and I think you answered your own question in there somewhere. Harrell had a sub-par first season, including the back to back “pick-6” performance against MZ during which he was booed, yanked, and endured the “put Todd in” chants as you mentioned. 365 days later he was a servicable QB, with the potential to be amazing.

Potts is not a failed experiment until 365 days from now he is still the same guy. Sticks has shown flashes of brilliance, but in the end he is a walk-on, back-up, who has thrown a “pick 6” in 3 of his last 4 games, and led the offense to worst offensive production for a win in a decade (Nebraska).

If our fans would grow up and drop the annual bro-mance with the back-up QB (which dates back to the Spike Dykes Days), we would see that best case scenario Potts follows the exact progression of Harrell. Worst case scenario we will have 4 or 5 great options fighting for his spot.

Either way, the Taylor Potts experiement in not over, we just barely put our lab coats on..

I would have to say about an 8. The only advantage I see today is the home field and our ability to beat a team were not supposed to. As far as talent goes I would say OU has weapons everywhere on defense that could make it a very long day. Offensively, OU is decent and getting much better each week. Can we stop the run? I’m not sure. I would say if Techs offense can move the ball we have a chance otherwise we will burn out a good defense just like the OSU game. Once again it all comes down to the QB for Tech. I’m making the journey to watch our seniors last game so I hope we can send them off with a win at home. This season has to hurt guys like Carter so much after last years success. Leach really needs to work hard at the QB position after the season as this whole offense is based on the passing game.

1. I think the only way to beat a team with a great scrambling QB is to dominate up front, and take away everything you can take away. He’ll still have some success running, but he can’t run it every time.

2. Timeouts aren’t a big deal to me. The head coach and other coaches know better than we do when they should be used. Armchair coaches may say otherwise, but then, they don’t know what’s going on on the sideline now do they?

3. I hate it, but I think OU smells blood. I think they’re gonna beat us pretty handily unfortunately. Unless they beat themselves. (penalties, to’s, etc…)

4. Show me a team that competes week in and week out. Something I haven’t seen under PK. I think he can get us there. 3-0 is a start, but I need more.

5. Just wanna see winning BB.

1. Scrambling qb’s find holes in the containment, often it can be predicted within the first couple of seconds of a snap as the d-line players are executing some kind of play that leaves a gap. LOL, the spy with high motor Danny Howard did not work on the OSU qb who could run just fast enough to defeat the tactic. That was a risk that did not pay.
2. Time outs are pluses and minuses, if you are stuggling to accomplish something, perhaps a TO can help get on track. If you have some momentum some sense of continuity, a TO or a penalty, even one that get your offense yards, can hurt by breaking the tempo.
3. OU has a good defensive football team, they are very well coached by a dynamic motivating individual. I fear they are going to be a major hurdle in our joy next game. Our offense is clearly w/o felt leadership, w/o continuity, and the individuals do not execute; missed blocks, missed line up and snaps, missed routes by wr’s who cannot be relied on to catch a football.
4. My feelings are ruling me regarding the basketball team. I cannot even imagine using the word ‘impressed’ at this point. I am very happy that they have enjoyed the success they have, I am reading good things about players who have surfaced and players who have improved. They have such a long way to go to get to where they can claim some level of credibility as a competitive basketball team that I am simply enjoying the moment and looking for signs of improvement over the season….same as the Lady Raiders.
5. Good basketball teams play good defense and often get a lot of return on the offense from their hard work on defense. That applies from little dribblers to the pros. Basketball is a complex sport with lots of aspects that parallel football. Defense with its plays and strategies, transitions, offense with is own plays and strategies, all combined with being prepared for opportunities in the moment is fun to watch. As far as offense is concerned, for TTU, I do not have a preference, what ever form of game that is played is fun to watch if it is well coached and well played as a team. Sometimes winning or losing is not a criteria for enjoyment, it is the quality in which the game is played.

I think these look like 3 good wins to start the season. Having a win over a Pac10 opponent is really good, although I don’t know what Oregon State’s expectations really are. I think we need more time to let the guys play and find out who is gonna put in the most minutes for conference play. We have a couple good gauges to where the team stands #14 Washington soon and then Stanford (who is always a decent/good team) a few weeks after that. Those games will tell us a lot going into January.

NOTHING….It seems as though most have been wrong anyway. It’s been a year of hi and low all over the place. I move that this be a week of not bashing, passing judgment, or pointing out the shortcomings of any one that will be on the field come Saturday. Let’s focus on the possitive. Put the bad ju-ju in the closet and keep it there. Really, what’s the worst that can happen.

PS.. The only game my schedule allowed me to see this year was Rice when Potts threw for 7. Anyone want to pay for my tickets saturday…..just throwing it out there.

1.Scrambling QB – I’m a fan of the 3-3-5 and the 4-2-5 as far as stopping a running QB in a pass happy conference. My reason for this at Tech is that you have Bront Bird and can use him to always rush 4 in a 3-3-5 or even rotate out a DE in a 4-2-5. One of the 5 DB’s is the guy you put on a delay read or QB spy. I wouldn’t be worried about having only 2 LB’s to stop the run when you have a DB like Wall.

2.TO – I always agree with Mike Leach even when I disagree with Mike Leach. There are only 2 other coaches in my lifetime that I would say the same for. That’s Bob Knight and Paul Johnson.

3.OU – Didn’t OU have zero offense the week before? I’m not ready to mail this thing in. My cardiologist and I prefer optimistic over worried.

4.Pat Knight – I am impressed not only because they won the home tournament, but because they did it with players that I didn’t think would contribute that much this year. However, things changed last year when we entered conference play. I’m worried that the JUCO transfers can’t keep it going once we’re deep in the Big 12 schedule.

5.Tempo – I’m for giving the head coach of any TTU team full run of the place until it is obvious that they need to, and can be, replaced with someone better. Winning isn’t everyhting. We simply have to be better because they’re at TTU than if they weren’t.

1- I was saying that to my friends that it seemed that Robinson was taking any and all opportunities to scramble as soon a he saw a crease. My suggestion at the time was to have a Spy on Robinson in the 4th quarter, primarily a safety or Bird. If in the case of safety I say roll with a 4-2-5 or with Bird, go with a 3-4 type defense with Bird playing his usual LB/DE hybrid spot. The fact is I dont like the idea of taking a guy away from the pass rush/run support, so try and do your best to mask it. A problem Ive had with our backers for sometime now is they seem to be weak in broken play pursuit on a mobile QB and/or quick slot receivers. As much as the defense has improved over the past couple years with Ruff at the helm, its dissapointing to see that we didnt make some more of adjustment – or at least one that was visible to us.

2- As others have said, they are a couple of things that I have come to terms with Leach as our head Pirate. 1) He will use timeouts in the fashion that if he uses them quick enough as if he’s gonna get one free if he does. 2) He will never preach fundamentals enough to cut down on the grotesque amount of penatlies we accumulate in a season and 3) We will always go with the ‘try and draw them offsides’ play on 4th and under-5 everytime (and as long as we dont use a timeout at the end of that play and take the delay of game instead – i am okay with that)

3- In a year where it seems every Big12 team has been played inconsistent ball all year, no offense has looked like it’s going through ebbs and flows more than OU. However it’s important to keep in mind that this offense has struggled mightily againt any sort of good defense with Laundry Jones at the helm. The game against Aggie didnt boost my confidence for this game as much as the Nebraska game did. Not putting the Ruff Raiders defense up at the level of the Huskers, but as long as we can keep the run game in check, I think it’ll be difficult for Jones to make any big plays against us in Lubbock. However, did anyone catch the Sooners run a Wildcat with Broyles and Murray at the helm? Now that….that has been given me nightmares since I saw it on Saturday…

4- I love it so far. Great that were defensing the home court and that we stepped up to win a tight game late on Sunday. We’re in a for a whole different ballgame once Big12 play starts, but with a less-than-stellar Non-Conference schedule (outside of games against Stanford and Washington), its important to take care of business from the get-go heading into conference play with between 0-2 losses is extremely possible and should give this team the much needed confidence before we head into tilts with Texas, OU, Kansas, etc.

5- The fact that we do not have any – at least proven – playmakers on offense (and I throw Singletary into that statement…we were all impressed by the breakout game in the conference tourney last year, but do we all forget that he only accumulated double figures in a little over half the games last yr?), our season will be defined on the defensive end.

1) Replace a LB with one of the young, fast corners we have and use him to spy the backfield. If they are going to run or pass, the DB will be better and fastr than an LB.
2) I think you try to save timeouts for late-game heroics to ensure the right plays are being run.
3) I already am chalking this game up as a loss. If wewin, BREAT! But, not likely, so I am not woried, just complacent…. I guess.
4) Still too early and opponents’ strengths unknown. Hopefully, the Raiders will be playing smoothly enough in January to be competitive enough in the Big-12 to have a good chance to finish above .500.
5) Better defense, but so-so offense, esp with the 3-pointers. Tech needs to work on both, although a better D could lead to morewins.

1. I’m not sure there is a sure-fire way to contain a good running QB. That’s why they are high demand. You can sub out a LB and shadow him with a quicker safety, but I don’t know if that is the answer. You get into a one-on-one game and if he stays in the pocket, you have a guy who is basically just taking up space. Not sure I like that. Maybe blitzing more often could help out, but we don’t seem to be very good at that.

2. I wasn’t worried about the timeouts as much since the clock stops on first down.

3. I am a 9.8 on the worried scale. OU has figured some things out and Landry looked much more comfortable against A&M than he has all year. Was that because it was a horrid Aggie defense? Maybe. OU has a very attacking defense and Stoops just seems to know how to scheme against Tech better than anyone else.

This Tech team has lacked an identity all year and it’s probably too late to create one. They are favored and unless one of our QBs steps up and takes control of the offense, we could have a very long morning/early afternoon Saturday.

1) I’m a big fan of using a linebacker to spy the quarterback. The fact is, our’s aren’t doing a good enough job of it. If we had the safeties to spare, we could use one of them but with Will Ford out we need to use our safeties as…well, safeties.

2) I’m a big believer in saving one timeout for that last second field goal. Sometimes you need to use them earlier though. There is no more important play than the next one.

3) I’m a 7 right now. How they beat the Aggies really doesn’t bother me a bit, K State did the same thing (any given saturday blah blah blah). Oklahoma is hurting right now at several positions and they don’t always play like Oklahoma at the Jones, however that pass rush scares the living daylights out of me given our offensive line situation and how immobile our quarterbacks are right now. We will have to get a running game going early to keep them off of potts’/sticks’ back, but we won’t. I know, I know… We don’t do that and Leach is great at what he does and I’m no coach, but I still wish we would run about 1 out of every 3 downs. Is that too much to ask??!!

4) I haven’t had a chance to see them play yet, but I’m eager too. This tournament was promising but lets see how they do down the stretch. I don’t think we’ll consitently beat Kansas or anything but I think we could definitely be a major player in the big 12 south this year from the looks of things.

5) A win is a win is win. Whatever our style, wins make me happy and get me to basketball games. I’ll go watch the football team lose every week but we need some wins for me to watch bball twice a week.

Generally, I have been more realistic about managing expectations of the 2009 Red Raiders. Tech is young and was going to be hard pressed to get wins even without the slew of injuriesand the QB questions. I believe that next year (2010) Tech will benefit from more experience, better incoming recruits and the fact that Texas, OU and OSU graduate some key performers on their respective rosters.

JMHO

1. Make Batch or Jeffers play linebacker and spy. I’d like to see a running QB outrun them. And I’d like to see the complete fear on their face while he’s chasing them down. Seriously though, we don’t have nearly enough speed at those positions. Any QB we’d need to spy would outrun our spy. So I guess that leaves your defensive ends back there?

2. Yep. Timeouts are not that important. You don’t get bonus points for waiting to use them until the end of the game. I believe we wasted one timeout near the beginning of the half that we didn’t have to, but I forget. Those timeouts were taken in strategic places to give our defense time to get things right or get the right play called at the goal line. Timeouts are a lame excuse for losing — we did have issues with not getting out of bounds early in the last drive though.

3. I’m at 11 right now. I don’t feel like we can play with any team that is currently considered “good”. The team has been wildly inconsistent, but at least our defense came to play last week. For whatever reason we just don’t have the talent or execution at key positions we need to win these games this year.

4. I don’t plan to care about basketball this year until March, kind of like last year.

5. See above.

1. Linebackers need to run down hill at the play instead of staying flat across the line. Yes, it’s that easy. If you don’t get in persuit, the QB will burn you everytime for the yardage. One spy with some speed is all we need back there to get this done. Somebody like Slay or Wall would be perfect. We don’t have Slay, so there is Fehoko. I heard / read he is a little speedster with some stones that can bring the wood every play. Why the hell not try it?

2. Yes. I refuse to question the big man in charge. Everytime I do it results in an epic fail on my part. I’ll do a Fan Post on that if you guys would like to read it.

3. I stand at a 5 five on the worry scale for this game. As explosive as we are and aren’t, there isn’t a reason to be that worried. A lot of our players should be seeing red after what Stoops and Co. decided to do last year. I think OU might be in for a Grade A beating if everybody shows up to play. But, in turn, that can be said about every game that we play. Whoever decides to show up is the team all be rooting for.

1. The mobile QB is a problem because it creates a mismatch, especially on passing downs where all 11 guys on defense aren’t playing down hill. Schematically, I disagree with having a DE cover a QB as the spy, but good DE play (containment on the outside) is where it starts with a guy like Zac Robinson – who has good feet, but only fair accuracy from the pocket. For the spy to be effective, he has to be at least as fast, preferably a step quicker, than the QB. This leaves 5 guys in the box at all times, which means you are asking the secondary to play man.

2. You use timeouts when you need them. It doesn’t do you any good to take a penalty if you are having a substitution problem or roll with the completely wrong play/scheme based on what the other guy is showing and give up 7 points or a huge loss. Sometimes you’ve got to challenge the call. They don’t do you any good to go unused.

3. More thoughts on OU later this week, but I’d put them at an 8 right now.

4. I’m taking the wait and see approach. I’m concerned about out depth.

5. To echo what was said above, a win is a win. But you have to stay true to who you are first. Right now, we are not a team that can run like North Carolina and generate lots of points in transition, so we are best served to force the other guy to play slow – fewer possessions to keep it close, and hope we are shooting better at the other end.

The 2007 team was in the same boat at this point going into OU were they not? Don’t seem to recall anyone crying into their pillows each and every night because they were so terrible. If we pull off the next two games (which I really think we can), we more than likely end up in the Holiday bowl. Did UT not end up there last year? Is that not better than the Gator Bowl? We are losing less people than the ‘07 team did, yet we seem to be worrying a bit more about the ’10 season. This year has been a bumpy ride, but we have been headed uphill since day one. We return so many players next year, and with everything they have experienced this year, I feel sorry for teams next year. This team has played mediocre, but mediocre is quite an accomplishment with all things considered. Given all of the experiences gained this year, and the taste of losing a close game fresh in our mouths, I will not be surprised if we take it all next year. Don’t be so down on this team though!

Maybe the scrambling quarterback will think twice after being introduced to Mr. Wall. I hope Mr. Robinson is ok and all, but hopefully future qb’s will be thinking about the Zac Attack before they decide to run too far.

1. i think ruff needs to bring in the safeties if were getting beat by the run game. Thats makes a play over the top of us that much easier but we just cant expect our LB’s to make ALL the stops.

2. Timeouts are meh in college ball. We were moving the ball good on that last drive.

3. An 8…and thats only because we are at home. We GOT to to stop their run, make landry beat us with throws, and get sacks and pressure him. We need to get the run game going to ease back that pass rush. I dont want stellar QB play, i just want smart QB play: dont overthrow receivers, dont throw into double coverage, check into the runs, go through the progressions, by some time with your feet.

Im not much for basketball but i will say this:

WRECK’EM!