THESE NUMBERS ARE RIDICULOUS | Football Outsiders' Bill Connelly has some seriously ridiculous numbers regarding what Texas Tech could or should do, including the thought that Texas Tech is predicted to go undefeated through the entire year. Connelly acknowledges that an undefeated isn't likely, but concludes with this nugget:
Texas Tech is not going to 9-0, but let's look at it this way: if the Red Raiders are only a touchdown worse than currently projected, they are still in position to go about 6-3, 9-3 overall. That would be an enormous turnaround for Tommy Tuberville and company.
I honestly have no idea where those five additional conference wins come from during conference play, but I would take this is a heartbeat. Go read the whole thing and make sure and check out Football Study Hall's F/+ picks for week 6.
CRIMSON AND CREAM MACHINE ROUNDUP | Last night I went on the Sooner Nation Podcast with the guys over at Crimson and Cream Machine. They are good people and if you'd like to hear us cuss and discuss each of our teams, then go give it a listen. I had a good time talking football and they are a bit down on their Sooners. I eventually did pick OU to win in a very close game. Part of the reason of that is because OU is not a bad football team and they had one bad football game where they turned the ball over in the redzone. Had that not happened, OU likely beats Kansas St. Of course, I understand that "ifs" are not really a way to look at a game, but I don't think the Sooners are as bad as fans think, they've just had 2 weeks to stew over a loss. Also make sure and check out who needs to have a big game for the Sooners and what must happen for the Sooners.
ERXLEBEN'S LEGACY | Excellent article from SAEN's Tim Griffin on P Ryan Erxleben and the legacy that his dad left at UT as a kicker and punter. Go read the whole thing, it's a good read. Head coach Tommy Tuberville seems to have a high regard for Ryan's dad, Russell:
"I probably should hire his dad on staff," Tuberville said. "When we have problems, we go to him ... Russell will come up for a weekend, watch our game and then on Sunday he'll give him a few tips and they dissect everything. Ryan works at every aspect of punting, but that's all him and his dad. They work well together."
TOUGH RUNNING | LAJ's Nick Kosmider writes about RB Kenny Williams' tough running style and offensive coordinator Neal Brown seems to have a good handle on this:
"He’s got a better understanding of who he is," said offensive coordinator Neal Brown. "He’s not a guy that’s going to go out in space and make a bunch of people miss. He’s got a much better opportunity to make people miss by running through tackles than he did a year ago."
BATTERY GATE | This is sorta pathetic, but I don't know what to expect. So earlier this week, I tried to be a tad bit sarcastic, perhaps my inspiration was the Onion, and write about how NewsOK's Stephanie Kuzydum wrote a story about how a former Oklahoma player claimed that he had to wear his helmet for the entire game in 2007 and that he and teammates had to wear helmets because of the batteries and coins that were thrown at the players. In the post linked above, there are numerous examples of the Sooner players not wearing helmets, of security watching the OU bench and of the one player making the accusations not wearing a helmet and talking a bit of trash.
/sigh/
Kuzydum wrote a response and relied on the fact that as a reporter, she is using her first hand and second hand sources, so she stands by her story and has emails from people confirming things. This is lazy journalism and pandering to her audience, so I don't think that I would have suggested anything else. On one hand, I am glad that Texas Tech reporters don't write stories like this. This story could be written about every college because there are always jerks and you can't stop everyone. Heck, there was even a guy in the Olympics . . . the Olympics . . . that threw a beer bottle at a runner. I've recounted about how I had a great time when I went to Norman in 2008. I did have a great time, but that doesn't mean that there were some jerks that taunted me after the game and cussed at me. It happens everywhere and it doesn't take away from the fact that the huge majority of people in Norman are good people and the majority of people at West Virginia or Texas or Baylor are good people.
Kuzydum must have had an assignment to write about how awful the Texas Tech crowd was and she didn't take the time to look at film or video to determine whether or not her sources were accurate. If Kuzydum truly believes that all she needs is to rely on sources in order to write a story, then she will not be in the business very long because I will be a source on just about any story she wants because she has no interest corroborating the facts.
MISCELLANEOUS | The game is officially a sell out . . . the DT has a story about how Texas Tech is looking to upset OU . . . the Tulsa World's John Klein writes about how the Sooners have to be different in Lubbock . . .