Tech Football Notebook
At last, a running game
One of the bright spots in Tech’s 29-28 loss Saturday at Houston was the emergence of a running game for the first time this season. The Red Raiders rushed for 163 yards at 5.1 yards per carry.
Baron Batch led the way, carrying 19 times for a career-high 114 yards and two touchdowns. The Raiders also broke out a new look, lining up redshirt freshman running back Harrison Jeffers in the slot, then sending him in motion to take handoffs. Jeffers turned those sweeps into 8- and 35-yard gains and finished with 57 yards on four carries.
Of the new tactic, Tech coach Mike Leach said, “Just as staff, we talked about it. We wanted to get him more involved. He’s explosive, and he did some good things there.’’
Legends return
Houston didn’t need much to energize a sellout crowd as fans were making a lot of noise in the minutes before kickoff. But UH and NBA legends Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler caused a little more of a roar when they went out for the coin toss.
There was no mojo from old Phi Slama Jama, though.
Olajuwon tossed the coin, and the Red Raiders called it correctly.
Another line
Last week, Tech coach Mike Leach said one of the team’s young guards – referring to sophomores Mickey Okafor and Lonnie Edwards – needs to step up his level of play. Neither got the start Saturday. Line coach Matt Moore tried his fourth combination in four games, going with Terry McDaniel at left tackle and putting Chris Olson at left guard, the one opposite senior Brandon Carter.
But that move got off to a shaky start.
On the third play from scrimmage, Olson got beat by Houston defensive tackle David Hunter, who caused and recovered a fumble by quarterback Taylor Potts.
That set up a quick first touchdown for the Cougars.
Steadying influence
Tech punter Ryan Erxleben, after making his college debut the week before, performed well for the second game in a row. The true freshman from Austin averaged 46.4 yards on five punts. The average could have been higher.
Erlexben placed his first punt of the second half inside the 20 – a 37-yarder that went out of bounds at the 13-yard line. He hit a 43-yarder that teammates downed at the 5 before Houston’s winning drive.
Erxleben has now had nine punts, off which opponents have a total of 8 return yards. His four punts last weekend at Texas averaged only 38.5 yards, but were returned for a total of minus-2 yards.
Mixed results
Tech true freshman Eric Stephens has quickly earned a reputation as a running back who refuses to go down easily. The Red Raiders saw the pluses and minuses of Stephens’ determination Saturday.
In the second quarter, the 5-foot-8, 185-pounder appeared to be stopped in a cluster of Cougars, but then he extricated himself and shoved forward for a 4-yard gain to the Houston 13-yard line.
The Raiders scored on the next play.
But in the third quarter, with Tech driving and holding a 28-20 lead, Stephens lost a fumble at the Houston 31 while fighting for extra yardage.
Houston counterpunched all the way down to the Tech 3 before settling for a field goal.
In brief
Tech MLB Brian Duncan and S Cody Davis were credited with 15 tackles apiece, and DE Daniel Howard and DT Richard Jones were credited with 11 apiece. Howard made 11/2 sacks, raising his season total to 31/2. … Tech DE Ra’Jon Henley, who had missed seven full quarters with an ankle injury, returned to action. He started the second defensive series and played virtually the entire game. Brandon Sharpe, who was out last week, returned to the starting lineup. … Tech players had some trouble with the hot Houston evening. Safeties Brett Dewhurst and Cody Davis had to come out with cramps, DE Daniel Howard exited in the third quarter after he apparently suffered a stinger, and DE Brandon Sharpe went out with a lower leg problem. All except Sharpe came back in. After the game, Sharpe was walking stiffly with his calf wrapped. … UH had had three Robertson Stadium crowds larger than 30,000 before Saturday: 31,818 for Southern Mississippi in 2006, 31,784 for Texas in 2001 and 31,784 for Rice in 1999. … The game lasted three hours, 42 minutes. Houston ran 94 plays and gained 579 yards. Tech ran 79 plays and gained 484.
Compiled by Don Williams
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We lose to a team we should have beat and the loss falls entirely on Leach’s shoulders. AS in the onside kickoff decision against Texas which for all practical purposes put the game out of reach for Tech; not kicking the field goal instead of going for it on 4th and goal, the quaterback sneak debacle cost us the game. If Leach kicks the field goal, game over we won. For all Leach has done good for Tech these stupid gametime decisions have cost Tech dearly.
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Yep. You have to temper your greed or aggressiveness when your O-line and QB are this inconsistent.
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Normally, I give great deference to those officiating the game…sometimes mistakes are made. This time, however, the refs deserve absolutely no sympathy. Potts scored a touchdown and it was’t counted. Period. There was no penalty. There was no whistle. There was no ruling that the ball was down before the endzone. Imagine a ball going right through the uprights on a fieldgoal attempt and then the refs just deciding they weren’t going to give the team the three points they had just earned. This is beyond ridiculous. The game was stolen by the officials.
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The refs did a pitiful job but it didn’t cost Tech the game.
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Another sizzling performance by the riverboat gambler! His antics and quirky decisions have rarely paid off. He fails to recognize that football is a game of stats and is very predictable. You gotta take the points when you can – (ie the field goal instead of going for a touchdown on 4th down). It looks like last year was just a fluke when all the stars aligned and Tech is back to their old game and will win 7-8 games / year. Hardly a world beater – just a middle of the pack team in a great conference.
ohh – and do not blame this loss or last week’s on the refs – that is getting so old and makes you all look like whiners!
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I will not question Leach’s game time decision to go for it on 4th and goal…I believe it is hypocritical for any Red Raider Fan to say that they did not want leach to go for it in that situation especially since we had a bigger O-line than UH D-line. Hell, Red Raider Fans want Leach to go for it on every 4 down regardless of the distance to go to get the first and where the ball is spotted. However, I do not agree with Taylor Potts trying to sneak it in. They should have given it to Jeffers on the come around. That falls back on Potts, not Leach! Potts should have realized all of UH defensive players straddling the goal line and checked off. Potts is to big and cannot get his pad level low enough to sneak it in. Our play makers were obviously our running backs. That being said why and the F would Leach/Potts take the ball out of their hands. Doesn’t make any sense. It was working and it was tiring the hell out of Houston’s Defense. Don’t get me wrong I am a huge fan of Taylor Potts, and it is only fair that I also be one of his biggest critics. I did not think Graham was all that great of a QB but he sure was a smart one. His knowledge of the game was ridiculous and that is why he was so effective at checking off to run plays. Taylor needs to develop this knowledge quickly if he wants to be a great QB. Now. WHat is up with our D. That was just freakin ridiculous. They got tired and that is all on them. If they would stop somebody they would be able to get off the field. UH was not that difficult to read. Same plays over and over and over and over. I think I saw 4-5 different play calls and it was the same thing over and over. The Zone D needs to be upgraded or we need to start running a little more man defense. UH took what Tech gave them. Nothing special or spectacular and yet the D could not adjust to get them off the field. All in all this came down to a game where UH wanted it more. Tech defenders started dropping like flies because they did not want to be out there anymore. A true starter and player is fighting to stay on the field in these kind of games and ours were finding a way to get off. The thing this team is lacking is Mental Toughness. Ruffin needs to run them more, teach them to go back to the basics of tackeling, and just change the mentality of our D. There should be no reason that UH outworked Tech. Our D line got pushed around and our secondary acted like they did not know how to cover anybody. WE need to help out or D line and linebackers by having our secondary come up and press the receivers. Our team is talented and has the potential to run the table but our TEAM is MENTALLY WEAK. It all starts with the coaching…To many penalties has cost us two games already…maybe the coaches need to start getting these guy mentally tough and focused. Wind sprints did this really well at the HS level.
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ITS OFFICIAL>>>>>>>>> TAYLOR POTTS SUX
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Potts actually scored, but only because of a late whistle. It was still a another stupid QB sneak try by Leach/Potts. Late whistle or not the gutless refs didn’t give us the touchdown,after all!!
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Brandon Carter not playing this week? WTF!!!!!!!! He is not a captain anymore? Potts will get crushed!!! What happened?
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The game was set up to be a high scoring contest which means more emphasis on offense than defense. So it made sense that Leach would go for the touchdown over the field goal. He has confidence but execution was still lagging as the game proceeds. Even though Tech came up one point short, it was an entertaining game. The pain is that Tech can win games but is in a hole now. I ‘m still looking forward to the rest of the season. There are still many teams to “Wreck”.
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Hi…I am a huge COUGAR fan and I was sure that it was curtains for UH once the Red Raiders started blowing through our D line and running at will. Sometimes magic happens and if ever a program needed some love from the football gods it is UH. Tech will be fine and will win many games against bigtime opponents. Houston needed this win….they found a way….somehow…they got it done. I will never forget this one! Either way…it was a great night for football in the great state of Texas!
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look for great things in the future for potts. he will come around. its official dan hoover is a dumb a$$
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To be a gracious winner, you have to be a gracious loser. The refs didn’t beat Tech, Houston did. A loser finds others to blame for his short-comings. A winner blames himself for his short-comings and finds ways to correct his errors. A loser never admits his failures are his own.
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Keep the faith , we will turn it around starting this week . We win by 45.
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Taylor Potts changed the 4th down play at the line. He did it last week against Texas. Twice it failed. There were 7 defensemen against 5 blockers. He needs to remember what is best for the team, not him. All year he has been throwing off his back foot and throwing the ball behind receivers. If he does not learn to make better decisions and be more accurate, this could be a long year. Go Red Raiders.
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I said it at the beginning of the year when he tried the QB sneak against ND…bad call! I seen more QB sneaks this year than I’ve seen in the past 10 years. Potts didn’t make it in the end zone against ND (the refs blew that call and said he crossed the goal line) and he didn’t make it in against UH (the refs got this call right…he was stopped cold).
My question for Leach (one of many I would love to ask him), are you letting Potts call his own plays? If you are, what are you thinking putting so much faith in a first year starter??? I don’t care how long he’s been in the system, should Potts be calling his own plays. I’m not a fan of when an offense steps up to the line and the entire squad look over at the bench to check for audible…but maybe it’s time to start doing this for this Tech team.
Tech lost this game…and the blame should be shared with the entire team from the head pirate to every swabbie…but ultimately the head pirate should burden the blame.
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I am a Cougar Alum and also a Huge Cougar fan. I expected a wild shoot out and was not disappointed. I agree with previous poster, “if ever a program needed some love from the football gods it is UH”. We got absolutely hosed back in 1995 when the SW conference split up. Sorry Tech had to lose, but I hope that this is one more big step to redemption, respect and inclusion into the Tier I status for which the school deserves. Unfortunately, most people judge a school’s reputation by their football program. Go figure. Thanks for a great game Tech fans. We’ll be in your house next year and you will have an opportunity to pay us back.
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and if we keep running the ball it’s an easy W. instead leach freaks when stephens fumbles and the running game goes out the window, even though they’re sitting on all the underneath routes. the running game was wide open and leach just has to keep throwing on a night when potts was releasing everything off his back foot… lucky he didn’t have 4 ints!!! oh, did i mention all we had to do is go kick the darn field goal and insure, at the very leat, overtime? hmmm…lots of dollars for such precious little coaching from the oc… :>(
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also, the offensive line sets the tone. ours didn’t! that certainly didn’t help, as potts was rarely blitzed, yet pressured! should be interesting if we go into big 12 play w/out carter. well not interesting, just ordinary…geez, where’s sonny dykes again?
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I agree with Freddie. One should also consider tha UH missed two or three FGs that they should have made and the refs took away the interception in the second half on a veryquestioable call.
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I was watching ESPN this morning and saw that they are predicting who are the three leading Heisman candidates. Tim Tebow of course is # 1. Then colt mccoy is second and third is case keenum. If New Mexico beats us, then their QB might jump into the Heisman race also. It is funny how if you beat Texas Tech, it gives that team a boost in the ratings. Ole Miss is a perfect example. The media did not mention the Rebels much until they beat us and then their QB became a Heisman candidate until the ole ball coach beat them on Thursday night. We looked so good at times in both of the last two games. Then at times we looked like a team that is trying to replace two superstar players.
One of which is a greedy idiot that should sign and play football. You can’t tell me that Crabtree is going to make that kind of $ doing anything else. Tell your cousin to shove it and sign with what I consider one of the best coachs to come along in years. Singleterry will make Crabtree into a superstar. Crabtree feels like he should get paid more then what they are offering because of what he did in college. At least go back to school and finish your degree, because with the bad advice you are receiving, you are going to need your degree.
That aside, I agree that Leach is taking a lot of unnecessary chances, but that is who he is. We love it when they work. As for Houston, they are one injury away from being whipped by Rice and Tulsa. However, I guess that is why their QB is getting so much pub. He is a difference maker. I knew while watching the game that we let Houston stick around long enough to feel like they had a chance. I wish I could have bet that Houston would drive 95 yards to win because it was so obvious that it was going to happen. However, the QB sneak Potts tried was a very bad call. He was not down and the whistle had not blown. I bet if he had fumbled while in that pile the refs would have called it.
Football is a very simple sport if you think about it. Line up and whip the guy across from you and do it for 60 minutes. I feel like we did that for the most part on Saturday, but just not enough. Go Red Raiders and Go Mike Leach.
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Bad Coaching by Mike Leach . Everyone seems to over look why Tech lost against Houston . Bad Coaching by Mike Leach . Always remember that 3pts is better than no points , especially , when you got the lead . Why does everyone try to look at everything esle instead of facing the truth ? Leach should have had enough common sense to kick A field goal in A situation like that . How much do they pay him to make decisions as simple as that ? Houston said , Thank you . Leach should have told the whole team that it was his fault that we lost . How-ever , I don’t know if he has enough character to do that . No excuses , Tech should have won . Why did they lose ? Bad Coaching .
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