Tech gets its chance in national spotlight
By Don Williams | AVALANCHE-JOURNAL
It wasn’t about the man’s fascination with pirates, for a change. Nor about neat things he’s done in Europe and Hawaii or his opinion on the latest release at the theater.
Texas Tech publicists fielded dozens of interview requests this week for Mike Leach, who obliged Dan Patrick, ESPN’s College Football Live and USA Today among others. That his Texas Tech team is undefeated, ranked No. 7 in the BCS and hosting No. 1 Texas was the reason for the surge in interest.
“Quite a bit of it, more than I expected really,” Leach said.
No wonder the college football world turned its eyes to Lubbock this week. At stake for the Red Raiders is a shot at the lead in the Big 12 Conference South Division, the program’s first 9-0 start since 1938 and a higher rung in the national polls.
“I think there’s a vibe,” offensive tackle Rylan Reed said. “We all have the understanding that this is something special. This isn’t something normal. We have a big opportunity in front of us. We have to make the most of it.”
If Tech can just win.
Against Texas, that’s been a problem.
The Red Raiders haven’t lost a game since the last time they played Texas, which was last Nov. 10, but they haven’t beaten the Longhorns in six years. In his 81/2 seasons at Tech, Leach has moved within nine games of the school’s career coaching victories record. He’s owned Texas A&M and broken through against Oklahoma, winning two of the last three from OU.
Does conquering the Longhorns represent a last frontier?
“You know, we’ve been close,” Leach said. “We’ve played them really well. There’s been a lot of years we’ve played them well, and we’ve played them better than probably anybody in the conference except for Oklahoma. And we’ve got to improve and see if we can play them even better.”
Under Leach, the Raiders are 1-7 against UT, the one being a 42-38 victory in 2002 when the Longhorns were ranked Nos. 3 and 4 in the major polls. As Leach said, they’ve been close other times – losing 43-40 in 2003 at Austin and 35-31 two years ago in Lubbock.
It’s a stretch to say that only Oklahoma has played UT better than Tech. Even Kansas State and Texas A&M, neither flying high, have both beaten Texas two in a row the last two years.
Leach rejects that beating UT – especially now, with a national audience watching – would go a long way toward winning acceptance for himself, his offense and the program.
“There’s a bunch of people copying offenses that are similar to mine and I’m not copying anybody else’s, so I don’t think that’s really a relevant issue,” he said. “The fact that we lead the nation in offense, we’re top five in offense every year, I think pretty well speaks for itself.”
Leach’s one victory over the Longhorns came when he had a third-year senior starter at quarterback, Kliff Kingsbury, not unlike what he has today in Graham Harrell.
To comment on this story:
don.williams@lubbockonline.com 766-8734
jeff.walker@lubbockonline.com 766-8735
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Respect and Fear are two different things, TT will have the opportunity to put fear in the heart of the Long Horns today. TT D is mean enough and deep enough to set the stage for a perfect storm in lubbock. Greatness is knowing the that you have to go out there and just do it, putting fear and hesitation aside
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Greatness is knowing that ….
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I JUST HEARED LEE CORSO SAY SOMETHING GOOD ABOUT TEXAS TECH!!!!!!!!!!! UNBELIVEBLE
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How many times do I have to say this statement ?
There is no trophy given to the team that leads the nation in total offense !!!
A lot of teams have copied Tech’s offense……..but they don’t copy Tech’s defense.
It is a TEAM sport Leach !!!
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ttu will never learn defense, resulting in another loss for Texas.
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Who is Jeff & Mark. Commies? Maybe you did not see the stats. Tech’s defense is doing exactly what EVERYONE said it had to do for Tech to succeed: Hold the opposition to 25 points or less on average. The offense will cover. So both of you take your opinions elsewhere. You both are stupid freaks that do NOT know football, just how to spout s–t! Texas Tech is going to demollish Texas because they have been moving in this direction all year, and are peaking now while Texas is stagnant. Peak beats stagnant every time. These are two great teams, but it is Tech’s time, not Texas’. Tech will have this game in hand from the start and TU just will not be able to catch up, no matter how hard they try, because when they get there, Tech will gain a turnover or two to seal the deal. I thought this might be a really close game, with tech pulling it out via O or D late. But if the TU team is in any way as stupid as the two mentioned above, They will go down quickly and be dehorned before the 3rd Q ends. Welcome to the future of Big-12 football J & M. Texas Tech Red Raiders are at the top, where they will remain for some time, demoting Texas to also-ran status. The Tech AIR RAID TEAM will destroy the TU shorthorns, with the D showing finally that TU is NOT the real McCoys…. Bank it!
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LKP….I am not shocked the Tech Defense is holding the opposition to 25 points a game since the STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE was in the 90’s. Get real, A&M scored more points on Tech than they did Arkansas State.
Tech is at the top ? Based on what ?? Pride ??
Your defense is in trouble, and Leach knows it tonight.
Don’t worry, it will be worse next week against OSU, and then OU.
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Jeff
And you went to college where? ACC?
It is Tech’s time.
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AJ Staff,
please regulate these comments so this doesn’t turn into another forum where fans “cleverly” spout expletives by dropping out a letter or two. I LOVE Tech, and I LOVE Lubbock. I don’t want to have to screen the A-J sports section before my kids can read about our Red Raiders.
I’m worried about tonight’s game, but it sure is fun being in the national spotlight. Win today, and the spotlight stays right here!
Go Tech!
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Leach is headed for greener pastures, most probably U of Washington (it is all over the Seattle papers today). Then Sonny Dykes will be hired as head coach. Interesting times for Tech.
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