View from the Cheap Seats-Texas Tech

[echeese]

Label this the desperate to go bowling game. . . .Desperation Samba . .. Halloween is here.




two 3-5 teams needing a win to have any real chance of going bowling.  And both teams REALLY need those extra practice weeks.

While only marginally less ugly than the ISU win. . . . .the key word is WIN. . . .and TEXAS secured one.

And let's be honest, Halloween weekend on the plains of Lubbock?   Weird juju happens in Lubbock. . .'98 cost us the sourth. .  .'02 cost us a conference title. . . .'08 cost us a National Title berth .. . team won on the road. . . 1st time that has happened this season.

 I used the word SECURE as a sarcastic pun .. . . .once again we see our WRs fail to help out our young QB . ..who frankly had a very nice game. . . . . EXCEPT for a really ugly fumble that lead to more than half of TT's offensive scoring.  MJ, Harris Ship (ok a fumble. . which was actually worse) and even true Freshman Beck. . .all with drops on very catchable passes.  And in each case, a play that would have moved the chains.

Good news, we were playing one of the worst defenses in the CFB . .. though we managed to make them look inspired at times.   1st quarter was flat out ugly as the TT DL controlled much of the line of scrimmage after TEXAS had a decent opening drive ending in a FG.   I believe (haven't gone back to look) this is the 1st opening drive points of the season.   So that was good but it was followed by 2 punts and a fumble.    Then with the 1st drive of the 2nd Quarter, TEXAS starts clicking, 10 plays 60 yards .. . . only to result in a shanked FG attempt.   

Seven offensive drives on the night of 5 plays or less ending with either a turnover, to include turnover on downs or fumble. Six drives of 5 plays or more ending in either points or an attempt at points and one 2 play explosive drive yielding a TD.  

  To say we were up and down was an understatement.  #1 positive, our RBs ran well. . . but then TT is #117 in rushing D so I hoped they ran well.   And nice to see two things, J Gray cutting well and gaining yards and a Daje sighting. . . 2 carries for 23 yards per carry.  The speed sweep is back.    We gained almost 500 yards in offense and we were not afraid to push the ball deep.   Generally speaking I gave the play calling a B+. . . . as I mentioned, if our WRs make some catches. . we sustain more drives.  

Key positive stat. . .4 of 5 TDs on red zone offense .that is OUTSTANDING.... ..Key negative stat  5 of 16 on 3rd down attempts.

Having said that, career day for Harris, the man has been a machine this year.   Have to give some props to Swaim and his blocking. . .he was a beast at times. . .hopefully he's not injuried (remember, haven't read any reports yet).   Malcom Brown and J Gray ran hard, this was good to see.   Swoopes looked less tentative, especially in the passing game.  His numbers would have been stellar with a bit more help but he had a good game.   He still does not keep the ball on the zone read though I wonder if tonight they were called hand offs, don't know.   Fumble was a huge negative.

    


The defense gave up one TD .. . .they very much played bend but do not break.   Now at times they were gashed badly.  Washington went for 6.1 a carry, Stockton for 9.2. . .that's not good.    Especially considering the RBs we'll face in November.   But at the end of the day. . .the D gave up 6 points thanks to a shanked FG attempt.  You can win a great many games when your defense only gives up 6.

Saw lots of young players on the D, plenty of Punna Ford sightings and Bryan Echols with the start at CB.   Saw Antuan Davis as well.  We're need to get the young guys ready for next year as the road to 2 wins and a bowl shot is not going to be an easy climb.

Key play of the game?   Easy, Diggs knocking out TT's back up QB forcing them to play Heisman Trophy winner Vinny Testeverde ..  .oh wait. . . Vincent T Jr. . . Vinny's son. . .yeah. . .didn't think Vinny had any eligibility left after ending his career which included a cup of coffee with the Dallas Cowboys. . . .

Great hit, clean but not only knocked the ball loose leading to a short field TD. . .bringing in the walk on pretty much sealed the game.   But make no mistake, Vincent did his Dad proud and played a good game .. clearly there was a reason he's a walk on but his stats vs TEXAS were similar to Bryce Petty's. . . 

Path to a Bowl Game

TEXAS now needs to win 2 of the next 3 vs WVU in Austin, @ Okie Lite and T Day vs TCU.    No easy task.  Today (again with the standard caveats) I see us beating OSU and needing an upset vs either WVU or TCU .. .both of which are FAR FAR better teams today than we thought pre season.

One at a time, we have the talent to beat WVU but Trickett is the best QB in the Conference.   We need to bring our A game.  ..They ranked 12th in the nation in total offense but 25th in scoring offense. . .they can be sloppy and turn the ball over. ..

If we play on defense like we did vs OU or Baylor. . .great chance to win. . .assuming we play on offense like we did vs OU.  .. if our offense shows up like KSU or Baylor. . . .well . ..don't like our chances much.

CFS is still looking for a signature win .. . .could this be it?


Ranking the BigXII

Now there are 3 at the top. . . Big XII race shaping up. . .. 

   #1  TCU now has a signature come from behind win. . .went into highly hostile WVU and pulled off the last second FG win to keep both conference title and playoff hopes alive. . .they get KSU at home this week, biggest game in the conference this year.. . .TCU still needs someone to beat Baylor while KSU still has WVU to face before a potential BigXII title game vs Baylor on 6 Dec.

#2  KSU. . . .tougher road left but KSU and Baylor are now the last 2 teams controlling their own destiny.  Either wins out and they are right there in the playoff hunt. . .can someone go through the BigXII with only one loss?

#3  Baylor .. . . paying the price for their uber soft pre conference scheduling. . they face OU this week and a win there sets them up for an end of the season show down with KSU and the conference title.   Their soft OOC schedule makes them highly doubtful for the playoffs.

#4   

   5 turnovers says it all. . . .they had a chance to lead the conference at home. . .played a great defensive game vs TCU but end of the day. . .overcoming 5 turnovers is a tall mountain (see what I did there?) .. to climb

#5   

  sux .. . nice thing as a TEXAS fan. . .no matter what OU does from here, they have underachieved from a pre-season playoff favorite.    Still sux we let that game get away.

#6   

  Barely ahead of Okie Lite. . .nice win vs  

  but needs to win 2 of the next 3 to go bowling.  Okie Lite has a bye . .. teams coming off bye's often play very well.

#7   Okie Lite. . . only needs 1 win to go bowling. . bad news, they face TEXAS (who they have 2 weeks to prep for) Baylor then OU in Bedlam. . . they may go O-fer. . . 

#8   

    You think we have QB problems?  

#9  ISU . .. . 

#10  Jayhawks. . . .only question with this mutt is who's going to coach the fleas next year .. . . 


If I had a playoff ballot today

#1 Miss St
#2  

 FSU
# 3 Auburn
# 4  Oregon

First out

#5  

 Roll Tide
#6  

 

[echeese]

Thought I'd add some thoughts on how the playoffs are shaping up and it's very possible 2-3 seeds will not be known till AFTER the conference title games .. . . 

Finish in the SEC West is going to be wild. . . .Miss St still has to play Bama and finish with Ole Miss. . .their Auburn win is the best win to date (though the aggie gang rape was the most enjoyable to me).   As it relates to the playoffs, the only significance to the SEC East is as a spoiler.  

Bama has LSU in Baton Rouge. . . Miss St and Auburn Both Miss St and Bama control their own path to Hot Lanta. .

Auburn has Georgia and Bama left but needs Miss St to lose twice. . . but they have a GREAT shot if they win out of securing that 4th seed in the playoffs.  

Pac 12 sees Oregon having the North locked up, faces a good Utah team they should handle next week then whomever comes out of the south in the Pac 12 title game. . . .interesting, barring more upsets, the Arizona v Zona State match up should be for the south title. . . .though Utah still controls it's own destiny in the south. . . but their final stretch is BRUTAL.  .Stanford.  .Oregon and Zona

BIG is interesting. . . 

tOSU v Mich St. . .both fighting for a potential playoff spot and slot in the title game. . . winner has a pretty clear path to the title game in one division.

Other division has 3 teams with 1 loss . .. and all 3 (Neb, Whisky and Minn) play each other in the next 2 weeks. . .

Not sure if any any of the 5 one loss B1G teams have the resume to trump a 1 loss but not conference SEC champ or a 1 Loss BigXII or Pac 12 team.

ACC is basically  

 or bust. . .Duke sits with 1 loss and FSU's most likely ACC champ opponent. .. 

 

[HornEsch]

First off, THANK YOU, for more good football discussion.

I thought the game was ugly the first half, but don't think it was as ugly of a win as Iowa State. The main reason is that it looked like we woke up in this game as opposed to Iowa State.

The defense was interesting and frustrating because of very much bend, but don't break style. It does always shock me to see us gashes up the middle. I think Java, is really on to something in noticing when Brown is not manning the middle of the defense, we are giving up a lot of the runs in the middle. Poona is young and not quite there yet.

You are right about the defense we were facing. Yet we still managed to struggle. I think that has been the case most of the year, where we are our own worst enemies. I have heard the saying "the remedy for a bad offense is a bad defense" however our worst enemy is ourselves and that is not something easily cured.

I will say this, and I am not sure I believe it myself , I think we beat either WVU or TCU. We can do it, IF we don't beat ourselves.

 

[echeese]

I will say this, and I am not sure I believe it myself , I think we beat either WVU or TCU. We can do it, IF we don't beat ourselves.

You are welcome. . . . and appreciate the remarks. . . 

I 100% agree that if we show up and put it together, we can take either one of those teams. . . 

We have left 2 clear wins on the table this year .. . UCLA and OU. . .how different does our year look with wins over one or both of those teams. . .back to coulda/shoulda/woulda

 

[HornEsch]

Exactly!! Don't get me wrong I was happy to see the fight in those games, but at the same time I was disappointed as those games were there for us to win. So much so, that they did not win those games, we lost them.

Clearly we have not shown that we know how to win.

 

[Sirhornsalot]

echeese, this is probably your best effort of the season, so far. But, the season is much more interesting today than it was when it began.

You should be paid for this.

 

[joeywa]

Nice analysis cheese. Thanks.

 

[echeese]

echeese, this is probably your best effort of the season, so far. But, the season is much more interesting today than it was when it began.

You should be paid for this.

At this point, just trying to get some folks to read it and discuss football . . .but thanks. . . 

But we are driven by the drama of Ketch . .. btw, has there been a TMZ sighting yet?

. . .

 

[streettopeschel]

You are welcome. . . . and appreciate the remarks. . . 

I 100% agree that if we show up and put it together, we can take either one of those teams. . . 

We have left 2 clear wins on the table this year .. . UCLA and OU. . .how different does our year look with wins over one or both of those teams. . .back to coulda/shoulda/woulda

no doubt. good teams find ways to win and we're not a good team. yet.