Red Raider Gridiron | QB Decision on Monday or Tuesday

Practice Report:  The official site (FYI, it took a long time to load this morning, not sure what the problem is) has yesterday's report and the video (not a transcript):

Tommy Tuberville:  Good effort, about 125 plays.  Worked on kicking game.  Lot of work to do.  Still have guys that need to get back out there, looked at a lot of young guys.  Will evaluate the film, look at the film on Sunday with the team.  Will have a very physical Monday and Tuesday.  Have not picked a quarterback, probably Monday or Tuesday.  Watched more of the defense today.  Will start over on basics.  RB Ben McRoy had the best day on offense, he's fast, you've got to get a hand on him.  C Justin Keown did a good job today.  Defensively, there were a lot of mistakes, put the defense in a bind and getting lined up was a problem because of the fast pace.  Had a few more penalties on alignments and asked the officials to be very critical.  Last week, not much difference between Potts and Sheffield in terms of leadership last week, although difference in performance.  Worked on kickoff returns, no wedges.

QB Steven Sheffield:  Can't simulate a game situation for a quarterback.  Will get lots of sleep. (Heard someone off-mic, I think it was Tuberville who said that Sheffield won't give headlines today).   Sheffield admits that he was supposed to just talk and not judge his own performance. 

QB Taylor Potts:  Several throws that he should have made, but he played good.  If he doesn't get the job, that's the cards he's dealt, won't be the biggest disappointment ever and whatever coach decides.  Hope he made a real good case and now it's the coaches decision, and it has been the whole time.  Did well today.  Lot of changes in technique and attention to detail during the summer and camp.  Made a lot of progress on mechanics and throwing the ball.  Offensive line was really good today, very good overall. 

DT Colby Whitlock:  Some of the younger guys didn't get lined up where they are supposed to, don't game-plan for the Texas Tech offense.  Has good chemistry on the team.  Still a lot of stuff to work on over the next two weeks.  Donald Langley, Brian Duncan and Sam Fehoko have all played well, especially with Duncan and Fehoko coming off the edge.  Very confident about having problems solved by next week.  Young guys tend to over-think things.  It's a lot to learn  Thinks that Myles Wade and Donald Langley and Lawrence Rumph are going to make an impact this year.  Show a lot of potential. 

LB Daniel Cobb:  Overall the defense performed well.  S Jared Flannel was a big part of the team, but the team will rally.  Is learning more and more each day, staff does a good job of breaking down the film.  From the previous staff, it's very different, more schemes and coverages.  More of different people doing different things and must learn multiple positions.  Defense is coming along well.  No comment on Sheffield vs. Potts.  CB Jarvis Phillips and CB Sawyer Vest had an interception each.

Somewhat entertaining that someone (as stated above, I think it was Tuberville) passed by Sheffield and told him that he needs to keep things generic, as opposed to Sheffield's hot-sports-opinions from last weekend. 

I'm also struck by the continued pushing of the defense by the offense.  I guess there's the thought that if the defense can handle this offense at a very fast-paced then they'll be able to handle just about anything. It will be interesting to see if this will better prepare the defense for the season.

Quarterback Decision:  LAJ's Don Williams and FSSW's Travis Cram both have the direct quotes from Sheffield and Potts on the quarterback decision.  Here's Sheffield:

"Coach Brown made it real clear that he watched every single practice and our spring (workouts), even, that we got through and then every single game last year," Sheffield said. "So it wasn’t just about these two scrimmages. But yeah, this week was a lot better. It was a positive compared to last week being a negative, for sure."

And here's Potts:

"I hope I made a real good case," Potts said. "But that’s for the coaches to decide. The only way I can say things is on the field and so now it’s coach’s decision and it’s been in his hands this whole time. I think he’ll make the best decision for this team."

OC Brown Daily Twitter Update:  Not tipping his hand at all:

Miscellaneous:  DMN's Chuck Carlton looks at the Big 12 quarterback situations . . .