Yesterday was a busy day for me and I wasn't able to be around much, but wanted to request that we try to keep the full-on cussing for the game day threads. Don't mind the occasional cussing and I think we got things out of our system last week.
PRESS CONFERENCE THINGS | Here are the quotes from this week (PDF), which included head coach Tommy Tuberville, QB Seth Doege and S D.J. Johnson. There's a funny exchange of a reporter asking Tuberville if TE Jace Amaro is going to get into trouble for tweeting that he wanted to play. Tuberville seemed to react like why would Amaro be in trouble for wanting to play. As an aside, Tuberville said that Amaro was out practicing, but hasn't been cleared by the doctors and it looks like CB Cornelius Douglas, CB Eugene Neboh and NB Tre' Porter are are pretty likely to play on Saturday. On a bad note, apparently FB Omar Ontiveros tore his ACL in the 4th quarter and is out for the year.
By my count, there are four players that have been out with season ending ACL or knee injuries, Ontiveros, WR Bradley Marquez, CB Jeremy Reynolds and OL Matt Wilson. WR Javon Bell and WR Aaron Fisher are out with broken ankles and legs. That means there are six guys that are out for the year. Is this an acceptable number of season-ending injuries? This doesn't seem like a high number to me. There have been guys that are dinged up for a game or two, but it hasn't seemed like it was as bad last year. So, are six season ending injuries a low figure, a high figure or about right?
As an aside, you can read the LAJ's notebook if you want a summary of the presser. Also, LAJ's Nick Kosmider writes about how the defense needs to start creating turnovers. Student of the Game's Cody Davis echoes this sentiment about needing to create turnovers:
On defense we have to find a way to create turnovers and know are assignments inside and out. I had one of the worst games when it comes to tackling than I have had in a long time. I was overrunning a lot of tackles and maybe just trying to do to much. The story of the game was that they didn't make mistakes and when we did, they capitalized on them. All credit goes to Kansas State and I wish them the best of luck on the road ahead. We have to learn from this game and then forget about it. This is still a promising team and we have a lot to play for. The final stretch of games is here. All we can do is continue to push hard.
GRAY TO START, SYMMETRY COMPLETE | From yesterday's UT press conference from Burnt Orange Nation, it appears that RB Johnathan Gray and QB David Ash will start the game. For Gray, this is perfect symmetry for him to start as his father, James Gray, was one of the better running backs who played at Texas Tech. I want to know who James will be cheering for on Saturday.
LINKS | Turburner's Jay Beck with his weekly Big 12 power poll and I'm worried about Oklahoma St. . . . RP.com with their weekly power rankings . . . SAEN's Tim Griffin writes that Texas and Texas Tech are at the front of the line for the Alamo Bowl . . .