Tech Football Notebook
Line shuffles again
Texas Tech faced some adversity on the offensive line in Saturday’s 31-10 win at Nebraska. After the second series, two starters were gone, not to return for the rest of the day.
Left tackle Terry McDaniel appeared to be the more pressing concern. McDaniel went down in obvious pain, grasping his right knee, on a third-and-6 play in which quarterback Steven Sheffield was sacked.
McDaniel was on crutches after the game. Chris Olson replaced him the rest of the way. Olson started the first three games at left tackle and McDaniel the last four.
Right before McDaniel went down, center Shawn Byrnes was pulled after he was beaten in pass protection by defensive tackle Jared Crick. In went Justin Keown, who played the rest of the game.
Texas Tech head coach Mike Leach adjusts his head set in the final minutes of an NCAA college football game against Nebraska, in Lincoln, Neb., Saturday, Oct. 17, 2009. Texas Tech beat Nebraska 31-10.(AP Photo/Nati Harnik)
Texas Tech's Brandon Sharpe (92) swats down a throw by Nebraska quarterback Zac Lee (5), as Nebraska's Ricky Henry (74) and Marcel Jones (78) block Texas Tech's Colby Whitlock (93), in the first half of their NCAA college football game in Lincoln, Neb., Saturday, Oct. 17, 2009.(AP Photo/Nati Harnik)
The Red Raiders do not disclose injury information. They might have decided that Byrnes, who missed last week’s game against Kansas State with an apparent ankle injury, wasn’t going to be mobile enough against Nebraska’s big, active defensive front.
Nebraska finished with eight quarterback hurries and five sacks. Tech coach Mike Leach was asked if that’s just to be expected with the reputation of the Cornhuskers’ front four.
“We knew it was part of the deal, and then they did something we thought they might do,” Leach said. “They played a lot of running teams, and they’ve got these powerful, monstrous looking guys. So they spend a lot of time, I call it catching and reading, at the line of scrimmage where they kind of post up their offensive linemen and then react to the run game. I was hoping they would do that. But they decided to rush up field hard and try to get us. They’re kind of tough at that.”
Package adjustment
Nickel back Will Ford went out with an injury and walked off the field stiff-legged after the game. Ford spent most of the second half on a stationary bike, pedaling with his left leg and not bending his right.
To cover for Ford’s absence, the Raiders used Brett Dewhurst and D.J. Johnson in six-defensive back packages.
Déjà vu
In last year’s Texas Tech-Nebraska game in Lubbock, Nebraska owned time of possession with 40-plus minutes to just under 20 minutes for Tech. There was a stretch of Saturday’s game that resembled it.
The Cornhuskers bridged the third and fourth quarters with a 16-play, 49-yard drive that took 9 minutes, 29 seconds off the clock. Ultimately, there was no harm done. The Raiders were up 24-3 at the time, and they took over on downs after Jamar Wall broke up a fourth-down pass from the Tech 14-yard line.
“I was hoping they didn’t keep it all that nine minutes,” Tech coach Mike Leach said, “but they (the Tech defense) kind of threw up a wall at the end and found a way.”
In brief
Nebraska tripled Tech in penalties, getting flagged 12 times for 95 yards to Tech’s four for 40. … Nebraska was the fourth team for Tech to hold under 300 yards this season. The Raiders limited North Dakota to 207, Rice to 257 and Kansas State to 284. Nebraska finished with 285. … The Tech-Nebraska series now stands 7-4 with Nebraska winning the first seven and Tech the last four. … Tech coach Mike Leach can tie Spike Dykes’ school record of 82 victories with a win Saturday against Texas A&M. Kickoff for that game is 6 p.m. … Nebraska lost a conference home opener for just the second time in the Big 12’s 14-year history. The loss also ended the Cornhuskers’ six-game home winning streak. … Nebraska LB Phillip Dillard was credited with a game-high 12 tackles and four tackles for loss.
Compiled by Don Williams
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Can someone who knows more about Big 12 football explain something to me?
If we are fortunate enough to end this season with 1 conference loss, what would it take to beat UT for the Big 12 South? If UT only loses 1, then we tie and they win the Big 12 South because they already beat us, right? So UT would have to loose 2 in this scenario, I’m thinking.
Can someone clarify?
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Caleb- That is true. If Tech won the rest of their games, Texas loses one game, let’s say to Oklahoma State for our purposes, then Texas wins the Big 12 South because they beat us. Texas has to lose two games for Tech to win the South. I think those chances went out the window today with OU losing to Texas. Was really hoping OU would win. The only two teams that have any chance would be Missouri playing in Missouri and OSU in Stillwater.
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It could end like last year if Tech wins out and OSU beats Texas. We would then have another 3-way tie, but no way we would be ranked higher than Texas, since we already have 2 losses. As ScarletBlack said, OU beating Texas would have been huge! The Houston loss could turn out to be a killer for bowl purposes. If we win that game, we are a Top 10 team after the big win today. (6-1 with our only loss on the road to #2 Texas). Nothing we can do about that now, though, so let’s just run the table (which won’t be easy) and see what happens.
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As I said last week and on game day, our defense and Sticks can win out. I called the game TT31 and UN 28, I was wrong. We are a better team than last year?
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Good game Tech. Shame we can’t get a rematch in the Big 12 championship game. You guys win out now, ok?
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What a defensivew effort !!!! As much as they have been blasted over the last few years, I think it is important to celebrate this result. The DEFENSE won this game !
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Caleb, it OSU beats Texas and Tech beats OSU and all three end up with one conference loss, it would rule Texas out. Pray.
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WillieB: The rankings were taken out, weren’t they?
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Just to clarify, Tech would not win a 3-way tie under any circumstances. Before they get to the BCS rankings to break the tie (last year’s scenario), they first look at overall record. Texas will have the better overall record since they did not lose an out of conference game. So the only way possible for Tech to win the South is for Texas to lose 2 games (and Tech to win out of course)
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APS….that is NOT correct. Out of conference games do not count in any more towards conference standings.
But, it is clear Texas would most likely be the highest ranked BCS team, so they would advance via the trie breaker rule.;
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I would like to think Texas Tech will crack the top 25 today after yesterday’s dominating performance on the road, but you never know. I mean, Ohio State will probably still be in the top 15 despite losing to PURDUE yesterday and not having beaten anyone worth a damn yet. It’s all about the name on the front of the jersey I’m afraid.
Anyway, we should beat A&M and Kansas and be 7-2 going into Oklahoma State. That will be a big game and could be the difference between a New Year’s Day bowl game or just an also-ran bowl game.
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Hey…It is NOW A & M week in Lubbock.
Let us celebrate the moment.
It has not always been this good.
Beat the hell out of A & M !!!
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From the official website
http://www.big12sports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=10410&ATCLID=1546006
Divisional Tiebreakers: The following procedure will determine the representative from each division in the event of a tie:
If two teams are tied, the winner of the game between the two tied teams shall be the representative
If three or more teams are tied, steps 1 through 7 will be followed until a determination is made. If only two teams remain tied after any step, the winner of the game between the two tied teams shall be the representative.
The records of the three teams will be compared against each other
The records of the three teams will be compared within their division
The records of the three teams will be compared against the next highest placed teams in their division in order of fi nish (4, 5 and 6)
The records of the three teams will be compared against all common conference opponents;
The highest ranked team in the fi rst Bowl Championship Series Poll following the completion of Big 12 regular season conference play shall be the representative
The team with the best overall
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THERE IS ONLY A SOUTH CHAMP AND NORTH CHAMP GAME WE HAD OUR SHOT AT TEXAS AND WE BLEW IT WE PLAED WELL AND ALL WE CAN HOPE FOR IS FOR TEXAS T LOOSE 2 CONFENCE GAMES BEFORE ITS ALL OVER AND WE DONT LOOSE AGAIN AND U STILL HAVE TO FACOR IN OKLAHOMA AND OSU
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Okay Ladies and Gentlemen,
I have sat here and read all of the blogs this morning. Yesterday I posted about how you guys would rather argue with a UT fans than talk about the game. So then you guys went from arguing with UT fans to arguing amongst yourselves about being a TSHIRT fan. WOW, UT beat TECH on the field and in TECHS own blog/chat room! So, here is my two two cents.
No, I am not a bandwagon jumpers, you couldn’t give me the lotto numbers for the next 5 years to wear UT, OU, or A&M colors. I miss Coach Sharp dearly. Did I attend Tech at Lubbock, no! Why, after high school I joined the Navy. When the time come for me to go to college, they were way out of my GI Bill fund range. So, I had to go to Western Texas College in Snyder, since that is where I was residing, and couldn’t afford the hour and a half drive to Lubbock and back, plus I had to work, pay a pick up note, pay a divorce lawyer, etc.. Now that I am down in Corpus Christ, I am currently attending Ashford Univeristy on line because of money again, and my son is here. Do I support Tech in all sports, yes, even the Lady Raiders Soccer, because soccer is my number one sport.
I have spent lots of money on my Tech appearl on Techs website to buy from the school and not another NCAA dealer. So, what do I do from here? Do I continue buying from the website or do I go the Dollar Genral in town and buy from them? Either way I am going to support Tech and all of it’s programs.
To those of you whom ignore all the stupid talk, thank you! I am very level headed about all things, God will decide our fate in everything.
Wreck Em Tech!
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Sorry….I did not mean to put that word above. It was supposed to be Gaggies…Time for a new keyboard.
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This happens to be a Sunday afternoon post, but, thank you for you………guns up! “Love Corpus and have family in both Snyder and C City. ‘Know Snyder & Colorado City very well! Memories. nmredraider1 over in Albuquerque
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It is important to remember that the Red Raiders must take it one play at a time and one game at a time! The main objective is Texas A&M. I am sure coach Leach will not let the Red Raiders take anything for granted.
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SUH WHO?
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Realistically, there’s not much chance that anyone can knock UT out of the south division championship this year. We had our chance and they won fair and square (not counting Kindle). If they get beat once and we win out, we’ll be tied. We will get the same trophy they do, but they’ll move on to the B-12 CG. If they win that and get matched up with Alabama/Florida for the nat’l title, get ready for another year of whining and excuses out of Austin because there’s no way they win that game.
Starting next year, it will be the whorns who sit around scheming for some way to get by Tech for the Big 12 crown. We’ll probably have to randomly change the URL for all Tech sites to keep their trolls from bombarding us daily. It’s who they are.
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Guns Up Red Raiders and Believe great game over Nebraska and A&M this saturday Go Tech see you in Lubbock Tx. this weekend.
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very few penalties for once. Very nice!
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Texas could very well lose to Missou and OK State, both away games, but nobody is mentioning the game against the Aggies in College Station. That is a game where all bets are off! Besides, the Aggies have owned TU at home in recent history. Nov. 26 could be a very important date for Red Raider fans. Good job against NU! Keep it up!
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