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Texas Tech Red Raider Notes for 08-09-08

By Seth C

DTN News:

Life is going to rudely interrupt my work here at DTN as I have a wedding on Friday and a rehearsal dinner tonight. Blame any mistakes on alcohol or lack of sleep. I apologize in advance.

Texas Tech Football:

LAJ's Don Williams has an excellent article on walk-on defensive tackle Clint Stoffels. Williams notes that defensive tackles coach Ruffin McNeil makes comparisons to Zach Thomas in that Stoffels just makes plays:

"After he makes three, four, five, six plays in a row, it's not luck anymore," McNeill said Wednesday. "There's something to that. If he makes plays for us, he's going to play. If he makes the most plays for us, he's going to start."

Stoffels was not highly recruited out of high school due to his size and weight, but as of right now, Stoffels is the starting nose-tackle for Texas Tech:

"I thought I would," Stoffels said, "but then I started looking and seeing they don't recruit guys 6 feet tall or 5-11 and only weigh 250 out of high school. I wasn't too disappointed. I figured I would walk on and try it out, hope for the best.

"I thought I'd do well. I didn't have any doubt. But it's kind of a shocker still, getting to play this early."

Perhaps the most encouraging news is that Stoffels is no longer 250 pounds and has put on almost 20 pounds (269) since he first walked on at Texas Tech.

Excellent work by Don.

Don also has a Red Raiders Notebook where he touches on a number of subjects.

Don grabs some quotes from quarterback Graham Harrell who has taken notice of linebacker Sam Fehoko. Both Fehoko and Tyrone Sonier were moved to linebacker in the spring (defensive ends in high school = versatile players in college) and Fehoko is playing the middle linebacker position:

"He's impressive to watch," Harrell said. "Every play, he's running sideline to sideline. If you throw a little quick pass (to the outside), he's running no matter where it is.

"He plays the ball well. If we run a screen, he drops back and then plays the screen well. He has great instincts and plays so hard, he impresses me. I think he's going to be a really good player."

Texas Tech coaches are trying out Edward Britton at the flanker position in order to get Britton in a position to excel (Don mentions the quick sweep play) and get the ball in his hands.

Quick write-up on freshman receivers Tramain Swindall and Detron Lewis as Coach Holgorsen attempts to make a decision as to where each is best suited. Currently, both are practicing at the "H" inside receiver position, but one of them will likely be moved to the "Y" position.

DMN's Brandon George reports that redshirt freshman Michael Crabtree hasn't ruled out playing basketball at Texas Tech, but hasn't discussed this with Coach Leach yet.

DMN's George also reports that Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones will be meeting with the folks in Stillwater to discuss bringing a Texas Tech v. Oklahoma State game to the new Cowboys' stadium. George notes that Myers hasn't had any further discussions with Dallas city officials since his meeting with Jones, which doesn't come as a surprise to me. There are some quotes from Texas Tech AD, Gerald Myers on the progress of any meeting:

"We're still talking and we'll talk again," Myers said of the Cowboys. "You look at the possibility of what you can make, and there is nothing guaranteed. You hope you could sell out the game, and your revenue would mainly be based on ticket sales."

Whatever it takes to get the game in Dallas. I really want to see this happen.

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