Taking Notes | Texas Tech vs. Texas St.

QUOTABLE | It’s not every day that we get to highlight a significant pride-point with the defense. It is a breath of fresh air and just down-right encouraging that the players are taking pride in the jobs that they do. I’m doing my best to make sure that I don’t get too excited about what happened last week and I know that the defense is focused on assignment-based football. It was nice to hear Smith talk about that on Monday. Playing Texas St. is about staying at home and staying in your lanes.

NOTES | These are notes from around the interwebs this morning:

* LAJ's Don Williams write about Big 12 Commissioner, Bob Bowlsby, being in town yesterday.
* The Reporter News has a story on former Red Raider Lyle Leong and how he is now the receivers coach at Cisco College.
* SAEN's Tim Griffin writes about the Texas Tech defense.
* San Marcos Daily Record reports on Texas St. must forget about their win against Houston and focus on Texas Tech. Here is Texas St. head coach Dennis Franchione:
"I’ve coached long enough to know that it’s easy enough to sit around and hear people say, ‘Oh, what a great game’ and bask in that glory," Franchione said. "It doesn’t matter whether you win or lose. If the last game has a negative effect on the next game, then it’s bad."
* RRS.com's Aaron Dickens talks with a beat writer covering Texas St.
* SB Nation's Bill Connelly has Week 1's Numerical.

FINDING THEIR WAY | I really wasn't expecting the defensive line to be as effective as they were. Again, the caveat that this was a FCS team needs to be repeated. This is also a situation where the hope is that the depth of the defensive line can pay dividends down the road. If Texas Tech is truly going to play the two-deep, including Kerry Hyder, Leon Mackey, Delvon Simmons and Dennell Wesley, then two things have to happen: there cannot be any hint of a drop-off in effort, and I think that DC Kaufman will keep an eye on this, and there must be minimal drop-off in ability. I think that the pairings of Simmons/Hyder and Mackey/Wesley are pretty close in terms of ability and talent and I think this was intentional.

THE LIGHT BULB HAS GONE ON | I think the play of WR Bradley Marquez needs to be highlighted. There is a reason why he's pushed so hard on the two-deep and it's because he's adept at making plays. Marquez had catches for 13, 8, 12, 9, 9, 18, and 23 yards. Those are first downs each and every time he touches the ball, and then some. It will be interesting to see how the additional competition plays out as Javon Bell and Darrin Moore were held out of the Northwestern St. game. There are a handful of players that cannot be covered by any defender in the Big 12 and that list includes Marquez, TE Jace Amaro and I’m guessing that WR Javon Bell could fit in this category as well. Few players have the combination of size and speed like Marquez and Amaro. We’ll know more about Bell after Saturday.

ITEM COMPLETED | The biggest item completed was that the defense showed that they are at least somewhat up to the task. I liked what DT Kerry Hyder said after last week’s game in that this is just a small part of the journey. There didn’t appear to be any celebrating from Hyder’s perspective, other than being excited on the field and I’m fine with that. Again, even on Monday, HC Tuberville mentioned that there were still some instances where the defense didn’t line up properly from a technique perspective. I’m hoping that the coaching staff harps on this point all year. Just being in the right spot is half of the battle.

KEY TO SUCCESS | I remember in 2008, when what seemed like a Heisman-type of Season, then senior QB Graham Harrell was 19 of 46 for 296 yards, 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions against Nevada. Texas Tech ended up winning that game, but it wasn’t particularly easy. Good players sometimes have bad games. It happens to just about every player and especially the quarterback. QB Seth Doege did not have a perfect game on Saturday, but he was okay. I didn’t think he was horrible and I didn’t think that he was great, just okay. Doege can be better and he said so much after the game.

I don't think I threw the ball particularly well. I pride myself on being one of the most accurate passers and that's something I really work on. So I don't think I was as accurate as I wanted to be today. In the first series, the ball kind of slipped through my hands. That was a downer for me. But as a quarterback, you can't dwell on mistakes and you have to kind of keep playing.

No one will be tougher on Doege than himself, I don’t think we need to worry about that. He’ll play better.

WE HAVE QUESTIONS | My biggest questions heading into the week are whether or not the defense is going to be patient playing Texas St. and will the offense just take what the defense take what they will be given. I still think that Texas St. is going to drop a lot back into coverage. Less than mature players cannot recognize this, I think that Doege can recognize this and I certainly think that this is an advantage for Texas Tech on Saturday.

A FLASH | I am worried about momentum and I haven't mentioned all week that Texas Tech is opening up Texas St.'s renovated stadium. The one thing that Texas Tech must keep in check is the momentum of the crowd and the team. You may not think that opening a stadium is a big deal, but I think it is a pride-point for Bobcat fans and it should be. They have made the long trek to FBS status and that's not easy. It culminates in some ways on Saturday evening. Texas Tech cannot afford to let the crowd, momentum or game get away from them.

GOOD JOB GOOD EFFORT | I could give this to the defense, but how about the "good job good effort" award going to all of the receivers who were blocking their rears off each and every play. Not just blocking, but guys were finishing blocks on just about each and every play. This is the least glamorous part of being a receiver, but they were really good at blocking up the opposing secondary. I have a feeling that you will see more of this on Saturday night.

INJURY REPORT | This is the last week it will not be after the jump.

Fall Practice: OL Matt Wilson (torn ACL - out for the year; ATH Shawn Corker (broken foot - out 4 to 6 weeks); DT Anthony Smith (rolled ankle from scooter mishap - out 2 weeks); RB Quinton White (broken foot).

Week 1 vs. Northwestern St.: OL Matt Wilson (torn ACL - out for the year); ATH Shawn Corker (broken foot - may be out 2 to 4 more weeks); RB Quinton White (broken foot - may be out 4 to 6 more weeks); WR Aaron Fisher (broken leg - out for the year); OG Tony Morales (knee injury - out 2 weeks).

Week 2 vs. Texas St.: OL Matt Wilson (torn ACL - out for the year); ATH Shawn Corker (broken foot - may be out 1 to 3 more weeks); RB Quinton White (broken foot - may be out 3 to 5 more weeks); WR Aaron Fisher (broken leg - out for the year); OG Tony Morales (knee injury - out 1 week).