Maybe it's the musician in me...

Playing the Horns so early in the season, no telling what could happen.

The neat thing about the Texas Tech program is the consistent up tick in performance. It speaks of a level of confidence displayed by the coaches, support staff and players. A programmatic routine style of play which begs the response "okay come out and stop it". We Raider fans understand the level of effort to move beyond mediocrity and compete with those folks who formerly used to punch us in the mouth… the turn towards legitimacy has been made. The production of good to great offensive and defensive linemen is entrenched. Mostly because of coaching consistency but also due to exceptional recruiting of project type players and a great strength program when they arrive. Look for 4 all Big 12 performers from this group and 2 All Americans. The Linebacking and secondary are legitimate. We will have a couple of All Big 12 selectees in this group. Plus its more than 2 deep. The QBs and receivers will tag our opponents with over 4000 yards and 40 TDs. They are three deep. And all over 6 feet tall. When has that ever happened on the high plains? Its a given strength of the program. Think about this a Wideout decommitted from OU to come to Lubbock. That is a new trend. The running backs the so called production position will have a 1000 yard rusher and a back up who adds another 600 yards. Even the punting and kicking game i.e. Special teams will be improved and what’s more will continue to attract quality recruits to the program. Am I confident yeah I am. I feel we- the TTU staff – the Seniors – the Administration heck even the Alum’s – know what we are aiming at and we – are now – setting the conditions for success. It’s an achievable goal to win the Big12 South. It’s a given the opponents are great. It’s our league the Big 12. I am not interested in being the Mtn. West or Wac dominant force. We have so much to gain being on the big stage. You have a Head Coach who values the term academics. He’s not a semi pro collector like the USC cool hair guy. So the bottom line is – strap it on folks the Raiders will win 10 plus and control the who the South sends to the Big 12 championship game. And you never know it could very well be the Red Raiders.

but as always I’ll be hoping for the best.

I think UT, UH, NU, OU and OSU are going to be very tough games for us. TAMU will be inspired and Baylor will be dangerous. The jury is still out on Ruffin and our defense is very young this year.

The defense started 2008 with a whimper, gained some confidence, and later fell apart at the end of last year. The defensive letdowns against OU, Baylor and Ole Miss particularly did not inspire confidence. Defenses are supposed to improve as the year progresses, and our unit did not.

I consider 2009/10 to be a rebuilding year. I think 9-10 wins would be huge success, but that realistically we will be at 7 to 8 W’s this year. In 2010, I would expect us to return to 2008 form with an experienced offense and a more seasoned defensive unit.

Go Red Raiders!

And online banter for that matter, the more I realize that people are just plain scared of us. They are so ready for us to go away they just dont want to talk about it. I mean its crazy, we have lost key components before and always fired back right where we left off. The theme I keep picking up is that Tech ruined allot of sports personalities’ picks/predictions from last year, and they were none too happy with it (there was a long stretch there starting with Kansas where the pros were picking us to lose week after week). Plain and simple we made the “experts” look stupid last year and they are just ready to count us out…. But I totally agree with this post, we are here to stay… LIKE IT OR NOT!

Sax, I hope you’re right. I’m not pessimistic on the season (I think 8-4 or 9-3 is likely; not too bad, really), but I don’t see “special” written on it. But if you’re right, I’ll be a lot happier!

I too think this team this year can win 11 games, but it will really be tough. Potts may have to bring us back in 2 or 3 games for us to do that. Turnovers, our curse in each loss, need to be prevented for a great year to happen for the Red Raiders. Special teams need to do what is needed while in there, no mistakes. Defense need to keep up the mojo all the way throughout the season. Offense need to be just as productive as in the past. A lot of things to consider when predicting a great season, but this Tech team can have a great season. Not many times in the past have we entered a season with this much positive anticipation. It is going to be a bumpy ride, one I hope ends with a BCS bowl win. National Championship, not likely, but who knows, it could happen…….

as i said it’s not stats and math and odds… i think what i’m trying to get it at… we have some of the intangibles… our players are talented… we all know this… but this year, with the majority looking at our season-to-be like LondonRaider and Tech92 have (not a knock by any means) the big boys won’t see us as threatening…

Us going to Texas so early… them having so many returning players and being who they are, texas… my guess is they will assume they’ll run over us in a ruthless revenge from what happened last year… and in some prospective of that… there will be a lax moment in the minds, and if we can click right away, we can and will surprise them.

Nebraska might think that this is now their time to start a come back and they, on their home field will have the upper hand… i’m pretty sure the line on that game is saying so too… most of the experts are callin’ it that way… but i think we have room to be pissed from letting them get so close on our turff last year… that we had to go to OT… especially if we beat texas early… momentum starts there and will roll through Lincoln…

Stillwater… this one just get’s me… i don’t know how far back… 10? 11? 12 games? the home team has just always one. i wish this was our neutral site game… it needs to be… this is the one that for some reason i don’t feel we take…

OU… hard… but the black sea will be there with red waves to washout that sour taste in our mouths the sooners left there… this one is pure revenge. there will be no mercy. you will have never seen a defense like the one that plays that night before… there will be blood, and it will be crimson, not scarlet…

it’s all the intangibles… and that’s what i’m feeling… and i think we need to hype on it… i think that we need to go into every… single…. game… KNOWING we CAN win… pushing our team… you can yell with all your might hoping we’ll win… but that’s a different kind of yell than what we were yelling and screaming at the last minute of the Texas game where somehow, every single red raider knew we could… we can… and we will…

this isn’t just the teams performance… how their stats add up… this is bigger than that… this is what makes sports fan so passionate about a team… this is it… don’t lose it… spread it…hype on em… WRECK ’EM!!!!

While I am not ruling anything out, I am not quite as optimistic about this season as some of you. The reasons being are not because of a lack of our talent, but due to the talent PLUS experience of others in the league. OU and UT are both going to be legit national champion caliber teams. OSU will be lagging a little in talent, but they have confidence and experience in their corner. I think that this year’s group is exceptionally talented and well rounded, however, we lack experience in some key areas such as QB and the secondary. If we didn’t play in the toughest division in college football, I wouldn’t put as much emphasis on experience, however, I learned last year that you simply cannot ever let up or make rookie mistakes in any game and expect to win the conference. That being said, I think our hardest games will come with UT, OU, and OSU. Nebraska and Houston will be tough, but we will handle those just fine in the end. I am seeing losses to both OU and UT mainly based on the highly talented and seasoned QB’s returning. OSU is up in the air right now. It could go either way. To me, winning in Stillwater would be huge!!!! I will be thrilled if we go 10-2 this year. That would prove to me that we are on solid footing at the elite level of college football. 3 losses – We had a rebuilding year and inexperience cost us. 4 or more losses – we are not quite where we need to be. What really gets me excited though is thinking of the 2010 season. Think about it, 2nd year QB in Potts, OU, OSU, and UT losing their starting QBs more than likely, and an overall more experienced TTU offense and defense. I truly feel that this season will show us where our program stands as far as being a major program, and I think that next year could be another special year. Guns Up!!