Texas Tech Thursday Morning Notes - We Wanna Play Fast Edition

Texas Tech Football:

Texas Tech's kicker Matt Williams is still in the running for the kicker position. Yesterday I wondered how Williams was able to to play this year considering we were told when Williams first burst on the scene that he'd have to play next year and per LAJ's Don Williams, M. Williams was granted a one time exception:

According to Tech officials, Williams was granted a one-time exception to the NCAA transfer rule because he was neither recruited by nor ever on scholarship at Tarleton, facts that required confirmation by the Tarleton athletic department. That enabled him to be eligible immediately at Tech.

Tech received the confirmation in writing and cleared Williams on Monday.

Make sure and check out BON's Big 12 Football Report for this week.

Dr. Saturday says that now, Texas Tech gets to justify it's top 10 ranking:

No team has a schedule built for success like the Raiders, but no team in the top ten has proven less almost two-thirds of the way through the season. They're opening up as two-point underdogs at Kansas for a reason: the only numbers that are going to matter a month from now are the ones Tech puts up between now and then.

It's all true. It starts Saturday.

ESPN Big 12 blogger Tim Griffin answers the mailbag, including Big 12 tiebreakers.

Texas Tech Basketball:

If this tells you how much I've been focusing on football, the Texas Tech men's basketball team's media day is today in Oklahoma City, OK, and Alan Voskuil and John Roberson are your representatives. LAJ's Jeff Walker talks with Pat Knight prior to today's event, and Junior Knight sounds ready to be his own coach:

"You have to be your own person," Pat Knight said. "If somebody comes up to me and says, It reminds me of your dad,' that's the greatest compliment I can get. If they say, Hey, that's a little different,' that's also a great compliment because you have to be your own person."

DT's Adam Coleman writes that Junior Knight is ready for a full season and as mentioned before, it sounds like Junior Knight is going to want to run a little more than RMK:

"We wanna play fast, but the basis are always going to be motion offense and man-to-man defense," he said. "But we will play a lot of zone. You have to have it from the standpoint, it makes teams stand."

Some of Pat Knight's philosophies may be similar to his father's, but Pat Knight said he still wants to establish his own identity.

However, he said it may not be the best idea to turn away any advice Bob Knight is willing to give.

"I'm not working for him so I don't see him on a day-to-day basis," he said. "When I do have him around, I do ask him questions. I'd be dumb not to. I try to use him, but again, it's my deal. My name goes on the record now for the wins and losses."

Knight also sounds unconcern with where the media has picked the Red Raiders:

"We're picked in a great situation," Pat Knight said. "I don't blame them. I don't even know if I can coach. I think I can coach but I have no idea. Everything you read, they don't know about our players, they don't know about the coach. Why wouldn't you pick us 10th? I'm hoping these guys step up and we prove a lot of people wrong."