Texas Tech Football
Baron Batch is going to be ok: This is a major, major relief because it seems like Baron will be back in time for the UT game (or earlier). Joe Schad, ESPN, gives him 3-6 weeks (Hat-tip TT4EVER). Don Williams has this report on Baron's activities today:
Batch, wearing a brace that covered most of his left arm, did some conditioning work such as riding a stationary bike. Later in the afternoon, he had the arm in a lighter sling as he watched the team period at the end of practice.
Brandon Carter, He's a piece of (art) work: More good, non-local press for Brandon Carter
"Nothing is exempt from being tattooed,’’ he said. "My body is a canvas.’’ Nothing? "There’s always skin somewhere,’’ he said. "We went downhill at the end last year,’’ Carter said. "And the leadership went downhill. I’m going to make sure that doesn’t happen again.’’ That’s a bold promise of keeping order from a guy whose first tattoo was the word "Chaos.’’
Daily Don Williams: Today, Mr. Williams details statuses in position battles. First, in his notes, Don goes into more details on Torres' hold on the starting spot and Crawford's injury status. In a separate article, we visit the battle still raging for Tech’s No. 2 QB job. About Sheffield:
"He responds (favorably) from a bad play," Leach said later. "If he has a bad play, it’ll be just, like, one play. He’s always done a really good job of stimulating the unit and keeping those guys excited to play out there. He’s better at not getting frantic."
Not to be outdone, Doege has also been working hard this summer:
Doege said part of his progress comes naturally from more practice time. This summer, he tried to speed up the process behind the scenes. "I’ve been in the film room a lot," he said. "That’s helped a lot, getting mental reps and knowing where to go with the ball."
Leach says QB Taylor Potts best of 1st-year bunch: Nothing we didn't know already, but a lot of pub coming from the Chicago Tribune. I'm really digging this national coverage of our team. This one has a few nice Leach quotes:
"He had that whole John Wayne quality," Leach said. "The ultimate dust and tumbleweeds coming from Abilene, quiet kind of guy. Even now he kind of is."
And how Potts was taught to run the offense:
"He said don't throw interceptions and don't get sacked," Potts said, recalling Leach's mantra in spring practices. "As long as I do that there's really no way we can lose the ball."
Alumni: Brandon Williams is dinged up. Too bad, I was really hoping to see him play tonight. Wes Welker's also dinged up a bit. In the Patriots vs Eagles game, Sammy Morris had 12 carries for 45 yards and a 14 yard reception, while Danny got 1 catch for 8 yards (in his only look), 1 punt return for 13 yards and 1 kick return for 28 yards. With Philly drafting Maclin as a slot/returner and bringing in Vick for who knows what, Amendola's got stiff competition to make the team.
Scouting the enemy: Tim Griffin makes a few predictions for A&M's season. Finally, the Chicago Tribute gives TTU another mention while detailing Bill Snyder's return to coaching:
Snyder is trying to rebuild Kansas State at a time when Oklahoma contends for the national championship almost every season, Kansas and Missouri are perennial top 25 programs and Nebraska is back on the rise. Texas and Texas Tech are powerhouses.