Texas Tech defeats Baylor 20-13
by kayakyakr on Nov 28, 2009 8:45 PM CST
in Texas Tech Football
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PrintHard fought game, but TTU comes out with a win. Appropriately for the game and the season, TTU wins the game on a defensive stand. Near the goal line. Very hard fought game and I wonder which Taylor Potts we got. Mostly it was Taylor Potts but he actually seemed to be mobile and comfortable in the pocket today.
I give Brandon Sharpe the MVP for the game, he played a great game and got the key stop on 3rd down. Lyle Leong has got the offensive MVP, catching both TD passes, one of them with a linebacker on his back.
See you guys in the Alamo Bowl.
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What I look forward to
is not facing a lower tier Big 12 team in a bowl game!
just want to thank
Everyone for a wonderful Thanksgiving and football game
Potts was playing with fire
On every throw….this can’t be our qb next year or we are hosed. The ol played like last years unit. We didn’t throw downfield much, no trust in Potts. Surely Sticks is healthy and plays in San Antonio.
Defense bent all night, the middle routes were open all night. Other than that Mrs Lincoln….
by oldschoolraider on Nov 28, 2009 10:18 PM CST via mobile reply actions
Tech crowd
Was strong and made a case for us by showing up in force.
by oldschoolraider on Nov 28, 2009 10:19 PM CST via mobile reply actions
+1
The crowd was great. I was about 8 seats from the band and we were on our feet anytime the ball was on our side of the field. A win is a win and I’ll leave the coaching up to the coaches. I spent $100 on parking, food, and a pair of new t-shirts. I’ll be at the Cotton Bowl for this matchup next year regardless of our record.
-1
I must have been in the wrong section! We were at the opposite end of the field (other endzone on the Tech side) from the band. I had to basically beg people to get up and yell on third downs. My friend back home saw me on TV and said I was the ONLY person standing in the entire section after Lynnewood made his long field goal. It was a poor showing on our end of the field, and frankly, I was embarrassed to be a Raider fan most of the night. Lame.
I do hope that was the last time Taylor Potts starts for Texas Tech. It hurts to imagine how the season would have gone with Sheffield starting 12 games & our defense shutting teams down the way they have in all games except Texas A&M. 8-4 is a fine record & it could have been worse. But there were enough flashes of brilliance from the team this year that the missed opportunities are so annoying. This defense with every other year’s offense & we would be campaigning for a BCS bid right now.
Makes me wonder
Agreed. 8-4 with Potts at QB most of the time is incredible, it’s like being 8-4 without a real QB. It kind of makes me wonder where we would have finished if we started with Sticks and he stayed healthy through out.
That QB sneak on 1st and goal at the 1 killed our season.
We were up 24-10 with 2 minutes left in the game. I was screaming at the TV for Leach to run it with Batch 4 times (we only would have needed 2 tops). Leach calls a QB sneak and Sticks breaks his foot. He has a bad game because he’s running on his broken foot at OSU and Leach makes Potts our guy. Sure he dominated OU, but it was like Bob Stoops took a dump on the field and named it the Oklahoma Sooners football team. They were terrible. Doege could have thrown for 300+ yards and had a positive TD to INT ratio. I really hope Leach overcomes his pride and makes Sticks our guy again. It’s great when the defense rallies around your QB.
by techfan5730 on Nov 28, 2009 10:56 PM CST up reply actions
With Graham at the helm we're 12-0
I really hope we’re just giving Sticks an extended rest. Surely Leach sees that when Sticks plays (sans the OSU game, where he was hobbling in the pocket) both the offense and defense play better. The D really stepped up tonight, but with a healthy Sticks this game isn’t close.
I’m giving the Captain the benefit of a doubt here. I hope hubris doesn’t prompt Leach to make Potts the guy. He’s just too inconsistent. Even when he’s at his best, I would contend that Sticks is better when he has a good day. His mobility and energy put him over the top.
I have a question seeing as how this is the last game of the regular season.....
Who is going to have the stones to wear #3 next year?
Dwayne Slay
Jamar Wall
Not just anybody should have the privilege to wear this jersey. This is starting to seem like an honor and privilege rather than a number assignment. Maybe Mr. Carlos Maynard ( I think he’s the secondary coach) will have a bad mofo waiting in the wings to wear #3. I’m thinking Cody Davis or Will Ford at this point…..
Thoughts?
" Answers -- Become Resources."
Without Questions; There are limited Resources...
Good observation.
I think it should be some stud recruit. That’s for sure. He has to be a leader like Wall and Slay. Someone that offensive coordinators fear.
by techfan5730 on Nov 28, 2009 11:11 PM CST up reply actions
I’m thinking Cody Davis will pick up the slack and be the main man on defense next year.
by pcrawttu on Nov 29, 2009 12:34 AM CST up reply actions 1 recs
Yes, I am going to miss Wall !!
Cody Davis is looking like the hardest hitter in the backfield now.
I saw Julius Howard getting a lot of pt, he looked really serious in several close ups on camera. The telly does not give a good view of play in the secondary. How did he look? Anyone notice?
We need to play there every year. That was an awesome experience for our family, but the actual game sucked.
If throwing behind receivers was a good quality, we’d have the best QB in the nation. OTOH, I didn’t think the defense was setting the world on fire, either. Reminded me of the A&M game. All I can say is it’s a good thing Sharpe was running a stunt on their last 3rd down. The QB ran right into him as he crossed over to the right side. Otherwise, I hate to ponder the possibilities……..them going for two?
Potts just doesn’t have the timing. Its sad but he doesn’t. Even on a couple of his TD throws the threw off his back foot. It just wasn’t very good. Hopefully Sticks can play in the bowl game and we find another guy if not sticks for next year. I want Potts to be good but he just isn’t. Kills our YAC.
The stadium was amazing. That screen was right in front of us on the club level. Having a bar tab a really good food 50 feet from your seat is also awesome. Although not at 10 dollars a drink. All in all a great experience for the Thanksgiving weekend. Can’t wait to go to a real college venue next year though and maybe win one in the Cotton Bowl for a change. As nice as Jerry World is it really isn’t a college atmosphere or venue at all.
It was also annoying that Baylor was the home team and that awesome screen just showed Baylor football players all the time. It would have been cool to see our guys faces besides Potts (which was cool to see). Especially with 60,000 Tech people and 11,000 Baylor. And those 11,000 cost every one else to not have beer not in club level I heard. That sucks.
I hear you about the giant tv screen. It was awesome but the whole time was Baylor players, Baylor cheerleaders, Baylor Band, Baylor “Make Noise”. I know it was a home game for them, but come on, it was obvious that the Tech fans outnumbered Baylor fans about 50,000-20,000.
Don't forget the annoying "FIRST DOWN!"
Did anyone else think it’s ironic that the Battlin’ Baptist band played Single Ladies? I thought it was funny when they showed a crotch shot of the two cheerleaders. Speaking of cheerleaders, Baylor only had two that were pretty. They didn’t even show our cheerleaders. They were pretty much all knockouts. I also thought it was cool that they did backflips across the end zone when we scored. Baylor’s just ran across. I will give the Bears credit for playing us close, but in the end we won.
by techfan5730 on Nov 29, 2009 10:27 AM CST up reply actions
Logan, I think there were WAY more than 11,000 Baylor fans there. Folks in our section (341) were actually commenting that they were pretty surprised that many folks from Baylor actually turned out. I think that was cool, too. I like the idea of a split stadium for these neutral games…makes it more noisy after every play because SOMEBODY is happy : )
Well I was on the Tech side which was pretty much half the stadium with almost 100% baylor people. And of course I was facing the other side so I could see the baylor people. There sections were pretty much half baylor from what it looked like. I guess maybe there were more baylor that you just couldn’t see b/c they didn’t all wear the same colors. Some were green and some were yellow and the yellow stands out more??? I just saw tons of red, especially in the upper decks of the baylor side. From my estimation the baylor side was more than 50% tech. but I could be wrong of course. I’m glad that the baylor fans showed up and I’m sure there were a few more than 11,000 but couldn’t have been more than 20,000. I guess my point was that just because it was their home game it was ironic that they had way less fans. But that was expected.
Best point yet?
We often pined for Crabtree’s YAC-ability but I think logan pointed out something that hasn’t been talked about enough this year and that would be Pott’s bad throws negating YAC. Who knows, maybe there was another semi-Crabtree waiting to happen and we were never able to see him develop. A point made sometime in the last two weeks was how Crabtree could turn a slant into a 50-yd TD and how the lack of that kind of play indicated a step down in receivers this year. But is that really the case? If there was one thing that was painfully apparent from our sweet, comfortable, padded-seat vantage point was that Potts didn’t give any receivers a chance to even get YAC. How many completions did you see hit the receiver in stride? How many did you see that receivers had to make major adjustments to that came at the cost of momentum or a good line through the defensive zone gaps? Even when the receivers found a hole and sat in the zone, passes were off to the point where receivers were forced to adjust and fall to make the catch even when the closest defender was 5-yds away. Aside from throws to a back swinging out of the backfield, it is very hard for me to remember when a completion resulted in many more yards than were made at catch. We should lament less the supposed loss of the big-play receiver and praise more the ability of our receivers to adjust and catch some horribly-thrown passes.
by TracySaulRulz on Nov 29, 2009 1:15 PM CST up reply actions
exactly. there were a few short slants, slip screens, where potts throw was so bad the receiver was tackled immediately. If Harrell was throwing the pass we get a first down and another 5 yards. Its all timing on those types of short throws and when the timing is off b/c the receiver must break stride a jump 2 feet in the air to catch the ball its a problem. Potts is not accurate on those throws. crab doesn’t get any more yards than torres on a slip screen if potts is throwing the ball like he did against baylor.
All in all, it was a blast to be there! The crowd had very little to get excited about, however. Briles had those Bears ready last night. The defense had a great stand at the end, but Baylor didn’t seem to have much trouble moving the ball.
Watched #3 pretty closely last night. I am thinking he needs to really work on cover skills for the NFL. Not sure if Jamar Wall is slow or if the Baylor WRs are really fast, but he was beat pretty badly on a few plays where the ball thankfully didn’t go his way. I mean he was 10 yds behind the receiver on several. Our section was chatting about that all night.
If Potts was any less accurate, I could be the starter. Every pass was behind a receiver or above a receiver. Sticks better win the job next spring, or we’re in trouble. Potts is pretty bad. Several times he had #11 ALL ALONE about 25 yards downfield and he chose a safe pass into coverage. It was astounding. And the rush wasn’t really getting to him on those plays. We were screaming to look at 11.
What I did like is that Leach committed to the run even though it was getting very little. It didn’t loosen things up like we hoped, but I give Baylor credit for that (and blame on Potts for just being a really bad D-I QB).
But give Baylor serious overall credit. Those boys know how to hit and how to wrap up. Pawlek and Lake are studs on any team. Briles was clearly prepared for this one. He even said after the game that there would not have been OT had they scored. Said he had a play already called and it would have been feast or famine. I sort of would like to see that play out…like his win now mentality, if nothing else.
I did get tired of the four hour Baylor infomercial, as well, but it was a home game technically. So we can’t really complain too much about that. Baylor has one cute pom pom girls…and some not so cute one’s.
As predicted in July…8-4…and I got yelled at for saying that as many were on some imaginary BCS bandwagon ; )
Techfan, they showed a blonde Tech cheerleader several times who was stunning…as expected.
She was stunning. It's indicative of Tech's girls.
The chants of Raider Power after the game were cool too. I loved the part where we overpowered their band at the beginning. The announcer seemed VERY pro-Baylor. I mean come on, he can pronounce Syzmanski perfectly, but kept calling Zouzalik something like [Zoo-zall-ee-ahk] and Torres temporarily changed his name to Austin and then later, to Matt Williams.
Tech92, Potts looked almost rattled all game and you’re right, he missed at least 2 times Swindall was wide open streaking down the sideline and then another time he overthrew him. I saw the interception coming from the upper deck. He just panicked and didn’t let the play develop. I would be more comfortable with Doege starting next year than Potts. He has rare flashes of brilliance (and I think Leach keeps him in because of that) and then 70% of the time he’s just Taylor Potts.
by techfan5730 on Nov 29, 2009 10:45 AM CST up reply actions
no kidding
did anybody notice his facial expressions when he was on the big screen. Kid looked very rattled. This game was great because of all the pregame tailgating and the stadium. The actual game itself was boring but you have to give Briles and Baylor credit because they were ready and played one hell of a game. My wife the Baylor grad actually had bragging rights the first half which was kind of fun to watch. I would love to play there once a year.
Finding Silver 12 and getting out of there sure was a b-word though.
by techfan5730 on Nov 29, 2009 12:04 PM CST up reply actions
Right on
I think the game ended somewhere around 8:30 or so. We were in Lot 10, second row from the stadium (got there too early). Got to the car within 10 minutes of the final gun and then…We sat. And sat. And sat. And sat. And sat. We didn’t actually leave the stadium property until nearly 10 p.m. People were getting pretty testy, as well. Then, when it looked like we’d make our escape to 360, about 9 motorcycle cops stopped traffic under the overpass. Great, we thought, a wreck. Two lights from freedom Argh! But no. A few seconds later, the Goin’ Band From Raiderland 18-wheeler rolls past, along with eight charter tour buses headed for either DFW or Love Field or the highway (not sure if they drive or fly). Cost another five minutes. I live in Lantana (near Argyle) and the drive to the game took 35 minutes. The ride home took nearly two hours. Wow…
If it's any consolation...
My daughter caught the band bus in Houston Friday AM, rode to San Antonio to pick up more, rode to Austin to pick up even more, and then nine hours later arrived in Dallas. They had a three hour rehearsal Saturday AM, and were treated to a box lunch at the game. What did you have to eat (drink) Saturday? Give the band a break.
Don’t get me started about the idiots among our fans who think it is OK to boo the opposing band for supporting their school. Drives me nuts…
by Goin' Band Fan on Nov 29, 2009 1:40 PM CST up reply actions
chill
Honestly, I am like Leach on this…I have no sympathy whatsoever. Many band geeks are on scholly, all get to go to the games for free, have great seats, and get free food. I had to pay $120 for tix, $30 for parking, an $8 hot dog and $8 pepsi and a $5 water. I would gladly have had a free box lunch, bro.
we parked just north of the stadium at pep boys for 20 bucks. After the game we turned out left and were at 30 in 5 minutes. 30 is down to 2 lanes there or we would have been full speed at that point. Even with the construction on 30 there it took about 20 to 25 minutes with an entertaining LSU game on the radio to be driving full speed towards dallas.
TEAM Chemistry
I enjoyed the game and Jerry World is first class.
However the above discussion on Potts, Sticks and Seth got me wondering if we had team chemistry problems. I wonder what the deal is with the lack of minutes for Jeffers,Franks,and Detron Lewis not playing. The offensive line problems with burning red shirts etc. It seams this year we had team chemistry problems?
I agree
On the first 3 and out we had 2 drops. There was ALMOST NO pressure on the receivers. Eddie “Hands” Britton might have made those catches (on a good day). This team needs to bond and fast. We’ve got maybe a month until our bowl game. Hopefully Sticks will be 100% and dominate at practice. When he plays, “We Are Family” seems to radiate from the sideline. When Potts is in, crickets chirp.
Watching Potts on the sideline when Tech was on defense, I would venture a guess he isn’t the most popular cat on the team. Stood off by himself almost the entire game. Sticks was high fiving guys left and right and halfway on the field after most plays. Not sure it means anything, though.
I noticed that too.
It seems to me that the team feels like Potts is playing because Leach likes him more than Sticks. While that probably isn’t true, Potts is like the coach’s son; not as good as the guy behind him, yet he starts because he’s the coach’s son. It’s obvious everyone loves Sheffield. The receivers love him (probably because he doesn’t force them to undercut their routes to catch a ball), in the Nebraska game Batch hugged him after practically every play that resulted in a first down or better, the O-Line loves him because he gives them cred on the sideline (I read his lips: “Thanks for buying me that extra second Brandon (Carter)”), he energizes the defense, the fans gave him a nickname. Who gets nicknames at Tech? Wes Welker, Eric Morris, Michael Crabtree, Dwayne Slay, Danny Amendola, Steven Sheffield, and we chant “ZOOOOUUUU” after Zouzalik makes a catch. That’s a short list for the Leach era, my friends. I know Leach is the coach, but forget being right and start Sticks. He struggled the second half of the Nebraska game. So what? He won. NO ONE should struggle against Baylor if they’re executing properly. I was there in person and it confirmed what I saw on the tv. Potts doesn’t have it. His timing is bad. He throws off his back foot CONSTANTLY (after promising he wouldn’t do it again). When he throws a pick, he gets rattled and overthrows wide open receivers. He neglects a wide open streaking down the field Tremain Swindall in favor of a safe 4 yard underneath route to Zouzalik (who got smashed after he caught the ball). Sheffield never did this, even when he had screws in his foot against a fired up Okie State in prime time. If Leach puts the kiss of death on Sticks because of his mediocre performance in the 3rd quarter of the OSU game, I think all of Raider Nation will be upset. Grow a pair, admit you’re wrong, accept that Potts isn’t your guy, and move on.
5730
Did you see Sticks lockdown on the reciever against OSU and toss that killer pick 6, just a question.? You see we all make some mistakes and that’s okay, WE WON and Potts didn’t look so great, so what WE WON. I did notice the team was happy after a hard fought game. The key words are WE WON and not he won. TEAM, that is everybody in that TT uniform. WE WON whether it by 100 or 1 WE WON. Focus , it is a team game, not a wrestling match.
Yeah, I saw it...
He also had screws in his foot. He came in because Potts wasn’t doing anything. Sure he began to mount a comeback, but still…Potts has been very hit/miss this year. Sticks has been nothing short of superb when healthy. I’m happy that we won the game, don’t get me wrong. A win is a win is a win.
I know about the whole team concept. I play rugby. The first thing you have to do before you can be successful is rely on your teammates to make plays. The difference between football and rugby is in rugby all 15 players are part of the offense and the defense. Everyone does everything; kick, run, pass, tackle, etc.
In football, the QB is in charge of getting the offense down the field. If he isn’t effective and in Potts’ case, takes away the bread and butter of this offense (YAC yards) it’s time to either work with him A LOT (which Leach has no doubt done) or get a new QB. Sticks has proven himself. Potts has shown flashes of brilliance, but he usually follows up each great performance with a mediocre one. If we want to win the Big 12 next year, our QB has to be consistent, especially since we play in arguably the toughest division in college football.
Anyway, don’t say that I’m asking for too much. I’m sure most of the board will back me up in saying that Potts is a talented QB, but he’s very inconsistent. Also, don’t lecture me about the whole team thing. I know we won, but 100% of us would agree that we played poorly. I’m glad we won, but it was an ugly win and I would much rather win comfortably, especially when we play Baylor. The defense stepped up big time. The offense, not so much. I respect you and your opinion, dbled53. I don’t want you to get the wrong idea. Just chill a bit.
by techfan5730 on Nov 29, 2009 10:39 PM CST up reply actions
I missed the first quarter
Well, kind of. I had to accompany my wife as she went to pick up her (HER) puppies after ther were snipped. It wound up taking an hour and the second quarter was already in progress when I arrived at my brother’s duplex appartment. We were both ready, however to tear the uniforms off the players and give them to some fans to wear. The team just did not represent well at all-did not deserve to be wearing Red & Black. And don’t tell me “Baylor came to play”. Well, why didn’t Tech come to play, too? Like TCU comes to play EVERY WEEK. They had two close games, on the road, but every other week just played lights out. And screw the caliber of competition. They won, every game, because they came out WANTING to win; never letting down just because they might be playing a “bad” team. That is what Tech needs to address from here on out and in future years. Yes, Tech won, but there is no way the whole team can be at all pleased with their overall effort. I am so sick and tired of seeing this type of play from a Tech team, regardless of sport. When you put on that uniform, R-E-P-R-E-S-E-N-T!
There. I vented. Now, on to the bowl game, probably the Alamo Bowl, which, hopefully, my brother and I will be able to attend, with expectations it will turn out in our favor instead of the other way, like our last Alamo Bowl game against Iowa, when Kingsbury was terrible and the defense played well enough to win. I, like the rest of you, am hopeful the QB slot will have much better performance in the bowl game and next year. I truely believe Tech has a really good chance to run the table nexty year, but the QB is definitely going to have to be awesome. Onward! GO TECH!
TTpilk
Stupid Waco
I went to my brother’s high school football play off game in Waco on Saturday. . so I had to listen to the game on the radio with Waco announcers. Good thing it was Baylor and not someone else that I hate more. Very frustrating game. . .don’t know why we are really good one week and not so good the next.
Maybe a little OU hangover!
We were pretty high against ou and looked flat against Baylor. The most disappointing thing is as a fan, I just don’t trust Potts. I was afraid we weren’t going to pull this game out, and the team did in spite of him. I started having this feeling about him after the Houston game. It was confirmed in the osu game. He played a hell of a game against ou and I will give him that. I just don’t believe he is the winner Sheffield is. I hope like hell Leach gets Sheffield ready for the bowl because I sure don’t want to lose to a sub par Big 10 Team. Leach needs to not waist time starting Potts in the bowl game and get behind and then bring Sheffield in and try and pull it out. He needs to start Sheffield and kick whoevers ass we are playing from the get go!
About Jerry world the outside of the stadium reminded me of something I’ve seen on the Jetsons. The inside was spectacular. I sat at the top in amongst Baylor fans, witch was embarrasing the first half thank goodness we pulled this game out. The big screen was awesome and really gave you a good perspective of what the players see.
American farmers feed & clothe the world!
Help from someone at the game regarding fake FG run by Zouzalik
Still confused on the fake FG in the 2nd half. If I remember correctly, the play was challenged by coach Leach.
So on TV, the announcers continued to talk about the play call and the fake and Zou getting tripped by his own player. But NEVER once offered any info on where the ball was marked by the ref. Had to be the most frustrating part of the game.
Absolutely NO DISCUSSION of the orig line of scrimmage, where the ref maked him down short of the 1st down or where Zou actually fell to the ground! NONE And NO camera work that showed any yardage markers or ANYTHING. Extremely frustrating.
From my view, he appeared to get the ball down to the 8 yrd line? Was hoping someone saw this replay on the big screen and can offer some details. The FWSW coverage of that play absolutely SUCKED!!! They just continued talking about the play all during the review without actually offering any detail. A good 5 – 8 minutes of zero info. They are just terrible.
There was plenty of info on the McCoy - Shipley train.....
I too wondered about that call. He wasn’t tripped by his own guy. The lineman was blocking his ass off and Zooooooooo knows better than to run like that. Pick your feet up and drive the knees while you’re running. That was a kick ass play though. Wish it would have worked out better.
" Answers -- Become Resources."
Without Questions; There are limited Resources...
no doubt
But I still can’t figure out what happened.
Questions I’m curious about:
1. Orig line of scrimmage was the 18 yrd line, correct?
2. Where did Zou finally come down, was it the 8 yrd line?
3. Where did they mark the ball, the 14 yrd line?
4. What the hell did they see that lead them to say he was down? I couldn’t see anything touch the ground until he dove foward.
by imisswesttexas on Nov 30, 2009 11:34 AM CST up reply actions
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