Red Raider Gridiron: Creating Turnovers; National Predictions

Two Minute Drill. Head coach Kliff Kingsbury talks Arkansas, and how he isn't pleased with the past two weeks performance with the team.  Also talks about the Arkansas offense and how the defensive line is a good group.  Kingsbury talks about starting faster. Let's go.

Creating Turnovers. The LAJ writes about how this team hasn't created any turnovers the first two games and CB Justis Nelson has had two opportunities, but failed to capitalize on those opportunities.  Defensive coordinator says that this is something that they stress and Nelson notes that he must make those plays:

"We keep harping on it, keep stressing it, keep pointing it out on film," he said, "and really (emphasize) not just to make tackles, but the second and third guys in, coming in with an attitude that we're not just going to be involved in the play, but we're going to get in there violently to jar the ball loose."

Tech quarterback Davis Webb threw two interceptions in the first game. DeAndre Washington lost a fumble in the second. The defense didn't force any, although Nelson could have helped balance things out.

"When the ball comes to me, I've just got to make plays," he said. "It's something that I'm going to fix."

Coaches Gathering. Another example of how Rodney Allison is doing some good things with the Double-T Varsity Club, via the LAJ, as he's getting a handful of former coaches back in town for this weekend's game given the fact that Texas Tech will induct Gabe Rivera into the Ring of Honor.  Here's a bit from former NFL and Texas Tech defensive coordinator, Jim Bates:

"I can't wait to get down there and just see everything about it and what's going on," Bates said. "They say (Tech's growth and development) is wonderful. I can't wait to see it."

Among the former Tech coaches scheduled to attend the reunion are new College Football Hall of Fame honoree Jerry Moore, Spike Dykes, Grant Teaff and six members of Steve Sloan's staff from the mid-1970s. Wallene Leak, wife of the late former Tech head coach Rex Dockery, also among those planning to attend.

Predictions. We have a handful of predictions for tomorrow's game, so let's go with this. SB Nation's Dan Rubenstein previews the game and Bill Connelly made all of his predictions for week 3, which included a Texas Tech win and then writes a bit about why the F/+ numbers, which predicts a Texas Tech win by 4 and a half points:

Of course, two weeks isn't a legitimate sample. There's a reason why the preseason F/+ projections still carry heavy weight. Two weeks create a reality that can be debunked in Week 3. At least, Texas Tech hopes this is the case, because the visiting Razorbacks look much less like the sure win they appeared to be two weeks ago.

We get predictions from FoxSports Bruce Feldman and Stewart Mandel who are also both predicting Texas Tech wins.  We'll pick from Mandel and you can go to the link to read Feldman:

Mandel: Nobody saw either game, but the Red Raiders were less than impressive in their wins over Central Arkansas (42-35) and UTEP (30-26). Arkansas, meanwhile, has shown improvement from last year's 3-9 debacle, particularly quarterback Brandon Allen, who's thrown six touchdowns. The Razorbacks are going to spoil the party for a couple teams this season. I just don't see it happening in Lubbock, where Raiders QB Davis Webb will have a big day. Texas Tech 38, Arkansas 35.

And finally, only 3 of the 8 Sports Illustrated writers are picking Texas Tech.

Miscellaneous. Oklahoma State QB J.W. Walsh had surgery yesterday and could be out 6 to 8 weeks . . . Texas Tech commit Jarrett Stidham is taking an official visit to Texas Tech this weekend and spoke to the LAJ about being in town with New Orleans WR Tyron Johnson . . .