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Red Raider Gridiron: Texas Tech to Outperform Expectations? Washington's Time to Shine

Is Texas Tech going to outperform expectations this year? This is DeAndre Washington's time to shine at running back. Roster Analysis on Sam Eguavoen, Dorian Crawford and Keland McElrath. Also, what's framed in Kliff Kingsbury's office?

Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports

FootballScoop Thinks We May Be On To Something. The staff at FootballScoop was asked which team will outperform expectations and Scott (the site's proprietor) thinks it might be Texas Tech:

I visited Lubbock a few months back and observed & interacted with both the staff and the players. This is Davis Webb's team and I think that's a good thing. Webb and Kingsbury work well together and I can see them getting on a hot streak and winning way more than people think. There is not an "unwinnable" game on the schedule this year and Kliff will have this team playing loose, having fun and playing with a lot of confidence.

Washington's Time. After waiting in the wings for a few years, RB DeAndre Washington is now ready for his time to shine:

"I think it comes down to just opportunity," he said. "I waited for this moment since I've been here, being able to be the guy. Now it's finally here and I'm looking forward to it. I'm ready. Ready to go."

I think Washington is going to have a fantastic year.  The kind of season that will make your pants go crazy. Yeah, I just wrote that.

Roster Analysis. As always, a short blurb about a player and then a quote from a coach.

* LB Sam Eguavoen: Understands the concepts better and more of a vocal leader.
* S/LB Dorian Crawford: Moved from safety to linebacker to safety and is trying to move up the depth chart at Raider linebacker.
* DT Keland McElrath: Was not in shape when arrived in the spring, but has a different body type than Texas Tech had last year.

Check out the most recent FanShots.

This is Neat. Fox Sports Bruce Feldman is visiting Lubbock (he'll probably post a story some time during the day today) and he posted the following tweet with a photo, which is the call sheet from Texas A&M's win against Alabama.  If you want a large version of the photo, click here.

Skywriters Tour. The Big 12's Wendell Barnhouse stopped in Lubbock and took a general look at the team.  Here's a quote from head coach Kliff Kingsbury about being more consistent:

"I learned you need to be consistent even with the ups and downs," said Kingsbury, who turned 35 Saturday. "The team is gonna follow the lead of the coach. You need to bring the same energy every day and that's hard when you're losing games. I think we all learned how to handle adversity."

Miscellaneous. Well, OU's leading tackler tackler, Frank Shannonhas been suspended for the year . . . ESPN has their preseason Big 12 rankings and have the Red Raiders at 5th . . .