Happy Thanksgiving! We're keeping this short and sweet today so we can all get to turkey and fixings. Have a great day and I can certainly say that I'm thankful for all of you guys and gals for visiting DTN and making it such a great place to talk Texas Tech.
I'm probably going to be out for the next couple of days, but I've got a few things scheduled, including Five Reasons Texas Tech Will Win, Prediction Time and the Open Game Day Thread on Saturday.
Briles Would Rather Be In Waco: FWST's Dwain Price writes that Baylor coach Art Briles doesn't sound too excited to be playing at Cowboys Stadium:
"And I hate to be that way,'' Briles said. "We've got a job to do and our job is to go out there and win the football game, and it really doesn't matter where it's played or any of those conditions.
"I wish I could say really it excites me (to play in the Cowboys Stadium). But I know once the game gets going, then all that's out the window and you just concentrate on what's going on.''
Price also writes that the Bears won't mail it in this week despite not qualifying for a bowl. Here's Baylor QB Nick Florence:
"We're playing for a lot,'' Baylor quarterback Nick Florence said. " We're playing for Baylor football, we're playing for each other, we're playing for pride.
"It's unfortunate the bowl is out of the way, but we've still got a lot to play for and to lose out there.''
Baylor Bear and Big 12 Links: LAJ's Adam Zuvanich has a short preview of all of today's games . . . Baylor's LB Joe Pawelek and C J.D. Walton will play in the Shrine Game . . . LAJ's Adam Zuvanich writes that WR Kendall Wright takes on a number of offensive roles with Baylor, including throwing the ball . . . Rivals' Olin Buchanan with a preview of this weekends' Big 12 games . . .
Tairu's Tough Road: LAJ's Courtney Linehan has an excellent article about the many travels of G David Tairu and how he ended up in Lubbock:
It’s Thanksgiving break and the building is empty except for women’s basketball players lifting in the weight room and a few arena staff working in offices upstairs. Tairu practices driving to the basket, each sound hanging in the empty air: the squeak of his sole as he plants and takes off, the grunt as he releases each shot, the soft thud as his feet return to the hardwood and the gentle swoosh as the ball slides through the net.
Tairu won’t be the only Texas Tech basketball player to get in a few extra shots today. Little more than a dozen hours have passed since the team landed back in Lubbock after defeating Stephen F. Austin on Tuesday night, and already several members have come through the gym.
Tairu’s reason for being here, though, is so simple his coaches struggle to describe it. It’s why he is always at the arena on days Tech doesn’t practice, why he patiently added an extra four years to his journey from high school to Division I basketball.
He uses a Bible verse to sum it up, quoting Psalms, 46:10: "Be still and know that I am God."
To say that this is a must-read article would not give it enough credit. Knowing this, I now am absolutely certain that I think the offense should run through Tairu.