Peter Bean from Burnt Orange Nation was gracious enough to answer some questions about tomorrow's Texas Tech vs. Texas game. Many thanks to Peter and there's more after the jump.
1. Do you think there's any validity to the thought that Will Muschamp has held back the defense a bit the past two weeks and we'll see a little more creativity this week against Texas Tech?
Apologies for the brevity of my answers but I'm late getting this to y'all. Yes, I think there's some truth to that, in the same sense that I suspect Mike Leach has been passing the ball more in the first two games than he would if he weren't especially interested in getting Taylor Potts as many game situation passing reps as possible before this match up. Will Muschamp has similarly rotated a deep roster of players into games, keeping the schemes simple and giving everyone opportunities to show they're ready to play. I'm expecting Muschamp to throw more more looks at Taylor Potts than he imagined possible.
2. The offensive line, especially Charlie Tanner, has received some criticism this week for their play. Is there really an issue or is this really a small problem that will be easily corrected?
It's not a crisis, but they continue to struggle holding blocks in our zone blocking scheme more often than you'd like. That said, I feel a lot better about this year's Tech D-Line than last year's, so hopefully they won't need to be world beaters to hold the four-man rush.
3. The receiving corp has has the always reliable Jordan Shipley, but talk about some of the other receiving threats Texas Tech fans should be concerned about.
James Kirkendoll is a player with good speed and an ever-improving sense of how to work space. Tech fans surely don't need a reminder that Malcolm Williams is a pretty good player with the ball in his hands. But the guy who may be the biggest difference maker is flex-TE Dan Buckner. He's not a huge guy for a tight end, but he's got huge strides, great hands, and a growing rapport with McCoy. He's key to keeping defenses honest.
4. The running game has seen a different running back step up both games, is this a running back by committee situation, or do you expect one running back to be the lead back going forward?
Vondrell McGee has been the nominal starter and is steady and effective, but Tech fans will also want to watch closely when speed demon DJ Monroe and Wyoming game MVP Tre Newton come in. Monroe is a guy with blazing track speed who will take it to the house if he's got an alley, while Newton looks as comfortable running from the shotgun as any back we've seen in recent years.
5. Sergio Kindle has been somewhat quiet thus far, while some other defensive players have stepped up their play. Is there a concern about Kindle and if not, who will be the players to watch on Satuday night?
No concern about Kindle on my end, though his lack of stats has bothered some. He and fellow end Sam Acho are terrific, though, and will be a problem for Potts if the tailbacks don't pick up the blitz to help Potts. The other three guys to keep an eye on are DT Lamarr Houston up front and DBs Earl Thomas and Aaron Williams in the secondary. All three are All-Conference caliber players who can wreck game plans.