Texas Tech Football

McKinner Dixon Arrested in Nacogdoches

Yesterday morning, I ran across this post from EDBS regarding defensive tackle Lavunce Askew, who was at one time considering Texas Tech

EDSBS " Archive " FULMER CUPDATE: ARKANSAS ATHLETIC STEALS LAPTOP
The same could be said for Arkansas defensive tackle Lavunce Askew, arrested for taking a laptop with teammate linebacker Matt Marshall. Marshall and Askew allegedly took the items from an unnamed complainant in the middle of the night. Marshall was seen returning the iPhone the following morning.Then this happened:

Askew pulled up while police were questioning Marshall, had the laptop and admitted to taking it, according to the report. He said he was going to use it for school. Askew was placed under arrest.

I thought to myself that Texas Tech may have dodged an unintentional bullet, but then someone posted a comment (I can't remember where it is, which is why I'm not linking it) regarding Texas Tech's very own DE McKinner Dixon being arrested for essentially having an open container and driving without insurance.  As DTN's resident defense attorney, Plano Jeff, points out that this is a nothing charge, class C misdemeanors.

I don't think it's the charges that are the problem with Dixon, but rather it's the location.  I can't remember where Mike Leach said this, but I think whenever Leach suspended Dixon, he made a reference that Dixon's problem was that he always had an excuse about not being able to get back to Lubbock from Nacogdoches.  I'm guessing here, but I get the feeling that it may not be Dixon's actions in Lubbock that are the problem, where he has no distractions, but rather it is the distractions in Nacogdoches that are the problem.  The charges may be nothing, but I get the feeling that Dixon's actions speak volumes about where he is with this team.

Taylor Potts Will Throw the Ball

For those worried about the Texas Tech offense (this makes no sense to me), apparently AthlonSports.com isn't worried at all as they believe that Taylor Potts is going to be the 4th best fantasy quarterback this year.  Feel free to worry about a bunch of other things with this team, but not the offense.

I thought it was interesting to note that Houston's Case Keenum is the top ranked fantasy signal-caller.  That's going to be a scary game.

Neglected, Audio, Video and Photos

Fox34 looks back at last year's UMass game as well as kicker Matt Williams being the 21st most important Red Raider.

Texas Tech Basketball

Pat Knight on Tech Talk

Pat Knight was on the first hour of Tech Talk and he was an open book.  PK talked about focusing on the defense this year and takes the blame for focusing so much on the offense last year (I've already written about this, scheduled to post next week).  Pat also talks about all of the cheating that's going on in college basketball and notes that coaches aren't afraid of the penalty and believes that the cheating will continue.  PK explains that the reason he doesn't cheat is that he doesn't want a player having control over him (which I totally agree) and thinks that something drastic needs to happen (i.e. losing your job, death penalty, etc.).  I think he also heard PK say that if he finds out a player is on "the take" on any level, he doesn't recruit them, which explains why you don't see Texas Tech have the #1 class and PK says that if that's what you want to see then he just needs $200,000 and some used cars and he can have the #1 class. 

I feel like I have this conversation with myself all of the time, but there's something to be said about having a coach who absolutely refuses to play the recruiting game.  Pat mentioned that all of the stories regarding cheating was just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what really goes on in the world of college recruiting. 

There are schools that pay the recruiting services, which you are really buying admission to the AAU team (BTW, this makes me sick). 

Texas Tech doesn't do it.  

How about the Illini AD admitting that the issues with Derrick Rose were known (not sure what was known, but they were). 

Texas Tech doesn't do it.

Pat Knight isn't a perfect coach, there's no doubt about that.  Even in this short interview on Tech Talk, he admitted that he focused too much on offense last year, but he's making changes.  PK is brutally honest, sometimes to a fault.  Sometimes he says exactly what he thinks which provides plenty of opportunity for him to firmly plant his foot inside his mouth. 

But, Pat Knight is not a cheater.