Stretch Out: Been a while since a DTN DD. Soak it in. Enjoy it. Also wanted to mention that folks were looking for a high-five signal. You could always insert this Tina Fey.gif. Moderation folks. One more reminder, please don't copy and paste entire articles. Link to it, blockquote a portion of it, and discuss the heck out of it, but don't copy and paste entire articles.
College Football Odds: So that you never leave SB Nation, you can find college football odds here.
Up Too Early: I'm up way too early and I'm pretty sure that I'm beating the LAJ if they're publishing anything today. I know that some of you are upset at the coverage from the LAJ, that it's just a mouth-piece for the LAJ and that may be true, but it's true of anyone that needs access to a program in order to sell papers and/or subscriptions. On one hand, it's frustrating that this is the way it is, but on the other hand, I get it. I don't like it. But I get it. Cut off access and there's lots of people that can't make a living. Sure, that doesn't make you guys and gals feel better, but there's a lot of college football programs have this type of control over who gets to cover or not cover their program.
Bullitt Out: Hat-tip to TechPrezNB for the FanPost, per LAJ's Don Williams, SLB Terrance Bullitt had surgery on his hand yesterday and will be out for this week's game. When it rains, it pours.
Tuberville Believer: FWST's Dwain Price has a blog post up about head coach Tommy Tuberville and his thoughts on the termination of Leach and Tuberville taking his shoes. For those of you that keep track of these sorts of things, Price has always been a Leach supporter, but he makes the case to give Tuberville some time:
Then again, I never thought it was fair to Tuberville and his players to be asked to pick up where Leach left off. Usually, a new coach is given time to get his own recruits in town, and to get his players adjusted to his new system and to his way of doing things.
Fair or not, Tuberville doesn't have that luxury. EVERYBODY expects him to win now.
The Team Leach folks will say karma has struck at Tech for the way the administration ousted Leach. Firing him one day before he was to receive an automatic $800,000 bonus?
As they say, you know who don't like ugly.
Tuberville is left to put the pieces together on what's left of the Raiders. And he will get it turned around.
It may not be this year, or it may be this year. But he will get it turned around.
Feel free to agree or disagree with Price, and there's quite a bit more that you should read on the entire post, especially about Tuberville not making excuses for injuries or suspensions, but Price I've never gotten the impression that Price has an agenda, but he is around the program (in fact Price may have been the reporter that was denied access by Texas Tech, maybe three years ago). Check it out.
Preparing for Stewart: DT's Mike Graham writes that Texas Tech is preparing for Colorado RB Rodney Stewart. Here's Tuberville on the Colorado offense:
"They do a lot of tight end; we don't see much of that," Tech head coach Tommy Tuberville said. "They do a lot of two backs and two tight ends. But they'll take those two tight ends and move them out to play four wide receivers.
"They do it all. They're multiple. This is what (Colorado head coach) Dan (Hawkins) has run for years. They like to run the ball, they like to run play action. They've got a good quarterback that can move in and out of the pocket. We've got our hands full on defense. We've got to make some plays and try to get our offense back on the field."
And here's a bit on Stewart:
Colorado averages about 42 rushing play calls per game compared to about 30 passing plays. Its average combined offensive total is 350 yards compared to Tech's 430 yards per game.
The Buffaloes are led by running back Rodney Stewart who is currently on pace for a 1,000 yard rushing season. Through his first six games, he has 618 yards on the ground – an average of 103 yards per game.
Miscellaneous: Football Outsiders' Bill Connelly with his weekly article, Varsity Numbers: Not Knowing . . . SB Nation's Brian Cook with this Week in Schadenfreude, remember folks, there are sad college football fans all across the country . . . SB Nation's Brian Cook also has this week's BlogPoll . . . FWST's Jimmy Burch with a Big 12 Insider . . . BON's Ghost of Big Roy with an early look at the best 2012 recruits in the state of Texas . . .
Media Days: Today, head coach Pat Knight, PG John Roberson, SF Mike Singletary and CF D`Walyn Roberts (Digression: CF is short for "combo forward" as Texas Tech really doesn't have a true power forward on the team and Roberts is a bit in-between a small forward and a power forward. Any suggestions?) will be attending the Big 12 Media Days in Kansas City. The Big 12 website is apparently streaming the entire thing, and Pat Knight is up at 9:00 a.m.
Big Season: DT's Jon Arnold writes that head coach Pat Knight understands the importance of this season. I've said it quite a bit, but I think PK gets it. He knows that he needs to keep progressing and the next step is the NCAA Tournament. Here's PK putting it rather matter-of-fact:
"Now this is a big year for me," he said at a news conference Wednesday ahead of his trip to Big 12 Conference Media Day in Kansas City, Mo. today. "I look at it as my third year, it's either give me an extension or get fired type of year because I have everything in place."
You can say that PK isn't your favorite coach, but he's always been pretty honest about his situation here at Texas Tech.
And PK talks a little bit about the depth and newcomers:
One facet of the team sure to help the Red Raiders on their quest for a NCAA berth is the team's depth. The Red Raiders lost two contributors from last year's team, but added JUCO transfer Paul Cooper, who Knight said will play immediately.
Also set to hit the ground running is point guard Javarez Willis. Willis, or Bean as he's nicknamed, will allow Roberson to come off of screens and play fewer minutes than in the past.
That depth also will allow Knight to tweak the lineup more during games.
"This year, we finally are in a position where we're ten, eleven deep," he said, "and at every position if I don't like the way things are going out on the court, I can substitute."
Crockett's Maturation: CNJ Online's Rick White profiles redshirt freshman CF Jaye Crockett. Crockett redshirted all of last year after arriving from Clovis as one of the top two players in the state of New Mexico. Here's PK on Crockett:
"Right now we’re not really looking for him to score — we’ll ask him to score more in the future. We’re looking for him to defend a lot of different guys, block shots and rebound.
"He’s such an exceptional athlete he’ll not just be able to get defensive rebounds but offensive rebounds. He’s able to get offensive rebounds that a lot of other players couldn’t get."
Big 12 Hoops: If you're a fan of the Big 12 and basketball, then make sure and check out Big 12 Hoops. Earlier this week, they've had their Preseason All-Big 12 Team and took a look at the top Big 12 point guards yesterday.
Player Profiles: The official site is profiling the players and yesterday, CF Barrett Barnes had his shot and SS Kelby Tomlinson (a highly regarded JUCO player) was profiled last week.