Previewing the Offensive Line: Other than the official site and a couple of articles, there's not much out there this morning. I guess this is a sign that this is the quiet before the storm of the start of the season. Get ready for an explosive "Five Questions" for tomorrow morning.
Back to the offensive line, the official site looks at the guys up front and has video of OL coach Matt Moore talking about camp thus far. Here's the non-transcript:
OFFENSIVE LINE
Matt Moore (OL Coach): Have a young group. Junior in C Justin Keown. Expect RT Chris Olson and Keown to be leaders, how to be a unit, how to prepare for opponents, how to study film. Also have LG Lonnie Edwards that will be a mainstay and one of the more physical players we have. Not where we need to be yet. Camp was really tough, really important. Very strenuous and pulled them together. Need to find some depth, but the starting five really pulled together. Deveric Gallington was a surprise, has stepped up, lost 40 pounds and knows what to do, studies his playbook and study his technique. Very atletic and physical. All the qualities to be a really good player. Get excited about the unit working together as one.
Wave of Defenders: LAJ's Don Williams writes about the wave of defenders, finding 25, or even 30 players, on defense and here's head coach Tommy Tuberville on how how many plays that players can expect:
"If you’re going to win games late in the season and win your tough games, you’ve got to play well in the fourth quarter and you’ve got to keep people healthy," he said. "I’m not playing a guy 60 or 70 snaps on defense. You can’t do it. If you get 40, 45, that’s tops.
"You’ve got to have a substitute, because you can’t play the same speed the fourth quarter as you did the first quarter if you don’t get a little bit of rest."
And Tuberville talked about how players will need to be ready to get into the game depending on the situation:
"Depending on what defense we’re in, if they hear a certain defense called, they go in on their own," Tuberville said. "It’s kind of like offense: If we call a ‘red’ formation, they know it’s four wide receivers and those four guys are on the field. It’s a lot like the substitution offense we’re running."
I've got serious thoughts about how I think the defense will shape up, but I'm going to wait until tomorrow's Five Questions to talk about my thoughts. Much of what I think has been gathered from bits and pieces throughout the spring.
R. Daniels Update: I have a good DTN reader from New Mexico and he's keeping track of Texas Tech commit Ronnie Daniels. For those of you who don't know, Daniels may be the best, or at least top two, players in the state of New Mexico and you could say that he had a pretty good day. Daniels had 24 carries for 192 yards, a couple of rushing touchdowns, and a defensive touchdown (fumble recovery for a touchdown).
Miscellaneous: DMN's Chuck Carlton writes about head coach Tommy Tuberville making his mark at Texas Tech (you've read this story 1,000 different times, nothing really new) . . . RP.com's Travis Cram has a bit from yesterday (he always seems to post mid-morning) about how the offensive line already knows what's going on with the Mustangs:
One thing that stood out to me was the moves going around on the defensive line for the Mustangs. Junior defensive end Marquis Frazier will make the move over to nose tackle this season in SMU’s 3-4 front, giving them a solid pass rush up the middle. Frazier had 45 total tackles last season, including eight tackles for loss and four sacks.
Ever wonder how much attention coaches pay to news clippings? Here’s what Tech senior right tackle Chris Olson had to say after Friday’s practice:
"They’re really experienced because defensive line-wise they are returning everybody," Olson said. "They just moved one of their ends to nose so they are going to be really athletic up front. They’ll probably be one of the biggest lines that we see all year."