Back in the favor of the voters

Last week...Tech gets 0 votes in either of the major polls. Now after an average offensive (and very good defensive) performance against a bad Iowa State team...we see this in the polls:

AP Poll - 27 votes...good for #31 in the poll
Coaches Poll - 44 votes...good for #29 in the poll

As a side note...Aggot is 26 in the AP and 28 in the Coaches so after a good beating in Lubbock on Saturday afternoon...maybe Tech will break into the Top 25 for the first time this year...or maybe they'll win and go back to receiving 0 votes again. Who knows with the pollsters...

Kellen Tillman arrested for possession of marijuana

I think Seth over @ DTN sums it up best so I'll just direct you over to his site...

http://doubletnation.com/story/2007/10/2/204647/454

A&M game picked up by ABC for 2:30 broadcast

(from TTU Athletics Dept)

LUBBOCK, Texas - Texas Tech Football will make its fourth television appearance of the season when it faces Texas A&M at 2:30 p.m. CT Sat., Oct. 13, on ABC, the Big 12 Conference announced Monday. Lubbock residents can view the game on Channel 28 or SuddenLink Cable Channel 8. Those outside of the Lubbock viewing area should check their local listings.

Texas Tech (4-1, 0-1) faces Iowa State at Jones AT&T Stadium this weekend, before facing the Aggies. The Red Raiders and Cyclones are playing at 6 p.m.

Texas A&M is currently 4-1 on the season and 1-0 in Big 12 play, following last weekend's win over Baylor. The Aggies face Oklahoma State at home before traveling to Lubbock next weekend.

The Red Raiders have won nine of the last 12 meetings with the Aggies, but trail in the overall series 34-30-1. The Red Raiders also have won five of the last six games in the series. In the last two Lubbock meetings, Texas Tech has averaged 57.5 point per game, while holding Texas A&M to 23.0 points. Tech won last year's game in College Station on a final-minute touchdown pass from Graham Harrell to Robert Johnson, lifting Tech to the 31-27 win.

Other televised games include Texas at Iowa State (FSN, 11:30 a.m.), Missouri at Oklahoma (FSN, 5:30 p.m.) and Colorado at Kansas State (ESPN2, 8:15 p.m.).

5 games...5 different unis...

What will they wear this week for homecoming??? My vote is black/red or black/black. Will the red/red of last year become a thing of the past???

(click on image for full size photos)

Crabtree the superhuman!!!

Another game for Texas Tech...another 100+ yd game for Crabtree. After 5 games, here are his numbers:

60 catches
920 yards
14 TD's

A few points about his current production:
- The 14 TD's is a school record, breaking the mark of 13 TD's set by Jarrett Hicks in 2004 and equaled by Joel Filani last season.
- 14 TD's also ties the NCAA Freshman record, currently held by Jabar Gaffney (Florida, 2000), Mike Williams (USC, 2002), and Davone Bass (Hawaii, 2005). Expect this one to belong to Crabtree by 6:45 PM next Saturday.
- 920 receiving yards leads all NCAA receivers...by 241 yards. He has gained 35% more than the #2 wideout.
- 60 catches also leads all NCAA receivers...by 15 catches. Danny Amendola is 3rd at 44 catches.
- 14 TD's is 5 more TD's than the next closest WR and double that of the next closest Big 12 WR (Malcolm Kelly, Blow U, 7 TD's)

Here's the fun (and scary) part of Crabtree's production this year:

- He's currently projecting to these numbers:

156 catches
2392 yards
36 TD's

The NCAA D1 records are:

142 catches (Manny Hazard, Houston, 1989)
2,060 yards (Trevor Insley, Nevada, 1999)
27 TD's (Troy Edwards, La Tech, 1998)

While it's unlikely to assume that his production will continue at the same level against Big 12 opponents...if it did then he would own all NCAA single-season records as a freshman!!! Also, the NCAA record for catches by a freshman is 98 by Taurean Henderson of Texas Tech in 2002. Assuming he played out his eligibility, here's where he would project to over 4 13-game seasons (12 games + bowl game) with current 4-year NCAA record in parentheses.

624 catches (316 catches, Taylor Stubblefield, Purdue 01-04)
9,568 yards (5,005 yds, Trevor Insley, Nevada 96-98
146 TD's (50 TD's, Troy Edwards, La Tech 96-98)

Obviously, these projections are very far reaching at this point...but it wouldn't be totally out of the question to see Crabtree at least approaching many NCAA career records by the end of the 2008 season. The outlook is bright for the Red Raiders offense and Michael Crabtree over the next few years. With the Big 12 in chaos mode after BlowU and Texas both lost last week (remember that the loser of the RRR game this week will start conference 0-2)...there's no need to look ahead to 2008 just yet. However...I'll go ahead and drop in a friendly note that 10 of 11 starters will return in 08 with Danny Amendola being the lone starting senior.

I'll be back later with some stats on Graham Harrell and a look ahead to his projections.

Dear Rex Grossman...

Rex,

Please find a comfortable spot at the end of the bench. Don't bother showing up to practice either. Our defense has had enough reps at "jumping the route" and breaking up/intercepting your passes. Our receivers need to spend more time playing catch with the QB and build a good rapport with him. This will go a long way toward helping us return to the Super Bowl. Your services are no longer needed. It took a while but I have finally realized that you do not have the makeup of an NFL Quarterback and that Brian Griese...or Kyle Orton...or Vinny Testaverde...or whomever we can find that's sitting by the phone at home (Anybody has Jeff George's phone # handy???) will be a better fit for our system. I'm sorry it had to come to this but it is what it is. You can't see over the offensive line. You can't roll out of the pocket to see around the offensive line. You can't go through a route progression. What can you do, Rex??? Wait...I've got it!! You can complete passes but they tend to be caught by the defense at an alarmingly high rate. See all is not lost. You can effectively replace the JUGS machine in defensive drills. (hey Ron...cancel that order on the M1700...Rex will take care of it for us.) Ok Rex...sorry to take up anymore of your time. Thanks for not making me look like a total fool out there. I think this move will be best for the both of us in the long run. I can restore the fans' trust in me and you can stop having to go to the psychiatrist the day after a game. It's a win-win situation for all involved!

Regards,

Lovie

My Other Weekly Picks (Sept 22-24th)

These are my actual plays from last weekend...for record keeping purposes at the end of the year:

Won:
Oklahoma -24 @ Tulsa
Wake Forest - 3 vs Maryland
SMU +21 @ TCU
Dallas +3 @ Chicago
Tennessee +5 @ New Orleans

Lost:
Louisville -35.5 vs Syracuse (damn impluse run down to the sports book after listening to Gameday )
Texas Tech -6 @ Okie Lite
Oakland -3 vs Cleveland

Parlay Win:
Tennessee +180 @ New Orleans along with the under (-115) on 47 points. THANK YOU to Rob Bironas for missing the chip shot (under 30 yd) FG in the 4th quarter!!!

Monday night picks

I hope that like me...you took the Titans (on the moneyline at +180) and the under for a nice parlay. I found out yesterday that I won't have internet at home until Saturday...so combine that with our internet at work being down yesterday and I feel quite seperated from the world right now. Oh well...I'll survive.

Apology, Depression, and "good news"

Apology
First off I want to apologize on not getting anything else posted last week. I wrote everything that I wanted to post...but could never find free internet near the blackjack tables for some reason. It's crazy I tell ya. Then I get home yesterday and my internet is down (and still was this morning). As far as my picks...I did have Tech winning 52-42 and the Bears beating the Cows 24-19. The Tech pick was an honest pick...the Bears pick was reverse psychology. I'm heading back to Vegas again this Thursday night (for a wedding) so I won't make this game...but I will get a Tech preview posted. Unfortunately...it doesn't look like the directional louisiana (no I won't capitalize the L) game will be on TV...and I don't want to spend time researching a 1-AA team so you'll just get some thoughts on Tech and a discussion on what it will take for them to win by X points on Saturday.

Depression
Saturday afternoon...sitting at the Bellagio sports book and watching Tech and Okie Lite trade TD's in the first half. Thoughts...Crabs is getting better every week...wow our defense blows...do we know how to tackle??? or blitz???...wow...what a great catch by MC...nice job getting two quick scores before the end of the half. Then we head down to Mandalay Bay to catch the 2nd half since we were going to a show after the game. Well 90 minutes of walking and trying to find a taxi and food later...I'm still hungry...still haven't found a TV...and I'm listening to the end of game updates on my cell from a friend. Upon hearing of the dropped TD pass...I turned to the girl and said, "Well...there goes the national championship." I then proceeded to drink 17 spiked fruity red drinks during the show...well not really...but maybe it would've made me feel better.

"Good News"
I think I'm the last TT fan site to post this...but Lyle Setencich is gone as the Def Coordinator. While he "officially" resigned...this quote from the LAJ sure makes it sound like Leach initiated the departure:

Tech athletic director Gerald Myers said head coach Mike Leach moved to make the change.
"Mike told me early this morning that he was going to talk to Lyle today about this,’’ Myers said. "Mike did initiate it and felt he needed to talk to Lyle about it, and so that’s what transpired. … I think they just decided that a change needed to be made on defense."

I'm surprised that Leach is willing to pull the trigger mid-season and had resigned myself to watching one of Tech's best passing attacks in recent memory be hampered by a weak defense. Now I'm not saying that changing the DC will create overnight improvement on defense...but early indications are that McNeill is willing to blitz, stunt, and mix up coverages on a regular basis, something that Lyle would never do. If he does that, then the burden will be on the players to step up, be aggressive, and perform on Saturdays. They'll have two "warmup" games against NW la and Iowa State before the Aggots come to town October 13th for their next "statement game" so it will be a few weeks before any real judgements can be made. That doesn't mean we won't try to make them though!

Weekly Picks (Sept 20-23)

I'm quickly turning into the worst blogger ever...that or maybe I just have a bit too much going on right now. I promise that this site will get much better in Ocotober and November as my travel will only be to Tech football games and not to 18 other places like it has been in recent months. Anyways...onto the picks and I'll be writing my Bears/Cows preview on the flight to Vegas today and post it once I can get down to the 1 free wi-fi spot at the Wynn.

Texas ATM +3 (-135) @ Miami - You have got to be kidding me with this spread. The oddsmakers are continuing to leave the Canes as the favorite...and just making it that much more of a negative payout if you bet the Ags. It's not that I'm high on ATM for any particular reason...but Miami has an above average defense and a pathetic offense. Worst case scenario...ATM chokes it up on the road and the weather gets nasty. There is a good chance for some significant amount of rain and that could serve to keep the scoring down. If you wanna bet this game...take the Ags...but more than likely take the under.

Oklahoma (-24) @ Tulsa - Until the BlowU offense stops putting up 50+ points a game...my money is on them. Tulsa is a nice team with a new coach (Todd Graham) who has instilled some confidence in the Golden Hurricanes. However, they haven't yet faced the BlowU defense and their offensive production is going to change. Expect Tulsa to keep this one close for a quarter...maybe until halftime. However, they'll wear down and the Sooner depth will take over.

Texas Tech (-6) @ Oklahoma State - I'm scared to bet this game...but since I'm not writing up a preview I might as well give you my pick. Okie Lite is likely w/o stud RB Savage and the loss of C David Washington is a big blow to the offense. B0bby Reid has gone from being hyped as "The Next VY" to a guy who is too lazy to put in the work needed to win games. The QB position is up in the air but expect to see both Reid and Zac Robinson at times during the game. We know what to expect from Tech...there is a lot of uncertainty from the Pokes. I'll take the certain play and say Tech wins this one in a high-scoring affair. Check the total...and if it's below 70 then take the over!!!