Double-T Nation News:

The open game day thread goes up at 10:00 a.m., I hope to see you here. I'm nervous as all get-out.

Texas Tech Football:

• LAJ's Don Williams says this is make-or-break time for Texas Tech:

  The Red Raiders (7-0, 3-0 in the Big 12 Conference), ranked as high as sixth in the USA Today coaches poll and eighth in the initial BCS rankings, try to keep their perfect season alive today when they serve as the homecoming opponent for No. 19 Kansas (5-2, 2-1).

  If the Red Raiders win, it sets up showdown games at home the next two weekends with No. 1 Texas and No. 6 Oklahoma State, the teams with whom they share the Big 12 South Division lead. A trip to No. 4 Oklahoma comes two weeks after that.

  "From the beginning of the season, we noticed these four games coming up," Tech offensive guard Brandon Carter said. "We’re all excited about it, because this is the time of the season that’s going to make or break us."

• LAJ's Adam Zuvanich says that Dezmon Briscoe is ready to join the elite group of Big 12 receivers:

  If the topic is the best wide receiver in the Big 12 Conference, the discussion usually centers around Mike Crabtree, Dez Bryant and Jeremy Maclin. Each has become a well-known playmaker for one of the nation’s most explosive offenses, and each is an NFL-type talent.

  It might be time for yet another super sophomore to enter the conversation.

  Kansas’ Dezmon Briscoe, a 6-foot-3, 200-pound Dallas native, has mostly been a quiet contributor for the No. 19 Jayhawks this season. But after his record-setting performance at fourth-ranked Oklahoma last week, he’ll be impossible for Big 12 defenses to ignore.

• I think we already knew this, but Matt Williams will kick extra points today:

  A student at eighth-ranked Texas Tech who won a contest by making on a 30-yard field goal will start out kicking extra points in Saturday's game at No. 19 Kansas.

  Matt Williams, the sophomore transfer who hit the contest field goal during a game last month, will start out kicking extra points but step aside for field goals and kickoffs. Those will be handled by freshman Donnie Carona.

• ESPN Big 12 blogger Tim Griffin empties out the notebook:

  Hot

  • Texas Tech's defense, which limited Texas A&M to 32 yards in the second half and 20 yards rushing in the game to nail down a 43-25 victory over the Aggies.

  Not

  • Texas Tech's kicking game, which has missed six extra point opportunities and made only 4 of 8 field goal attempts. No wonder coach Mike Leach is considering walk-on Matt Williams as an alternative.

• FWST's Dwain Price writes about the Texas Tech offensive line protecting their quarterback:

  For Tech’s offensive line — tackles Rylan Reed and Marlon Winn, guards Louis Vasquez and Brandon Carter, and center Stephen Hamby — keeping Harrell upright is a point of pride.

  "That’s our job, to make sure that he’s the most protected quarterback in the nation, and we take pride in that at Tech," Reed said. "When he can get to the second, third and fourth reads and come back to another receiver and have that kind of time, there’s a good chance he’s going to make a great play."

  That’s why Tech’s offensive line takes it personally whenever a defender even gets his hands on Harrell.

  "We work really hard and our No. 1 goal is to protect Graham and make sure that he doesn’t get hit," Carter said. "Even when we give up a pressure or a hit — even when it’s not a sack — we all kind of take it to heart."