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Texas Tech Red Raider Notes for 08-08-07

By Seth C

Texas Tech Football:

LAJ's Don Williams has an article on freshman guard Lonnie Edwards. Offensive line coach Matt Moore says the following about Edwards:

"Physically, he looks like a man," Moore said. "He doesn't look like a 19-year-old kid."

Edwards may not have the best chance to play because of where Moore has him slotted (left guard), but I don't think there's any doubt that Edwards is one of the more talented freshman linemen.

LAJ's Don Williams Red Raider Football Notebook begins by focusing on offensive lineman Brandon Carter. Williams reported earlier in the week that Carter would swing between both tackle and guard on the right side. I knew Carter was big, but . . .

Carter was listed at 6-foot-7 and 374 pounds on the team roster released Monday, but he said the weight listing was from earlier this summer. He said he's down to about 350 and thinks he can shed some more without much problem.

"I feel pretty good right now," he said. "For me to be the best, I need to be down to about 330, 340, so I can move a little better."

Baron Batch is back from the injuries that kept him out much of last season. Williams reports that Batch had added 10 pounds to his frame. I'd love to see Batch get his feet wet by being one of the two kick returners for Texas Tech and whatever time the coaches can muster after Woods/Lewis. Batch had this to say about his injury and return to the field:

"When things like this happen, you learn tons from it," he said. "You learn patience. You learn it's more important to be a good person than a good football player. I'm kind of glad I went through this."

Don has quite a few notes at the end of the notebook, including the note that Lyle Leong catches everything. This is a kid to watch.

DMN's Brandon George reports on the continuing situation regarding running back Shannon Woods. George reports that Lewis, Batch and Woods split time with the first and second-team offense. George grabs a quote from Coach Leach:

"If a guy wants reps and wants to play, he has to carve out a role and make sure he's better at his role than the other guy," Leach said. "It's competitive back there, so we'll see how it plays out."

Personally, I think it will be fascinating to see how long this plays out. I've always been confident that Woods would be the eventual starter and receive the bulk of the playing time, but there isn't any doubt that Leach wants Woods to prove that he wants this job.

Great news for all Red Raider fans, George continues in the above linked article that Michael Crabtree has lost weight, 17 pounds!!

Crabtree (6-3, 208), who is expected to start, said he feels great and has dropped 17 pounds since last spring.

"I was just too big. I wanted to move better," Crabtree said. "I had to lose the weight. If I didn't, I'd just continue to get bigger and bigger and slower. That won't work."

I knew that Crabtree was about 220 post-spring, and he was still very effective and explosive in the spring game. With Crabtree losing additional weight I can't help but think that he is only going to be that much more special on the field.

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