Odds and Ends
I've got what I think is a really great post going up at 9:00 a.m. this morning. If you love uniforms, history and Texas Tech, then I think you'll want to check back in later this morning.
There's a couple of interesting things from BOTC. First, Panjandrum's Adventures of the Big 12 -- Lost (as always, worth your time), and second TB, who is now done studying for the bar and we all hope you passed, expands on Mike Leach's thoughts during the Big 12 Media Days, that the Big 12 Championship game should have a permanent home in Arlington at Cowboys Stadium. Personally, I have no problem with either the football championship game and the basketball tournament being split between the North and the South and to be honest, I think we need to keep in mind our Northern brethren, as the tides will change, as they always do. It's a good discussion, for sure.
Texas Tech Football
The NY Times blog, the Quad's Paul Myerberg (thanks to RaiderCake for the FanPost) is counting down all 119 schools and the Red Raiders check in at #29. This preview is as detailed as you'll see anywhere, and I haven't had time to read all of it, but its thorough:
Though Texas Tech’s upset victories over Oklahoma and Texas over the past two seasons have vaulted its status on a national level, the program has spent the last decade becoming the clear choice as the third-best team in the Big 12 South. The Red Raiders have been able to climb the prestige ladder not only due to those high-profile wins, but also thanks to its recent success over Oklahoma State and Texas A&M. While the Cowboys have split the last six against Texas Tech, the Raiders hold a 9-4 edge since the Big 12 was formed in 1996. That’s success. Tech’s 11-3 record against A&M since 1995 is dominance, pure and simple. Yes, in terms of historical success, A&M has Tech beat; however, in terms of recent on-field success, it’s all Red Raiders.
Follow me after the jump for more news, notes and links on your Texas Tech Red Raiders.
Congrats to QB Taylor Potts who was named to the Davey O'Brien 2009 Watch List. There's about 30 or so quarterbacks, and I don't know that Potts can win the award this year with Bradford, McCoy and Tebow, it's certainly nice to be recognized despite never starting a single game on the collegiate level. It certainly says something about the system and the head coach.
LAJ's Don Williams has the lowdown on the fall practice schedule for Texas Tech:
The Red Raiders will work out at 3:45 p.m. Sunday through next Wednesday, after which the start time most days will be 3:30 p.m. Beginning Saturday and leading up to the Sept. 5 season opener against North Dakota, Tech players will work out each day except Aug. 24 and Aug. 31, both Mondays.
There are no two-a-day workouts. Instead, Tech coaches favor a routine of meetings and walkthroughs each morning followed by afternoon workouts. The Red Raiders have 25 workouts scheduled before the first game. The NCAA allows 29 "practice opportunities’’ under a formula that takes into account a school’s first day of classes and first game, though few teams actually use all 29.
I should also mention that the freshmen have been weighed and measured and on Thursday or Friday of last week, the official Texas Tech site has updated the roster portion of the website, complete with new photos of most of the players and freshmen.
The Daily Texan's Michael Sherfield has another feature on OL Brandon Carter. This is actually a summary of last week, but it may be news to you.
Texas Prep Insider's Ahmard Vital-Terry Carter ranks the top 7 Texas high school quarterbacks in the last 7 years and QB Graham Harrell checks in behind Vince Young:
Between 2000-2003, Ennis standout quarterback Graham Harrell set five Texas state football records for passing in a state renowned for its quarterback heritage.
He was simply Mr. Efficiency compared to other elite throwers, never approaching the list for most pass attempts, yet still holding the state record for career TD passes (167) and single-season TD passes (67). He is second to Lake Travis’ Garrett Gilbert in: single-season pass completions (360-334), single-season passing yards by 29 yards (4,854-4,825 yards) and career passing yards by five yards (12,537-12,532 yards).
From day one, Harrell was a phenom. His sprint-out passes, passing efficiency, downfield vision and touch made Harrell perhaps the most difficult passer to defend in the past decade. His senior season, Harrell completed 66.4 percent of his 503 pass attempts for 4,825 yards, 67 TDs while allowing only eight interceptions during a 13-game season. He threw for 573 yards in his senior season opener against Waxahachie and connected for six or more touchdowns in six separate games in 2003.
Scouting the Enemy: In The Bleachers' Michael Felder's take on why Nebraska might be a dark horse conference title contender . . .
Texas Tech Basketball
New SB Nation blog Big 12 Hoops' Mark Allan Peterson thinks that your Red Raiders will be the worst team in the Big 12 next year, and as the commenter noted, it seems that right now, Colorado is the perennial last place team, and I don't think that Texas Tech will have the worst team in the Big 12, but perhaps I'm too close to the situation. Peterson focused quite a bit of his article on Pat Knight's change in offensive philosophy, but PK has already mentioned a couple of times this year that the focus of the fall practices will be the defense, and if it's even remotely like Bob Knight's then I think this keeps them in games much more than some fast-break offense. I'm really hoping that Pat Knight and Texas Tech has some success this year, but I'm getting more and more worried.