Holding their own

With the influx of talent that Texas Tech has gotten at defensive end, returning starters Brandon Williams and Jake Ratliff appear to be answering the challenge. If the season opener were today, they’d be starting, defensive line coach Charlie Sadler said Friday.

Sadler said there would “have to be a lot of progress made by others” to unseat one of the returning ends.

“The young guys and new guys have been a little slower picking up our schemes and stuff, but that’s to be expected,” Sadler said. “They’ve shown progress on a daily basis.”

Newcomers Brandon Sesay and McKinner Dixon have worked mostly with the third unit on base defense, but have seen first-team duty in substitution pass-rush packages. Williams and Daniel Howard have formed a solid 1-2 at right end, where Sandy Riley’s having a good camp, too.

Ratliff has had Brandon Sharpe and Sesay on his side.

Sadler said as early as today, he’s considering moving Riley to the left side because the right has been so strong.

“We have Brandon (Williams). We have Sandy. We have Daniel. We have McKinner. That’s too many guys that are being productive stacked at one position,” Sadler said. “So as early as tomorrow, I might go ahead and move Sandy over there to that left side.”

Among backups, Sadler said Riley and defensive tackle Richard Jones have done some of the best work.

Sadler said he’s been most proud of Williams and Ratliff for their willingness to help the newcomers make the transition.

As for their own games, Williams is expected to add another dimension to his game this season. He’s had 91/2 sacks the first two years when his pass-rushing prowess was his bread-and-butter.

“The biggest thing I’ve seen in him is it looks like he’s made progress on playing the run,” Sadler said. “He’s always been a very good pass rusher for us. Sometimes he’d do good last year playing run; sometimes he didn’t. I expect to see much more consistency from against the run than a year ago.”

Dixon continues to be bothered by knee soreness – he left Friday’s 11-on-11 team period midway through and went to the sideline to have his right knee iced.

Sadler said Dixon’s knowledge of the Tech defense from his previous year with the Red Raiders – 2005 – has been evident.

Sesay, on the other hand, lacks any such experience to draw on.

“Everything’s new for him,” Sadler said. “From day one to day 13 he’s made improvement each day, but he had a long ways to go when he came in. He’s going to need the full extent of this fall camp, and even when we start games he’s still going to be learning.”

Sounds of camp

After Brent Nickerson got beat deep by Mike Crabtree, cornerbacks coach Brian Mitchell had this for Nickerson: “Grab him, trip him, bite him, something.”

After linebacker Julius Howard got into the right position to make another play, defensive coordinator Ruffin McNeill pleasantly chimed in.

“Isn’t it easier when we work on it?,” McNeill said to Howard. “I don’t yell. I’m happy. My blood pressure’s down. I’m bragging on you. Good work, Julius.”

In brief

The team has changed its practice times for the next two days. The Raiders will work out at 1:30 p.m. today and at 3:30 p.m. Sunday. Coaches planned to stop the nightly 8 p.m. team meetings after Friday, so the earlier practices will give players a longer time to themselves. … S Jordy Rowland got poked in the eye on a play in team period and didn’t finish the practice. … PK Cory Fowler had an off day in his competition with Donnie Carona. Fowler missed right from 38 yards in special-teams period and narrowly missed left on a 40-yarder at the end of practice. He did convert a 48-yarder.