Red Raiders Football Notebook 10-14-2008
Compiled by Don Williams
Tech-KU set for 11 a.m.
Texas Tech’s Oct. 25 game at Kansas has been picked up for television and scheduled for an 11 a.m. kickoff.
The game will be televised on either ESPN (Suddenlink Cable channel 31) or ESPN2 (Suddenlink channel 30).
It will be the Red Raiders’ second straight morning kickoff. Tech faces Texas A&M at 11 a.m. Saturday in College Station.
Short film
Inside receiver Eric Morris came up with a new way to illustrate how little time Texas Tech had the football Saturday against Nebraska.
“Breaking down film the day after, it usually takes us anywhere from an hour and 30 minutes to two hours to go through the whole film,” Morris said Monday. “I think we were in there for 35 minutes last night, just the fact that there wasn’t that much material for us to watch.”
Tech’s time of possession was 19 minutes, 48 seconds.
Center Stephen Hamby said the down time the offense spent on the sideline made the players antsy, none more so than guard Brandon Carter.
“BC was about to have a heart attack, I think,” Hamby said. “I didn’t know what to tell him. Put on some more face paint, I guess.”
Copy cats
By controlling the football for 40-plus minutes with rushing and short passing, Nebraska stayed close to Tech and gave itself a chance to win at the end.
Tech coach Mike Leach isn’t worried about future opponents trying to copy what the Cornhuskers did.
“Those schemes usually don’t work real well, because you have to be able to be consistent with it,” Leach said. “Like anything, it’s got to be well-executed, and obviously, there’s nothing new about that.
“Shortly after they invented fire, they invented the notion that you keep the ball as long as you possibly can and try to keep explosive offenses off the field. But usually that breaks down, because if they fail on a drive or something and you succeed on yours, you’re going to come out on top.”
Views of the Aggies
Tech’s upperclassmen didn’t take shots Monday at Texas A&M, their next opponent. But they also didn’t tread lightly around the subject of the Aggies and their unique traditions.
“I’ve never been a real big fan of it,” Tech inside receiver Eric Morris said. “There’s a lot of them when they come marching in before the games: I guess the ROTC. I don’t know what it is, really – the fake army, which I don’t know if that’s a good thing to say.
“But there’s a lot of them, march around the field forever and all kinds of chants. I don’t know what it means, but they have great tradition there, so you have to respect that. Their fans get into it. It’s a great atmosphere to play in.”
Senior center Stephen Hamby said he’s looking forward to playing in Kyle Field, because he gets a charge out of fans “telling me I’m terrible.”
Hamby, who’s known for his humorous personality, figures the A&M crowd will take care of that.
“They’re supposed to be classy fans or whatever. They’re not,” he said with a smile. “I’ve been in their stadium before. They do the hiss thing. That’s about as far as they say they go. But I’d rather have somebody tell me I’m terrible than tell me I’m great.”
Hamby said he’s had a relative in A&M’s corps of cadets.
“My brother-in-law was in it, I think,” Hamby said. “Needless to say, he wore a kilt to my sister’s wedding. They’re just a different breed down there. I’m not too enthusiastic about their whole thing they’ve got going. … Every friend I’ve had go to A&M turns out different when they come back.”
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Regarding the comment by Eric Morris that the Corps at TAMU is a “fake army”. Check how many MEDAL OF HONOR winners have been from the TAMU Corps of Cadets and then “swallow those words, Eric”. From a 1960 TTU grad.
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John
Maybe you could shed some light on the corp? What their affiliations are and how maybe its different than an overgrown frat.
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John, lighten up man…you don’t have to take it personal…but they really are just a group of overgrown Cub Scouts…minus the training or skills of a Cub Scout…>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
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Hopefully TT players will realize that even though a&m is struggling that they almost had their rears handed to them at (home) by a struggling team. And this is a&m which is known to be better at home, and come up with the upsets at home. Regardless of the game of keep away that Nebraska played, they were one play away from beating us at (home). So far we have been lucky with how we have played, but that luck will run out when we play a team that is decent. At that time the team will actually have to play better, and what has happened to the defense, right now its as bad or worse than before Ruffin took over.
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Joseph…..”so far we have been lucky with how we have played”???? Come on man. Luck has had nothing to do with it. We scored more points than the other team. Stop analyzing a game with “luck”. We won, they lost. Are you even a true tech fan??? Or is it that you only follow the Red Raiders when we are winning?
This A&M squad has been out since they lost to Arkansas State…. With that said, a rivalry game brings out the fight into any team. Tech cannot afford to take this game lightly and look ahead to Kansas. Look for Leach to have the troops fired up and continue his dominance over A&M………with no luck involved. Wreck ‘em!
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When was the last time Tech went to A&M and won easily?
Be ready for a fight to the end ……Wreck Em’ Tech!
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I went to A&M my freshman year before transferring to Tech (great decision!) and I can tell you that I have the utmost respect for the Core…There is nothing easy about being in the Core and they really do a lot for the university. The yells/chants are another story…Even more ridiculous than the grown men @ Tech home games standing, yelling and motioning first down! Maybe they should start yelling for every densive fourth down….Speaking of the defense, the problem w/ the defense (and yes it is atrocious) is not w/ the players but w/ the scheme/coaching. It is so predictable–Rush four and drop everyone else into a SOFT cover two zone. How about either mixing in a blitz once in a while or at the very least play some press coverage w/ help over the top. The way it is now, opponent’s offensive coordinators don’t have to guess @ anything that the Red Raider defense will be doing, the offensive lineman don’t have to worry about anything other the d-lineman in fron of them, having the luxury to double team our best pass rushers and the Qb’s pretty much just get to survey the field and pick the receiver that is most open. If you rush their decision making by taking a few chances & mixing up coverage, sure you might get burned once in a while but you are also going to be making some plays too and giving the offense more opportunities It is just so hard to phathom having a risk taking, exciting offense and having such a passive defensive scheme. They had better do something different soon on defense or they will be absolutely embarrassed by UT, OSU and Oklahoma and their curent #7 ranking will be replaced by an invite to the Independence Bowl! I feel better…Thanks!! Light up the scoreboard up in Aggieland and bring back a win!!
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45-35 … texas and ou gave up points…their defenses aren’t that good!
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Just a thought…
On 4th down immediately prior to the fake field goal, Tech was ahead 24-10. We hold Nebraska on that 4th down and we have the opportunity to take a 31-10 lead in the 4th quarter. Instead, they get the ball to the 1 yard line and score to make it 24-17 and we are in a real dogfight.
This trick play had more to do with the outcome of the game than “atrocious” defense.
Also, other than the 3 and out in the 4th quarter when we really needed a scoring drive, the coaches managed the game pretty well. We never trailed in the game and had little trouble scoring on offense. The game was too close for comfort but Nebraska executed very well on offense throughout the entire game. It is virtually impossible to go an entire game of dink and dunk ball-control offense without turnovers and missed conversions. Nebraska is to be commended for a great game.
And (Joseph) the defense is nowhere near as bad or worse than prior to Ruffin taking over because we lost several of those games at the start of last season. PLEASE REMEMBER THAT TECH IS UNDEFEATED (1 of only 10 FBS teams) We must continue to get better but the defense is not “atrocious” and the offense is not “lucky.”
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Lucky, means that if we had played Texas, OU, OSU, MIssouri, Kansas, or even Colorado in the first six games TT would not be 6-0. Do I think they have the ability to win in all the games mentioned above, yes. But any Tech fan knows the feeling of losing a game that was a give me like so many are labeling a& m this weekend. And yes I am a tech fan that remains a fan n o matter what, which means that I know enough about TT that the trend is to come out Gunnin, and then drop a game to someone they shouldnt ( hopefully this year that was Nebraska) which would mean that they made it through the usual unexpected letdown in a game or two. WIth that said the problem is not that the defense is horrible, though they are ranked 64th in yards allowed (right behind baylor) the problem is that Ruffin and the players are capable of much more. Look at last year the last 8 games, they were better with less talent then. Hopefully they tighten up and play some smash mouth defense. Wreck em Tech.
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WIth all that said. I hope they light up the big 12 south and close the mouths of all those that say Tech will never be a great team.
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