Post Game Thoughts | Texas Tech Red Raiders 38, Iowa St. Cyclones 52
by Seth C on Oct 3, 2010 7:29 AM CDT
in Texas Tech Football
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THE RESULT | BLAME GAME | Everyone likes to assign blame. It's part of sports. Its one of the things in your life where something goes wrong and you know that it's not your fault, but it's somebody's fault. Perhaps the one thing that I get tired of more than anything else are the comments about Leach this or Leach that. Again, I'm not going to censor them (I will ask though, that if you're going to take the time to write a FanPost, please don't have the FanPost just be "words words words words words words words". I hate that.), but I also struggle to find the usefulness of those comments. I don't know if it's because I've resigned myself to knowing that he ain't ever coming back. I also know that Tuberville didn't fire Leach. Other folks did. Neal Brown didn't fire Leach. Other folks did. James Willis didn't fire Leach. Other folks did.
It's probably just an unfortunate consequence of taking a job where the predecessor was admired for what he did for Texas Tech, but Tuberville didn't tell Leach not to show up for the Alamo Bowl.
But to my larger point, if you're unhappy with the situation, then truly do something about it. Critiquing here on DTN is great and all, but what are you really doing to change the culture? Are you letting people know, whether it be by letter or by email or by not spending your hard earned cash? Your words don't mean much if your actions aren't backing them up. On the other hand, I don't think that there will be a day where I'm not supporting the red and black. There are certain actions of the administration that I don't support, but this is one of the few things that I truly have a passion for in life. I'd just be lying to you if I told you that I could walk away from Texas Tech athletics, because I know for me it's a lie.
I read MGoBlog, like a lot of college football fans, and one of the things that always struck me was Brian Cook's fairly staunch defense of Rich Rodriguez through the entire coaching transition. Cook preached patience and finally, after what seems like an eternity, Michigan fans are finally being rewarded with winning football. As I sat at the computer last night, trying to figure out what I was going to write about this morning, those numerous posts from MGoBlog over the past two years reminded me of this situation. On one hand, I think I know what Tuberville and Willis and Brown want to do offensively and defensively, just like Michigan fans knew what Rodriguez wanted to do offensively, but it was going to take him some time to put in the right system and the right players.
I'm the type of fan that likes to believe that good things will eventually happen and I get that this probably makes me look foolish more times than not. I don't know whether or not I need to have faith in what Tuberville is doing. I know the thought of believing in this right now seems pretty bleak and I'm not sure where I fall on this question. I feel like I still need more evidence to make an informed decision. I suppose the other part of it is that I know that no one that has a say is going to admit that a mistake was made, especially after four games and most likely not until after 3 years. I keep thinking that there's a part of me that knows, no matter what, I'm going to have to write about this for the next 3 years and hope like hell it turns around, otherwise, finding positives on Saturday mornings will be tough to repeat.
So what's next? I have no idea. If anything, I like to think that DTN and other good blogs aren't necessarily just a place where writers get out all of their pent-up anger or elation, but someday, when I'm long gone, DTN will not only just be a place where fans have poured their heart out over one of the teams that they obsess over, but rather, it will tell a story. This story has many twists and turns that have yet to be seen, but they will in due time. So as you're writing a FanPost or making a comment, remember that it isn't in a vacuum, but you're adding to the story. As a long-suffering Texas Rangers fan, I have seen more downs and ups for the past decade. You don't stop being a fan, at least I don't, because I've never thought that you get to pick your team, your team picks you because of location. I can't give up on this team because that's just not how I'm wired. I'll respect your opinion if you feel differently, but that's not something that I can do.
Enough rambling. On to the game.
Storylines and MVP's after the jump.
THE STORYLINES
BOOM OR BUST DEFENSE | Whether you like it or not, unless a team has exceptional athletes, there's essentially two theories that a defense can have in terms of basic philosophy. The first is the idea that you can bend, but not break and essentially wait for the offense to make a mistake. The second theory is to press the offense with pressure with the thought that your defense will make big plays, but that usually means that there will be holes in that defense. Texas Tech has chosen the latter method and I'm still fine with that, despite the fact that yesterday wasn't a good day by any means.
It was obvious that Willis wasn't going to respect QB Austen Arnaud's arm no matter what. That meant that Willis was essentially going to bring the house each and every play and simply dare Arnaud to beat Texas Tech deep. Arnaud did beat Texas Tech deep and he found those one-on-one situations and exploited them. There's not much analysis here, other than the fact that the cornerbacks are very young and they'll get better at looking back for the ball. Being a ball-hawking cornerback takes more than a spring and fall practice session.
One of the things that I cautioned this team about last week was not just sending the defensive ends straight up the field, which I thought would create running lanes for Arnaud. This was partly true, because Arnaud did run for a few yards, but more than that, it created fairly significant lanes for RB Alexander Robinson and Shontre Johnson. Willis needs to find a happy medium between just sending Scott Smith and Brian Duncan up the field and containment. Of course, this also means that the inside linebackers are getting blocked and pushed out of the way. That has to be better.
At the end of the day, I'm still philosophically okay with what Willis is trying to do because I think it's a better way to play defense, and at the very least, it's a different way to play defense than what we've seen over the past 10 years. I mentioned this last week, when Willis was getting quite a bit of love from most of you, that he would have his bad days too. Yesterday was a bad day.
POTTS IMPROVED | For all of the complaining that we do about QB Taylor Potts, he wasn't the reason why Texas Tech didn't win that game yesterday. Did he lead his team on a scoring drive on every single drive? No, but last night wasn't about Potts vs. Sheffield. That's not to say that I still think that Sheffield is the better option.
If you can find fault in anything, it's that the offense looked uncomfortable and unable to make plays the entire first half. Potts can take some blame, but it just seemed to me that this was more about the receivers not being able to hold onto the ball (I missed watching quite a bit of that first quarter, so someone correct me if I'm wrong). Potts' numbers can certainly improve. Only 67% completion percentage (should be closer to 70%) and only 6.08 yards/attempt (should be over 7). But the offense looked much better and it played with purpose, but that offense needs to play with purpose for an entire game, not just for a half.
And to further add fire to the flames, I was reminded by something that Ryan Hyatt wrote on Friday:
Keep in mind though, Tech fans, that two different coaching staffs have come to the same conclusion and that’s that Potts gives you a better chance to win than Sheffield. Those that think Leach would be staring Sticks this year need only look at who started the Alamo Bowl. After all of last season, after everything he’d seen and with both QB’s cleared to play, Mike Leach went with Potts. The planning was done and the game-plan set before he was suspended. You can read a lot into that decision and maybe, just maybe some Tech fans will remember that and it will help them understand why Potts is the starter. Then again, probably not.
I have no idea what Leach would have done in 2011. You have no idea what he would have done in 2011. And I feel like I've been the only one writing it, but Leach did choose Potts and he chose him over and over and over again. We can only go on what we know, and thinking that we can all climb into the mind of Leach and make an actual prediction about what he would or wouldn't have done seems crazy.
WHY IS NO ONE COMPLAINING ABOUT THE WIDE SPLITS? | So last week, I tried to campaign that the wide splits weren't the reason for the problem. That offensive performance is directly related to executing plays correctly. I even found video from 2008 where you could tell where the legendary [sarc]10 yard splits[/sarc] were something that happened very early in Leach's career, but he even eventually went back to more normal splits, maybe 3 feet at the most (yes, it's true, go watch highlights from the 2008 TT vs. OU game). I actually thought that the offensive line played really well last night. Didn't give up a sack and created enough space for 131 yards on 25 carries for Baron Batch and Eric Stephens. We also saw the return of the receiver bubble-screen with Alexander Torres, something that Michael Crabtree made famous. We also saw a shovel pass to Batch for a fairly big gain and a few screens that were actually effective.
The reason why no one is really complaining about the line splits or the running game or the pass blocking is because it all looked okay for the most part. And I really thought that the offense found rhythm in the second half. Something I haven't seen in quite some time. And to reiterate, it's about execution.
TURNOVERS AND THIRD DOWN CONVERSIONS | I thought the biggest killer last night was the defense's ability to give ISU chance after chance on third downs. ISU was 10 of 18 on third downs and that was absolutely brutal. ISU's ability to convert was the back-breaker for the defense. The big plays that the defense gave up were awful, but giving up 10 third down conversions is what breaks a team's back. In previous weeks, the all-or-nothing attitude of this Texas Tech defense worked because it eventually forced a turnover. Last night, Texas Tech lost the turnover battle 3-1. Detron Lewis' pass-catch that wasn't and Austin Zouzalik's dropped punt gave ISU a short field on two separate occassions. So not only did Texas Tech turn the ball over, but it also gifted ISU a very short field. After Zouzalik's punt fumble, ISU scored a touchdown in two plays. After Lewis' fumble, ISU scored a touchdown in 7 plays. Texas Tech had ISU in a 3rd and 8 situation and gave up a 27 yard touchdown to ISU TE Collin Franklin. That's the killer: turnover; short field for opponent; force a 3rd down, but give up 27 yard touchdown.
QUICK HITS
- Since I was watching on the computer, it was difficult for me to see who played well defensively because I couldn't see numbers. From my memory, it seemed as if DT Myles Wade saw more time than I can recall, but I didn't hear Donald Langley's name at all.
- WR Lyle Leong continues to be one of the best receivers in the Big 12: 9 catches, 125 yards and 3 TD's. Apparently he's the only one allowed to catch a touchdown.
- RB's Baron Batch and Eric Stephens touched the ball a lot more this game and I liked it. They combined had 22 carries for 120 yards rushing and 10 catches for 79 yards receiving and 2 touchdowns. That's 32 touches for 199 yards for a 6.2 average. If Tuberville says this week that he was happy with the running game, then I think the reason why is that he had production from his running backs. If you're going to make comparisons between Leach and Brown, Texas Tech was most successful when the running backs ate up a ton of yardage.
- The kickoff coverage helped give ISU favorable field position too often. ISU's starting field position off of kickoffs was the 20, 47, 37, 24, 33, 47 and 20. There's a lot of defensive backs and receivers on those coverage units. Maybe it's time to use some linebackers and bigger players because this is too inconsistent. ISU's starting field position was their own 43. Texas Tech's was their own 29.
- The time of possession wasn't so lopsided to make me think that the defense didn't have much left in the tank in the second half. Other than the first quarter, where Texas Tech only held onto the ball for 4:13 and ISU had the ball for 10:47, it was pretty even for the rest of the game. If the defense can't recover from being on the field for 10 minutes in the first quarter, then we got big problems with depth.
- I highlighted this article on Saturday morning, from Football Outsiders' Bill Connelly who said that there were four truths that go into teams winning and losing in his compilation of data. Texas Tech violated all four of these truths:
- LAJ's Don Williams has an interesting editorial this morning, writing that it's going to get worse before it gets better.
Yes, I know. Mike Leach was quoted this summer as saying 2010 was going to be his best team yet. Only two reactions to that are plausible. One, the Pirate was deluded. Two — and this is probably closer to the truth — Leach knew his old program was in for a difficult transition year. Bitter over his firing, he thought floating the idea that 2010 would be glorious would fan the flames at administration when it turned out to be considerably less.
As an admitted Leach-admirer, I've always thought that Leach's comments about 2010 were off-base. I never thought that this team was better than the 2008 team and I think the talent level on that 2008 team was pretty special. Williams takes a lot of heat, espcially in the 4 or 5 comments that I read on his story for being in with the administration, but even if we go position by position, I still think the 2008 team was far superior to anything that's on the field in 2010. If anyone can go position-by-position and prove Leach right, I'd love to see it.
Can't stomach MVP's this morning.
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Comments
You can be as positive as you want...
You can argue about splits…
You can compare Potts to Sheffield…
You can compare this year to previous years…
You can recruit the highest number of stars possible…
You can compile all the statistics you want…
You can say it was a bad day…
Reality is that Tech is 0-2 in conference play…
Reality is that talk about championships is meaningless…
Reality is that stakeholders expect better results…
Perhaps Williams is right “it’s going to get worse before it gets better”
Around here football is bigger than the state of Texas!
Reality is Tech was 2-2 at this point last year.
by Tech92 on Oct 3, 2010 2:48 PM CDT via mobile up reply actions
It's ok. This year we have legitimate excuses. Katfish already told us this
We were over prepared
It was too cold
It’s a rebuilding year
We had to change the culture
We practiced too hard
Thank god loosing is not our fault. Now where is my fat little girlfriend. I need to feel good about myself.
"Winning isn't everything"... Bob Knight
by raider realist on Oct 3, 2010 3:00 PM CDT up reply actions
AND this is not last year
"I've specifically concentrated on not concentrating on this, and up to this point, I've done a really good job." -Mike Leach
by Nm RaiDer FAn on Oct 3, 2010 3:14 PM CDT up reply actions
People refer to Leach because we were a winning team when Tubby took over and Tubby talks about rebuilding, transforming, etc.
We didn’t need a complete overhaul, just some fine tuning. Tubby is a joke as a HC. The Tech administration gave up gold for tin foil. Had Leach left of his own accord, people might not refer to him in their posts, but Tech made that choice for us.
Exactly - that's the difference between TTU and Michigan
Rich Rod inherited a team that had just lost to Appalachia State. Tubs inherited a 9 win team, two years removed from being an 11 win team.
The smartest suggestion Seth makes above is that action counts. If you’re unhappy with the current coaching situation, it’s time to start calling and writing letters.
Mistake
To throw the baby out with the bathwater. I put this all on Tubs!
by RaiderGiant on Oct 3, 2010 10:42 AM CDT via mobile up reply actions
My ire rests with the Admin not Tubs
Tech’s admin hired Tubs because . . . why?
1. “Never change a winning game, always change a losing game.” ~ Bill Tilden
2. Successful organizations will plan and prepare for change. Was this done?
3. Good or bad, Leach created a certain culture that Tubs or no other head coach can change. See “A New Head Coach is No Longer the Solution” click here
"I've specifically concentrated on not concentrating on this, and up to this point, I've done a really good job." -Mike Leach
by Nm RaiDer FAn on Oct 3, 2010 11:12 AM CDT up reply actions
I am sick and tired of words...
We did this… We didn’t do that…
Around here football is bigger than the state of Texas!
Came home this mornig from camping
With a bad feeling. Saw the score and for some reason wasn’t surprised at all…..can we employ SARR to come out of retirement and give us an emergency edition of The Belltower Boys. I need to laugh at something, otherwise I may go Andy Bernard on my wall.
Now and then we had a hope that if we lived and were good, God would permit us to be pirates. – Life on the Mississippi
by LBKpiratefan on Oct 3, 2010 8:40 AM CDT via mobile reply actions
I maybe naive but I think a lost to ISU
Was just as inexcusable as UT’s loss to UCLA. I’m not so stupid as to make macro statements about the success of this staff after 4 games or even after a year, but I’m furious about how unprepared this team was that first half. There simply isn’t a good coaching excuse, and the players get no quarter either. WTF? You just let ISU put up more points than any other game since the Big 12 formed, one game after having your worst offensive performance in 20 tears against UT. You are now on the brink of a disastrous season, what are you going to do? The only solice is that we gave the same record after 4 games as we did last year……..atleast for one more week.
"Dress good, yu'll play good. Play good, yu'll get paid good." -Deion Sanders
Unprepared?
Remember, we were “over-prepared”….
"Winning isn't everything"... Bob Knight
by raider realist on Oct 3, 2010 12:51 PM CDT up reply actions
Tubbs Has Lost This Team.
It is clear that after 4 games, it appears that Tubbs has lost the confidence of this team. Both sides of the ball seem confused, struggling to comprehend what to do. There is no energy, there is no urgency, there seems to be only confusion.
As you all know, I am a big Leach fan, and rue the day he wa fired. Yes, his lack of attention to defense, his gambles on 4th and long, and his odd peculiarities frustrared me. But when his offense could move down the field effortlessly and swiftly like a dust storm through the West Texas Plains, I tolerated all of his idiosyncrosies.
Tubbs arrived in Lubbock with a ranch-load of arrogance. He swiftly dismantled the offense, and cleansed the program of all things Leach. He installed many of the traditions he experienced at Auburn and simply stated “I’m doing things my way”.
Well, after 4 games, his way is not working, and you would be hard-pressed to find any Tech fan that thinks Tubbs and Tech are on the right road towards winning championships.
My biggest fear is that Tubbs has caused too much damage already that will forever send Tech into a tailspin. After 10 winning years, I fear the direction of this team under Tubbs will end the success we’ve come to expect from Tech.
Worst of all? In his post game press conference, Tubbs stated “this is the toughest program I’ve inherited”, and went on to say it has been a “difficult turnaround” and he had to re-establish a “culture-change”.
Excuse me? Tubbs inherited the most prolific offense in the NCAA over the past 10 years. He inherited a program that came within 1 game of being rated #1 in the country in 2008. He inherited a program with great athletes, fans, a national identity and a winning culture.
His comments wreak of arrogance, and equates to a slap in the face to a successfull Tech football program.
To position his task at Tech as a turnaround is a breach of integrity and an act of cowardice.
I can only hope that the fans, supporters, alumni and boosters finally rally together and make a chnage now before Tubbs ruins this program.
Take the "P" out of "Pirate" and I'm "Irate"!!!
by MerkMusic on Oct 3, 2010 8:47 AM CDT reply actions 2 recs
You said it better than I did
That’s all I heared on TV last night, that, "give him enough time and he will turnt this thing around.: I almost ripped my TV off the wall and thru it through the window. Fortunately for me, I did a great job mounting it to the wall. Belive me, I tried. Tubby Go Home.
"I spent 18 months, off and on, with the script writer. I might as well have not spent one second with him." Don Haskins.
Tubby did it to himslef;
First off, the last time I checked the top 150 recruiting list, Tech does not have one single recruit in anybody’s top 150. Michigan has many recruits committed in the top 150, and many recurits still looking at Michigan. So, given that Rodriguez can recruit the top players in the country, then I think they will be Michigan again.
However, here in Lubbock, Tx., we never, and let me repeat this, we will never recuirt top 150 athletes, and I don’t care who the coach is. We are Texas Tech. We do less with more. I know its only four games into it. But, we are all upset because we know what the future holds. We are in the cellar, and we are not coming out. We have won in the past, and will continue when Tubby is gone. HIs style does not fit Texas Tech. Never will. We had the best coach that TT will ever have. PERIOD. At least not in my lifetime.
Tubby did this to himself. He could have come in here and told us the truth. But he, and only he decided to lie to us. He said this was the best group of seniors he has ever been around. He told us the team was not broken. A little fix her a little fix there, and then he started talking about championships,not just the Big 12, but NC. He may be a great coach, I don’t know, but I think he is an idiot. Really, why did he ever take this job. Was he that desperate or what.
In closing, I will continue to root for the team. I will continue to predict us to win each week. But, Tubby is not right for Texas Tech, and we’re not right for him. This is what the administration wanted, so they have what they want. I am sure Tubby will raise lots of money for Tech, but we need a coach who coaches. I have said it before, the reason you have an Diretor of Athletics, so they can raise the money, and let the coaches coach. The end result will be a 6-6 record. We might suprise someone, because, now that is who we are. A team that might suprise someone. Thanks Adminsitration and Tubby.
Let the excuses roll.
"I spent 18 months, off and on, with the script writer. I might as well have not spent one second with him." Don Haskins.
2 weeks to prepare fot that performance?
We have lost our way for sure. This program is looking like it has no direction and I fear this may be our worst season on record. Baylor is going to kill us. I never thought I would say that but we’re no capable of beating any program on the rise right now. No excuses for this ill prepared and underperforming team. I’m actually shocked about the game last night. Defense looked better under Ruffin’s watch I might add. We might have a shot against Weber State but lets not get to confident with that one either.
"You've got to find your inner pirate" - Mike Leach
I know someone will do the stats,
I am too frustrated to do it myself, but I can’t wait to see the offesnive and defensive ranks, both nationally, and in the big 12. Are we going to rank in the top 100 in anything.
"I spent 18 months, off and on, with the script writer. I might as well have not spent one second with him." Don Haskins.
Offensive Ranks
Yds = 81st, Yds/G = 60th
Pass = 27th, P Yds/G = 10th
Rush = 114th, R Yds/G = 110th
Pts = T-45th, Pts/G = 29th
Leach...he may not be my Coach, but he'll always be my Captain!
...and someone posted last night that
… on the Post Game Radio Show Tubs said that the Team was over prepared????
"I've specifically concentrated on not concentrating on this, and up to this point, I've done a really good job." -Mike Leach
by Nm RaiDer FAn on Oct 3, 2010 11:25 AM CDT up reply actions
I expected this.
My prediction was 52-17 I think if Potts played the whole game. Well, Potts cost us points in the first half, but not in the second so I was a bit wrong. He actually played better than I thought! That being said, do I think with Sticks we would have had a better chance to win?! Of course! I’ll even go so far as to say we would have won. I know Seth will say no one knows and Leach picked Potts…. well he did at the beginning of the season but it was evident he wanted Sticks by the end of the season. After watching them in a game, he wanted Sticks, which is why Sticks played even though his foot was broken against OSU. If Leach wanted Potts, why on earth would he even think of going back to Sticks? And just like Leach, Riley found out by about the 2nd half of the bowl game, that a hurt Sticks could get it done better than Potts. I’ll never apologize for citing Sticks as having much better stats than Potts. Potts is not a good QB and has cost us a lot of points.
That being said, scoring 38 on ISU should be enough and the defense and turnovers are the main reasons we lost this game. Better teams win no matter what the stats. Somehow ISU has a better team than us.
Tubs is delusional. Who likes that Championship talk now? Who wants people to just do their job (catch a football and not fumble, tackle someone, bat down a ball). You have to do your job before you can talk about championships. Tubs thought he would highlight the UT game in the locker room as the big game, and he spoke of the fact that we can already beat OU, its UT we have to worry about. Well he forgot that we still have to play ISU! Baylor might blow us out next week?! Tubs spent so much time going around shaking hands that he forgot to study film and get a gameplan. The guy has not worked hard enough at his job and that is evident.
Yeah it’s not Leach anymore and sadly that is the case, but couldn’t we have gotten a coach that is fired up to work hard, and focus on his team, rather than shaking boosters hands??? Winning is what matters, not making people feel good about the program in the summer.
We haven’t lost to Baylor in years, and that might be in jeopardy. As fans of Tech, we have a right to be pissed. Is this team better than 2008, obviously not. But are we better in some positions, surely. Are we better or comparable to 2009? Hell yes! And we won 9 games last year. Anyone want to bet we win 9 this year?
I just can’t wait for all the Aggies I work with to start talking crap on Monday morning. This is the worst.
Potts can never do any good
..he is the soul reason we even came back. And if you don’t believe that, your blind.
The second half, he looked close to unstoppable. Sure, some drives looked dead, but going 13 for 13 in ANY point in the game is commendable.
Oh, I totally forgot. Sticks plays defense and special teams.
He also knows how to cure cancer, but because he never gets any playing time, he keeps it to himself.
He also is part superman. From the waist up, because God help is if a DT trips him up, he breaks his “sticks”.
Argue about Taylor all you want, it wasn’t his fault. And you have no clue what Leach would have done and you definitely have no clue if Sticks would have done better.
Sorry, it’s idiots like you why I will never read this blog anymore. You blame ANYthing and everything on a close friend of mine, who trust me, if he deserved the blame like after the UT game I would give it to him.
Your an ignorant fan. And it makes me sick that when I wear my red and black, you are too.
Seth, I commend you on an awesome blog. But guys like this make me sick. Blame it on a student, easy way out.
by ttutyler on Oct 3, 2010 10:08 AM CDT via mobile up reply actions
Yeah, keep playing potts
He’s doing great….see ya
"It's fun to do bad things"- Latarian
by oldschoolraider on Oct 3, 2010 10:26 AM CDT via mobile up reply actions
Stick around Tyler
Potts has a ton of fans on this site. I’m one of him. I think he did a hell of a job last night. I had high expectations for him last year (and still do).
He more shit from fans than any Tech QB that I can remember, and he never ever fucking complains.
The guy is a warrior, and puts it on the line every week. People keep forgeting that he played hurt almost all of last year.
Potts didn’t fumble the pass last night . He didn’t write the game plan. Potts is not responsible for the O-Line struggles or the inability of the running game to take any pressure off of him.
The back foot stuff is bullshit. He doesn’t have the autonomy that he used to. The lack of leadership assertions – pure bullshit. Tech played their asses off last year against UT and OU – and he had a big part of that.
Whether he takes a shot at the NFL, dedicates himself to medicine, I’ll always hold his career at Texas Tech QB in high regard.
"This time it's different."
by LondonRaider on Oct 3, 2010 10:50 AM CDT up reply actions
And we will watch him lose 5 more games this year
i like the kid…but the results on the field are what they are.
"It's fun to do bad things"- Latarian
by oldschoolraider on Oct 3, 2010 10:55 AM CDT up reply actions
That may be a scenario we face regardless
"Winning isn't everything"... Bob Knight
by raider realist on Oct 3, 2010 12:12 PM CDT up reply actions
I think that raider realist is a realist...
Personally, I hope we get to see Sticks play most of a game just to see what he can do…
But I don’t really expect any better results…
What’s wrong with this team is bigger and more intrusive than just Potts vs Sticks…
by Houston Raider on Oct 3, 2010 12:31 PM CDT up reply actions
Potts
He is very talented but last year he was inconsistent. This year it seems he has no chemistry with the receivers other than lyle leong. He is very lucky he doesn’t have more interceptions he has had some close calls. Ive seen a few drives that are amazing but he’s either hot or cold. It may not be all his fault could be the receivers aren’t running good routes but it all comes down to chemistry.
Chemistry with his receivers...........
Receivers don’t need chemistry…………unless you call glue, chemistry. Tkhey need to catch the fucking ball and hold on to it.
"As we continue to merely "talk about championships""
Good after game analysis
Good after game analysis
I agree with Williams that things will get worse before they get better.
Talked with my brother, a UF alum, last night and after Alabama walloped the Gators and of course Tech’s loss to ISU. I expected him to be down. He surprised me by saying he expected it. He sees the Gators with all their talent in transition.
He also expected Tech to struggle this next year and possibly next before they return to their winning ways. He also stated, and it made sense to me, it matters not what player talents Tech have from one season to the next, the system/scheme/character is different with the wholesale coaching change. This fact probably explains the offense and defense being out of synch and inconsistent even though the entire skill set has returned.
I agree that Leach is gone and will not return. There were some warts in his tenure as well. I am still bitter on how the 2008 season ended and last year’s blowout by A&M in Lubbock.
We in the nation should reset our baseline and look and lobby for improvement with this staff and give them time even though the staff comments pointed towards a good year. I suspect this coaching staff will change from time to time, and if no improvement is seen within a reasonable period, then we need to lobby for a head coaching change.
Seth, you do a heck of a job with this blog – your words are good.
"Appreciate the target you put on my back. Last time you did that, you almost got me fired." Tubberville
Fan with some sense
Nice to hear there are actually some fans out there that truly understand the game! Too bad it’s not one of ours, but one from UF – we all know how many 5* athletes they have and the fact their coach is still there, yet they understand that it all cylces and when you loose someone important to the team there will be a transition. Amazing to me how all these “arm chair quarterbacks” are so smart – thank goodness all of them are simply “arm chair quarterbacks” and not on the field coaching or playing!
Arm chair comment
have you ever served in congress? No? Then you are not entitled to have an opinion about congress according to your logic. Fair enough if you don’t like what someones assessment is….but if you don’t have a take on what has transpired over the last 9 months….you don’t have a pulse.
"It's fun to do bad things"- Latarian
by oldschoolraider on Oct 3, 2010 2:54 PM CDT up reply actions
Really?
Interesting OSR – I have played, coached, officiated football for 30+ years and I still consider myself an “arm chair” quarterback. Why? Simply because I don’t play or coach football for a living which makes me one by my definition. I simply appreciate the difficult job a coach and players for that matter have, especially considering the intelligence level of some that call themselves “fans”. On the “but if you don’t have a take on what has transpired over the last 9 months….you don’t have a pulse” – I have plenty of “takes” – “takes” that obviously don’t line up with yours so they are apparently irrelevant. Just saying! Oh, and I will not address the congress issue since this is not a political site – hahahhahaha
The congress part is an analogy....
you basically are beating your chest about your amazing football prowess. Your blanket statement is demeaning to anyone that is critical and it lacks the conviction of debating a specific persons view or comment.
"It's fun to do bad things"- Latarian
by oldschoolraider on Oct 3, 2010 3:24 PM CDT up reply actions
Football Prowess
Thanks OSR for the compliment – glad to know there is something else I can add to my resume! If my “blanket statment” was demeaning to you then I apologize. My mother always told me “if the shoe fits wear it, if it doesn’t, ignore it”. Didn’t mean to step on anyone’s toes! After reading your comments for the past 12 months, I find it amusing you are actually making an issue of this. I guess since you are one of the diehard commentors on the site, your word is gospel so I will do my best in my future comments to try and live up to your standards. Have a great week!
My word isn't gospel
i just wanted to engage you because of your comments. Here is what I think I see….tell me if you see any of it. Tubs had to interview and specifically say that he was keeping the wide open offense. I think he is lying to himself and us that he is comfortable with that. He is not coming off as the guy that most auburn fans tell us he is…his comments always make me do a double take.
"It's fun to do bad things"- Latarian
by oldschoolraider on Oct 3, 2010 3:53 PM CDT up reply actions
Thanks for clearing that up!
Just kidding. Not sure what I think about the interview process. Honestly, I would be surprised if Tubs had to say anything in the interview just to get him the job. Like him or not, he has a good enough reputation in the college football world to land the TTU job without having to pretend he is someone he’s not.
Honestly, I never bought into the “we are going to keep the offense just like it is” crap. Why, because unless you have the exact same players, coaches, etc., it simply won’t happen. Even if we had kept some of the prior staff things would have changed. Taking Leach out of the conversation, because we don’t have that choice, did we really want a coach that did not think in his heart of hearts that he was the man for the job and that his way is the right way? That’s not to say his way is the right way or that it will work, it simply says we should want a guy in charge that has enough of an ego to think he can get it done his way. I do agree about how some of the comments make me do a double take – I usually try and take that stuff with a grain of salt – much like some of the comments made on DTN – because I don’t know what’s going on behind the scenes, it’s hard for me to ascertain what the real deal is – sometimes it’s more than we are making of it – most of the time it’s much simpler!
As far as the current staff, etc. Am I disappointed so far with the results – of course – I don’t bleed red & black for nothing! Am I ready to throw in the towel on this staff or it’s way of doing things – absolutely not. It amazes me that coaches in today’s times are only given 3 years if they are lucky and most of the time it’s 1-2 to be successful. No matter what they inherited it takes time to make the changes they think needs to be made and to get the personnel they need to make those changes.
Ramble a bit but that’s some of my “takes” on the current issues.
To the Optimistic Cynics
Of course good stuff Seth. I didn’t get to see the game, but when I saw the score I assumed 1 of 2 things.
1. Potts had a few pick sixes
or
2. Our D FINALLY gave up some big plays.
Seems like the later was the case. For all of the people that “hate this coaching staff” and think they “took your team”, where were you earlier in the season? After the inital Lech dust settled, I recall tons of optimisim coming from everyone about the number on wins we would have this season. While I can say I was also quite optimistic, I knew that this kind of Defense (which I LOVE btw) would take some lumps early on. You can’t go from playing 12 dudes to 20+ in one summer….Now that we’re 2-2, here comes the panic and the “I told you so” folks. I just don’t think its fair to then turn and say the people/fanbase committed to supporting this program regardless is the problem.
I’d go as far as to say its our duty to educate folks on the things were trying to do with the new defensive scheme. A few peeps here try that, but not enough. We should b willing to buy in to this just like we did the spread O.
I’m a Leach era student, and right now I just feel like we think we’re entitled to 8 wins every season (which sounds funny since 8 wins gets you jack). We’ve gotta earn these wins, and even with a down year in the Big 12, a transistion year is just that (just ask Turner Gill).
So lets continue to Blitz All Day (B.A.D?), and get these young defenders ready for the future. My biggest complaint on the season so far…easy…white helmets (gtfoh!)
Cicero 1/2 of Patton Productions
www.myspace.com/pattonproductions
I like the white helmets
If we didnt suck so bad when we wear them I think they would look cool with our all black unis
what?
While I somewhat agree, and think we don’t need to go full-on panic mode, there is a WORLD of difference between losing a hard-fought game to UT and losing a game (after a bye week) to ISU. But let’s toss that, let’s forget that aspect and say every team in the conference is tough, last year ISU beat Nebraska, each game counts, blah blah blah. I only want to know one thing:
- How the $%#@ did ISU put up 24 points on us in the 4th quarter?!?
We had shoot-outs under Mike Leach that we eventually lost. We had “bad games” that we lost. We even had a defense that gave up big point totals.
But, defense is this staff’s forte, it’s the thing this staff is supposed to be REALLY good at. You wanna show me an ISU team that put up 24 points in the WHOLE FIRST HALF, ok. They prepare too, they were fired up. They make it a game, heck teams routinely have a good FIRST HALF against UT or OU or other big programs. And then those programs do what they’re supposed to, they clamp down after the half and win the game. Heck, I was there in 2006 when UT did that exact thing to us (score after the 1st qtr in that game: 21-0 Tech, score at the end: 31-35 Texas)
The one thing I DIDN’T like about Coach Leach is that he didn’t SEEM to make good adjustments at the half, but maybe that’s because we started so strong usually. But at the end of the day, losing after a bye week to a team we were expected to beat, tough pill but ‘acceptable" (as noted, we had “bad losses” before). Having a weak first half effort, again after a bye, bad and “needs improvement”. But losing in large part because ISU score 24 points in the 4th QUARTER?!? INEXCUSABLE (how the HELL do we let them RETURN an on-sides kick on us?!? We don’t recover, sure, lots of teams don’t. But they RETURN IT FOR A TD?!?)
Bottom line is two things:
1) Not saying “fire” Coach Tuberville, I agree that he needs time, but he IS and SHOULD BE on the hot-seat now. Any new coach needs more than a single season (altho I think Coach Tuberville has different parameters because much like when Tubs was fired in Auburn, Coach Leach WAS winning here) but I DO think we have the right to, and should, hold his feet to the fire.
2) Was ambivalent before, but no longer, the white unis+helmets suck and they should never been seen again.
What are you talking about Cicero?!
I think most people who initially were optimistic about Tuberville and Co. were simply giving him the benefit of the doubt. It’s not that we were happy with Tuberville, I feel it was that we resigned ourselves to the fact that Leach was never coming back, and as avid lovers of Red Raider Football, the only course was to accept the new coaching staff and see what they can produce.
What I was not expecting is for Tuberville to have lied like the yellow cur dog he is. What I did not expect was the overhauling of the offense. What I did not expect was the arrogance in play calling. How do you not adapt to your environment? And if your argument is “ask Turner Gill”, ouch. He is doing the worst turnaround job I’ve ever seen. Don’t give me that “it takes time” bs. You can tell which coaches just need time (i.e. Brian Kelly at ND or Rich Rod at Michigan) and what coaches are swimming upriver and have little to no chance to gain the kind of success required of them. Tuberville is part of the latter.
The chicken is involved but the pig is committed
by maddraven1716 on Oct 3, 2010 10:35 AM CDT up reply actions
Play Calling
I know we lot of dropped balls, but the play calling, IMO, continues to be weak! When we began to get some rhythm on offense in the second quarter it seemed to me to be because we began to change up the play calling and the Pass began to open up the run. We were working the middle of the field, doing some different things, and yes we were actually catching the ball. Now I am no expert, but that is how it looked to me. Then when we went back to cold later in that half, it seemed like we had gone back to the sideways passes, crappy running plays, predictable play calling, and quit looking down the field….except for our vaunted fade pattern to Lyle… Why not work the middle of the field? Why not keep up the pressure on the other guy’s defense? Instead we crawl back into our shell, and I really believe, go back to playing “Tommy Ball”. I know we scored more points and the line looked good…but c’mon this was ISU after all…Who among us did not expect the offense to look better than last week, and still it looked weak and ill-prepared most of the first half and towards the end of the game. The defensive game plan looked liked they took the SMU plan and just ran with that…
I know that coaches need time to build programs, Rich Rod needed time at Michigan, but can we really compare what he inherited in terms of situation to what TT inherited when he came to Tech? Let’s say that what TT and NB want to do is actually so radically different and that they don’t have the kids to run it…Let’s say that they don’t actually have the athletes to run a spread, or at least their spread, then what kind of athletes do they need? Because if what they want to do on Off and Def takes 4 and 5 star guys in order to run then we are screwed! When we gave up the identity that we had, and when we can’t win against ISU, we lose the recruiting battles for those kids 99% of the time. In fact, we lose them even when we had the "Air Raid" working at its peak. The fact is that these are the types of kids that we can get to come to Tech on a regular basis, and in the past, those kids looked like they were better coached, and like the scheme we ran gave them a chance to compete! I know we never won championships and all that, but we did not look so helpless on what seems like a regular basis. I know it is only 4 games into the season, and that we have the same record as we did at this time last year, but can anyone look at these two teams and really say that this year’s team looks like it is going to be able to turn it around? Even given how tough it looked with last year’s team at this time? Maybe we turn this around or maybe we don’t, but the one constant I see, early on, is Neal’s inability, either because of lack of experience or having to wear the Tommy handcuffs, to put together a game plan that makes our team look like it could win any game more often than not. I guess only Tony Franklin and Neal know the answer to the actual existence of the Tommy Handcuffs when he wants to "run" the spread… I see so many similarities between Tommy running the spread here and when he tried to run it at Auburn. The only difference is that at least at Auburn you could make the case that he did not have the athletes to run the spread, or was it that the Coach just really didn’t know how to run it I believe that an effective spread offense is not just about big line splits, and a million receivers running around the field, it is about an attitude and a belief in pressuring the defense, throwing at them, making them believe that one bad play could cost them 6 points. I guess, to me, it is a lot like the defense that Tommy and James want to run…..if only he could figure that out….
Everything will be better once we get a fullback.....
Can't be negative
We also can’t freak out. We lose games like this every year and are still able to get our 7 wins. Whats happened is that we were spoiled the last three years where we had above average numbers in the win column. Lets face it, this team isn’t that good. Sure the Captain might’ve put up 30 more yards in the passing game last night. would it have changed anything, no. We have a qb who can’t lead, a defense thats streaky and a CEO head coach that will need time to implement his plan for winning and his players before things get good. I believe we will have an average 7-5 year with a bowl game. Thats all I will expect. My high expectations are dead but atleast we can get ready for building up a solid team for next year. Heck we might as well just play some young guys. Try Scotty Young at QB.
Yes, give the young guys experience.
Around here football is bigger than the state of Texas!
by Distant Raider on Oct 3, 2010 10:18 AM CDT up reply actions
Sawdawg12....
This is pretty much the same team as last year and an easier schedule, so don’t try to tell us this team isn’t good, under leach this team is good!!!!
We didn't lose to ISU;
Okay, so we laid an egg against Houston and aTm. Yes, we were 10-0 and got killed against OU, but they did play for the NC. Yes, we lost to a good Mississippi State team and Alabama in the Cotton Bowl, but we didn’t lose to ISU.
"I spent 18 months, off and on, with the script writer. I might as well have not spent one second with him." Don Haskins.
I would just say that Potts was able to execute finally when OC Neal Brown let me chuck the rock like he has been trained to do. He wasn’t allowed to run the air raid until 3 minutes left in the 2nd Q. When we did run OUR OFFENSE, things went well… but the lead was just too much.
I don’t know if I can continue to support Tommy Tuberville as the coach of my Red Raiders. This guys has taken a very good program and run it into the ground.
Sawdawg, sorry, this team is a very good team. The suggestion that our team is not good is incorrect. We won 9 games last year and returned most of the team, Par for the course with Leach at the helm was a ten win season. Mike Leach would’ve done a lot more than throw up 30 more yards passing. He would’v beaten Texas as well as ISU.
Also, What is this BS about “getting our 7 wins”…. that’s a stupid thing to say.
"Have a happy halftime." - Mike Leach
Thats all I can hope for at this point after we just lost to a team that isn’t that good. We might win more and I hope we do just as much as any person who supports tech but after losing 2 this early on I’m not expecting any more than seven and a bowl game. Also Ive heard people say that we lost 2 early on last year just like this year but last year is a different story. Texas went to the NC and Houston was playing lights out football. At the end of the year I dont think we’ll be saying the same about Texas and Iowa State
Michigan no the same scenario as us....
Cook preached patience and finally, after what seems like an eternity, Michigan fans are finally being rewarded with winning football
We railroaded our most winning coach,not replaces a guy on the down swing.
I also agree that wishing Leach was back is not reality, but it is effective to note that the results of this team would be better if the administration didn’t do what they did…so where do we gather as a group and unite as one load voice to tell the two remaining Bell Tower Boys that the blood is on their hands!!!!!
I was initially thinking an apt comparison might be “Mack Brown”, because Mackovich had a penchant for crazy offenses and a knack for sneaking some “big wins” and taking some “bad losses”. And I could have sworn that Mack’s first season was bad, but no:
Mack Brown’s first season at Texas: 9-3
Losses Kansas State’s team that almost won the Big12, a UCLA team that went 10-2, and the Red Raiders.
If Tuberville goes 8-4, then we may be on track to arc a similar route, but right this moment, I don’t see how we get there.
You're crazy
You’re crazy to think this team can make a bowl game. I’m as big of Tech fan as anyone on this site, but no way this team makes a bowl game. I’ll cheer for us the rest of the year but I think this program suffers big under an uncapable Tubs. I fear we see a skid for two to three seasons. I’m very frustrated that the head coach trys to tell us we don’t have good enough talent, Leach got it done, with the same guys. If we win 2-3 more games, I’ll be suprised. We could have won this game but I think the team was prepared after two weeks and that just not Tech football.
I think its time to cut and run. We need new coaches. We can’t afford to gamble with this man.
I can't believe I have to watch
Us lose to Baylor and Colorado. You knew at Michigan what rich was trying to do…..there was an identity. For the life of me, I don’t really know what tubs vision is. I hate to say that I don’t really believe half the drivel that comes out of his mouth. Ask ole miss fans. He was my choice as hc…this is painful.
"It's fun to do bad things"- Latarian
by oldschoolraider on Oct 3, 2010 10:39 AM CDT reply actions
Tubby will never get top 150 recruits here
We don’t have one player in anybody’s top 150. Auburn has a bunch. This is Lubbock, and we kick ass with less. Tubby, does not have what it takes to coach with less. He has said so since he go here. I fear change.
"I spent 18 months, off and on, with the script writer. I might as well have not spent one second with him." Don Haskins.
We hire the wrong coach from auburn...
that dude at isu does more with less. And with the $ we saved we could pay leach his 10 mil he will get anyway.
"It's fun to do bad things"- Latarian
by oldschoolraider on Oct 3, 2010 10:46 AM CDT up reply actions
I use to know a TT coach
…that did more with less. Welker, Amendola, Williams, etc…
"I've specifically concentrated on not concentrating on this, and up to this point, I've done a really good job." -Mike Leach
by Nm RaiDer FAn on Oct 3, 2010 11:20 AM CDT up reply actions
I'm more pissed this morning than I was last night... shit
"I spent 18 months, off and on, with the script writer. I might as well have not spent one second with him." Don Haskins.
IOWA
Our offense played better than i thought they would. If our defense would have played like they did against UT maybe things would have been different. we just didn’t play with urgency in the first quarter and fell behind.
Everyone can critic every aspect of our teams performance but I don’t think anyone has mentioned how good Iowa played. They may have played the best game they will play all year. They have a hard schedule but who knows maybe they end up beating more top teams. Maybe people underestimated them. I think people are mad because they think we lost to a lesser team.
The Whornes didn't score 52 points cause they aren't very good
Texas will have a four game losing streak very soon. They might not win six game.
"I spent 18 months, off and on, with the script writer. I might as well have not spent one second with him." Don Haskins.
uh...
I would point out that we DID lose to a lesser team. Or maybe I should note that Iowa State is 3-2 (also) and in the two wins they only scored 27 points (in both games, 54 combined) against the likes of the mighty Northern Illinois huskies and the powerful Northern Iowa panthers. They scored more points on us than on any other team. Heck, they almost scored more points on us IN THE FOURTH QUARTER than on any other team.
Tell me what we have to look forward too;
That was pitifful performance.
"I spent 18 months, off and on, with the script writer. I might as well have not spent one second with him." Don Haskins.
Seth, a tough job you have right now.
Thanks for NOT censoring those of us that say outrageous things about this situation, mention “former coaches”, use profanity and spell atrociously. At the same time, thanks for making political references disappear, and for trying to provide balance right now. I’m trying to think more before posting, read what I write a few more times before putting it out there, and be a good citizen of this community.
I hope everyone will take your advice, and DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS. I say we call for accountability at every level. Pick up the phone, write the letter, use financial leverage in any way you can. Otherwise, this is just bullshit piss and moan.
We have a new culture being built here. It stinks of cronyism, good ol boy networks, mediocrity and pussyfication of a sport that at its best teaches the value of hard work and no excuses. And I’m not good with that.
"Winning isn't everything"... Bob Knight
I want it changed.
What happened yesterday was inexcusable. There is no excuse for that loss. Not one. It wasn’t too much practicing or how hard it is to take over a program that was averaging about 9 wins a season over the last few years. I put the blame on Coach Tuberville because going any higher up the chain from there is less useful. He needs to fix whatever he did to this team. He needs to get them prepared better for these games.
Being totally lost for basically the first half is not an option in the Big 12. Maybe that’s how they do it in the SEC but we play four quarters here. He needs to change it or he needs to get out of Lubbock. I thought he was a good hire at the time, the lesser of a bunch of evils, but so far he’s been all talk. And I don’t even like the talk anymore, either.
As I felt and said last night
I think Tech is on the way to a losing season and I am sad to say that I think that they will lose to most every team that they have to play on the rest of the schedule. For a team that did as well as they did last year with as few losses in personnel as they have had, this is atrocious. Tubberville has lost my confidence, hopeful that it was, and is in no position to even begin discussing championships.
I sincerely hope that I am wrong, but as one who goes back to the bad-old-days of J. T. King, the last 10 prior years were a wonderful relief. If my pessimistic outlook holds right, then we should expect to lose good commits, after all, why would anyone go to the dust and tumbleweeds of Lubbock to join a losing program…and that would be followed by the kinds of crowds in the stands that I saw ‘back when’…30,000 some odd thousand fans.
As an odd aside, when I went in the Army after leaving Tech, I ended up stationed at Ft. Benning and my wife attended Auburn to get her masters degree. Auburn’s stadium was full (90,000 fans it seems) under Shug Jordan, full of spirit, and their football play was vastly superior to what I had seen under King, so I have been a secondary fan of Auburn ever since. (that said, I hate the white helmets and uniforms at Tech…Red & Black are our colors, save the white for practice)
Time will tell, but I am very negative on Tuberville and crew and what they have reduced a winning Tech team to in just a few games. For Tuberville, this is it, should he fail at Tech, his career as a football coach is finished and he can look to opening a catfish restaurant.
His predecessor (what was his name?) will be hired and I expect to see him on TV leading successful and exciting football teams again.
I don't recall seeing you comment here...
good stuff….great perspective
"It's fun to do bad things"- Latarian
by oldschoolraider on Oct 3, 2010 11:21 AM CDT up reply actions
Change I want to see
1. Tubbs drop the excuses, reminds me of the Jerry Moore excuse show of the 1980’s
2. Would have loved to hear Tubbs angry after the game last night saying there was no excuse for the way Tech played and their would be hell to pay for the coaches and players in practice this week
3. Hance gone. Remember his glib comment along the lines of, “we need a coach who can beat Texas more than 20% of the time”. Maybe we should replace Texas with ‘any opponent.’
4. The players staging a mutiny (behind the scenes is just fine) letting Tubs and co know this level of football is NOT okay with them
5. All of us who are upset should take Seth’s advice and send emails, letters etc. to the powers that be at Tech. Remember to be respectful and your comments will be taken more seriously.
6. I’m willing to give Tubs a chance if he will quit blowing smoke up our backsides
The mutiny these players staged last season was against a coach that required accountability.
They got what they wanted. A coach that makes excuses for them so that they feel ok about their mediocrity.
"Winning isn't everything"... Bob Knight
by raider realist on Oct 3, 2010 11:52 AM CDT up reply actions
Thanks, oldschoolraider
I have cruised here frequently the last few years but almost never posted. After the fiasco, unmentionable, of last year, I paid even more attention to the website. Then, after seeing a steep, deep decline in quality of entertainment (play) of the team, I felt I had to speak up.
Now if you are really ‘old school’, you might remember when Tech was beat A&M (about ’67) and at the end of the game after a score with Tech in the lead, J.T, King chose to do an on-side kick, which Ed Hargett and the Aggies promptly turned into a winning touchdown. So, we were winning in an upset against A&M with seconds left on the clock as I/we headed back to Gaston Hall and before I had gotten to the dorm, the Red Raiders had lost due to a truly stupid coach call. My pals still bitch about that decision 43 years later.
Hargitt
Then you may remember that the reason a&m scored was due to the most obvious uncalled clip in Jones Stadium history which ended the career of George Cox, a awesome DE that was well on his way to All-American. The next year in College Station that loss was avenged.
You may also remember that in those “J.T. King years” that Arkansas and Texas were two of the top teams in the nation. We accomplished the upset of the decade against AR in 1966 knocking them out of a chance to win a NC while ending 4-6 ourselves. We went into Fayetteville in 1965 ranked #10 on the final game of the season and beat ut in LBB in 1967 and in Austin in 1968. There were some nice highs and some lows in there. I was in the Bell Tower with hand on the rope for that a&m loss.
Jake did a heck of a job bringing Tech from entry into the SWC to respectability setting the stage for the Carlin/Sloan years. You talk about make something from nothing. Except for Donny Anderson who apparently wanted to stay in W Tx, where were the big names? It was a big deal when Phil Tucker went to play a year in Canada.
Where do we go from here?
I am struggling, as I know many of you are, to figure out where we went wrong. The choice to hire Tuberville made sense on paper. We needed stability after the Leach fiasco and the Tech admin made a safe choice. Most of us supported their decision based upon limited knowledge of Tuberville’s coaching career. The undefeated season on his resume seemed to distract us from the pine box comment and unsuccessful attempt at implementing the spread offense at Auburn. We wanted to believe he would take us to the next level and his words seemed to tickle our ears. Now reality has set in and we are starting to feel like we’ve been sold ocean front property in El Paso. As Tech fans, we have learned to be optimistic but we are struggling to see the silver lining after the last two games. Where does the team go from here? Adversity can make or break a team. Your move Tubs. I aint drinking the koolaid.
"I think eskimos are smug."
by Remington870 on Oct 3, 2010 11:28 AM CDT via mobile reply actions
Managing Change
Tuberville had taken jobs earlier in programs that were in crisis and it required ‘drastic’ overhaul of those football programs. Part of me now thinks that this what TT is best at. However, the situation at Tech was a little bit different. Tech was already a top program with a well set system in place. TT did not have to overhaul our entire program to start winning. I think this has been his biggest mistake and the primary cause for the current state of our football program. Managing the change when a program is in critical condition requires different skills than taking over as the coach of a top program. I think TT did not understand this and in his mind a new coaching job meant a complete overhaul. This is not very different from the situation that Michigan was in with Rich Rodrigues a couple of years back, but now they are back on the W board and winning ways. I have now revised my expectations for this year. I initially thought that Tuberville would see the benefit of continuity in our offense and strengthen the defense and the special teams and if this happened we would be transformed into a top flight team overnight. But this did not happen and TT decided to change everything, so now it will take a few more years before we become a Big XII-2 power again.
Eventually, I believe that we will return as one of the top teams in the Big XII (-2). This may happen as soon as next year or it may take one more year. We definitely have a very highly ranked recruiting class coming in for 2011.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see him bolt for another opportunity if it’s presented. Lets not forget also that his stock is dropping as well as ours.
"You've got to find your inner pirate" - Mike Leach
Who hires this guy? Seriously, what AD looks at Katfish as a serious candidate right now?
"Winning isn't everything"... Bob Knight
by raider realist on Oct 3, 2010 11:56 AM CDT up reply actions
I hate Tennessee!
Why? If only they had fired their coach earlier, Tubbs would have gone there instead of Tech. He made no secret he wanted back into coaching, especially the SEC, but he became desperate when it appeared no major job would open up. What a stroke of luck for Tennessee, and a curse for Tech!
Take the "P" out of "Pirate" and I'm "Irate"!!!
That probably is a pretty sensible decision.
Although, the housing market in Lubbock has managed to do well during the financial crisis.
"This time it's different."
by LondonRaider on Oct 3, 2010 12:01 PM CDT up reply actions
This was a really bad loss after a 2 week break. I just don’t see how we can compete this season with what I’ve seen so far. I had really believed that Tuberville was just going to improve on what was already established. This offense was prime for any head coach to manage. This staff and all their experience means absolutelty nothing. I haven’t seen a game yet that impresses. I find myself craving football season all year long but now just wanting this season to end. I fear Tuberville may be our Fran and I hate to admit that I was totally thinking he would be our savior.
"You've got to find your inner pirate" - Mike Leach
Why not keep Lincoln Riley?
Because the “Great One” – that is, – Tommy Tubberville – wanted to sterilize all things Leach. He knew better, he has a better plan. That plan, dismantle Tech, lose, blame it on the poor team and his predesessor, then leave for the SEC while Tech lay in ruins!
Take the "P" out of "Pirate" and I'm "Irate"!!!
recruits
If you read Scott Smith’s info, posted previously on this website, when the L. word was fired, he was prepared to withdraw his commitment to Tech and move elsewhere, but he was persuaded (BS’d) by Tubb’s recruiters to come here. If this season is a disaster, I will go ahead and project that you will see a number of the better commits de-commit and go to winning programs elsewhere.
As an after thought
I also had this weird feeling in the second half of the Iowa State game, that Neal Brown has probably figured out how to run this offense. We would not have had 500+ yards of production on offense otherwise. I think defense is easier to fix than the offense and if Brown can now maintain this ‘formula’ for his offense, I think we will still be able to make something out of this season. I still think that having Sticks starting our offense gives us the best chance to win more games, but the coaches obviously no better or else they wouldn’t be the coaches.
Did the OC figure it out or . . .
Did he give up and tell Potts to go back to last year’s play calling. I got the feeling at one point in the 2nd half that they stopped calling the plays from the sidelines and gave Potts a free hand in calling the plays. Anybody else sense that?
"I've specifically concentrated on not concentrating on this, and up to this point, I've done a really good job." -Mike Leach
by Nm RaiDer FAn on Oct 3, 2010 11:59 AM CDT up reply actions
I get the feeling though-
That this was part of Leaches success with Harrell, etc.
Plan A was the gameplan.
Plan B was “Don’t look at me, Go play football”.
To what degree Leaches genius can be attributed to a QB (and many parts of a team, actually) that has this kind of ability, I can’t say, because I don’t know – but that sort of thing WAS within the realm of possibility THEN, perhaps with even more than just the QB.
But today’s Red Raiders? Believing that is too big a stretch for me.
(…But with 52 points on the board, anything is worth a shot – however I don’t get paid to coach football. )
Good morning..
Well the sun actually came up again, I was worried that it might not. Just returned from service this A.M. ( St. Andrews Episcopal) Amarillo.
O Lord, how long shall I cry for help,
and you will not listen?
Or cry to you “Violence!”
and you will not save?
Why do you make me see wrong-doing and look for trouble? That was a part of the first Lesson. I was still focused on the game. Is it applicable to TTU football. I think so but thats just me. We are now on the path of suffering for our schools team and it will not end any time soon. We should all be thankful that this is what passes as suffering ( we are truely blessed). Unfortunately we have a head coach that is in over his head. I had many lectures in Grad School about changing a " culture ". Culture change is sometimes a very necessary thing. However, that is not case at Tech you stupid son-of bitch dumb bastard ,lying asshat SEC peckerwood fool. That felt fantastic. This is not going to be pretty, we are neither doomed nor damned but our football team is pretty sorry. The guy in charge is well paid and has a free run of the program. He is solely responsible for hiring inexperienced assistants and lack of preparation or over preparation. Remember after coach cornbread was hired many posters were worried that he would use Tech as a stepping stone to get back to the SEC. Who would have him? If you were an AD at a second tier SEC school and you had to choose between Mike Leach and Peckerwood who would you choose? So write in raise hell do what you can but don’t turn on the players. They are just kids getting an education and representing Tech. And really the ones who have been given the worst shafting in this whole fucked up deal. WRECK EM TECH
Ummm, amen?
"This time it's different."
by LondonRaider on Oct 3, 2010 12:03 PM CDT up reply actions
Wow, that really escalated quickly. I’m sure your church would prefer that you don’t use its name next time before posting comments like that.
"I think eskimos are smug."
by Remington870 on Oct 3, 2010 12:25 PM CDT via mobile up reply actions
Wow
Thanks for saying exactly what I was thinking. I can’t help but think Lincoln Riley would have been just what we needed. This Neal Brown fool that Tubs brought in couldn’t call a good game to save his life.. My hope is that the change in offense in the second half means that he’s pulled his head out of his ass and will get back to what works. Man I’m depressed! Thanks for helping me feel better!
TOM
If you have “season tickets” to St. Andrews you might want to considering selling them. You don’t seem to be reaping any benefits from your attendance.
Its Ok.
We are kind of big tent. Even fool mouthed Tech fans can go. The Priest is a T-Siper, who was the Canterbury Chaplain at Tech 30 years ago, she knows my moral compass is off when it comes to Tech Football.
Actions are louder than words
Random thoughts from watching this fiasco last night:
1. Tech scored enough points to win against anyone.
2. Tech gave up enought points to lose against anyone.
3. A 3 win-9 loss season for 2010 is not out of the question.
4. Next year’s season ticket purchase ,for me, may not happen! I refuse to watch a lousy performance and pay top dollar for it!
In his case
If the asshat Peckerwood fits wear it.
redraidertom meets texastechtom
The stars are aligned.
I'm out of popcorn coach.
by San Antonio Red Raider on Oct 3, 2010 12:11 PM CDT up reply actions
No deep meaning
Just noticed the 2 different names and thought it was cool.
I'm out of popcorn coach.
by San Antonio Red Raider on Oct 3, 2010 12:31 PM CDT up reply actions
I liked it....but I'm a fan of the esoteric
"It's fun to do bad things"- Latarian
by oldschoolraider on Oct 3, 2010 12:50 PM CDT up reply actions
great band
"Winning isn't everything"... Bob Knight
by raider realist on Oct 3, 2010 12:53 PM CDT up reply actions
You made me google them
never had heard of them. Ultra hard rock and Kansas….quite a combo.
"It's fun to do bad things"- Latarian
by oldschoolraider on Oct 3, 2010 12:58 PM CDT up reply actions
The Wiki calls them an "extrememe doom metal band."
Extreme doom… doesn’t that about sum up today
"Winning isn't everything"... Bob Knight
by raider realist on Oct 3, 2010 1:08 PM CDT up reply actions
Extreme Doom - That's the game with the BFG 9000, right?
That was one mean gun. You could clear a room with that thing. But do not stand facing any walls when you fire it.
It's called the Air Raid. So why would you try to run it like it's 1992?
I can't believe I'm saying this...
…but now I wished Ruffin and Lincoln remained at Tech. Certainly they’d be no worse, and perhaps the O would be firing on at least 7 cylinders – which is better than 99% of college football. The D could not have player worse than last night.
And maybe, just maybe, Tech is 4 – 0! I know, I know, I can’t believe I’m saying it, but faced with Tubbs, Ruff/Lincoln was the better alternative!
Take the "P" out of "Pirate" and I'm "Irate"!!!
Defense is a problem
Corners can’t cover and MLB’s are just bad. We all thought the ends would be our problem before the season started. I’m amazed that with Willis’ resume the MLB positions are so weak. I expected a reasonable drop off at corner positions. Lastly, does Detron Lewis drop passes in practice often?
"You've got to find your inner pirate" - Mike Leach
The Biggest Issue..
Maybe I’m the only one, but here’s the biggest issue I see. I’ve been a Tech fan for 25 years, since junior high. I’ve seen the day that McWilliams was the coach (if it even lasted that long), I’ve seen the highs and lows of Spike Dykes. I still remember being excited the first game my freshman year, after the All-American bowl win, and being outraged that poor punting cost us the game against Ohio State. I was at the worst offensive performance against Miami that year.
Through the years, I’ve been disappointed when we lost when we shouldn’t have. North Texas still haunts me, and even if we were the best team in the nation, I wouldn’t schedule them just because of the memories. I appreciated what Spike did, but was happy when he decided to leave.
I still remember being excited when Rich Rod was possibly going to be our next coach, before he withdrew. I was happy to see Leach come in and bring some passing to our school, and then aggravated when it didn’t take affect immediately.
I’ve spent the last eight years in the heart of SEC country, but was still proud of my school, and still did not take defeats well. I remember getting on the local sports talk radio here in Jacksonville, defending the Big 12 against the SEC because Tech had defeated Ole’ Miss on the road when they were 2nd best in their conference.
I’ve actually broke computer screens in disgust with a poor Tech performance, I’ve gone at long bike rides at night to blow off steam, called for Leach to be fired multiple times, and basically made my wife hate it when Tech games came on because I would be so passionate.
The worst thing that has happened this year, and blame it on whoever, the administration, Tubby, my old age, but for the first time I can remember, last night Tech got beat and beat badly, and I didn’t get upset. This past year has taken so much passion from me, and I’m worried it’s not coming back.
Not sure this helps, I'm trying......
Bobby Petrino took over an Arkansas club that went 8-5 under Houston Nutt and led it to a 5-7 season in 2008. The Razorbacks are now legitimate contenders in the SEC. Rich Rodriguez directed the Michigan Wolverines to a 3-9 mark after they had gone 9-4 under Lloyd Carr in 2007. Now the Miaze and Blue are in the top 20 and their future is bright.
"Dress good, yu'll play good. Play good, yu'll get paid good." -Deion Sanders
Do you think we have the same talent on staff as either of these programs?
"Winning isn't everything"... Bob Knight
by raider realist on Oct 3, 2010 1:30 PM CDT up reply actions
Yes we do
We have a top 15 recruiting class coming in for 2011. The only visible improvement over Mike Leach era so far has been the recruitment.
by jef on Oct 3, 2010 2:03 PM CDT up reply actions
Was really thing about the coaching staff,
but I’m pretty concerned over the ability to keep these recruits as well.
"Winning isn't everything"... Bob Knight
by raider realist on Oct 3, 2010 2:41 PM CDT up reply actions
Its way too early to defend our recruiting class;
But, I will say it again, we do not have any recruits in anybody’s top 150. And what Tubby is trying to do you cannot do with our recruits. We had a top 150 recruit, but he went to LSU when Leach was fired. Tubby can’t handle our recruits. Michigan, Arkansas, and even Ole Miss have top 150 recruits, we don’t. Period, so we always have to be different to make it work. And we have done it for a very long time. Our administration wants to be like Texas, but we are not.
"I spent 18 months, off and on, with the script writer. I might as well have not spent one second with him." Don Haskins.
Rich rod was switching to
exactly what he ran at wv….petrino his pro style from Louisville. A passing attack is not his calling card. Despite last nite, the defense will be better in time. I have no faith that our offense will sniff our past production.
"It's fun to do bad things"- Latarian
by oldschoolraider on Oct 3, 2010 2:01 PM CDT up reply actions
I don't know what's the problem
whether its the QB or the play calling. I think its both. I still believe that we will have a few more wins with Sticks at QB than Potts
by jef on Oct 3, 2010 2:06 PM CDT up reply actions
A serious Point
Why I think " coach " is in over his head. regarding culture change.
1. He had the chance to hire Lincoln but passed on it (no pun intended). If Lincoln is hired the whole Potts vs Sticks thing is easier to handle. A coach that already knows the players makes an evaluation. And a Leach connection that makes it easier for all of us to deal with the transition.
2. Your not changing the Culture in private. Theres 60,000 in the stands and hundreds of thousands at home watching T.V. We might notice the White Uniforms. Be a little discrete. If we had wanted to be Auburn we would have just bought the damn trailer park and moved it. After all we are Texans as well as Techsans. Might even realize that its our culture not yours yet.
3. Stop talking about championships. That is as unlikely as finding redraidertom and texastechtom in the same galaxy. Give yourself a little room to not look stupid, we will still come charging up the hill behind you, it s just our way. Pretend your Robert E. Lee encouraging Terry’s Rangers. Theres an old south reference (see you have to make connections within the organization to change the culture).
And finally be honest and stop the mind games especially with Sticks. He’s a fan favorite, we have a connection to him, he won the damn bowl game, you had to have watched the film. Coachspeak is just another word for lying chickenshit or is that two words. Finally I will make an honest attempt to not call the head coach, Peckerwood, until after the Baylor game. He may be become honky cracker assed peckerwood at that time.
Lincoln Riley
I have nothing against Riley and thought that he did a great job in the bowl. However, pertinent facts from ESPN on ECU:
14th in passing
90th in rushing yards
26th in points for
115th in points against (obviously not his side of the ball)
Every year is a different year and every game can be. Tech in 2008 went straight up to 10-0 and barely avoid 0-3 afterwards to go 1-2 while not resembling the same team. I don’t know that Riley would have been better, but it may have made some posters feel better. What if he had shown the same results as Brown? Or worse? The blame game can have no end.
Same is true for Brown
as he doesn’t have the Troy talent that was the #3 offense in 2009 if I remember correctly. Point is that Riley had one game where Leach had created the plan. I doubt any of us really have the ability to truly evaluate the talent of the three situations. One thing that is for sure is that Tech has the most inexperienced O line in many years. There are no 2010 All-America candidates on it. Just maybe it is getting going and will pleasantly surprise us as the season progresses. After all, Moore is still the O line coach.
If we had wanted to be Auburn we would have just bought the damn trailer park and moved it
Nice. Merk may not like it, but I do.
I Want To Be Tech (2008)!
Don’t tornado’s hit trailer parks?
Take the "P" out of "Pirate" and I'm "Irate"!!!
Browns and bengals playing
Do u think Shipley and McCoy kissed at midfield?
"It's fun to do bad things"- Latarian
I am pretty sure they were dry humping
at midfield. Aint love grand.
"A pretty girl will leave you. An ugly girl will leave you too but then again who really cares?"
Don Williams Article
I’m sorry Seth, but I think quoting Williams’ article lends it a credibility it does not deserve. The comments below the article almost to a person have done a good job identifying the falsehoods and misleading nature of his article.
Here’s one of the good ones, and there are several:
Don, I know first hand about the relationship you had with Mike and his staff. They were never rude to you; however, they always knew you and Hyatt were in Hance’s pocket and they treated you guys accordingly. That drove ya’jll crazy. Anyone with any inside knowledge of what I’m speaking of knows I am right and so do you. While I never expected your reporting to be objective, the level of your bias is jolting. I am heartened that no one is buying your propaganda. I heard Mike and Ruff both tell you they thought this team was the 2nd best returning class they had ever had – and as you know, they told you that before Mike was fired. Why didn’t you report that part of the story truthfully? Just so you could cast further dispersions. As you love to say, Mike is gone, why keep talking about him? If you insist on carrying water for Hance, Myers, Anders, James and the rest of that gang, the least you could do is refrain from blatantly distorting the facts. There are still a few of us around that were actually there and saw and heard what really went down. Mike didn’t coach this game Don, your buddies did. Write about their performances instead of twisting Mike and Ruff’s words to suit your venomous agenda.
Asking whether the talent at Tech was indeed as good as the 2008 class is of course a fair question (and we can answer that in another post – the answer is yes and no of course).
However, in raising the question, Williams clearly has a different agenda. It’s not so much that he has been uncritical about Tuberville, but downright delusional. He described the loss to UT as a blueprint for future Tuberville-led victories. That is simply laughable.
Now having allowed ISU to score the most points since joining the Big 12, he floats a ludicrous theory that Leach was inflating the talent of the team due in part to bitterness toward the administration.
This is a distortion of the first order.
Let’s ignore the mere fact that Leach has been gone for 9 months and that Tuberville actually coaches this team.
We all believed that with 16-17 returning starters, a favorable schedule and talent losses at UT and OU, that we had a very good chance of winning the Big 12, and at the very least finishing with a 10 win season.
Now having lost to the doormat of the Big 12, suddenly our talent is what is in question?
We may have had bad losses in the past. And that’s fine. But none of us ever sat here and threw the team under the bus for those losses. We KNEW our talent was not even the top half of the Big 12, yet we expected to come out every game and perform no matter who the opponent.
Willams’ analysis is dishonest. Why bring up Leach in an article discussing Tuberville’s and Texas Tech’s loss to one of the worst team in the Big 12? When we lost to Colorado, did he somehow put the blame on Spike?
Williams should analyze the game. Terrible defense. Terrible special teams. A flat first half. We don’t need him to be an apologist for Tuberville or the Administration. The fact is that Tuberville led Tech to one of its worst losses in our recent history. In the last two games, we’ve had the lowest offensive output since 1982 and surrendered 52 points to a perennial doormat. This is the story so far for 2010.
Hairbrained theories about Leach’s assessment of his team are irrelevent to these outcomes.
Now having lost to the worst team in the Big 12, we are suddenly a turnaround project?
Tuberville has struggled with this distinction since his arrival. Tech was not a struggling team. Tuberville had to set championships as a target knowing full well that it was the only way he would be able to distinguish himself from Leach. I’m ok with that, but when you raise those expectations, the very least you can do is go out and beat Iowa State.
We’re judging Tuberville by his words and not Leach’s words or deeds.
If I was a senior at Tech, I would tell Tuberville, “Listen buddy, I’m a Texas Tech Red Raider. I beat some of the best talent in the country. I’ve beaten Texas. I’ve beaten Oklahoma. I’ve beaten Nebraska. I’ve beat teams by 50 points. I’ve come from 28 down in a single half. Last year I won 9 games. And I expected to win the Big 12 Championship this year. I will tell you categorically, that this team sure as hell ain’t no turnaround project. Now quit fucking around with the alumni, do your job, and get us to 10 wins. And whatever you do, don’t you ever go on television and throw me and my teammates under the bus again. Ever.”
"This time it's different."
by LondonRaider on Oct 3, 2010 3:02 PM CDT reply actions 2 recs
+1000
Great post LR. I agree wholeheartedly with you.
TTpilk Psalm 117:
1 ¶ O praise the LORD, all ye nations: praise him, all ye people.
2 For his merciful kindness is great toward us: and the truth of the LORD endureth for ever. Praise ye the LORD.
I don't know
If you saw my comment today in the post game thread about this, LR, But you have done a fairly good job here of dismantling Williams position, even if I saw a bright spot or two in his article.
On the other hand, how many media attack-dogs get interviews? The nature of that line of work leads to some compromising positions regardless, in every niche.
“Old Detroit” auto-writers, back in the bad old days are the most glaring and extreme example.
This is reality and I don’t like it anymore than anyone else, But old-Detroit, and old-media feed off each other in this way -
So what should my expectations really be for a newspaper sports writer and a big-12 college?
That's easy 289
“So what should my expectations really be for a newspaper sports writer and a big-12 college?”
Report the facts. Discuss the facts. Be mindful of the sh*tstorm going on in your community. It’s not that hard.
Williams is an expert at surpressing truths. He’s been doing that since as long as I remember. He gets a pass for that for the reasons you state.
Williams, however, has allowed himself to become a mouthpiece for the administration and is now spewing forth baseless claims on a highly debatable set of “facts” – i.e. comparing the O-line to our top class in history, and conveniently ignoring the fact we are returning our deepest backfield in the past 10 years, 7 of our 8 receivers (including Big 12 freshman of the year), and two senior QBs with 140+ QB ratings – oh yeah, those guys.
That takes it to the next level.
The irony for a guy like Williams is that he’ll never earn a dime for doing the dirty deeds, but is willing to sell out his integrity for a pat on the back.
"This time it's different."
And look at all the love
He’s getting over there -for it!
I cant say I’ve seen so many people drag any journalist over the coals so thoroughly and still be willing to sign their (supposed) real name on it. Pretty rare to see this sort of thing.
Xinhua makes him look less of an “expert”, though, (just for fun).
It is what it is, and media is media. I’m not calling you a Utopian, and your demands are admirable, but I prefer my lower standards.
I just don’t have it in me to get all frothy every time I run mass media through my crap-filters. I wish your world upon us though, for sure.
I get a chill every time I encounter an attitude like this. Or does "I prefer lower standards" need a sarc font?
I’m old enough to remember Cronkite, and struggle with the decline of the profession as well as the lack of concern for lost standards. It’s part of the dumbing down of America.
See George Will…
"When the history of journalism is written about our era, it will be divided into separate eras – B.C. and A.C. – before Walter Cronkite and after Walter Cronkite. And the great division here is that Walter had in spades what today is lacking in huge proportion – and that is trust. It’s probably hard for Walter himself to fathom how the profession of journalism has declined in public trust, and I’m bound to say, public esteem since he left it. But the decline has been sharp and precipitous. In a profession, as with a currency, it’s good to have a gold standard, and Walter is simply the gold standard of network, national, shared news experience."
"Winning isn't everything"... Bob Knight
by raider realist on Oct 3, 2010 5:14 PM CDT up reply actions
Oh, now-
Cronkite is the last guy you want to hold up as a master. His misuse of his position is casts a dark shadow every bit as long as his legend is tall.
Don’t mistake- I can spot B.S just fine and make sound judgment on what I see.
But the Idea that I should chase down, and pounce upon every fool journalist out there every time I read garbage; all bloodthirsty and with my fangs bared would bring my life to a complete halt.
*hint, we have bloggers for that, and old-media fears them – not that they are any sort of shining example, but its a worthwhile point.
Williams isn't just every fool, he's our fool...
If he wrote for the statesman in Austin we would just laugh. Man I wish he did.
Just seems like your calling bullshit on on the wrong guy 289.
"Winning isn't everything"... Bob Knight
by raider realist on Oct 3, 2010 5:48 PM CDT up reply actions
I'm lost now.
But my attention is divided by the chores I am supposedly doing. I stand by the Cronkite thing, if that’s what you’re after.
Otherwise, yes, I expect media to lie to me, and then I go ferret out the truth on my own. Reality is messy and my low standards reflect that.
Would I be better off if I just drank it down and said “Well, thanks, I’ll have another!?!?” I think we can both agree there…
And I'm not saying LR
Is wrong here either, if that’s what you meant. If anything he is more right than I am (with my convoluted approach) to expect people to do their jobs correctly. He was right, its not that hard – but I’ll praise the day when I see it.
Your just ducking your honey do's right now.
I am too. I’ll keep the Cronkite debate alive to kill some more clock. If you say his name over and over, it gets to be really funny.
"Winning isn't everything"... Bob Knight
by raider realist on Oct 3, 2010 6:47 PM CDT up reply actions
+1,000,000, and Why Tubbs has lost this team.
LR says it best. This is no “turnaround”, though don’t we all wish Tubbs would “turnaround” and get the heck out of Dodge!
The team knows they are better than this, and the team knows that Tubbs has screwed this group over. Tubbs has lost the team, and once that happens, you don’t win them back.
Of course, when you have a hapless Administration (Hance, Myers and the sickening B.O.R.), how do you make changes?
Take the "P" out of "Pirate" and I'm "Irate"!!!
Uh, on that mutiny theory...
Say they blow off the coach on the field, Who steps up and leads the team in spite of it all while the game clock is ticking?
Who on this team is gonna make it all happen if everyone is ignoring all the yelling from the sidelines?
I suspect the coach of previous years could turn a team loose to do what they would (and may have a few times), but this group?
I'll keep an eye peeled.
and an ear to the ground for this guy.
If he can winch us out of the weeds, I won’t complain.
I am probably dreaming, but…
The announcers on the game last night said at least three times
that Tubby will turn this thing around. This was in the first quarter. Where do you think the announcers get their information, no less from Tubby himself. Turn around project, are you kidding me.
"I spent 18 months, off and on, with the script writer. I might as well have not spent one second with him." Don Haskins.
20 wins the last two seasons. So he plans to turn that around and have 20 loses the next two seasons?
He’s off to a good start on his project.
It's called the Air Raid. So why would you try to run it like it's 1992?
Disgruntled fan
Yes, Seth, I am unhappy with where we are in the football program. And yes, I think had Leach remained we would not look nearly as bad as we now do. And, I know the new coaching crew are trying to establish their schemes an continue to build on them yearly until Tech is able to reach and play for that championship that is so often mentioned. I feel many other fans and I are in a quandary as to where this team appears to be as opposed to where, I think, we all expected it to be at this point in time. I hope the coaches feel the same way.
Like many others, I wonder how a team that had reached a top level position and was expecting to climb even higher, could somehow “over-practice” and lose to a team, ISU, no one has even mentioned as a candidate to be an upper tier team this year. Something somewhere is not right. Tech has for years tended to lose to a lesser team at least once almost every year, but it just seems this team has struggled much more than ever anticipated by anyone from the opening gun to now.
I will still support the Raiders in hopes the staff and team will all get on the same page and this team will begin to resemble the one we have all expected it to be, despite the changes that have occurred. I will not call anyone names or scream for a change (although it certainly has crossed my mind) just because of a couple of losses, one being to a then highly ranked team in UT. I don’t think the team has been “lost” by the coaches. I just think that maybe too many changes were attempted all at once. I would have seemed to me that it would be much wiser to have retained the same thing offensively, since it was already working very well. Minor tweaks were expected, but I think much more than that has transpired, resulting in an offense that has little consistency.
The defense really could have stood some changes, but there were some position changes that were made that just have turned out to be wrong when considering the personnel involved. I know the new DC wants to establish his style, but I am not sure all moves that have been made were necessary. Sometimes experience at a position is as important, if not more so, as the anticipated results that will be had following any changes. I sure hope everyone gets it down soon and we can see the team we all expected to see, winning at least 70% of the time, hopefully much more.
TTpilk Psalm 117:
1 ¶ O praise the LORD, all ye nations: praise him, all ye people.
2 For his merciful kindness is great toward us: and the truth of the LORD endureth for ever. Praise ye the LORD.
10 years in the wilderness
That is what A+M has had and what we have to look forward to seeing.
Tuberville is our Fran.
I have laughed my ass off each year as I have heard and read that this year will be different for A+M. Well I wont be able laugh for the next 10 years because we will be right with them.
"A pretty girl will leave you. An ugly girl will leave you too but then again who really cares?"
What really worries me
Is the idea that I can’t find a macro-view to put into words about last night.
I am simply defeated every time I attempt to bite off even a small chunk and gnaw on it, let alone the whole (rotten) sandwich.
I don’t know how much I might be giving up on my own abilities here, But I don’t like the idea of shooting aimlessly without a target.
Looking to next week.
Baylor beat the crap out of Kansas. Now is Baylor that good or is Kansas that bad?
I wonder how we will do against baylor.
The offense is fine
In my opinion. They had a few rough spots last night, but they had a ton of yards, came back to tie it in the 3rd quarter. We scored enough points to win a normal game.
Shouldn’t we be mad at the defense? Should it be Ruffin that we miss instead of Leach?
We all loved Leach and what he did but I think we all think the offense was a machine every time they stepped foot on the field. They had plenty of bad outings.
Let’s all take a collective deep breath and see how the Baylor game goes. Last night after the game I was positive that TTU would only win one more game, but it’s a new day and it’s beautiful here so I’m not going to jump off the bridge just yet.
Man I dont know...
it was too cold for them last night remember? It was 49 in lubbock this morning. We may be SOL
Get outside and start spraying aerosol. We need a hole in the ozone over Lubbock by 10/16.
Gotta get that back up in the 60s at least to have a shot against OSU. 70s would be preferable.
The offense is fine when we ' Air Raid'
but the offense simply stalls when we switch to ‘Tuber Raid’, and Potts still sucks.
by jef on Oct 3, 2010 7:00 PM CDT up reply actions
Michigan is a bad example for the Texas Tech situation
Michigan is MICHIGAN. They are a top 5 football program of all time. They show up in any recruit’s home & they get serious consideration. Rich Rod can be the worst coach in college football & he’ll still be able to get some of the best talent to come share his vision, flawed or not. Because the players get to play for the Michigan Wolverines.
A better comparison for Texas Tech would be Kansas State after Bill Snyder retired the 1st time or Northwestern after their run of success in the mid 1990’s. Both programs were new to the national college football conversation. They still struggled with recruiting because they were so new to the top 10. Once the coach who took them to the top 10 left, they fell right back where they came from. The national college football press saw Texas Tech’s success in 2008 as an anomaly & the attitudes in the country reflect those of the press. Which means that’s exactly what recruits hear from other schools about Tech: “You missed your chance, they’ll never sniff the top 10 again”. Tuberville will be facing that challenge anytime he tries to convince a top recruit to come to Tech. And a bad year like this one is shaping up to be will take us right out of any national conversation. This transition has been a disaster from the get-go.
It's called the Air Raid. So why would you try to run it like it's 1992?
Yes
And that does not infer that Tubs has association whatsoever in the Leach fiasco. That was just the beginning of the path that we are on now. Well, actually, it all began when the administration forced Spike Dykes to leave (with good reason, mind you, but done in a very poor manner-as was the release of James Dickey). Leach was brought in and a lot of people were against Tech going down the expected path he would lead Tech. But most got on board soon enough. And the whole nation began paying attention, at some level never attained before, to Texas Tech football.
The incidents over the last few years by everyone involved has started Tech football on a downhill plane, whereas the the plane was an upward direction for many years, following the leveling off of the Spike train. The latest in that trip is one where heavier feet have been trampling out the attained success and upward motion. The admin, press, coaches, fans…you name it, all have had a part. What we need now is for those in control, the coaching staff of Tommy Tuberville, to make an assessment and strive to improve anything not flowing in a positive direction, in order to return Tech to that upward plane of movement into the realm of big-time football and a return to national prominance. if they fail, it will be very difficult to ever regain that foothold.
TTpilk Psalm 117:
1 ¶ O praise the LORD, all ye nations: praise him, all ye people.
2 For his merciful kindness is great toward us: and the truth of the LORD endureth for ever. Praise ye the LORD.
Tech as an anomaly
Your right about Michigan not being a valid example. I worked in the upper Mid West for 5 years. Michigan is viewed as a top notch academic school that looks real good on your resume as well as football status.
Tech’s 2008 season was an anomaly unless future seasons prove otherwise. It wasn’t that easy to get to 10-0 before the crash which made us look like the high ranking was a fluke. What non-Tech people said to me back then that Tech was fun to watch because of the high flying offense. Reality is that our current 2 senior QBs weren’t rated above 5th in B12 for this year. Except for Harrell and Kingsbury, Leach lived by producing successive 5th year QBs that we hungry to make a name for themselves in the only year alloted to them. The O line had a lot of talent and who would replace the departed receivers was always the question.
In 2008, I thought Potts was going to be a bigger, stronger armed Harrell. Performance is proving that wrong. Somewhere along the way the Leach team failed to keep reloading the OL and QB slots with the same quality as before. Unless Tubs can do that, you can never prove you belong in the top tier.
I actually don’t mind the Leach whining, in theory. But the execution at this point is pathetic. Come up with a different angle or put some thought behind it beyond, “Man, this sucks. Our admin sucks. Tech sucks.The James family sucks. Tubs sucks. You suck. Leach is my catnip.”
That sucks...
"It's fun to do bad things"- Latarian
by oldschoolraider on Oct 3, 2010 8:54 PM CDT up reply actions
The problem with that is
As conflicted as I am (and have been) on the leach debacle, there are some very valid points.
It gets traction because some of it has merit. I am done being tired of hearing about it, and there’s some fun stuff to chew on. I might as well enjoy that part of the conversation, because it’s gonna be around for decades.
The James stuff and admin stuff don’t seem to be as valid to me, So I tend to snooze right past that, though.
i totally agree that there are merits to the arguments. The issue is, they’ve all been said about 3,000 times. I’m just suggesting showing some creativity. It’s a failed effort and a waste of time to continually type that Leach wouldn’t have lost this game or that game or whatever. We all get it, no matter what side you fall on. Just be creative…make it worth reading and commenting on. Maybe Seth should set up a permanent thread for folks to post their wistful thoughts on Leach.
I just don’t want us to turn into to aTm and constantly bring up Leach like they do RC. It’s a bit pathetic (the RC thing). I get that the alternative we are looking at could be significantly worse, but we are desperately pining for a guy who never won anything of significance for us. Not to diminish Leach’s contributions, which were huge and I won’t downplay his importance in getting us recognized, but the fact is we were a perpetual 7-9 win team. Yet we talk about him like he leaves a legacy along the lines of Bear Bryant/Bo Schembechler/Darrell Royal with conference and national championship banners fluttering at the top of the Jones.
Tech92...
This past summer you posted on many occasions that we might be better off with Catfish, and, on most of your posts as I recall, you were defending Leach being gone(though you were also critical of the administration).
Fast forward to today, and now how do YOU defend the current staff?
How do YOU think the administration should have handled Leach?
In a way...yes
i see it symbolic of him trying to repeat what he did at ole miss and auburn..not adjusting to different circumstances
"It's fun to do bad things"- Latarian
by oldschoolraider on Oct 3, 2010 9:13 PM CDT up reply actions
Blame
I blame the white uniforms and matching helmets!!!!!!!
In a way.....yes
i see it symbolic of him trying to repeat what he did at ole miss and auburn..not adjusting to different circumstances
"It's fun to do bad things"- Latarian
by oldschoolraider on Oct 3, 2010 9:15 PM CDT up reply actions
I blame the cold weather
The result sent a chill thru my spine.
"I spent 18 months, off and on, with the script writer. I might as well have not spent one second with him." Don Haskins.
My expectations are way lower!
Somebody wake me up and tell me this is a bad dream. The only thing I can take from this debacle is the pressure or worry is off when we play now. Hell if we get another conference win, for me, it will be a big surprise. I am very saddened with the situation we have now. Its like losing one of your best dogs. I can’t believe what has happened to our football program and I hope things get turned around soon. If it don’t welcome back to the early 80’s.
American farmers feed & clothe the world!
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