if we’ll even be considered close to the top 25 after beating the @#$( out of U of H this weekend….

Did anyone hear Herbstreet on the GAC show (ESPN RADIO)? He loves his longhorns.

Here’s the way most casual observers on the coasts see us, IMO: Tech is a perennial 7-5, 8-4 team that played over its head the last year or two because of a few great skill players. Those players are now gone and much like Kansas St. a few years ago, Tech will return to mediocrity without them. Yeah, Potts and the passing game look good but Tech leads the nation in passing every year whether the team is any good or not. It’s just their system that puts up those numbers. Passing is what you do when you don’t have the talent to field a complete team. And we all remember the humiliation OU put on them last year.

Tech hasn’t shown us anything this year (points against Rice don’t count). If it weren’t for UT’s habit of starting games slowly this year, they would have blown Tech out of the water. Once they got cranked up in the 2nd half, they scored on every possession but two (and one of those was a silly INT by McCoy). After being completely shut down the 1st half, Tech managed to score 21 in the 2nd, but that’s still less than the typical Tech team scores in Austin. Bottom line – when the game was on the line, Tech folded like always. And they can’t run the ball to save their souls after the big talent left.

Obviously, we think this is hogwash; but just as obviously most folks around the country don’t. We’ve got a lot to prove to the world (and to ourselves) this Saturday.

At least I think he is now. After thinking about these same themes (running game, perceived bad defense, the annoying ‘time of possession’ critics) as they relate to Tech, I’ve decided this is simply a defense mechinism. Basically the talking heads in the media can’t figure out how to classify Tech’s offense and results, so they look for the easy way out.
Classic example, Saturday night telecast just before the end of the half. Herbie in the booth throwing out some wild idea about coach Leach calling pass plays to “pad our offensive statistics”. Huh? Seriously?
Stupidest thing I heard from him in some time. Tech will get their yards. You play to win the game, ALWAYS.

This is the kinda of statement that causes people to call out or speculate about ESPN having some sort of agenda. It’s irresponsible in my opinion. But it is an easy way out in terms of explanation of an unconventional move or decision.

I’m with RR in South GA, Quiet Professionalism.

This ladies and gentlemen is the perfect of example of why teams decide not to schedule tough non-conference opponents, because they are disproportionately penalized for losses while wins over teams like Furman offer the opportunity to move up 2 to 3 points every week.

I’m not disagreeing that this is the psychology of why teams schedule patsies (though I would add it is one of a number of reasons) but would dispute that it’s the correct strategy. OU’s superior non-conference schedule is what catapulted them ahead of Texas last season, despite the latter having a tougher conference schedule. Without wins over Cincy and TCU (right?) OU doesn’t go to the National Championship game. A victory over a University of Houston could be the reason we move ahead of the likes of OSU or even a UT or OU later in the season with an identical record — although I would caveat by stating that I am by no means predicting a similar record to any of those teams.

But let’s be clear: OU went to the NC at 11-1 despite losing to the University of Texas by 10 points on neutral field. We lost to Texas by 10 points in their home, we could have a road victory over a ranked opponent by Saturday, and if we’re near the end of our season with only one or two conference losses, we’ll be in a much better position to accomplish a Big 12 Championship than we would had we scheduled, say, Idaho State in Houston’s stead.

Put differently, without the University of Houston on our non-con schedule, we would have NO chance of participating in a Big 12 Championship against conference opponents with identical records.