Double-T Nation News:
Much thanks to all of those who participated in the Captain, err, Caption Contest. Results to be revealed on Saturday, and I'll rotate the caption from week to week.
Also, yesterday I referred to Brandon George of the LAJ and we all know that he works for the DMN, I was actually referring to George Watson, who covers the Texas Tech baseball team for the LAJ and the new Lonestar Varsity website. Sorry for the mix-up.
DTN's Top Five:
- Pot Smoking Update: True Hoop with more on Darrell Arthur and Mario Chalmers and what I don't get is this report says that there were "at least two women".
- Bring On The Cats states his case why K-State football should remain a Saturday event.
- As always, language warning, Big 12 Warblog previews this week's Big 12 slate.
- The ESPN college bloggers discuss week 2.
- Warehouse worker beats Bron Bron James at H-O-R-S-E.
Texas Tech Football:
LAJ's Don Williams focuses on defensive tackle Colby Whitlock and isn't close to being satisfied. Here's Whitlock:
"I feel like I’m leaps and bounds ahead of where I was last year," said Whitlock, who broke into the starting lineup as a true freshman. "But then again, I know I still have a bunch of room to improve. But as far as knowing the system, what I need to do and my job, I’m really ahead from last year."
Ruffin McNeill says that Whitlock can't afford to relax, but needs to be better technically:
"I expect Colby to not sit on the accolades he had last year and not rely on what he did last year," McNeill said, "but be better technically and fundamentally and also be a smarter football player. All of that will lead to him making more plays up front for us - and he made a lot for us last year as a true freshman."
ESPN Big 12 blogger Tim Griffin with a lengthy piece on the Texas Tech defense looking to improve against Nevada and here's a little about the Wolf Pack offense and what you should expect:
In Nevada's "Pistol," unique challenges are in place from an offense that borrows elements from the spread, shotgun and Wing-T offenses. Quarterback Colin Kaepernick lines up 3 1/2 yards behind center, and the tailback is 7 yards behind center.The Wolf Pack typically employ one running back, one tight end and three wide receivers, relying on inside handoffs and bootleg runs from Kaepernick. Leach is so impressed he says that the 6-foot-6 Kaepernick might be the best quarterback Tech will face this season.
Games like Saturday night's contest in Reno are ones that the Red Raiders have traditionally struggled in. Unexpected road losses to New Mexico in 2004, Oklahoma State in 2005 and Colorado in 2006 have come in similar situations.
Lots of good stuff here, go read the whole thing.
DT's Alex Ybarra previews the Pistol Offense and Captain Leach thinks highly of Nevada and Chris Ault:
"Good team, they have been for years," said Leach, who compared Nevada's offense to Oklahoma State. "They are a regular bowl participant. Coach Ault's record speaks for itself. He's one of the most successful coaches in the history of college football. They've got one of the best quarterbacks we'll face all year, and a very good running back."
That first sentence, is Captain Leach channeling his inner-Yoda?
Michael Crabtree will be blogging for the NYT's blog, The Quad, during the season. We'll make sure and keep an eye on that.
Barking Carnival's dedfischer previews the hated Nevada Wolf Pack:
Rocky Long (the Godfather of the 3-3-5) blanked the Pistol in the 2007 Las Vegas Bowl 23-0. I’m pretty sure that New Mexico is one school that hasn’t outrecruited Tech, so how McNeill’s unit performs in this contest should provide a fair measuring stick as to his competency as a Big 12 DC. The fleet-footed Nebraska defense of 2007 also contained the Wolf Pack in a 52-10 spanking.
Fox34 and Chris Level and Robert Giovannetti of Tech Talk preview the Nevada defense.