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Texas Tech Red Raider Notes for 09-02-2007: Final 2 Defensive Starters Named

DTN News:

Disco Tech! rightfully connects the Red Raider dots, as former Texas Tech coach Jerry Moore led Appalachian State to the greatest upset in college football history.

And what a useful teaching lesson yesterday's Michigan / Appalachian State game this is. Coach Leach can use this game to remind his players that no opponent should be taken for granted.

Also yesterday, UTEP struggled on offense in a win against New Mexico. The Miners have some real quarterback issues, just something to watch.

Texas Tech Football:

LAJ's Don Williams is reporting that Richard Jones will start at nose tackle and Jamar Wall will start at cornerback. This is from Don and defensive tackles coach Ruffin McNeill:

McNeill said he plans to play Jones, true freshman Colby Whitlock and redshirt freshman Clint Stoffels, in that order, at nose tackle. Stoffels started camp as first team.

"They've all been competing," McNeill said, "but Richard's got some game experience under his belt, and it showed a little bit this week. Colby's done a good job, and so has Clint."

Sophomore Ra'Jon Henley, junior Brian Jones and true freshman Bobby Agoucha are 1-2-3 at the other tackle.

According to cornerbacks coach Brian Mitchell, he choose wall as a matter of consistency:

Cornerbacks coach Brian Mitchell opted for Wall over Marcus Bunton in the battle for the other remaining starting job. The two waged one of the best competitions of camp, but Mitchell said Wall, a 5-10, 195-pound sophomore from Plainview, had been a little more consistent.

"You see the young man persistently want to be better," Mitchell said. "You see the will, the want to adhere to everything I say. He does it by the book. It was pretty close, but he was more consistent."

Bunton, who has a shorter, thicker build than Wall, had made his case by playing a physical style against receivers.

It sounds like the coaches are going to involve those who didn't start as part of a rotation of players. I don't care who starts, just as long as the coaches are starting the most talented players.


In Don's Tech Notes he states that Eric Morris and Jamar Wall may return some punts, a job which had previously been left to Danny Amendola. This is probably a decent idea as there are few players who have fielded punts and if something happens to Amendola, the Red Raiders would then have some game experience.

Don lists a number of players who will be in on special teams, headlined by Anthony Hines.

On the injury front, Julius Howard is on crutches and other players of note who are out are Todd Walker, Brent Nickerson, Nathan Stone, Brandon Sharpe and Sean Estelle.

The freshmen who will travel to SMU are the following: Deton Lewis, Tramain Swindall, Colby Whitlock and Bobby Agoucha.

Don also beat me to the punch regarding Red Raiders in the NFL:

Former Tech offensive guard Manny Ramirez and former Tech defensive end Keyunta Dawson made the rosters of the Detroit Lions and the Indianapolis Colts, respectively, as rookies. Ramirez was drafted in the fourth round, Dawson in the seventh.

Other Tech exes didn't fare as well Saturday as NFL teams made their final cutdowns to get to the 53-man limit for the regular season.

Among those released were wide receivers Joel Filani by the Titans and Carlos Francis by the Raiders, linebacker John Saldi by the Cowboys, defensive tackle Patrice Mwamba by the Chiefs and running back Shaud Williams by the Bills.

Big 12 Football:

I have a ton of questions and comments about a number of Big 12 teams after devoting most of my weekend to college football: