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Red Raider Gridiron: Clark Back to Left Tackle; Williams Talks Switch to Linebacker

Le'Raven Clark is moved back to left tackle for now, with Baylen Brown going to the right guard position. Kenny Williams talks about his move to the linebacker position. Updates on Donte Phillips, La'Darius Newbold and Theirry Nguema.

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Practice #20. Here is your non-transcript of cornerbacks coach Kevin Curtis and receivers coach Eric Morris.

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Kevin Curtis: Everyone is playing with great effort, they are learning their assignments, they are learning to play with confidence to make a play. Come back after a bad play and make a play. I'm excited to watch those guys work. Tevin and Jah'Shawn have both done good. Theirry had a good camp, La'Darius has been good as has Nigel. [La'Darius?] has gotten so much better from last year. Working his technique, always working and trying to be in the right positions. Davis is throwing bombs and dimes, we won't go against a better quarterback. We're excited to see how that translates on game day.

Eric Morris: Our starting four are doing good, gelling as a group. Reginald Davis has really improved. D.J. is still a bit out, need more consistence right, he makes wow plays and struggles to make routine plays. Has to continue to work each day. The starting four is pretty much set in stone, we need to set the back-ups, need to establish a top 8 after this scrimmage so we can be ready for game day.

Clark Back to Left Tackle. The big news of the day from Don Williams is that as of right now, Le'Raven Clark is moving back to left tackle and Baylen Brown is moving in at right guard.   These fall practices, the coaching staff has wanted to try Dominique Robertson at left tackle and there is still the possibility that this could happen with the season a week and a half away.  Robertson is now also practicing at right guard as well.  This isn't a surprise and I understand the coaching staff wanting to give Robertson every opportunity to be successful at left tackle, the position that he's really only played. I suppose this may not be a huge deal, only playing left tackle, but I think the idea is that the footwork is different and makes it a bit more difficult to adjust.  I think the idea was to give Robertson every possible opportunity to succeed and Robertson starting at left tackle by the second game of the season is still a possibility.

Kingsbury and Feldman. I was emailed this by someone at FoxSports (I am sure that everyone was emailed this) and he just happens to be a Red Raider (shout-out Jonathan) and it's just a fantastic interview from FoxSports with Bruce Feldman and Kliff Kingsbury.  This is auto-playing, otherwise I'd embed it here on VTM.

Roster Analysis.short blurb from the LAJ about each player and a quote from a coach.

* DT Donte Phillips: Blocked at noseguard and tackle right now, but continues to work hard and working on both spots.
* FCB La'Darius Newbold: Was very raw and has gotten better and is playing with better effort and technique.
* FCB Theirry Nguema: A student of the game, plays hard and still trying to get him to locate the ball.

FoxSports Preview. Stewart Mandel and Bruce Feldman appear to be pretty high on Texas Tech and it appears that they both think that Texas Tech may exceed expectations, picking them 3rd and 4th respectively.  Here's Mandel:

Mandel: Texas Tech Red Raiders. Kliff Kingsbury's team started 7-0 last year, lost five straight, then throttled 10-3 Arizona State in the Holiday Bowl. With talented sophomore Davis Webb now entrenched at quarterback and a deeper set of playmakers around him, the Red Raiders will be more consistent and notch at least nine wins.

Williams Talks Switch. LB/RB Kenny Williams talks with the FWST about his switch to linebacker and talks a bit about what he will do at the Raider linebacker spot as well as Bradley Marquez and Williams working each day.:

"It's all on the table," Williams said. "I'll be in coverage against slot receivers. I'll be blitzing off the edge and down the line. You never know. I bring some versatility to the fray and I think I can make an impact."

Tech receiver Bradley Marquez said he and Williams have "a healthy competition" each day in coverage drills, with each player teasing the other when he gets the upper hand. Asked to gauge Williams as a hitter, a smiling Marquez said: "He'd have to catch me first, and I'm not making that easy on him."

DMN's Texas Tech Preview. The DMN has a compilation of the different links and stories from the summer about Texas Tech, as well as some new content about the Red Raiders and ultimately predict a 9-4 record for Texas Tech. Go check it out.

ESPN Roundtable. Brandon Chatmon and Jake Trotter predict some Big 12 leaders for all sorts of things and they are taking note that the Texas Tech receivers catch a lot of passes.

SB Nation 2014 College Football Guide

SB Nation College Football Previews. The pumped out a ton of content yesterday.  You can click on the banner or here are some individual links:

Blueprint for a rebuild: Six head coaches on how to restore a college football program - SBNation.com
25 maps that explain college football - SBNation.com
2014 College Football Guide - SBNation.com
How 2014's College Football Playoff works, plus 39 bowl game projections - SBNation.com

Miscellaneous. Podcasters The Solid Verbal has a preview of the Big 12 . . . this has nothing to do with football, but a fascinating look and very nice visual look at kits for the English Premier League . . . InsideTexas takes a look at the match-ups between the Longhorns and the Red Raiders . . . the SB Nation NFL draft gurus are watching how many babies Rika Levi eats and his progress this year . . .