Raiders will need turbo power now
By Don Williams | AVALANCHE-JOURNAL
COLLEGE STATION – If Texas Tech football is like watching a video game – and some say it’s exactly like that with the Tech offense – then the Red Raiders have made it to stage three.
Stage one consisted of four non-conference games against non-BCS conference schools. Stage two consisted of three Big 12 Conference games against teams in transition – Kansas State under a third-year coach and Nebraska and Texas A&M under first-year coaches.
To no one’s surprise, stage three is a four-game stretch that constitutes a major step up. It starts this week with No. 8 Tech taking on No. 19 Kansas, followed by three consecutive games against top-10 opponents.
After Saturday’s 43-25 victory at Texas A&M, Tech players Baron Batch and Detron Lewis said they didn’t even know which team they played next, let alone that coming up were four games straight against ranked teams.
“We’re only focused on Kansas,” senior safety Darcel McBath said. “We’ve got our blinders on. We don’t see anybody past that.”
Nevertheless, aware that Kansas, No. 1 Texas, No. 7 Oklahoma State and No. 4 Oklahoma all were on the horizon, McBath acknowledged that the anticipation is high.
“It makes it easier to practice, and easier to do everything,” he said. “We’ve got something we’re playing for. We know everybody’s going to give us their best shot, so we’re going to practice hard every day.”
Most expected all along that the four-game stretch upcoming would go a long way in determining whether the Raiders could meet or exceed the lofty expectations that they have carried since they walked off the field at the Gator Bowl last January. Part of the challenge was getting to this point undefeated – without the Raiders suffering an upset against any of the seven teams they were favored to beat.
Mission accomplished.
But it hasn’t been a cakewalk, especially the last two weeks when Tech was taken to overtime by Nebraska and trailed at halftime against Texas A&M.
“Week in and week out, you better have you’re A’ game,” Tech defensive coordinator Ruffin McNeill said. “You better be ready to play, because any team can beat you, and I guess where we are now, we catch everybody’s best. Last week, we caught Nebraska’s best shot. We caught A&M”s best shot. So our kids have to be ready to catch every team we play’s best shot.”
The fact that Tech didn’t win convincingly either of the last two weeks registered with poll voters. Despite winning, Tech dropped a spot on Sunday in two polls: from No. 7 to 8 in the Associated Press Top 25 and from No. 5 to 6 in the USA Today coaches poll. The Raiders remained No. 7 in the Harris Interactive poll.
Tech quarterback Graham Harrell, who threw for three touchdowns and ran for two Saturday, said the Raiders aren’t taking their undefeated record and high ranking for granted.
“It can end any week, so we’re just concentrating on getting better,” he said. “We have a great opportunity and we’re on the road again, so we have to be ready to play.”
Tech trailed A&M 23-20 at halftime, but dominated the second half. Defensively, the Raiders gave up points on five of six first-half series, making enough stops to hold the Aggies to field goals on three of those possessions. In the second half, however, the Raiders gave up only 32 yards and four first downs, forcing the A&M offense into four straight punts.
Tech put together a long drive to start the second half and two more in the fourth quarter. All three ended in touchdowns.
“Offensively,” Harrell said, “I felt like both halves we played well. We just had some unlucky bounces the first half. The first half, everything went their way. The second half, we turned it around. Just stay positive. Things will go our way in the second half – that’s what Coach (Mike) Leach told us in the locker room – and they did.”
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Tech fans, there’s no sense in arguing about respect,
You get respect by earning it, and we’ve earned a shot at
one of the best seasons for our team, in many years,
We have not beaten a ranked team yet, HELLO!!
Now is our chance, with every win from here on out WE
WILL move up the rankings
All you can ask for, is a chance to be right there, when it’s all over…
NOBODY HAS ROBBED US OF ANYTHING!!
BUT YOU MAY BE ROBBING YOURSELF FROM ENJOYING A TRUELY RARE OCCASION
1976!!
HELLO !!
NINETEEN SEVENTY-SIX!!
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Red Raider fans….Know the situation…NOW is the time to play the best ball…PERIOD nothing else mattters …all the “prelims” are over…G A T A…..one play…one score…ONE Slobberknocker at a time….It all boils down to BLOCKS and TACKLES nothing else
.HEY DEEEEEfense..great 2nd half .. you gave up NO
points.. and very little yardage. it is amazing when a couple of three-&-outs do wonders for your team’s swagger…handle ‘em in
Manhattan….GUNS UP
NC HOMEBOY
World B Free
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I like how in the beginning of everyone who “knows” football (yeah right because they got it all wrong) said tech was bound for one of the BCS games, BUT now they have tech losing about four games before it’s all said & done. LOL! TEXAS was the team that wasn’t even mentioned to blow everyone away and now we have shown that we are truly #1. Tech is sooooo inconsistent and that won’t fly with teams that can execute like TEXAS. Go ahead & enjoy your victories these past 7 games because you all know deep inside that the losses are coming with the way tech IS playing. But like Leach said…”stay positive”
HOOK ‘EM HORNS!!!
#1 BABY!!!
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Goodson did not play most of the 2nd half for the Aggies.
That was a big factor.
A&M had receivers open down field several times so that is a huge concern going forward.
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Hate to look past Kansas, but unless Tech finds some defense (again!), Tech will get killed by Texas and OU unless the Tech offense scores absolutely every time they get the ball. Same old story, different year.
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Hard to imagine, but Tech actually made a half-time adjustment (or so I was told since I didn’t watch the 2nd half) and got out of that cover 2 defense!!
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Went to the game. Tech played awful the 1st half and A&M played well. I think at half time the teams changed uniforms and Tech played great and A&M faltered. Look out the aggies are going to be coming back and I think real soon watching them these last few games. Tech has great potential, but the A team has to come to every game and play for 4 full quarters. I would love to see a Big 12 championship, I think we have the players in place to do it this year, but they all have to work at 100% every play every game. GO TECH!!!!!
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Who’s gonna kick this week?
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Sailor go back to your own website you t-shirt fan. Wreckem Tech!!
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Sailor, you are a good example of why everyone hates UT fans. You go around pounding your chest saying “Look at me, look at how wonderful I am”. Yes, ut has had some big wins the last 2 weeks, but ANYONE is beatable in college football. Ut will lose to either Ok State or Tech, if not both. Go Raiders!
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Maybe Sailor is on the right website.He is LOOKING PAST OK STATE this weekend and that could be the horns mentality-OK STATE is already in the bag huh?Maybe after Saturday Sailor wishes he would have gone to an OK STATE website.But all of this is childs play really,TECH fans should just look at what has been accomplished so far.What gets me is everybody is saying TECH has to face TEXAS,OU,OK STATE,AND KANSAS.Well what might be the difference is >THOSE< teams have to face TECH also.FACING TECH this year can be just as feared…..There is nothing worse than a jacked up sports (newscaster) that thinks he has the whole season figured out.Maybe we need to judge some of these pundits and hold them to what they said later when they were wrong.All TECH has to do is play-PLAY HARD,and do your best.This year we will be fine…..I BELIEVE,,,,,DO YOU?
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1. William Freeman – they will be in Lawrence not Manhattan.
2. The Tech of years past would have at least 1 in the L column even if they were playing at the same level.
3. Sleepless in Plainview TOTALLY agree – Tech wants to be viewed as a tier 1 school – we have never been respected. No Nieman Marcus to cut our credit cards up for anymore. The only way to become tier 1 outside of anything else is to get some football championships – unfair but true.
4. Talking about respect and class. Tech has changed a lot in the last 15 years. More tradition and class than the mid 90s. I hope the students of today can grow up and stop demeaning the school with the way they have ruined the words to the fight song.
5. Tech, I am in a degree of separation I can’t explain. I am bargaining – please don’t let me down. Show me the best of your offense AND your defense and please, please find a soccer player who can kick a ball!
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Sailor,
Way to speak your mind, T-shirt fan.
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Before we talk about OSU, UT and Oklahoma, we first need to take care of Kansas.
Let’s not worry about teams in the past. This is 2008 football and you’re the team that will be remembered.
Respect is due, but don’t listen to the sportscasters. They are wrong more than half the time. Especially the guy who puts on the silly hats. He was wrong about the OU/UT game and many other teams…
Tech will need to bring the A+++ game the rest of the year on Offense and Defense. The win will come from the TEAM as a whole, not from either or…
O & D line, Linebackers, O & D backs – ends, and special teams. Bring it – baby… Bring it.
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If the red raiders think thay have a shot at the national title much lesst the big 12 title they will have to play way better then they have this yr so far. yes i know they are undefeated but if they play the way they have played the lat few weeks they will get burned in the next 4 games. im not knocking them i like the raiders but i have to be real on how they have been playing. you watch the raiders and then watch the horns and u see two totally different levels. it seems like the raiders are in slowmo compared to the horns. i just hope they dont drop off at the end of the season i wanna see them win and be national title contenders but they have to be betterthan they are now
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salior were did you get your t-shirt? walmart or somewhere. one of the reasons i hate the longhorns is cause all them bandwagon fans every since vince young. i live for the day when tu goes through a year like the aggies are this year! imagine all the fans that would just vanish to nowhere! if i was you i would wat until after texas tech plays yall to come on here you are about to be ambushed if yall dont watch your back you are only half way through your gauntlet. and watch out for the aggies yall havent beat them since vince
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UT fans are coming over to our site telling us they are going to beat us. Please, keep telling yourself that. The reason you are on our site is because this is the game that makes you nervous and it should. If Tech wins and we go to the national title game, the joy we will get out of it is the fact that UT lost. That is what makes UT nervous about the Red Raiders.
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I have been a TTU fan since the mid-eighties, even though I never went to school there. The away game against Kansas is THE indicator of how good this TTU team is. If RR beats the Jayhawk regardless of the point differnetial then I will say that a 9-0 TT would be greeting a #1 UT in Lubbock. I don’t think UT will lose until they meet us. Under that scenario I am certain TTU will down UT and become the new #1…
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The defense did perform better in the second half but they haven’t convinced me yet. If they play like that again, Tech doesn’t stand a chance against the rest of the schedule. Honestly, at this point I dont trust the defense.
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Being a Tier 1 School is determined by research/academics:
TTU Endowment – $770 million
Texas A&M Endowment – $5.4 Billion
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No defense…I know we have been winning, but this defense is not even good enough to get a split of the next four games. I had high hopes but I am just hoping for 9-3 or 8-4 now…….. I hate being down on my Raiders but I have not seen anything from the defensive coaching that indicates a better result. 5, 6 7 and 8 yards on first down on a pretty consistent basis is not a good sign with the level of competition coming up!
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Filemon I gotta agree with you. I dont want to say Im begin down on Tech, Im just more of a realist about this team this year. The offense is fantastic, but I dont trust the defense any further than I can throw ‘em for the remainder of the schedule. I think they can beat KU but from then on its going to be an uphill battle.
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Filemon – I agree and lots of others do as well. I will say that Tech will start a new level of play now. This is very typical of Tech to get up when then odds are against them. The secondary is our largest problem and will probably continue to be. I do believe that things will change for the better moving forward for the defense as seen in the 2nd half of the A&M game. The athletes are there but not being coached properly in my opinion. Tech needs to play more man coverage and less zone. Very dissapointed in the corners. Linebackers are adeqaute. The defensive line is awesome. Hopefully Ruffin sees the the areas that need improvement and moves some people around.
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It’s great to be the underdog! Now we can play in the present!
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I thought Jamar Wall was one of the better corners in the Big XII, No? McBath is a good safety. Is LA Reed playing one of the Safety spots as planned or is he out? Charbonnet? Is he any good?
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Like I said before, the game against the Jayhawk is THE indicator of how good TTU is. A win for us regardless of the point differnetial will tell you if we’ll be 9-0 when UT comes to Lubbock or 7-2 with the distinct possibility of going o 7-3 after UT beats us again. Our season is going to be made or broken in Lawrence, Kansas this coming Saturday.
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Besides the defense, it seems everyone has forgot SPECIAL TEAMS, if TT cannot kick extra points or field goals or cover kickoffs or punts we are in BIG trouble. How could we forget that Alex Trilicka was graduating without lining up a suitable replacement? With so many returning starters, how could this oversight happen. It just gives Leach an excuse to gamble on 4th and long on either end of the field and attempt 2pt.
conversions. The next 4 teams we play will be waiting on us to try that.
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OK lets think this through. Carona is having trouble with kicks, Fowlers is having trouble with kicks. La Cour is having trouble with kicks (punts) Hmmmm, All the legs are broke?? has anyone looked at the line, the snapper the holder?? we just keep on and on with the legs and not with the rest of the team that is involved with the kick.
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I wonder if anyone from the Tech coaching staff reads any of your comments. What in the ….. gives you the right to ask “if” this or “if” that? Who the …. do you think you are?
You guys are a bunch of back-stabbers. You are as bad as sailor; but then again, sailor admits he is from a different school.
I am appalled at your comments.
You !#$!#$ are as bad as all those broadcasters who think they know everything. No one should be asking “if” this or “if” that.
That freakin talk makes me sick in the stomach.
The reality of things is that Texas Tech is playing against teams that have the potential to beat anyone at any given point.
Simply because a team is not ranked does not make them bad.
USC was ranked #1 then lost to an unranked team. What do you have to say about that? Who is the better team? I can guarantee you that USC wishes they could take that loss back.
Look at what happened to OU when they played Boise. OU thought it was going to be a cake walk. Who earned their respect?
ANY FREAKIN TEAM IS CAPABLE OF WINNING A NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP. There are 12 games in a season and each one of the opponents is just as good.
Just freakin watch the game and enjoy it. The only fact anyone can predict is that one team will win and one team will lose.
Yes, I enjoy them better when Tech wins, but I always enjoy watching my team play.
The only fact that matters is WHO freakin wins the game. Sure, there are teams who have struggled in the past, BUT they would give anything to have Tech’s previous years’ record and rankings.
There is a W column and an L column. Whether the win was 1 or 100, whether it was against a team with a winning season or less than that, it does not matter. The same goes for losses. The only fact that is: a loss is a loss by 1 or by 100.
Yes, I would love it if Tech would win the Big 12 South and the Big 12 Championship then the National… IF Tech loses by 1 or 100 against Kansas does not mean that they will lose to OSU, UT, OU or Baylor.
And that is the only allowable “if” that I will allow.
Go Tech. If you win or if you lose, I still love ya!!! That’s a FACT.
and all you *(&%^ can go to *(&^%$……………………….
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I know UT fans like to point out that they are the best. That is typical of them. Despite the predictions and how much other annalist write us off, it does not matter. This is why they play the game. IT IS OUR TIME! I BELIEVE. GO TECH!
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LMAO—-All the so called “EXPERTS” as they have been called, has picked Kansas over TECH???? I don’t think they realised how well that plays into TECH’S favor”OH YES THE UNDERDOGG” It could not get any better than this…….
TECH-55 KANSAS-17
OKSTATE – 35 TEXAS-30
The “COLT” is set out to pasture and next week HARRELL is praised by the media…typical huh?
If I was Harrell Id say “NO THANKS” Stabbing me in the back once is enough…..and just go out and win the rest of my games……..
NEXT WEEK IS PARTY TIME RAIDERS….
GO FIGHT WIN……….
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