Reply With Quote
Its not the QB...its the system. Obviously the QB has to have some talent but Leach's system makes you look really good....look what happens to them after they leave.
#2 vs. #10 or #8
this is like the ND USC matchup
only Texas won't get praised or be voted the winner of the greatest football game of all time by ESPN if they win on the last play made possible by a clutch fumble and a reset clock
besides a&m, this is going to be the last legit opponent until texas plays their bowl game
i'm just glad as this game is going to be at DKR
Hodges has passed for 2400 yds and 22 TDs
isnt it weird how Tech always has the best quarterbacks?
LOL
anyway I watched that Kstate tech game saturday and that wideout Felani had a career game
it seems Taurean Henderson has been good for 3 years too, he had 5 total TDs
On defense I don't see how they can stop Texas
theyve got to come out running in the 1st half and keep techs O off the field
also don't think VY will go his third straight game without an INT
Vince will be able to throw though, to my main main David Thomas
Vince regulated upon Tech last year in what was a spectacular game in Lubbock
when Texas is on defense theyre gonna have to bring some LBs through those wideass O-Line gaps Tech sets up in
with the speed and strength the Texas secondary has, they'll will have to hold Hodges to less than 500 years passing and 4 TDs
thoughts?
predictions?
Texas 45
Tech 28
Last edited by mookie2001; 10-17-2005 at 09:45 AM. Reason: STOOOOOOOOOOOPPPPPPPPPPEEEEEEEESSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!
Its not the QB...its the system. Obviously the QB has to have some talent but Leach's system makes you look really good....look what happens to them after they leave.
UT by 20 or more book it
Texas Tech is overrated. Beating a Tech team at DKR is not the same as going into South Bend and dropping the home team, so that's why the hype won't be there.
But what will be there, is the opportunity for Texas to notch a win against a "top 10" opponent. Though I'm not sure if strength of schedule is based on the ranking of an opponent when the game was played or at the end of the season.
true marcus but the Longhorns are not from Los Angeles and 1.5 time defending champions
and Tech doesnt have its own network
ND was a 1 loss team too
I'm with Batman. Before the game with Colorado, I thought the Buffs would be Texas' biggest nemisis the rest of the year - and I STILL think so. Tech has an improved defense, but it still sucks. The Nebraska and Kansas games showed me just how vulnerable their offense is to an average defense (let alone a good defensive secondary like Texas has). Young will have a field day both running and passing, and if Charles gets the nod, even more damage for the Red Raiders.
Texas 52
Tech 24
I dont think Tech will reach 24 if anything i give them 14-21, the Horns will be in the 40's again
Give Tech a few more garbage-time points and I'll agree wholeheartedly.
I don't think a team that beat Nebraska 31-30 at Lincoln is much a threat. They only managed 21 at home against Texas last year, so I expect a rout. I see that A&M game as a danger, but that's pretty much it. Texas wins 61-17. Also, USC isn't quite as scary to me now.
Texas Tech walks into Austin with absolutely nothing to lose in this game.
If they lose the game badly, as most are predicting, it will be no big shock. After all, Tech doesn't have the athletes, the facilities, or the warchest that exists on the 40 Acres. Who among Tech's starters would get much time at UT? Anyone?
If they lose a close game somehow, it will give more reason to think that the Red Raiders are among the top 10-15 teams in the country. After all, they will have gone into the home field of a top 2 team and held their own in a huge game. A loss by less than 10 or so in Austin will keep Tech ranked somewhere in the Top 15-20 and give the Red Raiders a chance to regain their ranking before season's end, while ensuring them an opportunity to go to a big bowl game.
If they win in Austin, well, the City of Lubbock might spontaneously combust.
I'm rooting for Tech, but I don't expect them to win.
But I can see ways that they might keep the game close and give themselves a chance. As pass-happy as Leach's offense is, it's not necessarily a big-play kind of pass-happy; the offense is geared more towards possession throws that create opportunities for big plays. It's effective use against a good defense depends on the ability to complete passes and loosen up the defense to create running lanes to balance the output. When the Red Raiders have been relatively balanced against Texas in the last 3 years, they've been able to even out time of possession and have either been close or won; when they didn't had balance, they lost badly.
If Hodges can make plays in the passing game like Symons did in 2003 (32-56, 365 yds, 3 TD) or like Kingsbury did in 2002 (38-60, 473 yds, 6TD), it should open up the running game enough to make a difference. In 2002, when Tech won at Lubbock, the Red Raiders added around 100 rushing yards to the passing output and held the ball for more than 30 minutes. In 2003, in a close game at Austin, the Red Raiders ran for more than 160 yards, had the ball for almost 32 minutes, and lost in the waning seconds. Last year, in a blowout at Lubbock, the Red Raiders threw for 400+ yards, but ended up with -17 yards rushing and held the ball only for 20 minutes and got destroyed.
Hodges is more consistent in operating Leach's offense than bie was last season (and even better, I think, than B.J. Symons was in 2003); he's somewhat Kingsbury-esque in terms of his poise and accuracy in the system. What's problematic about Hodges is that he's never played in a big game before, and certainly not in a big game on the road. I think Lincoln will help him to be a bit more prepared for what's coming, but ultimately, what happens to Tech depends on what Hodges can and can't do in the passing game.
Tech would be helped by some turnovers, but turnovers haven't told the tale in this series of late. Tech turned it over once last year and got smoked. Texas turned it over 3 times in 2003 (to none for Tech) and barely won. Texas turned it over once in 2002 (to none for Tech) as Tech won. It would be helpful to Tech's cause to manufacture some turnovers on Saturday.
Like I say, I support Tech, but I don't necessarily see them winning this game or even keeping it close. But I also wouldn't be shocked if the Red Raiders found some way to make things happen and gave Texas more than I expect them to.
Good point.
Look for Melton to buthle his huthle and get about 70 yards for like 1 - 2 touchdowns.
A&m a danger, lets see they beat a DivII-A team by 13, almost lose to Baylor, and got destroyed by a Colorado team that was blown out by Texas.
Don't see it happening on T+1, Texas should run the table.
A&M at Kyle is always a tough task. Texas should win out but there have been plenty of times when the better team coming in has not won that game.
tu wins by 3 tds over TTU this week. I think that NU defense is the toughest that TTU has faced all year, but I think tu has better DB play (which they will need because I think NU front four is better).
VY will control the game. Next task for tu is aTm on day after turkeyday. (I can't wait to be in the stands for that one!).
I have to ask.
Seriously?, you thnk the bugeaters' front 4 is better than UT's?
Mack Brown Monday press conference: October 17
General Comments: It was a fun game last week and it's a fun time in Austin right now watching this team play. It's a team that has taken the at ude of our preseason slogan of 'Take Dead Aim' and I was really proud that after the commotion at Ohio State and the big win that they came back and played hard against Rice and did the same thing after the OU win, they came back and played hard against Colorado. They seem to be a very mature team and they have learned to give respect to the opponents. That's hard to do in college football.
Most football games are won and lost at the line of scrimmage and we thought this one was the same. We were able to stop their run. We weren't able to run it as we normally do, but we had great pass protection and we were able to put a lot of pressure on Joel Klatt. I thought that was the difference. Vince stood back there a long time and he had a chance to find his first second and third receiver and therefore ended up with a great percentage day of 24-of-29 and had his best day. You look at stopping the run and in our league right now, five of the top 10 teams against the run are in the Big 12. It's amazing what teams in our league are doing against the running game and it is a credit to our league.
When we score first since we've been here, we are 56-6, and we have scored first every time this year. It shows that if we get out of the blocks quickly it helps us in the ball game. So far this season we have scored every first time we touched the ball except for the Louisiana-Lafayette game where we fumbled at the 20, but were still able to score first in the ball game. When we out-rush an opponent we are 65-0 and we were able to do that again on Saturday by a significant amount. When we win explosives, which we did, 9-4, and we win the turnover ratio 1-2, when we win both of those we are 45-0.
We accomplished all of our goals on Saturday and again what a great day by Vince Young. He is completing 68 percent of his passes and he is 23-2 as a starter and it seems like the bigger the stakes the better he plays, which is really exciting right now for us. He has really embraced the national scene and that should help us this weekend. I also like the fact that he has been so unselfish. When asked about the Heisman he is not talking about the Heisman he is talking about his teammates and his team. When he was asked about stats he said I don't care if we run it a hundred times or pass it a hundred times, we want to win. All of these things permeate through the team. The team listens. It's hard if your star player is unselfish for anyone else to be selfish.
We also won all three phases of the kicking game and that was significant because Colorado had maybe the best place kicker and the best punter in the country. We knew field position would be huge on Saturday and when they punted 56 yards the first punt and then we have a block in the back and get it back at the 10, I thought the game was starting the way Colorado wanted it to start. Then we had the 16-play drive and sent a message to them that we were going to be able to move the ball. I thought we were a little bit better on the penalties; we still had too many foolish penalties so we have to handle that individually. We still dropped two or three interceptions so we can do much better in the turnover ratio than we are. We are concerned we are not getting as many turnovers. We had the one fumble at our end of the field that led to points; we did miss a field goal. We thought we played the best sudden change defense that we have played since we have been at Texas, but we were disappointed that we got down to 4th down twice and they scored on the play in both situations.
As far as the Texas Tech game this weekend, No. 2 vs. No. 8 or 10 depending on which poll you are talking about, GameDay is in town which the kids will really enjoy and our students will have fun with. It's an old Southwest Conference foe, which I know the people in the state of Texas like and all of college football's eyes are looking at Austin, Texas, and the state of Texas with guys from both of these schools. What a fun time for everybody in this state. Credit to Texas Tech I think this is the first time since '76 that they have been in the top 10. It is fun to see both schools getting this kind of attention.
When e ( s) was at Texas Tech and e is a great friend of many coaches and mine across the country, I thought he did the best job anybody could do at Tech. It had his personality, he fit Tech perfectly and Tech is a great place to coach, if you look at them historically they always win. They have always had great teams there; they have been very consistent throughout the years. Then Mike came in, he wasn't from that part of the country, he was going to throw the ball all the time into that big wind and nobody said he could do it and give him credit. He has taken his personality, he has taken his offense and he has done exactly what he has wanted to do with it and he has won every year that he has been there. I am just amazed at the things he has accomplished.
When you look at throwing for over 600 yards last weekend, it's just amazing. I laughed we threw for 336 yards and we were all excited, but then Vince said yeah but they threw for 636. That is just what you have. What they are doing in college football is unheard of offensively, it's amazing. They are completing 71 percent of their passes. They are averaging 472 yards passing, which is phenomenal. They are No. 2 in total offense, at 572 yards per game. Scoring they are No. 1 averaging 52 points per game, but here is where the change has come, a lot of people are not talking about their defense. They are No. 32 against the run, giving up only 117 yards per game, they are No. 23 against the pass with 184 yards per game, but they are No. 18 in total defense in the country only giving up 301 yards per game. And the next two stats are the most impressive, in scoring defense they are No. 13 in the country only giving up 16 points per game and on turnover ratio they are No. 8 in the country with a plus-eight. Texas Tech is a complete team right now they are not just at team that throws the ball all the time and makes a lot of yards.
It's a fun week; you love to play Tech because coaching is involved trying to figure out how to stop that crazy passing attack. They are spreading them out all over the field and throwing 74 times a game. Depth is an issue because you have to be able to rush the passer and try to get him off his rhythm. They have very few sacks because they have the huge splits and because he gets the ball out of his hands so quickly. Taurean Henderson has been a great player for them. I think he just broke a national record; they've had a bunch of receivers break a national record. They break records more quickly than most people eat lunch. That's what we've got this week.
On the big splits: They have the big splits so it disrupts your blitzes up front because if you have a twist your guys have to show it and they have to come so much further. They felt like the outside guy can never get to the quarterback, whether it's a defensive end or a twisting guy because he has too far to come. If you bring a secondary guy, he has a long way to come to get to the quarterback and they have so many hot reads and quick balls that they get on the screens and draws that if you get too many inside it, they can spread you out to the field and they are constantly throwing the little bubble screens and quick things outside so if you get too many committed inside then you miss a tackle outside and it gets you in trouble.
On Tech's Defense: They have better players for one thing. They are knocking you out they are playing with much more confidence. They have been there long enough now to get their scheme and the new defensive coordinator over the last years was a head coach and he was the defensive coordinator at Cal and he has been around. Lyle (Setencich) has done a great job with those guys. I really believe that they are playing with the confidence now of a team that is in the top part of defense in the country instead of being the bad defense at Texas Tech that everybody talked about. Now no one is talking about how bad the defense is, they gave Nebraska trouble and they gave Kansas State trouble, and they gave Kansas trouble. It's not just their schedule they are playing really well.
On the running game: When you look at Texas Tech's improvement in the run defense, giving up 117 yards (per game); it's a difficult thing for us. We will have to stay balanced and still try to hold the ball. When we have been successful against them we have forced turnovers and limited the amount of throws that they have been able to have and we have been able to keep the ball and score points on offense. We lost three turnovers here in the 43-40 game and we gained none. We had 2 turnovers that we could have gained, but we were offsides or had some penalty in both of those settings and then we missed a 4th-and-inches going in to go ahead 28-27. You cannot miss opportunities against them because Mike will go for 4th-and-10 at his own 30, he doesn't care. Because of the nature of their offense they are never out of the game. I saw them down 20 something points to TCU last year in the first quarter and they were tied or ahead by halftime. It's a game you can never relax. It's never over until it's over.
On Texas' defense being confident: Well they are. We do have an advantage in that Mike Tolleson and Duane Akina have seen this offense. It's new for Oscar and Gene Chizik even though Oscar was at Houston. The defense gets excited about playing in this game because it is such a challenge. What a great day for a defensive back to show his skills as a pass rusher. It's a totally different ball game. It's a fresh-legged game; they wear you out so many times. We went out there and got beat, the only road game we have lost in about 24 when we lost 42-38 a few years ago, and they just wore us out. We were thin on defense that day and we got dead legged in the fourth quarter. It's key to keep fresh guys and fresh legs on pass rushing and covering.
On Tech's continued success despite changing the quarterback: First, Cody looks just like the past three; there's no difference. If you just flash at him you can't tell any difference. And I think the thing that has made them so consistent is that Mike Leach has sold guys on, "You come in, you sit for four years, and you play for one." He's sold him on that and their doing it. They get in a little bit at the end of some games when they're way ahead, but he has got a five year quarterback every year. And if you look at teams, usually older teams with experience at quarterback are the most successful teams. And we're an older team and we have experience at quarterback. We struggled some when they were younger. But he keeps an older quarterback in his system. I really believe it's one of the things that makes them so successful. They've taken that Brigham Young theory of "You're going to have your time, so just wait, cause when it gets to be your time, you're going to be really good and you're going to lead the nation in passing." And I noticed that they have four receivers, counting Henderson, that are leading our league in receptions.
On BCS rankings and last year's "campaign for our team": Well I thought it was really bad of me to brag on our team last year. It's something that I've got to overcome. Saying nice things about your team - my lord, what an awful thing. But I really believe that there were a lot of people talking about the BCS standings last week that got beat. So by getting beat they put themselves in a more drastic position than they were planning on today. So I still think it's way too early to think about those things. People have asked would I personally rather have seen Notre Dame beat USC? Well, you know I stand there watching the game and at the moment I'd say, "No question." You know you'd rather be number one in the country than number two, but I was not going to let it take away from us beating Colorado, because it's way too early. I think if we do our business, we'll be fine. But we've got No. 8 or No. 10 depending on whose eyes you are looking through this weekend in Austin. And the BCS is very unimportant, at least until after this game.
On polls: I think it's okay to come out now. I've always thought that polls should not come out until the middle of October. And it does have a lot of discussion right now, but it changes so much. I'm still not smart enough to understand it. I still can't figure out how they can say that last week were going to be No. 3 and this week we're a solid No. 2 and all we did was win big. You know if we were going to win big, we should still be No. 2. So I get confused. I'm not smart enough to handle all those computers.
On the team's focus: This team has been funny that their focus is has been winning the conference championship. And they feel like if they can do that, and they probably need to be undefeated to do that, but if they can do that and they're undefeated, they are still going to be in the right spot at the end of the year to be able to play in the last game. But their focus has been more on beating the team at hand and not worrying about things they can't control and controlling their own destiny and putting themselves in Houston with a chance to win. And that's the fun thing about this team. I like that for them and if you sit around and start talking about all the things you can't control, you'll probably get beat. Because we've got to play really well this weekend, probably need to play our best game this weekend to win. Because they are the best team we've played at what they do. You can say what you want, but they've improved on defense, but they do offensively what they do better than any one in the country and anyone we've played and they are really unique at it. So any thought that distracts from winning this weekend is one that could be awful for us.
On Tech's system: When you're raised in fundamental football and all the old guys told you "You better be able to run it and you better be able to stop the run." Now what happens in the Mike Leach system as you study it, and we've played them now five times, this will be our sixth game against their system, is that their draw package, their screen package to the running back has to be considered their running game. So many of their throws are behind the line of scrimmage. So what Mike has done is say that a four-yard pass is a four-yard run and that's how he's based his entire system. It's hard to just say this who I'm going to be and this is what I'm going to do and who would have thought you could have gone to one of the windiest places in the country and throw the ball all time and be successful with it, and he's done it, and he's been very aggressive with his system and I think that's helped him a lot with his success. You're seeing more people with a spread offense and that's what he's done and the other thing is that it allows his to take the tall throwing quarterback who doesn't make yards with his feet. They have no interest in running at Tech. You just don't see it that often. He tells the high school quarterback - we want you to stand back there thirty five yards from the line of scrimmage where you'll never get touched and throw for 800 yard a week, and it's working for him.
On Vince's reaction to winning against Colorado: We thought after Oklahoma that it might be hard to get him to settle back down because that was kind of a break out game since he wasn't as successful last year against them and we thought he had his best practice on Tuesday and I think we are seeing the work that he and Billy Pittman and Brian Carter and Limas Sweed and David Thomas did this summer, it's coming to fruition. After the game, I said, 'What did you feel out there today?' He said, 'Coach, I felt like it was what we were doing this summer it was just summer workout today. We had guys open and I was just going from one to the other.' Vince also gives you the ability to be more aggressive on offense because you know he knows where to go with the ball. For instance the first fourth and four at about our 38-yard-line is not a smart call for a coach in a field position game. But here he is, he looks to the slant on the left and it's not there and like last week at Oklahoma on third down and four, he steps up into the pocket and throws a 22 yard pass downfield on the other side of the field to Brian Carter and he still has the ability to run and make it on his feet. So now that he can beat you on one side of the field or going to the second or third receiver or with his feet, it just gives you so many options that its makes it where you'd rather not ever punt or kick field goals cause when you cross the fifty you'd like Vince to have the ball in his hands with people spread out.
ND was only a 1 loss team because they played real teams. Who has tceh played? Indiana State, a team that lost to an NAIA team? Maybe Florida International or Sam Houston State? ALL at home, too. Nebraska's the toughest team they've faced, and they're a joke. Tceh is extremely overrated and the sips are gonna kick the crap out of them. And as much as I'd love for A&M to beat Texas, that's a pipe dream with the way we're playing right now.
No way this game's anywhere near the game SC/ND was.
Let's not forget Tech is 10-1 their last eleven games including a thrashing of number 4 California.
Tech is for real and let up on Nebraska or else that game would have been another blow-out.
Tech scares me because if their offense gets going they are hard to stop. They have beaten Texas 45% of the time the past 25 years.
Texas 54
Tech 45
The only time tceh had a dominant lead was about five minutes into the second quarter (21-0, it was 21-14 at halftime). If they're letting up that early, they've got bigger problems than playing Texas ahead of them. They had to score a touchdown with 12 seconds left to win it, I don't think they were "letting up" or had a chance to "blow-out" NU.
Texas 65
tceh 21
Three things tell me this game will be more of a blowout (in Texas' favor) than people think.
First, Tech lives and breathes the pass. Yes, they do run draws every now and then to keep the defense honest, but if they can't pass, they die. The thing about Tech up to this point is they haven't played a good defensive secondary or a good defensive line that can cause havoc for the QB. The nearest thing to a defense was Nebraska, and that isn't saying a whole lot. And Tech barely survived that game as the Nebraska player couldn't keep the fumble/interception in his hands the last minute of the game. Tech's offensive line will not be able to handle what is arguably one of the better defensive fronts in college football. Cody will be lucky he's even able to get on the field in the second half with all the pounding he'll be taking. And let's not forget about Texas' secondary. While Colorado's passing game isn't nearly as good, they were starting to hit a good stride in that area before coming to Austin last week. Texas' defensive secondary only gave up probably 2-3 pass plays of 15 yards or more - that's it. And Colorado was expected to pass with ease.
Second, Tech has had the luxary of not only playing cream puffs up to this point, but also playing ALL but ONE of their games at home. People will tell you that Lubbock is a hard place to win in, so it doesn't surprise me that Tech has pasted these Div 1-AA schools and Big X11 bottom-feeders on their own turf. However, you take them out of their stadium and they become a different animal. Again, I'll use Nebraska, only because that's been their only road game. Nebraska isn't a bad team, but they are definately not top-20 material. Tech had to not only rely on a luck with having a Nebraska player cough up the ball near the end of the game, but also of making a touchdown on 4th down with time running out.
Third, the Tech defense is average at best, but probably more like Missouri's - (and we all saw what Texas did to Mizzou). They won't be able to stop Vince's legs, they won't be able to stop Charles' legs, and if that wasn't enough, they won't be able to stop Vince's arm. I already called the game Texas 52, Tech 24, and I think that is being a little conservative in Texas' favor.
I'm not worried a bit, really. The line for this game opened at Texas -12 and quickly moved to -15.5/-16.
I would agree....but I am usually paranoid before games anyway!
the two times Tech faced a good defense...KU and NU...they barely got 30....which is something for a team averaging over 50pts. Tech will get yards and points but not enough to win, IMO.
Against basically that same wonderful secondary and defensive front last year, Tech still threw for 400 yards. The difference between 2004 and 2003 or 2002 was Tech's inability to gain any yards on the ground and sustain drives to run the clock. (Tech won in 2002, and lost in the last minute in 2003.)
Tech will have passing yards -- I suspect that Tech will gain 300+ yards passing on Saturday. But if they can't run the ball, and if they can't control the clock, they'll get blown out.
If Tech keeps the ball for around 30 minutes, rushes for somewhere around 100 yards, and doesn't have excessive turnovers, they'll be in the neighborhood. If they do those things and force a couple of turnovers, it could be interesting.
I don't expect those things to happen, but if Tech is to have any chance to win that game, that's it.
Hook 'em!
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
