Red Raider Gridiron | Don't Talk About It; Be About It

POST-PRACTICE NON-TRANSCRIPT | The video is here:

Head Coach Tommy Tuberville | Not much contact, everyone is tired, QB arms are tired, but will push through, and start separating who is in and who is not.  Fan Day is tomorrow, so come out and get your signatures.  Will give them Saturday night and Sunday off.  SS Terrance Bullitt could go through contact now, but we want to get him to the 1st game.  CB Eugene Neboh should be out here next week.  FS Giorgio Durham is back out here.  Need TE Tony Trahan back out here, he's missed all of two-a-days.  In scrimmage, we'll have officials, scrutinize every play.  We'll have one more scrimmage, but this one will determine who plays.  We want to try to get sixty snaps with the first, second and third group.  We may pull QB Seth Doege and give him forty snaps as he has a tired arm.  Sixty snaps is not a complete game, but it's close.  Defensive backs need to step up, our corners have gotten better.  CB Urell Johnson and CB Jarvis Phillips didn't practice in the spring.  Defensive backs and wide receivers need to catch the ball better.  The offensive line needs to work on continuity with having a new center with C Justin Keown being out.

SCRIMMAGE TODAY AND TEXAS TECH LINKS | As noted above, there is a scrimmage today, starting at 10:00 a.m. this morning and if you are a season ticket holder, you can go watch.  LAJ's Don Williams has his football notebook (and he's also tweeting, so follow him at @AJ_DonWilliams) and there are a couple of things that are not in the non-transcript.  The first is an update on DT Delvon Simmons, where Tuberville isn't sure what's going on at the NCAA, but expects a positive outcome:

"I don’t know what they’re doing," Tech coach Tommy Tuberville said. "I think we’re going to come out of it good, but we’ll just have to wait and see."

And also talks about DE Scott Smith, who Tuberville things will benefit from a switch to a DE in a 4-2-5 rather than a DE in a 3-4 (I totally agree):

"He’s working hard," Tuberville said. "He’s keeping his weight up. By the time we get to conference games, I think he’s going to really help us, because he’s still learning. Going with a new defensive style, him being on the outside I think’s really going to help him coming off the edge."

. . . the Big 12 site has a notebook type of thing, but there's really nothing new there if you regularly visit DTN . . . ESPN's Corey Long breaks down the recruiting for all of the Big 12 teams and has this about Texas Tech:

Who they have: Although the Red Raiders' class hasn't been hyped like Texas or Texas A&M, it's a strong group, with five four-star prospects. Wide receivers Dominique Wheeler (Crockett, Texas/Crockett) and Reginald Davis (Tenaha, Texas/Tenaha) will be counted on to make early contributions when they arrive on campus next season. Quarterback Clayton Nicholas (Abilene, Texas/Cooper) is a highly skilled passer and will be the guy to lead future Red Raiders' offenses. He'll have plenty of protection up front, with verbals from four-star offensive linemen Michael Starts (Waco, Texas/La Vega) and Christian Okafor (Houston/Westbury). The Red Raiders' coaching staff has taken advantage of the state's riches with 16 in-state commits.

Who they still want: Quarterback/athlete Jalen Overstreet (Tatum, Texas/Tatum) has Texas Tech in his top group along with Baylor, Michigan and Missouri. He is planning on taking an official visit to Texas Tech and, at 6-1, 205 pounds, would like to compete at quarterback. The Red Raiders signed 28 players last year and probably won't add too many more to this class.

OFFICIAL SITE LINKS | Meet the two deep with WS Cody Davis (watch via YouTube) . . . a bit on today's scrimmage . . .

BIG 12 AND COLLEGE FOOTBALL LINKS | Dr. Saturday's Matt Hinton continues his assault on the Big 12 where he if the Missouri Tigers makes the move this year, that the Oklahoma Sooners will have a title by the air and the Oklahoma St. Cowboys breaks out its biggest guns . . . National Football Post's Wes Bunting takes a look at the top Big 12 senior prospects and there are no Red Raiders on the list (really only LG Lonnie Edwards would garner a look, but he's not in the top 10) and makes you think that there's going to be a lot of returning players next year . . . ESPN's David Ubben has 5 predictions for the Big 12, which includes RB Eric Stephens rushing for 1,000 yards . . . I didn't link to this earlier in the week as there were a few stories that garnered a bit more attention, but the Perryman Group released an economic impact study on what would happen if Texas A&M went to the SEC.  This study was mocked by most because there wasn't any real data to back up the study.  Thankfully, SportsBizMiss, Kristi Dosh believes that TAMU's move to the SEC would have a slight positive impact because of fans traveling from other states . . .

CONFERENCE REALIGNMENT LINKS | There's only one link, but it's from LAJ's Don Williams who expounded on yesterday's article from the FWST's Jimmy Burch as both talked with Texas Tech President Guy Bailey about the Big 12 wanting to have binding contracts on the remaining members of the Big 12.  Bailey expounds on the idea of a binding contract:

"I don’t know that ‘contract’ is the right word, but a more binding agreement that we agree to in writing," Bailey said. "I think that’s a good idea. I think the commissioner (the Big 12’s Dan Beebe) suggested that, and I agree."

And here is the interesting thing, which is that the Big 12 wants to go outside their current footprint, which would seemingly preclude teams like TCU, SMU and Houston:

The Big 12 Board of Directors met last week via conference call to discuss the A&M situation. They agreed to immediately pursue an expansion candidate or candidates if the Aggies leave. If that comes to pass, Bailey said Friday, the two most important objectives will be adding schools outside the current Big 12 "footprint" — enlarging its geographic area, in other words — and pursuing new members who offer "national cachet."

Brigham Young, Air Force, Houston and TCU have been speculated as possible targets. So has Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish’s lucrative, long-term television contract with NBC could be problematic, not to mention Notre Dame’s long tradition of being independent in football.

"The only thing I would say about that is I can’t imagine anybody who wouldn’t want them," Bailey said. "I’m sure Notre Dame could go to whatever conference they want. They bring tremendous national cachet. It’s premature to say we’d look at them or anybody else, but who wouldn’t want them?"

I think this sounds about right and confirms what other people have said, which is that the Big 12 will want to add at least 1 more team and I would think that if the Big 12 was able to get Notre Dame (seems incredibly unlikely) and BYU, then a team like TCU, SMU or Houston would have a chance of being added as a 12th member.