Playmaker Leong: FWST's Dwain Price writes that Texas Tech may have found it's playmaker in WR Lyle Leong and head coach Tommy Tuberville has some good things to say about Leong:
"Lyle's got a lot of tenacity, he loves to fight for the ball, and the one thing that he does as a receiver is he uses his body well," Tuberville said. "He can turn into the defender and use his body and go up for the ball.
"I told him one day, I said, 'You're as close to a guy that I've ever seen that worked as much as Michael Irvin did.' Michael Irvin was the first guy on the practice field and the last guy to leave, and Lyle's a lot like that."
Kicking Game a Concern: DT's Jon Arnold writes that the kicking game is a concern. This is a good op-ed piece by Arnold and he recalls when the kicking game almost kicked Texas Tech in the rear:
But this problem isn’t new. During Tech’s 2008 season, the Red Raiders nearly dropped a game against Nebraska when Corona’s extra point was blocked in overtime. Luckily for the Red Raiders, Jamar Wall’s interception allowed them to escape with the 6-point win.
Hance Asks For Better Behavior From Students: LAJ's Matthew McGowan writes that Chancellor Kent Hance is asking the Texas Tech students to behavior better:
"I’m here asking," he said. "I’m not here telling. I’m just asking you to help me out on this."
Hance reminded students that many of the legislators he is courting for help with the university’s tier-one ambitions frequently attend games in Lubbock.
"It depreciates your degree," he said. "I’m working hard for tier-one status, and we’re getting there. I want representatives and I want senators that are visitors to think well of our student body."
I'm interested to hear what you think about this.
Recruiting Stuff: Texas Tech commit and current Odessa High player, RB Bradley Marquez (DTN Profile) had an unbelievable night last night as he had 22 carries for 376 yards and 6 touchdowns over Amarillo Tascosa:
A senior who has verbally committed to play at Texas Tech, Marquez scored on runs of 4, 69, 29, 75, 42 and 50 yards and rushed for more than 300 yards and five touchdowns in the second half alone.
. . . Amarillo High and Texas Tech commit DL James Castleman (DTN Profile) will take on Rider tonight their head coach has some good things to say about Castleman:
James Castleman, a senior nose guard, has already committed to Texas Tech. He is listed at 6-4, 255, but Garfield says he is "273 and can run."
"He is one of the best nose guards in the state of Texas. We will use a center and a guard on him and also keep a running back in the mix to make sure we’ve got him covered," the Rider coach said.
Game Predictions: Rock M Nation's Bill C. BTBS fancy computer numbers figures that Texas Tech wins by 33 points and Bill's computer's picks went 24-13-2 (64%) last week . . . Rivals.com's Mike Huguenin predicts every game this week . . . ESPN's David Ubben predicts this week's games . . . DMN's Mike Graham's headline makes you think he's predicting the wrong game . . .
New Mexico Lobo Links: DT's Mike Graham writes that the Red Raiders know it will be a brand new game on Saturday. Here's DT Donald Langley:
"It’s a brand new ballgame," Langley said. "It’s their house, their first home game. So we have to bring our A-game no matter what because it’s going to be a great game."
And Tuberville talks about the team's routine:
"We’ll leave (Lubbock) as late as possible I don’t like for players to miss classes," Tuberville said during Monday’s media conference. "We’ll fly in and get on buses (Friday), go to the hotel. We’ll treat it like we’re at home. We’ll eat at a certain time. They’ll all have their same roommates they roomed with the week before and the same meeting times. Obviously, things will change a little bit because it’s a night game. We’ll let them sleep later on Saturday morning because of the later kickoff and we’ll have a few more meetings during the day. But it doesn’t change a whole lot."
. . . LAJ's Courtney Linehan writes that even though new Mexico head coach Mike Locksley is controversial his players still like him . . . ABQjournal's Greg Archuleta writes that the Oregon loss is old news for the Lobos:
"We've got to make sure we take care of the present," Locksley says. "We can't let any part of last week blend into this week because it'll create a failure for us. Our players understand that. Having watched the (Oregon) film with them and the embarrassment that we faced last week, they now see that's what happens when we don't have the attention to detail."
. . . ABQjournal's Rick Wright writes that the season isn't over . . .
Big 12 and National Links: I mean to mention a couple of national writers that did rank Texas Tech in the BlogPoll, the first being Dr. Saturday's Matt Hinton, who ranks exclusively on resume at that time, has Texas Tech at #18 (Missouri at #10 and Iowa St. at #14, with no Nebraska Oklahoma or Texas, since they didn't beat anyone of note) and Football Outsider's Brian Fremeau thinks that Texas Tech is the #23 team . . . Rivals.com's Olin Buchanan has a solid preview for week #2 in the Big 12 . . . ESPN's David Ubben has ten things to watch in week two . . .