11. He broke up a Stefan Loucks pass and tackled RB Harrison Jeffers for a 2-yard loss.