Red Raider Gridiron: Report - Knight Won't Play vs. TTU; Awe Balances School and Football

Report: Knight Will Not Play Against Texas Tech. KFOR is reporting that QB Trevor Knight will not play against Texas Tech due to injuries he suffered against Baylor.  If Knight does not start, QB Cody Thomas will get the call, and TE Blake Bell has received snaps this week.

East Carolina vs. Cincinnati. I had someone email me about this game and then it fell off my radar because of stuff, but the LAJ reminds us that 11 former Texas Tech coaches will be in an around tonight's game tonight, which starts at 6:00 pm and will be on ESPN2.

Awe Works Hard. The DT's Jeremy Krakosky writes about how LB Micah Awe has worked hard to be where he is and he has a tough time (he's not complaining) balancing football and his classes, which is petroleum engineering:

"I for sure play with a chip on my shoulder, I mean, I got to because no one else gave me chance. Literally the rest of the Big 12 did not give me a chance at football," Awe said. "It's just something that I want people to be able to look back and think they could have had me or could have at least tried. It's just something that's part of life."

While Awe stays busy on the football field, he also has to keep up with school as he is majoring in petroleum engineering.

Balancing both can be a challenge, Awe said, especially when he travels for away games or when Tech plays a Thursday night game.

"It's really hard because it's really more time than it is the classes being hard and stuff," Awe said. "It's really a lot of time management but Texas Tech has great support. Students are really nice and help you out with homework. Teachers are cognizant that you have football practice."

Texas Football on Strickland. Texas Football has the breakdown from a former UT defensive back, James Lott, that helps run a scouting service, of one of the more recent Texas Tech football commits in WR Carlos Strickland, who Lott writes is still raw, especially in the finer points, but has lots of terrific traits:

CSD Strengths: Excellent size and frame, about 6-foot-5, with long arms and excellent jumping ability. Provides instant physical mismatch to smaller DBs. Accelerates off the LOS and eats up cushion with long strides. Outstanding jump ball receiver with excellent catch radius, does a great job of catching the ball at its highest point. Does a good job of creating separation with his body, will push off to create space to make the catch.

I'm telling you right now that Strickland's commitment is as big, maybe bigger, than Tyron Johnson.  Yeah, I wholeheartedly believe that.

Sports On Earth on Oklahoma. Sports on Earth's Matt Brown writes about how there are problems with the Oklahoma problem and things are starting to unravel:

Everything Oklahoma can do under Stoops has already been done before. There can be no surprises anymore because expectations were set so high so quickly, and now anything less is seen as failure. So it seems that Oklahoma may be reaching a fork in the road with what will undoubtedly be considered one of the most disappointing seasons of the Stoops era. Stoops, who's only 54 years old, can consider leaving, whether it's to the NFL or potentially an open Michigan or Florida job. There will be interest. Or he can come to the conclusion that change is needed and make significant changes to the coaching staff, however difficult that may be. Staying the same, however, doesn't appear to be an option, because fatigue with the current situation for all involved will only continue to grow.#

Miscellaneous. From the DMN, we have five things that Texas Tech fans should know about Oklahoma and five things that Oklahoma fans should know about Texas Tech . . . Football Study Hall has their updated win projections for the Big 12 and it looks more likely it will be just one Big 12 win . . . the Washington Post has a look at Under Armour and CEO Kevin Plank . . . our friends over at Crimson and Cream Machine have a first look at Texas Tech . . . additional Sooner friend, Blatant Homerism writes about Oklahoma's issues in short yardage situations . . .