Odds and Ends
Another Quiet Day: It's another day and it's relatively quiet from a news perspective. Thank goodness you're going to get four, that's right four, posts out of me today. Spaced out over the morning, check back early and often for a preview of Oklahoma St., depth charting the receivers and my adventures in fly-fishing.
Texas Tech Football
Howard Adjusting to the Change: LAJ's Don Williams writes that linebacker turned safety Julius Howard is continuing to adjust to playing safety. Defensive coordinator Ruffin McNeill on Howard:
"The last couple of days, and really the last week, he’s done a good job for us back there," McNeill said. "He’s a smart player, understands the game, has been around. But he’s also run around real well and is showing some athleticism back there."
And Howard just wants repetitions to be ready:
"It’s going real good," Howard said of the move. "I’ve got it down. I just need to keep playing and get more reps and more reps, over and over. I’m good as far as playing safety."
Here's the bit from Williams' article that interested me the most, especially as we try to piece together a depth chart:
The player who will join them in six-DB packages hasn’t been settled. Cornerback Taylor Charbonnet, being short and quick, fits the profile of an underneath cover man for slot receivers. He’s worked there in practice.
Mainord said he’s still looking at Howard, Dewhurst and Jared Flannel for that job, too. Freshman Terrance Bullitt also is likely to play this season, according to coaches, although Bullitt’s tall, rangy build suggests he’s more likely to be an over-the-top deep safety than an underneath coverage man.
This news, coupled with yesterday's quote from Ruffin McNeill where he stated that CB D.J. Johnson, S Will Ford and S Terrance Bullitt would not redshirt means that those veterans who think they might have a safety position might not. It will be interesting to see how this plays out over the course of the season.
Neglected Audio and Video: For those of you who wonder what the players think about the Red Raiders not being in any of the preseason polls, Fox34 did just that with a somewhat lengthy report below. Make sure and stick around for all of it as you'll hear DE Rajon Henley talk about the team working their balls off and DT Colby Whitlock with a post-practice dip:
Scouting the Enemy: TB from Bring On The Cats gets back from his honeymoon last week (congratulations!) and is already back at work with his Kansas St. Wildcats preview . . . Burnt Orange Nation with a long look at the Texas Longhorns with the help of some friends . . .
Big 12 Links: The St. Louis Dispatch previews the Big 12 . . . ESPN's Brent Musburger and Kirk Herbstreit preview the Big 12 . . .
Alumni: The official San Diego Chargers website on Louis Vasquez on his NFL debut . . .