Red Raider Gridiron | Texas Tech Spring Game Wrap-Up

STORIES OF THE DAY

My plan going forward is to break down the offense and the defense, but I want to take my time doing it and I want to break down the offense and defense with video and things like that. It's the last football for a while for the spring and summer, so don't be surprised if I stretch this out for a bit and enjoy the ride.

The other big story from this past weekend, other than the game itself, is that it was a huge day from a recruiting stand point as Texas Tech added four commits over the weekend, including the quarterback of the class:

Cameron Baston | IR | 5-8/164 | Milwood (Oklahoma City, OK) | Quick inside receiver and is the cousin of Tramain Swindall.
Patrick Mahomes | QB | 6-3/198 | Whitehouse (Whitehouse, TX) | This is the quarterback that Kingsbury wanted since the start of this process.
Ian Sadler | WR | 5-10/194 | Argyle (Argyle, TX) | All-purpose player, including returner and receiver.
Tevin Madison | CB | 5-10/160 | Fayette County (Fayette, AL) | The staff is apparently looking at Madison as a cornerback.

And I was able to see a handful of good VTM readers at Cricket's after the game. I appreciate seeing each of you and thank you all for reading.

LINKS

Thought I would just list the links this morning:

* Defense Tops Offense 34-28 In Spring Game - Texas Tech Red Raiders Official Athletic Site
* Defense curtails offense in Texas Tech spring game | Red Raiders
* Kingsbury says QBs "close" as spring practice ends | Red Raiders
* Fans flock to Texas Tech spring game in record numbers | Red Raiders
* Safeties state their case in Tech spring game | Red Raiders
* Strong recruiting week ends with Red Raiders 2014 class ranking No. 17, program lands first choice QB | College Sports Blog
* Red Raiders land four commitments over weekend | Red Raiders

NOTEBOOK

NO INJURIES | Huh. How about that, Texas Tech goes an entire spring without a single injury. There are some players that are sitting out with old injuries, but I cannot remember a single injury happening this spring. I don't know what to think about that other than that's awfully coincidental. Maybe the other part of it is that the players don't want to be injuried. I don't know, but in any event, that's good news.

FEW MISSED TACKLES | I really want to sit down and take a look at the entire game, but I do want acknowledge that the thing that jumped out overall to me is that the defense just didn't miss many tackles. There were times where a guy like Jakeem Grant made players miss, but overall, I really liked the fact that the tackles were solid and there wasn't just a ton of tackles made after the initial play.

QUARTERBACK COMPETITION | I do like all three quarterbacks. Yep, all three. It wasn't hard to like what Clayton Nicholas did in the mop-up time, but he still completed 8 of 10 for 100 yards and that's pretty good. Yes, it was the end of the game, but he wasn't working with the top players either. The competition between Michael Brewer and Davis Webb seems like it's Brewer's despite what Kingsbury said after the game. I think that Webb has tremendous poise and he is and will be a very good quarterback, but I think Brewer is ahead of Webb and it wasn't that close to me. I know that they both study quite a bit and Webb offers more measurables, but Brewer looked more comfortable to me.

SOLID RUNNING GAME | It will be interesting to see how much Kingsbury will run the ball overall. The running backs are pretty darned talented and maybe the most talented position group on the team. Kingsbury called about 33% running plays for the day, and I think that's probably pretty close to where he'll be all year. Whether it be Kenny Williams, DeAndre Washington, Quinton White, Sadale Foster, or someone else, they'll be very good, the question is how many carries they'll have.

SURPRISING DEFENSE | The big story from the game was that the defense played well. And they really did. Filled a lot of gaps and made plays. That's something that hasn't seemed to happen all that often in the past few years. Very solid tackling, able to get pressure from unfamiliar spots and get a couple of turnovers. Watched how many plays were made when the defense tackled at the legs. Lots of plays made by swarming defenders when the initial tackle didn't take. I've thought this spring that depending on how the spring played out, how the defense does will tell us all we need to know about how this team is going to be next year.

VIDEOS