Crunching the Numbers :: Texas Tech Red Raiders vs. Texas Longhorns

Seth I did watch a lot of UT football. Saw both game because well we are in "central" Texas. Enough of that. Grummble, grumble..
 Here’s the observation. They are good. McCoy is pretty unflappable..And he’s tougher than most BIG 12 CB’s in the league. The running backs are speedy and they catch nearly all his little softball tosses. No one running back – has really shown a habit of sticking it between the tackles?? The O line strong impressive blockers but seem a bit slow for these guys. There are no tight ends only folks masquerading as tight ends. I for one think this a deception by Mack B. He actually is going to line up a couple of guys either former def. linemen or second string converts and throw soft little touches to them all day long. Our Linebackers better be ready. My gut feel for that bit of horn trickery was displayed with the return of the Shipley fake FG dive over the middle this Saturday. Same play as in 07. WR ‘s again a very fast unit they will run 10 yards out routes and post pattern us to death on Saturday. Folks I’m not underplaying MCCoys arm strength but he seems to be able to hit those throws with shocking regularity.
 Defense
 Great ut line backer play in both games .The DB’s are backing them up on run stuffing very well.ie Gideon a leading tackler? Normally I would say it’s not good for a safety to be leading tackler but he plays more like a small LB. D line you ask where is Sergio? Basically he s getting two guys every play and they run away from him, couple that with the bad passers ut faced at Monroe and Wyoming. I would look for him to be chasing Potts a lot. In fact looping right up the middle like our joker position. Unless someone puts a hat on him (or arms) very quickly he’s going to disrupt 5 or 6 plays.
 Special teams They have had at least 2 really nifty returns 1 x pr game for a score. Both times it wasn’t Shipley a new guy umm .. Tre’? Maybe? Anyhow they are golden with FG and extra points, that rugby punter almost gave away a score by trying run for a first down deep in their own end of the field. In fact the Cowboys did block one of his kicks for a score as well. Now wouldn’t that be switch if we inflicted that on them in DKR stadium. ( Writer smiles to himself). They look to have at least 2 trick plays for us and one has Shipley throwing a pass or some such BS. I for one never ever want to set him on TTU game highlight. Here’s the deal they know they have to get by us this week to be able to anoint themselves NC’s so look for a tendency slip up. Mark my words a TE look alike is coming just because they want to trip up Ruffins defensive preparation.
 Bottom line a very good team.

Seth I did watch a lot of UT football. Saw both game because well we are in "central" Texas. Enough of that. Grumble, grumble..
 Here’s the observation. They are good. McCoy is pretty unflappable..And he’s tougher than most BIG 12 CB’s in the league. The running backs are speedy and they catch nearly all his little softball tosses. No one running back has really shown a habit of sticking it between the tackles?? The O line strong impressive blockers but seem a bit slow for these guys. There are no tight ends only folks masquerading as tight ends. I for one think this a deception by Mack B. He actually is going to line up a couple of guys either former def. linemen or second string converts and throw soft little touches to them all day long. Our Linebackers better be ready. My gut feel for that bit of horn trickery was displayed with the return of the Shipley fake FG dive over the middle. Same play as in 07. WR ‘s again a very fast unit they will run 10 yard out routes and post pattern us to death on Saturday. Folks I’m not underplaying MCCoys arm strength but he seems to be able to hit those throws with shocking regularity.
 Defense
 Great ut line backer play in both games .The DB’s are backing them up on run stuffing very well.ie Gideon a leading tackler? Normally I would say it’s not good for a safety to be the leading tackler but he plays more like a small LB. D line you ask where is Sergio? Basically he is getting two guys every play and they run away from him, couple that with the bad passers ut has faced at Monroe and Wyoming. I would look for him to be chasing Potts a lot. In fact looping right up the middle like our joker position. Unless someone puts a hat on him (or arms) very quickly he is going to disrupt 5 or 6 plays.
 Special teams They have had at least 2 really nifty returns 1 x per game for a score. Both times it wasn’t Shipley but a new guy umm .. Tre’? Maybe? Anyhow they a golden with FG and extra points tries, that rugby punter almost gave away a score by trying a run for first down deep in their own end of the field. (in fact the Cowboys did block one of his kicks for a score as well. Now wouldn’t that be switch if we inflicted that on them in DKR stadium.( Writer smiles to himself)) They look to have at least 2 trick plays for us and one has Shipley throwing a pass or some such BS. I for one never ever want to see him on a TTU game highlight. Here’s the deal they know they have to get by us this week to be able to anoint themselves NC’s so look for a tendency slip up. Mark my words a TE look- like is coming just because they want to trip up Ruffins preparation.
 Bottom line a very good team.

Did McCoy have a bad game? Why is his completion percentage 51%?

“Theelusiveshadow” seems to think things are great with the teasips but when was the last time ut really had trouble with “Wyoming” with a Heisman qb? I think we saw a real progression with Tech from ND to Rice. Potts is totally a different QB we have ever had Tech. Only Symons maybe in his league arm strength wise, so the deep shots that he took Sat. really is new, even the wideouts need to adjust. Also, I think we are doing more with our D than at this time last year so just hard to see what game plan will emerge for Ruff & D. Again, until our O-line gels some more running the ball isn’t as important as the # of touches the rb’s get and Tech can have a real 3 headed monster in the RB’s. It should be a high scoring game as usual and I think we can win but I can’t bring myself to say we will lose even though we surely can. Wreck’em Tech

I saw UT play and I know what is going on with DE Kindle. Every time the play starts, he is in the middle of some texting and he ends up just running into the tackle instead of going around him.

Ha!

When was the last time we won in Austin?

I’ve watch pieces of the Texas games, and listened to the Tech games on the radio (as well as you can on AM). I think both teams are in about the same place preparation wise (mentally and physically).

I do think that Texas is running the ball a bit better this year, but are still having some of the same struggles on the O-line as last year. Without Cosby, I would have expected to hear more about Williams, but have not to this point. But I well remember the TD he score on the go route down the left sideline in last years game that really put Texas back in it.

Defensively, Texas seems to be a little hot and cold. Wyoming had a drive in the 3rd quarter that I thought might generate a little momentum before they shot themselves in the foot. Pass coverage was not what I expected out of a group with a year experience. But then Texas shut them down for the rest of the game.

As for Tech, my biggest concern coming into the season was Potts relying too much on his arm strength and forcing a lot of passes into tight coverage. I haven’t heard too much of that. I have been impressed at his acknowledgment of the areas he needs to improve. Given the performance of our own O-line, I can’t say I blame him too much for not checking to the run more often. Though with Carter back on the right side, I think everyone was more comfortable this week, so I look for more on the ground in Austin. I am not in the lest concerned about our receivers. They are getting it done. Goal line offense has me worried. We can’t win kicking field goals in Austin.

Defensively for Tech, I feel good about us stopping the run up the middle, but I am concerned about containing McCoy. He can and will run the ball if we even blink on containment. I also don’t expect him to have a “bad” or even mediocre day. To win this game we have to play the best defense we know how and not get intimidated about playing in front of one of the biggest (if not THE biggest) crowd we have faced at DKR at night. We need good coverage and a tipped ball at some point to gain some momentum.

To win this game we have to stop 4 drives. You can quote me on that later.

Tech has nothing to lose in this game, so we should let it all hang out. If Greg Davis plays it close to the vest, Texas will struggle. If he opens it up, I’m not sure what to expect yet from our young and untested D.

Based on a stacked ut team beating Wyoming on 41-10 and struggling in the first half with a Heisman qb( I repeat again) doesn’t seem be characteristic of the usual ut non-con games. I just didn’t see a lot of criticism on the ut front at all. And as far as having a QB that has a real, real cannon for an arm Potts is different. Harrell made all the throws he needed to( Crabtree vs ut last year) but Potts definitely has a stronger arm than any QB in the Leach era. Now that maybe bad at points as he might try to force balls he shouldn’t but he also can really push the ball down the field on certain throws.
Wreck’em Tech

Why struggle at all ut always gets the 4&5 star players and you are right I don’t have the extra time to “browse” the ut blogs and really don’t care to. All I know is that in the SWC days when I was @ Tech, Rice/TCU could hardly but a td and ut usually put up 60. So is Wyoming that much better than Rice/TCU from the 1970’s,80’s that ut can’t can’t blow them out with their 2nd team qb? And here’s the whole thing you came to the Tech site( and we welcome you) and so remember if I go to burntorangewhatever then I expect to have real back and forth but all I know is that according the major news oulets in Texas and the recriuting/internet services ut should go undefeated every year. “Just say’in” Wreck em Tech

Whatever….. You said “Learn to use punctuation.”

Who normally cares if some people can use proper grammer in a blog or not. Not all fans here have even been to college. There are some nice kids who are die hard Texas Tech fans and have not yet had the pleasure of High School English.

But next time, take the plank out of your own eye before you trash others. Your comments are full with horrid grammer and is also “a mess and a chore to dig through.”.

Simply, you do not have the excuse of being a 13 or 14 year old. However, you made it a big deal! Thus you want harsh, well there you go. No wonder UT had to start firing English professors because they could not teach and properly use English in 2006 and 2007!