LINKS
Good morning and let's get to this.
- Cross-Country | Congrats to Kennedy Kithuka for winning (yet another) Big 12 Runner of the Week Award!
- Soccer | Just to keep pace, the Soccer team will play at Oklahoma on Friday and then travel to Waco to take on Baylor on Sunday. That's not fun scheduling. The DT has an article about the soccer team's rankings, which fell to #15, down one spot, despite winning both games this past weekend.
- Volleyball | The volleyball team will take on the #3 Longhorns tonight. The DT has a preview. Go Wreck Em ladies.
- Men's Basketball | CBS Sports has their conference preview and picks the Red Raiders to finish last. I'm not real confident about lots of things, but I am confident that Tubby Smith won't finish last (oh please don't let me be wrong and yes, this isn't some awesome declaration). Here's what they say about Texas Tech:
Texas Tech is a tough job and Tubby Smith is a great coach. So, in theory, the school should be considered lucky to have someone of this caliber leading its program. But I still can't help but think it's a bad fit for both sides because it's hard to imagine a 62-year-old on the downside of his career being able to recruit well enough to ever make the Red Raiders competitive in a league like this league. Texas Tech is a young man's job, a grinder's job, a job for somebody who can steal a recruit from Texas, Texas A&M or Baylor, then land enough junior college talents to fill the gaps. It's why Billy Gillispie could've been great there if not for other issues. It's why Smith probably won't -- this season or in any other, barring a surprise.
I don't know if I'm worried about Smith grinding because I think he will and because I am almost certain his assistants are grinders. I know that we really thought highly of Chris Walker as a recruiter, but I think that Vince Taylor, Alvin Williamson, and Joe Esposito are grinders and similar guys to Walker, guys that have been assistants at major programs that can recruit. I'd also add that there is no one more connected with the JUCO scene in Texas than Mark Adams. No other program has that. I'm not worried about this staff finding players. - Football |
- The LAJ has a notebook and discusses the red zone defense. Also of note is the bit about how QB Baker Mayfield wasn't on the field and dressed in pads after practice (this is the time when the reporters get to see if a player is actually doing something and Williams reported last week about Brewer being in pads) on Tuesday. It really would surprise me if Mayfield started, but stranger things have happened.
- The LAJ also notes that the football team signed a deal to play Sam Houston St. in 2015 and will play SFA in 2016. The article has the scheduled non-conference games.
- SBN has your weekly bit of college football: The Alphabetical and The Numerical.
- Texas Tech will celebrate the Los Raiders Rojos in the Hispanic Heritage Appreciation Game against Iowa St.
- Texas Tech got a nice little shout-out in in the USA Today and Yahoo!'s Pat Forde as a team that is rising and wasn't on Forde's radar before the season. Also from Yahoo! is Dan Wetzel about how we need to stop focusing on the playoff committee's members, but the playoff committee's failure to define the process. This is a good read.
- The DT has a nice story about a guy that actually made the football team, but ended up having to walk away from the game because he needed to focus on academics.
- The Iowa St. Daily has a bit from the ISU presser, including head coach Paul Rhoads talking about QB Baker Mayfield:
"He’s done it against good folks and he’s done it consistently. He reflects his head football coach in his poise and calmness," Rhoads said of Mayfield’s success thus far. "[He] has not been tilted by the fact that he’s thrown into this limelight and the stories that are written that go along with a guy that’s paying for his education. He’s done a marvelous job."
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More from Viva The Matadors:
- What the heck is wrong with you Gilbert?
- Possible Red Raiders: A weekly recruiting update - 10/8/13
- Recruiting on the South Plains | Plano East F Zach Smith Commits to Texas Tech
- Pullquotes | Texas Tech Head Coach Kliff Kingsbury Talks Mayfield; Iowa St. and Student Attendance
- Texas Tech QB Baker Mayfield Not Out for Season, May Practice Today