If you were at the Cotton Bowl pep rally, I think you could see that we weren’t really there. Our schools chancelor car was driven down the parade without him being in it. The pep rally was disorganized at best. No one spoke to the crowd. Nothing like the Ole Miss pep rally. I hear it was just the opposite. And we could sure learn alot about how to be great fans, man you have to hand it to those Ole Miss fans, they’re great. They have more songs and chants than A&M, except you can actually understand them. Hell, all we have is Raider Power and you have to admit that it gets alittle old after the 27th time. And lastly I personally was disappointed when I treated myself to a six hundred dollar b-day present and sat on the 50 yard line and watched a team that looked alot like the pep rally. Win or loose, I still love Tech and will always be proud to say that is were I got my degree from, but I can’t begin to express my disapointment in Tech over the last several days.

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4th and 4, running out the clock before half time, safety sack in the endzone, there were too many mental lapses! needless to add the personal fowls. Wasn’t a pretty game. I learned my lesson and stayed away from the Cotton Bowl this time. I think Tech can say good riddens to that stadium. If Meyer’s get a game in that stadium he should be fired on the spot.

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Huge mistake!!!!!!!!!!

…Not using our running game to give Harrell a chance. It’s Football 101…run the ball, so the defense can’t just pin their ears back and come after the QB.

There is no excuse for what Leach put Harrell through the entire game. I’ve never been so frustrated with Leach. It was Francione like! Even the best QBs to ever play the game get rattled if they have no time to settle in the pocket. The sad part is this year , we had the horses to carry the rock.

If I were Batch, at half time, I would have yanked on Leach’s ear and said “IF YOU WANT TO WIN THIS $&##% GAME, GIVE ME THE &%$?# BALL!!”

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WHAT SOME OF YOU ARE FORGETTING IS WE WERE NOT HEALTHY, CRABTREE COULD NOT PLANT, HARREL WAS HOLDING HIS HAND EVERY TIME IT GOT HIT, AND I AM SURE OTHER PLAYERS HAD DINGS WE DID NOT KNOW ABOUT, BUT ALL THAT ASIDE WE FLAT OUT GOT OUT COACHED. WE DID NOT USE THE RUNNING GAME, WE DID NOT USE THE MIDDLE OF THE FIELD WHICH WAS OPEN ALL GAME LONG, AND JUST FLAT OUT HAD STUPID PLAY CALLING ALL GAME LONG. FIRST AND FOREMOST WE DID NOT MAKE HALF TIME ADJUSTMENTS. IF I SEE A SWING PASS THAT WE DON’T STOP ONE MORE TIME I AM GOING PUKE, SO BOTTOM LINE I WILL NEVER BE UPSET AT THE PLAYERS I THANK THEM FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY TEXAS TECH HEART FOR THIS GREAT SEASON. ONE THING I WILL DO IS CALL OUT THE COACH WHO WANTS MORE MONEY AND SPENT ALOT OF THIS BOWL SEASON IN NEGOTIATIONS INSTEAD OF COACHING, MAKE SOME ADJUSTMENTS AT HALF TIME OF GAMES EVEN IF YOU ARE WINNING AND BE OPEN MINDED TO SUGGESTIONS TO YOUR WHOLE SYSTEM, YOU MIGHT JUST FIND SOMETHING YOU LIKE AND THAT WORKS. ONE LAST THING THEN I AM OUT, NO MATTER WHAT COACH LEACH WE WANT YOU HERE SO SIGN THE DAMN CONTRACT AND LETS KEEP THIS THING ROLLING FORWARD BECAUSE I DON’T THINK THIS IS THE END I THINK IT IS JUST THE BEGINNING!!!!!!
P.S. WE LOVE YOU AND WRECKEM TECH

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Those last 3 games were a disappointing way to end the season. Unfortunately the end of the season meltdown tarnishes the beginning. I have some suggestions:
1. Hamby and Carter should sit out at least the first 2 games and a ‘no face painting’ rule should be implemented for their behavior at the end of the bowl game. Embarrassing to say the least. Where is the dicipline?
2. Fire whoever was in charge of equipment. They were slipping all over the field and should have had better cleats/shoes for the field. That’s somebody’s job to get right and they failed.
3. Find a defensive coordinator. I like Ruffy and want him to succeed but he is failing. The defense has been as consistently bad as the offense has been consistently good under Leach.

Great first 10 games Raiders!

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Gotta blame the coaches for this one, plain and simple. Leach is out trying to find another job and our DC spent one month putting together the most vanilla defensive package I’ve seen in the bowls this year.

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Come on People. We lost a football game. The Sun still came up this morning. We will survive to play again. I have no doubt that Coach Leach and his staff did all they could to get the team ready to play. I am also sure that the team was up for the game.
Bottom line: We came up against a better team on THAT day. We might play them tomorrow and have the entire thing turned around.
Its over. Get over it and get behind our great Tech coaches and players. Have we already forgotten 11 wins including Texas and A&M in the same season?
Coach Leach, I hope you stay here a long time but if not, best of luck wherever you go. I just hope we don’t have to play your team. Harrel and Crabtree, and thge rest of this great team: Thanks for the exciting moments and all the good things!

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Come on People. We lost a football game. The Sun still came up this morning. We will survive to play again. I have no doubt that Coach Leach and his staff did all they could to get the team ready to play. I am also sure that the team was up for the game.
Bottom line: We came up against a better team on THAT day. We might play them tomorrow and have the entire thing turned around.
Its over. Get over it and get behind our great Tech coaches and players. Have we already forgotten 11 wins including Texas and A&M in the same season?
Coach Leach, I hope you stay here a long time but if not, best of luck wherever you go. I just hope we don’t have to play your team. Harrel and Crabtree, and the rest of this great team: Thanks for the exciting moments and all the good things!
Funny how everyone is suddenly a football coach!

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Well, we said it before, but it disappeared.
We sat in a very mixed fan base. Pretty much half and half. Everyone in our section was respectful of everyone else, and it was a pleasant day. The day didn’t end well for TTU, but they had their heads and guns held high to the very end, Thanks, Raiders, for a good game and good luck next year. And of course, HOTTY TODDY! That works either way. In Oxford we have a saying, “We may not win every game, but we’ve never lost a party!” Sometimes you just have to have a toddy and talk about next year. Lord knows, we’ve spent many a day in the Grove doing just that. But we had a great time in Dallas and wish the best for y’all in 2009.

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Raiders were caught reading their press clippings. Raiders never stop celebrating after the Texas game. Tech just assume they arrived and it showed during the Baylor and the cotton bowl. This season will be “What could have been Hotty Toddy”. UTAH did what the raiders failed at this year.

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The basic problem as I see it, a.) extremely poor preperation by the coaches, and b.) D-E-F-E-N-S-E………it was a “no show”.

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Leach was off attending award ceremonies and not coaching. He was looking for a job. Crowd noise was as pathetic as the unorganized coaching job, the O Line and D Line got spanked. Harrell played like he had never seen a pass rush. A complete breakdown everywhere, everyone. Ole Miss wanted it more. Play this game in Lubbock and we are motivated we win. Play it in Oxford and they win. We are awful away from Lubbock against Top 25 teams and we are slipping and falling down on real grass.

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They only place they can win consistently is at the Jones. Other than that they will most likely lose. Looking at this year, they beat four Weak schools to begin, then they beat K-State who was terrible. They beat an overrated Kansas team. They beat Nebraska at with a new coach, they beat A&M with a new coach and two hurt QB’s. They barely beat UT and surrendered a huge lead. They beat an overrated OSU team and got blown out by OU and barely beat Baylor.

Let’s face it, the UT game, the Nebraska game, the Baylor game, and the Nevada game could have gone either way. The common thread is that most of them were at home and Nevada simply struggled all season.

This was TTU’s best chance this year. It only goes down hill from here because Graham Harrell and Crabtree will no longer be here to save the day or pose a huge threat to the defense.

There is no secret in to beat the Raiders. You simply have to be aggressive on defense. You press the receivers and blitz nickel backs. Cover 2 man is a great scheme and Ole Miss executed it well against the Raiders. This is why UT, OU and Missouri have shown dominance over the Raiders. Baylor has come to this realization as well and that’s why they played TTU so close.

TTU needs a new D Coordinator because the 4-3 Cover 4 scheme has been exposed in the final games of the season. OU exposed it, UT would have exposed but their best receiver got hurt on the opening kick off. Baylor exposed it, Nebraska exposed it and yesterday we saw the SEC expose it. All you have to to do is run out of power formations and use play action. You can’t beat it in shotgun the whole game.

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TTU suffer from being able to adapt and adjust to what offenses and defenses throw at them from game to game. This is because the offense and defense for TTU are based on systems. The offense is based on timing while the defense is based on a 4-3 zone bend don’t break mentality.

You hit the nail on the head, they lost as a team becasue both the Mike Leaches systematic offense and Ruffin’s Zone defense got exposed through proper game planning on both sides of the ball by the Ole Miss staff. Kudos to Ole Miss!!!!

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I agree with Sleepless, seems like we coulda run more.

I thought Harrell & Leach always said “you take what they give you”. They sure weren’t giving us the pass.

Tech looked SLOW & sluggish. The coaches are going to have to blame themselves if they don’t blame the players, but this was B-A-D. A combined pie-in-the-face at the end of a nice season.

Leach said the boys were happy to be in Dallas, but he looked happier in Washington (state & city), Baltimore, & whereever else the hell he traveled. If he can’t get excited about being at Tech and Lubbock then maybe being our coach is not the job for him!!

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I love mike leach as much as the next guy, but come on mike, poop or get off the crapper. your delay in making a decision on your future obviously hurt the teams focus, you are hurting recruiting BIG TIME. This is the most critical time of recruiting, and you can bet your twisting in the wind is COSTING US RECRUITS.

make a decision either way-but make one!!!

GO TECH

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another point or two about leach dragging his feet:

he could have used the cotton bowl as a perfect opportunity to agree to an extension. what a way to get the team, alumni, and more importantly, RECRUITS excited about the future.

what is he waiting for? he has an offer at more than 2mm per year, and all the jobs he coveted are now gone. Time to show some respect to the university and players that allow you to make such a nice living. do the right thing mike. make a decision already.

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Haha! I knew Ruff McNeill would get the blame for this. Ruff has done a awesome job given the talent he has(or doesn’t have)WHAT ABOUT LEACH????? It starts at the top. Hell, more time was spent on his contract negotiations than planning for the Cotton Bowl. Either way, typical Tech season so I am not sure why all the rukus. I love the Red Raiders but let;’s face it, TEXAS TECH FOTBALL will never be a top tier program. It’s fun to hope and wish and live the cinderella story, but in the end, the glass slipper will never fit on our foot!

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TYPICAL TECH!

…and Mike, if you don’t want to be here, LEAVE already. We are growing tired of you and your defenseless football teams!.

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AMEN, tony & Sick and Tired!!!! Couldn’t have said it better myself! That Cotton Bowl game with Ole Miss was an embarrassment to Tech AND to Lubbock. It’s seriously time for Leach to move on!!!

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Alabama got drummed by Utah because they were still down in the dumps about losing to Florida in the SEC championship game. They had one goal play for the National Championship and lost it. Our goal was a BCS game and we were robbed as we should of went to play Ohio State not UT (a team we beat badly. The Officials did not call the block in the back against UT on the Punt return which would of changed the outcome and we would of won by two touchdowns).

It happens teams get down and out. But Tech and Alabama had great seasons. 12-2 and 11-2 are great seasons. Believe me both teams will be back with a venegence next season.

Coach Leach will sign and will have a great recruiting class for ‘09.
We will win the South and go to our first conference championship ‘09.

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On another note, there were quite a few TTU fans that were way out of line. I know, with 88K people there will always be some jerks but I observed no Ole Miss fans openly taunting, fighting and throwing bottles from the upper deck. The cops had to be called over several times because of it and it was an embarrassment for TTU, and Texas. Take some pride.

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I agree with WATHDOG113; if a few plays went the other way it would have been a different game; I was there and the Tech crowd was loud. If Harrell had slid at the 20 and called TO with 2 seconds left and we kicked a field goal to tie it at halftime it would have been a big boost. Running QB sneak on 4th and 4? Harrell held the ball too long during the safety; Crabs should not have been on the field.

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Also Woods and Batch carried the ball 8 times?????

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Tech has a lot of loyal, informed fans. They are tired of Leach’s annual job hunts and ego trips. How many recruits do you think we have lost the past few seasons because of the uncertainty with the coaching staff? This poor Cotton Bowl performance is on the coaching staff. In additon to the motivation problems and distraction Leach created, the defensive game plan in this and in several other games this year stunk. Tech players and fans deserve better. Make a decision Mike Leach. Stop making yours and everyone’s job harder than it needs to be. If you want to be here, start showing some loyalty to the school that has already made you a wealthy man!

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Tech has never won a Cotton Bowl ?

Tech had a chance to win the last Cotton Bowl at Fair Park and yet could not close the deal.

I can’t wait to watch 60 Minutes to see what Leach has to say in his “I would rather be surfing” kinda way regarding coaching.

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Wake up folks! This is just a game and they don’t put the losing team to death. We have a fine bunch of young men and coaches who represent our university and I personally think they had a great year. Sure, I would have loved to see our team beat Oklahoma and Florida for a national championship but it was not in the cards. Our seniors have set a great standard for future teams and I wish I could thank each one personally.

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I agree, the loss is totally on the coaches. Leach said it himself in the article. Too many distractions: (1) Getting snubbed by the Heisman voting; (2) Getting snubbed by the BCS rankings and BCS bowl selections; (3) Not knowing, and STILL not knowing, whether or not Leach will be the head coach next season; (4) Post season awards and their dinners/ceremonies; and (5) Over inflated national media attention and interviews. On the last point, Leach has an interview with 60 Minutes airing today…I’m just saying it’s possible that even he was taken away from his bowl prep. Plus, the team did not practice until two weeks before the game??? And three days over the holidays, they were allowed to go home to spend time with family…now does everyone still think that we were as prepared as we could have been? How about win the game first, then celebrate the holidays!

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Looks like everyone stole my thunder today.

I can only hope Gerald does something about the sub par coaching schemes we have. We can only get second rate talent if we are playing second rate schemes. Yes, I’m talking about the defensive side of the ball.

It has to start with a real defensive coordinator.

We have seen what the interim can do.

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Yeah, and one other point…and don’t get me wrong because I love coach Ruff and the improvements he has made…but can we maybe try blitzing once in a while? Especially when your down by over two scores and the other team is just running the ball at will? Can we maybe mix it up and give them a different look that just rushing our down four and dropping everyone else into coverage? Oh yeah, and can we get some bigger DTs? Did you see the D line for Ole Miss? They were huge! Ruff, if you’re reading, please make this a focus. And for goodness sake, teach those kids how to tackle. A prime example is Utah…did anyone else watch the Sugar Bowl? Those guys were way undersized, but they moved like lightning and NEVER missed a tackle…it was incredible. Thats what we need.

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Yes the Cotton Bowl was a dissapointment but Texas Tech Football was 11-1 the best year ever. If we ever play Old Miss again Guns Up Red Raiders. Justin Bradley thanks for the honor of seeing you Cheer for three years with the Spirit Squad. We are so very proud of you Love Mom and Dad

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Next season looks great!
* denotes played in ‘08

RB=* Baron Batch
QB= Taylor Potts
WR= *Tramain Swindle, *Detron Lewis, *Lyle Leong, *Edward Britton
OL= *Marlon Winn, *Chris Olson,*Brandon Carter, *Shawn Byrnes, Justin Keown

DL= *Mckinner Dixon, *Bandon Williams, *Rajon Henley, *Cobly Whitlock
LB= *Bront Bird, *Marlon Williams, *Brian Duncan
DB=De’Shon Sanders,*Jamar Walls, *Brent Nickerson, *Blake Collier

Back-ups :
Rb=*Aaron Crawford, Harrison Jeffers
QB= Stefan Loucks
WR=*Todd Walker,*Jacoby Franks,* Adam James, *Adrain Reese
OL=Joe King, Deveric Gallington, Blake Emert, Lonnie Edwards, Mickey Okafor

DL=*Brandon Sesay, Chris Perry, *Brandon Sharpe, *Richard Jones
LB=*Julius Howard, Sam Fehoko, *Victor Hunter
DB= Cody Davis, LaShawn Vation, *Pete Richardson, *La Ron Moore

We even are deeper than this. This is my quess only

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I’m glad to hear that some other fans are upset about the Cotton Bowl showing. I turned it off in disgust with a couple of minutes left.

From most of what I’vebeen hearing around town, Tech had already won its REAL bowl game – the Raiders beat TEXAS. To far too many Tech fans, it’s still a one-game season: beat TEXAS and anything else is OK, down to and including being 1-10 – as long as the one win is against TEXAS.

We have historically played poorly after a win over TEXAS; this year, we managed to play well against OK State the next week, probably because the coaches stressed that particular thing – playing well after beating TEXAS.

What’s most frustrating to me is that the Raiders show us a tantalizing glimpse of just how good they CAN be by playing an excellent game against TEXAS; then, the point made that they can play well, go downhill from there.

I realize that this is heresy in Lubbock, but I think we’d have been better off and in a better frame of mind to play football if we’d LOST to TEXAS. As long as fans define the Raider season by one game, we’re going to be let down late.

Don’t count out Seth Doege at QB next year; he ran ahead of Potts a bit more than 1/2 the time during practices.

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Well the Cotton Bowl was a clear representation of what we will get with the tech football team until changes are made! It all starts with our administartion and trickles down from there… When you continually hire rivals schools alum to run your school this is what you can expect? I challenge everyone reading this to lookinto the resumes of the “people in charge” at tech? a lot of them are great people, but as great the strides have been over the last 12 years or so, we really have only become bigger and better in lubbock and texas tech circles around the nation? We have not accomplished anything more than what we did with spike dykes? and he wasnt asking to be one of the highest paid coaches in the conference? I hope the powers that be are able to make changes to the contract they offered him!(although not likely). Mike leach is nothing more than an offensive coordinator, and until he changes his mentality and care a little about his defense we will be nothing more than, well, what you saw in the cotton bowl…… If he signs and stays, Mike will the one of the most overpaid and overhyped HEAD COACHES in the country! and he will be living in one of the most inexpensive places in the country to live and be in one of the smallest markets at a school that is farely young in comparison to its larger brothers and sisters who we are trying to compete with and beat! It isnt fair to lubbock, the school, or the alum to pay him this much before he has won anything big? He hasnt even won our division outright!!!
1 out of 10 yrs you have a fluke season,
overconfident fans hyping up there team,
upset one or two teams a year….
end up with 3-6 losses a yr(this yr being the exception)
Ruffin Mcneill is horrible and tech fans and the school deserve better!!! IF he continues to stay as our Defensive Coordinator, I can count on at least 20 people not buying season tix next yr! And i guarantee you they will go up yet again!!! Why?? anywho… this is getting long winded so i just wanted vent a little!

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Happy we had such a great overall season but man, I am worn out by the way we finished. I don’t claim to understand the mental aspect of the game but it’s obvious this team never recovered after the first Q of the OU game in Norman. We mailed our season in that night so overly devastated by the fact that our best opportunity to go the distance (bigxii and national title) came to an unbelievable screeching halt. I think some of that is on the coaches and some is on the inexperience of the players and program for that matter.

I was dissapointed in the effort by Harrell not understanding how to manage the game in Dallas: 1) sneak on fourth down and FOUR? come on…2) come under center on the 1 yard line instead of staring in the ‘gun if you are going to throw. 3) wasting so much game clock in the 4th Q with his lazy approach to the line rather then getting up there and snapping the ball? 4) stepping out of bounds deep in UM territory to allow for a field goal to end the half would have been nice….

I didn’t like the fact we didnt run the ball cause Batch was playing well when they gave him a chance. And for goodness sakes, can we get a defense here? Why was Spike Dykes able to get much better Defense then this team. Year after year we watch the other team gobble up huge chunks of yardage on the ground. It cannot be impossible to get a top 50 defense here to compliment our stud offense. We cannot win with an “outscore them” gameplan year after year. Not in this conference, not in the south division.

Again, great things to take from the year though. I hope it helps us continue to build momentum cause I like what I am seeing in the program in a lot of ways.

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on another note, It was apparent that Tech has no traditions or unique gameday activities if you went to the cotton bowl? Ole mis was in another league in those respects and i can only imagine what the rest of the SEC teams are like? you cant even hear our peashooters anymore thanks to Dr David Smith!!! and what ever happened to the ROTC cannon?? Tech’s slogan is “get your guns up”, shouldn’t our “guns” be intimidating? You cant even hear them anymore? Lets open our minds and start some new traditions that are intimidating or at least impressive to opposing teams!! ARE YOU LISTENING ADMINiSTRATION AND CURRENT STUDENTS??????

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agreed….if I hear that “two bits, four bits” blah another time, I am going to puke. I know it’s one of our few storied chants but it’s lame. Raider Power only goes so far (during big moments of a huge game).

I did like our Band embracing the Pirate theme. That was pretty cool. I think it happens to fit our team pretty well and could be something to build on frankly!

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Tech scored enough points to win the game the problem which it always has been under Leach is defense. Ole Miss started running through Tech like OU did. The story won’t change next year or the year after til Tech finally gets some resemblance of a defense. I think everyone who watched that game saw which team had the defense. The defense has to help the offense. Tech can not rely on the offense to outscore all their opponents. The defense Tech runs depends on the other team making mistakes. That is not a defense.

Motivation was not a problem. Tech was out coached defensively. Quit making excuses.

If it is true that Ruffin said he was clueless…then that statement alone should give him his walking papers. A coach can not me clueless. He needs to understand what is going on and make adjustments. That clearly did not happen.

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I will still love the redraiders but im not driving 420 miles from east texas to go to a game if changes are not made… learned my lesson at the cotton bowl when tech played usc thank goodness did shell the money this year… think i will check out some smu games this next year…

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Geez folks, take it easy. Leach came from OU and Stoops used his Offense to win a National Championship the next year. Only Difference is OU had a defense.

Leaches original coaching staff has been depeleted. Rick Dykes Arizona OC, Art Briles (HC Houston now Baylor), Matrisk(sp) (HC Texas State) there are a few more that have gone on to coach at other places. That is due to the success of our offense.

Leach has built a top ten offense and we will continue to do so. But now he has the ability to build our offense. He needs to recruit some JC bad a$$ Linebackers that can run 4.3 and 4.4’s. U

Tech beat teams they had to this year. NU, UT, OSU, KU, those four teams were must wins and they did it. KSU, BU, A&M were teams we knew we had a W. OU was the only team we had a let down. Every team had a bad game… UT against us, OU against UT. This season was special and exciting. Leach and his coaches and the players proved we belonged as the number 2 team in the nation.

We were robbed by the BCS…We beat the number one team in the nation UT and were held out of the BCS Bowl game. We did not get the respect of the Heisman Trophy panel which was bull, because the year before they had six attendees. Texas Tech is on the map we gained valuable experience with the Cotton Bowl game. Coaches and Players. I can not wait until next year.

I’ll take 11-2 and the south conference championship this year.
Next year we will win it again and play in the Conference Championship in ‘09.

Leach is building this program to compete and the last pieces of the puzzle will come with this outstanding recruiting class that will be coming in.

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It was rough game. Probably outplayed and outcoached by Ole Miss. However, it was a great season for Texas Tech. A season that we Tech fans have dreamed about and wondered if it would ever come. Well it did come. Be happy! Of course, we want to see this continue. We want to see the team continue to build on it. But if it doesn’t the world will be okay. Tech fans are blessed to be able to cheer for a team that is in most games, have a chance in most games and WINS most games. I don’t where these people have the nerve to talk trash and act so foolishly. Many of these people have never played a down of football, much less in FBS. Its hard to win every game. That is why only 1 team out of 119 teams was able to do it! If watching Tech bothers you that bad, pains you to deal with watching an 11-2 football team, then move on. No one begged you to stay. I for one was proud to be at the Cotton Bowl cheering on the Red Raiders and will continue to cheer for Student Athletes who deserve to be respected for what they do; providing entertainment at a level and that very few of us could ever dream of reaching.

Go Tech!

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Fluke go F yourself you idiot.

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I see very few posters here willing to give Ole Miss their due. Anyone watching Ole Miss over the past seven weeks knew their defensive line would bring the heat. Check out their sack totals – and qb pressures if possible – over the second half of the season. As great as Harrell is, he can’t help but be disrupted by constant pressure. Ole Miss brought the same heat against Tebow at Florida. As for Tech’s defense, what can I say? A knife through warm butter comes to mind.

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I am so disappointed that I think I am starting to question my emotional attachment to sports. I was in Norman six weeks ago and was disappointed beyond belief then too. I just don’t know if we will ever rise to the elite level in college football.
Am I the only one who feels this way?
I know it’s “only sports” and “the sun came up this morning”, but I am tired of believing in a team that consistently lets me down. I have the utmost respect for Graham, but his Cotton Bowl performance was much like his performance in the first four or five games of the season. I can’t put my finger on it, but how many times against Ole Miss did our receivers have to reach behind or dive for a pass, rendering them unable for any critical YAC? Remember how many deep sideline route passes went out-of-bounds or were overthrown against Ole Miss? Reminds me of the first of the season when we struggled against E. Washington (I was at that game too) and Nevada.
And I won’t even mention the 4th and 4 debacle on Thursday.
Embarrassing.
Okay, maybe I will mention it. Did Graham get confused as to where the first-down marker was located? I’ve never seen a quarterback try and dive for four yards. I was looking for one of our fairly routine slants that we score on so often near the goal-line or even the asinine “try and pull them offsides cadence” that hasn’t worked for us since…..since I can’t remember when.
And who else immediately worried about a safety as soon as we recovered the fumble at our own one-yard-line? What was Graham doing under center, with a play-action call at our own goal-line? He had been under duress all day. Everybody in the stadium knew that Ole Miss was bringing the house. Do anything else in the playbook at that time except put Graham in a situation where more seconds are required for the play to be successful. I understand that “hindsight is 20-20″ and that I am no “offensive genius”, but come on.
And who else out there is sick and tired of seeing teams run the football down our throat? That is one of the patterns that has developed in the Leach-era. WE WILL NEVER SNIFF AT A NATIONAL TITLE UNTIL WE FIGURE OUT HOW TO CONSISTENTLY STOP THE RUN. Remember Brad Smith? Remember Robert Griffin and the near loss to Baylor this year? Remember DeMarco Murray and his ridiculous first-half rushing performance against us this year? Remember Nevada’s Kapernick (sp?)? Remember Nebraska’s ball control against us this year? I could go on. And I know all you other true Tech fans out there understand how demoralizing it is when our opponents run the ball at will. How awful was the second half of the Cotton Bowl when Ole Miss realized all they had to do was keep running the ball?
I know that I have not provided any solutions. I don’t know that there are any, except for me to quit allowing my hopes to get the better of me.
I’m sorry, but I think I’m done.
Heartbroken Raider

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Ha ha…this is what you get! TTU sucks, always has and always will. Leach is nothing but an overrated, fat, bloated, drunken bastard. Now bring KTXT FM back with that bonus you were going to give Leach.

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Tried to post a comment since early this morning that contained no profanity, only valid points about the Red Raiders. So confused as to why it was moderated and not allowed to be posted. I’m done with Red Raider football and I’m done with this second-rate website.

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Ridiculous.

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I wonder if we could get Ole Miss defensive coordinator. I like the analogy of our defense. “A hot knife through butter.”

Why do the powers that be…not see this?

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the game was awful, but i hope in the future that the coaches mix in some new schemes/looks on both the defense and offense. from the ou game, i just knew coach would change up his offense a little, give stoops & co. something they hadn’t seen before. something is going to have to be injected.

during the game, there were many times that our defense looked as if they didn’t know what was coming. there was over a month to add some new stuff and the entire team looked bored, with the exception of morris & lewis.

i sure as hell looked for more from this team during this cotton bowl, instead it was same ole from years ago. the team just looked like they didn’t want it bad enough, which is a pure shame.

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LEACHES FIRST COACHING STAFF: AND HOW THEY WERE PICKED FROM HIM:

Greg McMakin DC..Left for DC job 49ers, now HC Hawaii
Manny Matsakis Offensive Asst, left for HC Texas State
Sonny Dykes Offensive Asst, left for OC Arizona
Robert Anae Offensive Line, left for BYU
Ron Harris Def line coach, left for DC job at Houston
Art Briles RB’s coach left for HC Houston now Baylor
Brain Norwood DB coach left for DB coach Penn State
Ruffin McNeill linebacker coach, promoted to DC Texas Tech
Dana Holgorsen IR Coach left to be OC Houston

Looks like Coach Leach puts together some great coaches as they are all recruited to go else where to be HC or DC or OC’s.

Ruffin is a good coach and will put it together, not bad for his first year as DC. He will get better with time.

As everyone knows you not only have to recruit talented players you have to recruit talented coaches. Which Leach has done every year.

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Don’t beat yourselves up to much! Ole Miss has the best O Line and D Line that it has had in many years. The defense took out the LSU quarterback in that game and 3 quarterbacks in the Mississippi State game. You are lucky that Harrell didn’t get taken out. Count your blessings.

We really wanted to see how good we are. You gave us that opportunity. Ole Miss was not ranked in the top 25 until after we played our last game. Since we beat you, # 7, we now know that we are much better than # 25. Thanks for a great game.

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I don’t know your coaches and don’t know anything about the controversies the posts have been talking about, but Tech has a fine football team and has had a great season. Yes, our Ole Miss team came out ahead on this particular day, but on another day – who knows? Hold your heads high, you Raiders, and perhaps we can meet again next year.

Ole Miss, Class of 1959

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There are definitely some themes that have developed in these comments: Mike Leach is an offensive cordinator, not a head coach, and we sorely need some innovative defensive coaches.

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Unbelievable ! All that whining after TTU”s best season ever ! And next year looks even more promising (even with Harrell and maybe Crabtree gone). Must be that time of the month for some of you.

Don Williams, I liked yor articles better before you became the big boss man {means your old boss was right after all).

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Since Jerry Jones has forced me to give up on the Cowboys, I don’t think I’ll give up on the Raiders just yet…

This is Leach’s 9th season, and he’s 76-39 (66.1%) and 5-4 in bowl games. Spike was 82-67 (55%) and 2-5 in bowl games in 14 years.

Mike has obviously raised our expectations considerably if we’re complaining about an 11-2 season. And, as several folks have reminded me over the last few days, “hey, we DID beat TEXAS, and that makes everything else OK.”

Kudos to Ole Miss; we were outplayed, outhustled, and outcoached. Two of those are gonna happen sometimes, but getting outhustled is inexcusable. I’ve seen better effort from 2 winless junior high teams trying to stay out of the cellar.

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Zack Thomas (Tech All-American years ago) quote” This always happens to Tech!!!!). Am beginning to think we need to change the mascot to an Albatross.

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Musta been that loss to OU that rattled their cage. The Raiders were not quite the same after that. Kind of like when Roy Jones Jr. got knocked out for the first time….unbeatable before and not the same afterwards. TTU fans need to learn how to deal with and get past adversity and disappointment.

“Damn the torpedoes ! Full speed ahead !”

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Aw, c’mon…it was a great 11-2 season. So what if they’re shutting down academic programs (KTXT) to give more money to the football coach? After all, the university isn’t about education, it’s about athletics. Everybody knows that! Why would everyone whine about a poor coaching performance? It’s not like you could question his loyalty to the university. It’s not like he’s making 40 years of your salary in one year. It’s not like he’s splitting his time between showing his genius to the tv cameras and game preparation. Give the poor coach a break, he deserves it for being so kind as to think about staying at Texas Tech. The university is privileged to have his mad-scientist-genius bank account accepting its money, can’t you see that?

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I’ll never put down Tech student-athletes because of what happens in games. The Cotton Bowl fiasco was all on the coaches. Not keeping the team focused between the end of the season and the game; not being able to make adjustments during the game (that’s the one that hurts the most); Leach playing ego games with the administration and the media (which could not have helped the situation), etc. The Tech coaches are well paid and that is their job. They didn’t do their job this time. So, to all the Tech players, thanks for a memorable season! GO RAIDERS!!!!!!!!

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I’ll second that!!!!!!!

“another Disgruntled Tech Fan on January 4th, 2009 1:19 pm on

another note, It was apparent that Tech has no traditions or unique gameday activities if you went to the cotton bowl? Ole mis was in another league in those respects and i can only imagine what the rest of the SEC teams are like? you cant even hear our peashooters anymore thanks to Dr David Smith!!! and what ever happened to the ROTC cannon?? Tech’s slogan is “get your guns up”, shouldn’t our “guns” be intimidating? You cant even hear them anymore? Lets open our minds and start some new traditions that are intimidating or at least impressive to opposing teams!! ARE YOU LISTENING ADMINiSTRATION AND CURRENT STUDENTS??????”

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I dont think tech or the big 12 in general know what tradition or a fun game day experience is, I thought it was just the University of tennessee, but know I see it is concisistent amongst all the sec and all schools in the southeast…. It seems to me that all the big 12 schools and especially tech has sold out to more people and corporations that want to do away traditions than create them!!!

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It was a real treat to be @ the last Cotton Bowl game in the Cotton Bowl…even bigger treat to have the Red Raiders there. Of course the lose and everything else that goes with the lose soured the experience somewhat.

it would be nice to see mike leach a bit more enthusiastic and as frustrated with the play of his team as many of us fans can be. it makes it kind of deflating to see the scoreboard and our head coach three rows back on the sideline taking in the game like a spectator. i guess i’d like to see more of a captain leach than a simple swabby, arms folded and looking like the guy next to me in the stands sad that his team is loosing.

i think for those of us that forked over the $100 per ticket to support our red raiders should get some love shown back to us by the university and have a game ticket in 2009 discounted by showing our Cotton Bowl ticket.

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A friend in my office who is a Longhorn fan calls Tech the “Red Faders.” After the last two games, it’s hard to argue with his assessment. Tech fund raisers call me during my Sunday afternoon nap every week asking for money. As much as they are paying Leach, I find their appeals incredulous– and now he has a big fat extension to his contract. This whole thing is pathetic.

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Leach claims the raiders were happy to be in Dallas for the Cotton Bowl. He himself seemed happier in Washington (DC & state), Baltimore, & whereever the else the heck he was.

If he can’t get excited about being in Lubbock & being Tech’s coach then maybe HE needs anything job or line of work.

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Some of the blame for this loss is Mike Leach not signing a new contract and flying off to Washington and never saying that he will stay at Tech. Stoops from OU immediately shot down rumers about coaching Denver. Even the Tech players were commenting on if he was going to go or stay. Leach needs to make a commitment to stay or go. Please no more being on the fence.

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I agree with TJ in the fact that Leach not committing with Tech was a huge distraction. He needs to commit and get back to work. It is apparent that schools with big time programs are reluctant to bring him in because of his personality, his game management and I guess you can also blame his defense. We are all tired of him leaving or looking at other jobs and you can bet his team is just as frustrated and tired. You could see that in their last three games.

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After wins over TU and OSU, our coaches were satisfied! Eleven wins, let’s press for more money! The huge butt kickings by OU and Miss, are enough reasons NOT to extend Leach! It’s time for new direction at TTU, if Myers can’t see that, he needs to go too.
Eleven wins we should feel much better than this, the Pirate act is old, let’s bring some class to W. Texas!

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no no, not coming here to gloat.. you guys scared the ba-jeezus out of us prior to this game, I’ll have to admit.

But, I will say this… You guys didn’t take us serious enough..

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If you guys want to see some great traditions, just come to Oxford, MS on game day and have a cold drink with the Ole Miss family in the GROVE (the best tail-gating in all of sports college or pro). It doesn’t get any better than that HOTTY TODDY, go REBELS. Tech had a great year and you guys should be happy to win 11 games. You guys have come a long way with your football team.

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they got beat because their defense stinks. plain and simple. and under Leach, it always has stunk.

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Three weeks ago these board were filled posts about getting rid of Myers and Hance because they had not signed Leach yet. Now most want to take out their anger against Leach. These are just kids playing. Sometimes they don’t show up with their best. I suppose OU should fire Stoops because they didn’t play against Boise State or West Virginia the last couple of years. I was sick for about a day over the Cotton Bowl, then looked at next year’s schedule, which is better than this year’s, and started to get excited again. We get to renew some old SWC rivalries, beat the
Ags at home, and revenge the OU loss in Lubbock!! Leach needs to get down to business now about his contract, and I suspect he will. When I was in school at Tech, it was a great achievement just to make a bowl. Now we are making runs at a BCS bowl. We used to storm the field after beating the Aggies. Now it’s just another Saturday with a win.

Good job in 08 Red Raiders. I’m looking forward to 09.

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Coacc Leach is to blame for his end of season job search. The team lost focus because Leach lost focus on the team. He needs to be canned. Send him packing and bring on sonny dykes.

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Front seven on defense. We really need to recruit buscuit eaters. More talent on the O-line wouldn’t hurt either. Got to looking at the Houston Chronicle’s top 100. Not too good considering the year we had.

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I’m a Mike Leach fan. You “fans” of Double T need to get real…remember before Leach the % people outside of Texas had no idea about Texas Tech…now I can wear my Double T anything anywhere and people know where I am from.

2008 was a GREAT YEAR. Thank you Tech.

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Come on Jack Mehoff, Sonny Dykes is not what Tech needs, Art Briles from Baylor or the coach from TCU would fit a lot better than Sonny (not that I think coach Leach should go).
I didn’t make it to the Cotton Bowl but I was wondering if the Red Raider Club had first pick of seats right behind the Tech Bench?
That was a problem at one of the Alamo Bowls several years back because those old timer donors sit on their hands and rarely get up and yell.
They spend most of their time visiting (or going to pee) so they should make those seats available to die hard fans that have to shell out hard earned cash just to get to the game, they tend to make more noise.
Big schools put big fans behind the team to enhance the thrill for the players, the SEC is famous for having rowdy fans there.
I’m sure the Red Raider Club boss never thought of that..
I’m beginning to believe that Gerald Myers is the cause of most of the problems that have happened in the past four weeks. Myers should have not allowed any Leach/Myers business in the media and surely shouldn’t have had Kent Hance getting involved in the business with Leach’s agent, since when does the Chancelor of a university do the job of the athletics director? I’m sure Myers is really not that business smart..

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Jack and the rest of you naysayers,

I can remember all too well what this program was under Sonny’s daddy! We won 11 games this year. Look at how many we won last year and the year before – in the last 4 years we are 2 & 2 against Oklahoma. You guys need to get your heads out of between your legs and find some subject that you know something about. As frustrating and disgruntling as this loss was, it would be even worse if we lost something that has 9 years in the making. Our future is bright. My suggestion to all of you naysayers is simply this, git up off your butts – pull your hip national bank out of your back pocket-and put your money where your mouths are. Geez!

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PS

Shane buddy – Tell it like it is man – Tell it like it is!

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uh, hey, you last two posters, Jack Meoff is a fictional name (jack me off) get a snap and know he is kidding about sonny dykes-its called being FACETIOUS.

and regarding myers, dont know if you are that familiar with our athletic program, but Myers and Leach do not like each other, hence the reason our chancellor is trying to facilitate the talks.

it was a great year, i was there during the spike years, and 2008 beats those days hands down.

Wreck em tech

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I was so disappointed in the TTU performance at the Cotton Bowl. We have gotten excited so many times, just to have the house of cards go, “Poof!” I admire that nice young quarterback for his maturity and outstanding performance for Tech, and I equally admire his favorite receiver. They were a joy to watch — a truly symbiotic operation. Gorgeous!

Maybe the problem is not with the players we recruit, do you think?

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I think the Red Raiders thought the point of this game was to get to 14 first because they stopped playing after this. Ole Miss had all the fire in this game and whipped TTU in every aspect of the game. I like Leach and his offense but his teams have never had good defenses and the saying that “defense wins championships” is true. This offense is a great system and fun to watch, but we need to have an equally great defense and special teams in order to get to the next level. TTU also needs better recruits. I think Leach and his staff do a great job with the talent level they get but I imagine Ole Miss doesn’t get any better players than TTU so obviously they were much better prepared for this game. They had heard how good Tech was for the past month and Tech beieved they were that good, this affects the way you prepare and ultimately perform. Tech’s defense looked like they did against OU, running all over the place not knowing what to do. This was a very frustrating game. Yes, it was a great season overall with 11 wins, however, when you lose the 2 games the way we did, you lose a lot of respect that way and that affects this program, a program that is trying to get to an elite level like OU and UT. This was a great chance to show a lot of key Texas high school recruits that Tech is a great program and it didn’t mke a case. I hope Leach stays but I would like to see some other changes this off-season. It’s going to be a long wait. Oh, is Mike Leach going to sign the contract offer or is he still looking for another job?

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Well — the coaching was par for the course. Mr. Pillow Talk Leach is not worth a 12.1 million salary. He is lucky to have a job. He is naive and a pencil neck, who doesn’t understand that his team was psychlogically unmotivated, unstimulated and couldn’t have cared less. The time has come for Tech to cut it’s losses and look elsewhere for a real coach and assistants. If not, there is a good chance will have another Wreck TEXAS TECH season.

Graduate Alum

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“lightening in a bottle?” I’m glad I’m not the only one who occassionally mispells words.

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I urge each of you who believe it is time for a change to contact the Chancellor and let him know your thoughts.

I have done so and have urged him to consider withdrawing the Leach contract extension and instead extend a serious offer to Art Briles — the BEST qualified coach who would actually LOVE to be at Tech.

I”ll tell ya what. If Briles ain’t at Tech, Baylor is going to start whipping us — and become a serious contender for the title. Mark it down.

And I agree that Ruffin just ain’t the man. Our defense only shows up against fair to mediocre teams — when we play at home. But apparently Ruffin’s game plan was to try and “arm tackle” the Rebs, ‘cuz that’s pretty much all we were trying to do out there – arm tackle.

Maybe we’ll get a big surprise in the next few days and Leach will announce he’s moving on to bigger and better things — like maybe joining Stoops to coach the Denver Broncos (hey don’t laugh).

Gunzup!

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This game was one of those where Ole Miss had everything to win and TTU had everything to lose. It goes down to the coaching. I do think the actions of a couple of the TTU players near the end of the game were very uncalled for.
Nonetheless, the TTU fans should be proud of their players in every aspect. You had a great season!

To Rocky Red:
Why would you turn on your own people like that? The attitude of the fans is something that can make or break a program – especially in recruiting. You can attack us Ole Miss fans if you like – we’ll always party and have fun win or lose. But you’re attitude towards your own is like taking poison and hoping the other person dies.
Now I know some Ole Miss fans might have gotten out of control – we are usually using game time to sober up after the Grove pre-game party to prepare for the post-game celebration. But how would an Ole Miss fan get thrown out of Section 128 when the Cotton Bowl has only 127 sections (from every seating chart I can find).

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hope all tech fans can adopt the attitude of the coach and players….got whupped….next

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Thanks Red Raiders for a great year.
MIke Leach is a great coach. We had 2 of the most superlative skill players in the countrry (Harrell and Crab) WE have great assistant coaches who need to be retained with a raise as does Leach. Our line was outstanding on both side of the ball. Bottom Line here is that both teams that beat us had much more team speed and better athletes. Mike made the most positive impact on 60 minutes that I have ever seen a coach make. 60 minutes ripped Charlie Weiss and Nick Saban. Coach Leach and his staff have done more for Texas Tech and the players than any staff in the country with much less talent overall. Get on Leach’s band wagon and Thank him for a great season.

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“Next ” is get whupped again UNLESS something changes.

That’s what these posters are discussing.

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traditions? Well let the Torts fly.

And spelling? Get real is this a dissertation? Argue on merits not semantics!

Leach better listen to your dwindling base…

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Tech fans hold your heads up you won 11 games this year. Ole Miss was a couple of Dexter McCluster fumbles away from being undefeated and stop whinning about Crabtree falling down. Everybody was slipping and sliding all over the place. That field was extremely wet. I should know I was down there. And just so you know our D-line has been dominating O-lines all year including Florida.

The one thing Tech has to work on is tackling. That’s where we excelled. We didn’t let your receivers get the YAC yards you usually get. And if you look at your season you your probably a 9-3 at best. I mean overtime against Baylor come on!!!! And no offense but once our running backs got in the secondary it was over. The d-backs just couldn’t keep up. Everything that could go wrong did go wrong.

Say what you will buy if ou take away all the “turnover points” on both sides Ole Miss still hangs almost 40 on the Red Raiders where they only score 20 against the rebels….so don’t forget that. Ole Miss was just too big and fast and Tech was not prepared for that. Even Leech admitted that McCluster was the fastest player he’d ever seen…..and Florida has an entire field of those guys.

Hotty Totty

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After reading these posts I must admit, THE MAJORITY OF YOU ARE IDIOTS!!! If you can’t support your team, find some other way you can vent. Stop attacking the kids, coaches and others for your ignorance. You have no idea what it takes to do what they do. It is simple, when you are a fan, you are a fan win or lose. Stop looking for all the excuses and start pulling for your team. 11-2 is a good season anywhere, anytime. Stop dwelling in the past and think of what you can do to make the future brighter. Start today with good ole GO TECH, or just shut up!!!!!!!!

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Hotty Toddy!! SEC knows defense, Houston Nutt is smart, and he knows how to win football games. Ole Miss beat Florida, one of the highest scoring football teams in the nation and Tech’s offense was no match. Ole Miss’ defense in good against the run, no clue why Tech did a QB sneak on 4th and 4. Sneed is a good leader on offense, and McCluster is explosive and unpredictable as a running back and receiver. Go Rebels!

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T G –
As an Ole Miss fan you are right, I have talked to numerous friends and heard several stories about how bad of sports the Tech fans were. There was a fight behind me started by a Tech fan against a Rebel. How unsportsmanlike, and in front of his kids. Another Rebel fan got beer bottles thrown at his car by a Tech fan, a girl got her pom pom ripped out of her hand and thrown down by another Tech fan.

GET SOME CLASS TECH!

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DD, no you can’t have it both ways if they want our money they must put up with our words!

Harrell why didn’t you throw downfield more? 3 yard pick-ups? that’ won’t win esp. with less than a minute in the half!

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It is absolutely amazing to me how Tech fans are so quick so bash their own coaches and players. A week ago you people were begging for Leach to stay and sign an extension. Now some of you are saying go? It just doesn’t make sense to me. Choose which side of the fence you are on and stay there. Besides that, I can think of about 9 other teams in the Big 12 that would love to have Leach as their signal caller.

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James, Leach is the one not committed….to Tech. He’s had contract and yet travels around looking for other jobs? And not preparing for his currrent job! That not just loosing is what has mad us upset the most.

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Signal caller on offense not as head coach (or co-head coach) maybe.

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As a season ticket holder and Tech alum I can say we got every bit of this season. Face it. The games we won were great and we had some real close ones that could have gone the other way. To wind up 11-2 is awesome from where we came from. Mike Leach is our coach and will do a fantastic job moving forward. Nobody really wanted the Cotton bowl but that’s what we got and the results are a product of our wanting more and not being satisfied. The defense has been suspect all season long and will remain that way until we can get some really good recruiting on that side. The regular season play was fantastic when you look at the games we won. The media loved Tech this year. Expectations are higher now that we’ve reached this level. I do believe Tech will be a contender again next season. It might actually be better with OK losing Bradford to the draft among others. If Tech can make better athletes out of our LB’s and DB’s we will give other teams fits once more. UT will come into the season way over-rated and that will be to their demise. Tech will come in around 22 to 25 which can only improve as it did this season. IMO Tech’s key games next season will be NB, UT, BU and OK. Yes, I said BU. I think Tech beats OSU again and a really bad A&M team. If we can muster a win against 2 of the 4 key games I say we contend for another tie in the Big 12 south. Unfortunately, I see another Cotton Bowl as the prize and no BCS. Once our fearless leader Captian Leach is signed I see him making some real improvements that focus more on defense. He has shown that he makes changes in the past as he did by adding a running game to the Tech offense. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a couple of true freshman starting on defense. The secondary needs major improvement. Pass coverage and tackling was marginal at best at the end of this season. I will say that Leach is the right man for Tech and we should continue to support all efforts to keep him. As far as Ruffin, I’m not sold yet but I do feel like he’s doing the best with what he has right now. Under Ruffin may be where coaching changes need to be made. Anyway, I digress. Congrats to a great red raider football team and look for Pott’s to be a real super star next season. This guy will move around in the pocket and produce the second threat.

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Note to James above. Some of us have been waiting, and waiting, and waiting for a champion. It isn’t we don’t appreciate the personnel and what they accomplished, but this could have been the year, and the Leach/Ruffin combo failed. Period. When will “next year” ever arrive? A fan of 40+ yrs.

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When your Offense scores 34 points…. YOU SHOULD WIN THE D#%@ GAME!!!

Period.

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People calling for Leach to leave are complete idiots. Leach has won more bowl games in his short tenure here than Tech had won the entire time before him. Go ahead, call him out, he and every football fan with half an objective mind know that he is the reason for the success. If you want him out, you are simply saying you want Tech to return to the good old days where 7 wins and a bowl appearance were enough to make you happy. Yeah, Leach is gettin job offers because HE’S A GOOD COACH. People want him. You should all be grateful he is here and that it looks like he will continue to stay here. Don’t get all caught up in the fact that he is simply asking for the market value that other schools would give him. You get what you pay for. I laugh hysterically at people that are saying Tech would be better off without him. Get over it. Be happy you went 11-2, best season in Tech’s history. Yeah, they got beat last friday, but someone was going to lose. Tech just got unlucky with all of the injuries. There is no reason that Tech won’t be able to reload and continue to do this year in and year out. Think before you get all emotional and say something stupid.

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“…the market value that other schools would give him.” Funny! considering that no one HAS offered him ANYTHING except for Tech!

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I completely understand all that have responded to my last response. But just a question, do you think that Tech could repeat this year’s success with a different coach? Think of who all is on the market now and give me some possible candidates that would be willing to come to Lubbock (1) and coach for a school that has an AD that is not willing to dish out the big bucks (2). Just think about it…

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Watchdog, when will you grow up. All your explecitives on how things should be done when you don’t have a clue. Do you honestly think that because you buy a ticket you have the right to bad mouth people. If you bought a ticket to a concert and you didn’t like it you probably wouldn’t go see them again, unless your just a miserable soul that just like to whine. I suggest you keep your money and your comments to yourself. I can already tell you don’t have what it takes to lead anything with your un-educated (football) knowledge. Good luck to you and whoever your next team is,
p.s. nobody likes haters

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By the way if Leach wants another job he wouldn’t have any problems because he wins, and he wins alot. Ask any head coach that has to play against him and Tech

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DD, touchy touchy. Did I hit a nerve? If you have read all of my posts here on Redraiders you would know that I am not all negative. Far from it. Just lately with reflections of Coach not doing his coaching duties and whining about not getting paid like he is doing those duties have I started to question the coaches loyalties. That’s all. I have asked him to sign the damn offer so we can move on! Move on to recruit and win. A lot is 2 words! :-) Spelling lessons from a 4th grader.

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I thought we looked unprepared for the game and that lies squarely on the shoulders of the coaching staff. No excuses for the dinged up players, both teams have played a full season and dings and bruises are just part of the game. No excuses for the poor field condition, both teams had to deal with this. No excuses for the poor fan support, Tech had the larger number of fans by far. The reason we lost this game is that we were not as well prepared as Ole Miss and that is simply the fault of the coaching staff.

I believe we have an excellent coach and a great staff but this time they were out coached. Just like the players look at game film and try to learn from their mistakes, I hope the coaches will learn from this mistake and never let it happen again. Our performance was embarrassing but the real topper was the two personal fouls at the end of the game. Come on guys, grow up!

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There’s plenty of blame to go around here, but here’s a novel idea. blame ourselves, the fans. I was there, section 20, half way up. There 30k fans and band shut up our 55k old men, houswives, and small children. That’s the problem. Where were the students. I appriciate the poverty of collegate life, I am 1 year removed from the 806, and am appriciative of all the alumni do for the students, university, and athletic program. That does not excuse the fact that 25k kids under 15 years old do not a rowdy Raider home game make. Yet another reason for us to play a preconferance game in Dallas, so they can take the kids I guess. But seriously thanks but no thanks. You sat thru the whole second half, i didn’t see one Pirate, and i am 100% positive I was the only person over the legal limit apon entry. Not a rowdy combination. When we had a few injuries and we had them pinned in the NE end of the stadium our D was calling for the crowd to get pumped up, the response was marginal at best, and by the next drive it was gone completly. So these young guys made some mistakes (geez slide, call time out, kick the field goal and at least go into halftime tied, no one said youre getting an extra year of elligibility to run track!) but lets try to keep take a little bit of personal responibility about it. These kids had an amazing season, and most of them did tremendous things in there career (even Mike Vick over there, he just wants it too much and wants to be the hero). Next year gramps take the youngins to Lubbock for a Iowa state game, or some other joke squad. Show them LBK and the whole deal, just don’t buy up all the tickets and drive prices up all month on razor gator, If you come keep it grown up, and the younger fans may even take you out for a lapdance after we shake the stadium to the ground. Win or loose at least we will rep. that S*** rowdy west texas PIRATE STYLE!! and not get punked and walk out with our tial between our legs.

Oh and the next game I go to and a fan asks me to keep the cursing down because there kids can hear me, and they are not an aggie (bc their soft, it’s expected) someones getting head butted! Thats all i am saying.

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11-2 is still as good as Florida is gonna be.
Ole Miss and Oklahoma will be the only two teams to beat us this year.

EVEN T-SIPPERS CANT TOUCH THAT

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Sorry Casey I’ll buy all the tickets for the orphans in Dallas before I let you have a ticket! Sorry your got out and represent Tech. Yes fan noise and support is important, but not to the exclusion of civility “(strive for) HONOR”…In case you were too drunk to get that part of our song!

Oh well, it was a fun and exciting year. Nothing like “drama”.

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Tech’s offense didn’t score 34 points (defense scored one of those TD’s).

Art Briles would come back to head-coach Tech in New York minute.

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fotog ole miss:

thanks for the view from the field. appreciate it. i take it from your name you must be the photographer for the team, so im sure that qualifies you to talk about the field conditions.

1st off, congrats to Ole Miss-very good team, lots of speed. Earned the victory. Props to you. Guess what though-we beat texas, and they are a much better team. We flat out did not come to play. Period, end of story. If we would have showed up, it would not have been close. Blame all the distractions. Bottom line, we got outprepared and outcoached.

2nd, you are delusional if you think we should have been 9-3. I presume you are referring to Nebraska in overtime, not Baylor. Get your facts straight before you traipse over to our blog site. We earned every one of those 11 wins.

3rd, Hotty Toddy has to be the stupidest saying out there. Even the lame raider power beats that stupid saying.

4th, Art Briles would come back to Tech in a second. He loves Tech, and would be HUNGRY to be at Tech. I say negotiate with Art now, and give Leach a deadline to respond. If he doesnt, Art, welcome back to Lubbock, the job is yours. If you saw Baylor this year, its a question of IF, not WHEN that Baylor (yes Baylor) will be very competitive in the big 12. Briles is that good of a coach.

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Oops, WHEN, not IF Baylor will be competitive.

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oh yeah, fotog, one more rant to you. the reason why mccluster was running all over our secondary was because we LOST 3 of our 4 GUYS DURING THE COURSE OF THE GAME. There were guys with names on the back of their jerseys that i didnt even recognize all year playing at crunch time. That is never a good sign.

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Boy the wolves can turn on you in a hurry. Its funny how fans always becme experts after a loss. I live out of state and can remember when you had a hard time finding out the score of a Tech game. Mike Leach and Bob Knight have gotten Tech an awful lot of positive national publicity. I feel Tech is better off having them come our way.

11-1 Good job!

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DEFENSE IS THE KEY TO VICTORY AND TECH HAS TO GET A DEFENSE COORDINATOR. SORRY! BUT McNEIL ISN’T WHAT WERE NEED. I HAVE SEEN BETTER TACKLING AT 7TH GRADE GAMES. (YOU CAN’T ARM TACKLE IN THE BIG 12).
WE DEFENSE BACK KEEP PLAYING ZONE AND IT’S KILLING US.

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I wasn’t turning on my own, just having a little fun at their expense. Lighten up and read my entire post. I’m proud of my Alma Mater and the season we had. I don’t don’t begrudge anyone their right to a rant. Our team and coaches certainly earned it. Besides, what the hell do you care?

BTW, I have the ticket stub to section 128, row 34. You need to do a little research before calling me out. Check this link out and look right above ssection 24.

http://www.teamonetickets.com/seating-chart/cotton-bowl-map.html

Stop taking yourself so seriously.

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beating texas tech, so easy a cave man can do it.

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What’s that make Texas and all the other 10 teams that lost to us?

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Mike, Good post. Too many Aggie types that do not appreciate what we have in the head pirate. How many of you were in Jacksonville with me last year and saw Leach go for it on 4th down? Or when the “Mcneil defense” played solidly and took care of business? These 2 have put Tech on the map like no one before. We lost to a good Ole Miss team and had some key injuries early in the game. Ole Miss is the version of the Tech team that whooped #4 Cal in the Holiday Bowl. As for being out fanned at the Cotton Bowl by Ole Miss, remember this was a vacation for them. For us a commuter bowl with the likes of occasionally playing TCU SMU. Enough of the Briles talk. The old SWC unwritten rule was no coach would leave a HC position within the conference. I like Briles also but he won’t be offered a job on any other Big 12 team. Baylor in the future will occasionally beat Tech,Texas, OSU, and spank the Aggies frequently. There is too much complaining for an 11-2 season.

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Pirate:

you mean the old swc like David McWIlliams leaving Tech to go to Texas?

briles would come here in a heartbeat.

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Tony, Yeah McWilliams left and was fired rather quickly after a couple of years . In 40 some odd years I am thinking this may have been the only case. He was a horned one originally anyway with no honor. Briles background with hardships is interesting. He would not leave Baylor high and dry so quickly.

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I SAW THE TEXAS-OHIO STATE GAME. WHAT A GAME. PRETTY MUCH WHAT I THINK WOULD’VE BEEN THE TECH- MISS. GAME. CLOSE BUT WITH TECH ON TOP. THAT IS IF TECH HAD ANOTHER DEMENSION ON OFFENSE. THE QUARTERBACKS IN LAST NIGHT’S GAME RAN WITH THE BALL. MAYBE THIS YEAR TAYLOR POTTS CAN DO THE SAME. WE NEED THAT. IF THE DEFENSES KNOW THAT YOUR QB DOESN’T RUN, PIECE OF CAKE. I HATE TO SAY THIS, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE FIRST TEN GAMES, BUT EVERY YEAR IT’S THE SAME THING NO DEFENSE. WE NEED A DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR THAT’S GOING TO COME AND TEACH DEFENSE. A TOUGH DEFENSE. IF WE HAVE THAT. YOU WOULD PROBABLY SEE A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT RED RAIDER TEAM. I DON’T LIKE THE SEASON TO COME TO AN END AFTER THEY PLAY TEXAS!

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Yesterday Boston College fired their coach when they found out he was talking to the NY Jets about a job. They bought his 3-years contract back!

He wasn’t even offered the NY job.

Myers & Hance are SO lenient with Leach & his 2-years contract.

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marty_hytek, I thought that run before the half would have given them the idea that they CAN RUN! Oh well, I don’t think a different QB is the answer.

Melvin, that’s the way to do it. If my employer knew I was looking, I don’t think they would be as forgiving as Tech is either.

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If your calling for Leach’s job you’re insane and not really well versed on Tech’s past coaching staffs. Come on and realize that he has put us on the map and it’s only going to get better. When has Tech had this much national attention? Leach brought us up to this level and it’s his baby to improve upon. Hell we all want more money and will do what it takes to get more. It’s business.
If you think about our 2 losses this season you can say they are somewhat respectable. I know no one wants to hear that but think about it. Ole Miss beat FL a NC contender and OK the other NC contender beat us. Makes it a little better?

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They didn’t beat us they creamed us on national TV with anouncers pitting us and laughing at us. Negative PR isn’t what I want. Now yes Leach improved on what Spike did but I think he has hit a ceiling (not due to Tech) but due to his own abilities or heart (or as Harrell said drive).

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Also if this is not addressed or a solution found it will start to affect the recruiting if not already and then the results on the field will spiral down and we could be back where we were, except this time with a coach that’s not happy to be where he is (which will make it worse). Question why is Leach so quiet on this? Is he being coy? To what advantage? To me he’s shooting himself in the foot, handicapping his future and his legacy. He may be a smart man, but he could also be too smart! His wife need’s to slap some sense into his noggin. We say what happend to his team when they know he’s not really there…

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so what i’m hearing is that people miss their mediocre team that they can’t expect much from, just so long as they beat A&M. They were so embarrassed that they got beat by a national title contender on primetime after beating two top 10 teams on primetime the two games before. I’ll be honest and say I am new to Lubbock but I really can’t stand what I read and hear from many of you so-called lifetime football fans. Be excited your team just won 11 games in a year and that, though we’re losing Harrell and Crabtree, Potts looks like an absolute stud and we still have the likes of Britton, Swindall, etc, etc, etc. This is a well-oiled machine and there is no reason that every year at the very least we’ll get to the Cotton Bowl if not a BCS bowl. Quit crying people, and if you’re in love with Art Briles so much, go buy yourself an ugly green and yellow shirt to wear.

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FIrst of all we did get outcoached, they ran the ball only 14 times even though the average gain per run was 7.5 yds per carry. Why at the end of the season did Leach start changing what had worked better than any other year for him. Run the ball enough to keep the defense honest, instead of just going into pass rush and blitz packages every down. The play calling made the QB, O-line, and receivers look bad. Also as far as the defense, its hard to look good as a defense when you spend two thirds of the game on the field because even when you make the opposing team go three and out you have to go right back on the field because the offense just when three and out on three passes, no runs. Come on! Also the proper footware should of been addressed, the same thing happened against Alabama in Cotton Bow. TT had a great season, but I do not think they will be any better than now, becuase of annual meltdowns and also TT is successful because of Coach Leach, but they are also limited in some areas because of Leach. Any highly rated and sought after recruit is not going to commit to TT because every year the coach allows rumors to swirl about him leaving. WHY would you commit if the coach is possibly leaving. I wouldnt. And most likely no one reading this would either, not knowing who is going to be the coach from year to year. I ABSOLUTELY HOPE THAT LEACH COMMITS AND LETS RECRUITS KNOW HE IS STAYING, AND THAT HE CONTINUES WITH THE BALANCE THAT HE STARTED THIS YEAR ON OFFENSE, I BELEIVE THAT WILL MAKE TT BIG 12 CHAMPS SOON IF HE DOES. GO TECH!

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Watchdog- sorry about the improper spelling of A LOT. Didn’t know I was being graded. But there you go again,talking like you are a know it all. When will you come to realize that Coach Leach is a very smart man, how smart? Well he isn’t sitting at a computer chatting back and forth with you and I. Everybody wants to win, so why not get into the positive sense and stop your negative thoughts, it is people like you that make this world of football less appealing to the one’s that know the game, or would like to know the game. Yes we got beat, so what. The world hasn’t come to an end and the Pope is still in Rome. Remember this “IT’S JUST A FOOTBALL GAME”. You’ll be okay and so will I. As far as someone needing a good slapping, well you get my drift.

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Leach is the one that WANTED to have the contract negotiations started in August and be over before the season started.

Your beloved Gerald Meyers wanted to wait until the last regular game was over.

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11-2
only lost to Ole Miss and Oklahoma

(MAYBE the ONLY teams that beat Florida)
WHATS THAT MAKE FLORIDA IF TEXAS TECH IS DROPPED FROM TOP 10???

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it’s not JUST W & L .

it’s HOW BAD you lose, when you lose.

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The bottom line is Tech can play offense, and the defense was lucky most of the season, but big lapses began showing late in the season. Even the national press sees that Tech cannot recruit big time players, especially on defense. If Tech had as good quality on defense as they do on offenese for the most part, the defense could hold its own when the offense is off beat. It showed against Oklahoma and Mississippi, that when the offense is down, the weak defense shows its ugly face. We were lucky that most of the big games were played in Lubbock this year, but unless the defense gets more top notched players, and soon, next year the home wins will be road losses to those same teams. I will admit I lost my high / rush when we played so poorly against OU, and the Mississippi game added to the let down. A really good season became the same ol normal, could have been super season, but same result as in the past, but hopefully this season makes the future look more promising over the next few years.

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Tony you are not only wrong about my name Jack Mehoff pronounced “May-hoff ” I really think Sonny Dykes would be a better coach. What would be better would be to get Mike Stoops and Sonny Dykes to coach the Red Raiders.

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wow, if you are really named jack mehoff, you need to change it immediately. that is a terrible name, almost as terrible as thinking sonny dykes would be a good head coach. mike stoops?

do you follow texas tech football jackie?

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Darrell, I am with you. That’s my feelings. Problem is it takes a few years of good recruiting to get a TEAM of players on Defense. Since we just got the co-head coach/defensive coordinator it’ll take some time. Problem is that the prospects are seeing the situation with Leach (every couple of years) and wondering as we do is Coach committed (or at the headline says MOTIVATED) to being the head coach of Texas Tech Football for their 4-5 year obligation? I would like all the coaches to stay, I have no beef with them except I would like to see Leach sign the extension yesterday! His gambling is costing him and us the dream of the season we desire.

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What a bunch of whiners! Tech goes 11-2, beats Texas and Texas A&M, and all some of you can do is moan about how horrible the team, coaching, and administration is. How can anyone argue (as several have above) that it would have been better to lose to Texas than to have been treated to probably the most exciting Texas Tech victory in our school’s history? Sure, the Cotton Bowl was disappointing, but there is no need to completely discount all that this year’s team achieved. From the sounds of it, a lot of you apparently thought Tech would be playing for the national championship if not for the coaching or team attitude. I wonder how many had those lofty expectations prior to the season, or jumped on the bandwagon after the Texas win.

Bottomline: If the only reaction you have to an 11-2 season with a tie for the Big-12 South title is “disgust”, then I don’t think you are a true Tech fan. Go root for OU or UT along with all their spoiled-rotten fair-weather fans. Thank you Mike Leach, Gerald Meyers, and the 2008 team for a memorable and historic year of football.

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Hey what happend to my post, 1/6/09

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Pete Storseth, Florida will stay in top several teams, and Tech will probaly fall to much lower because when a BIG 12 school loses a game they yell overrated, but when an SEC school loses they yell about how good the competition is in the SEC. The absolute proof of this wil be if FLorida loses , then Tech and Florida would have exact same loses. But would Tech or Florida be ranked higher?

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Good point Joseph.

The BCS creates criticism in football. As wins and losses lose meaning to style points and politics.

If OU wins….
Does Florida get ranked higher thanUT? yep
UT will be 4 at best. With Utah and USC on their heels and a BCS game going on, you have to know that Texas is not on a list of top wins in bowl games.

I don’t agree with the SEC is more competitve. Maybe they have better defense, and their defense can win more games, MAYBE
But I dont agree with them being any more competitive.
Look at schedules. Look at the games. Its more pressure every week in the Big12. That’s why Missouri fell so hard.
You realize Missouri started the year above Tech, Texas AND Oklahoma in the AP?

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that was based on the 07 campaign and not losing much…..watch where texas oand ou start next year and where tech starts,,,,,they will be 1 and 2 and usc at 3………….probably ohio state 4, florida 5 lsu 6 on and on,. tech and nantraditional schools never get any love because they are threat to them

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Hey Tech finished the AP poll above Ole Miss !!!

Got to LOVE POLITICS !!!

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“Hey Tech finished the AP poll above Ole Miss !!!”

Yep, they did but Ole Miss still beat tech like a red headed step child. The whupping could not have come to a more deserving group.

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“While you need speed, strength and endurance to play good football, these little vignettes clearly illustrate that you also have to have your head on straight as well. That is, you have to be mentally tough. This means that you have to have the abilities to: Concentrate on what’s important, one down at a time and block out everything else (the crowd, your opponents, the coaches, media, weather, etc.); Quickly bounce back from bad calls, mistakes and bad breaks; Think like a winner and maintain a positive attitude; Manage stress by staying calm and loose under pressure; maintain self-confidence; Avoid getting psyched-out or intimidated; and Keep your motivation & intensity up.”
– Dr. Goldberg

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