good grief charlie brown

Heisman Trust = Lucy as the placeholder.

If our QB had USC or Nebraska written across the front of his uniform they would have already mailed the stiffarm trophy to him a week ago.

Ridiculous.

What's wrong?

(Please use the comment area liberally - everyone except B Orange - who is laughing his ass off at us right now)


Does Graham Harrell lack:

A. Leadership skills?
B. Killer instinct?
C. Good decision making skills?
D. The ability to "look off" defenders?
E. All of the above?


What's the matter with genius Leach:

A. Lacks game day management skills?
B. Fails to employ a "both sides of the ball" methodology?
C. Play calling becoming predictable?
D. Won't put receivers in motion?
E. All of the above


What's the matter with the defense:

A. Because the DC coaching change happened during the season they are still running a scheme that doesn't work?
B. The defense is just too small?
C. The DL is just so young?
D. Because the offense has been sucking, the D is on the field way too much, with too much pressure on them?
E. All of the above?


What's the answer (Pick all that apply):

A. Leach has done well so far - but has reached his ceiling - it's time for him to move on?
B. Recruiting must improve - we have too little talent?
C. Ruff is a great guy - but we need a top-flight DC?
D. Bench Harrell and put T. Potts in?
E. Leach must evolve as a coach and shake himself up?


I've also added a simplistic poll to the right - we welcome your input there as well.

I don't know the answer - I'm just a fan in a far-away place. I didn't play college football - much less coach.

I'm really and truly stumped and I'm as frustrated as anyone else.

And now, for the first time, I wonder if graduating players can save Leach's job from the axe of Gerald Myers.

I have only one thing to fall back on really - and that's that we weren't supposed to be any good this year. Some of those pre-season predictions look fairly accurate now to tell you the truth.

This one looks fairly prescient:

Chip Brown - DMN

5. Texas Tech

Record: 7-5;3-5

League losses: at Okla. St., Texas A&M, at Mizzou, at Texas, OU

Bottom line: Tech has only four starters back on offense and only five back on defense. If Mike Leach hasn't been recruiting well, it will show. A typically soft nonleague schedule should ensure Tech remains the only Big 12 team without a losing season since the conference was formed.

Or how about this one:

Jimmy Boyd - Locksmith Sports There are just too many talented offensive teams now in the Big 12 for the Texas Tech Red Raiders to get by without a better defense. Sure you'll see them near the top of the nation in passing yards and points, but you'll also see them as one of the worst run defenses and scoring defenses in the nation. The Big 12 South is too tough to get by without playing both sides of the ball.

In case you want to see what the media as a whole thought of our chances - here's the pre-season Big 12 Media Poll:

2007 Big 12 Preseason Football Poll (Media Vote)
North
1.	Missouri (16)	136
2.	Nebraska (8)	128
3.	Kansas State	88
4.	Kansas	63
5.	Colorado	58
6.	Iowa State	31
South
1.	Texas (16)	135
2.	Oklahoma (7)	126
3.	Texas A&M (1)	82
4.	Oklahoma State	81
5.	Texas Tech	56
6.	Baylor	24

Note: First place votes in parentheses

While it's certainly no fun to say - "well we were supposed to suck" - or "there's always next year" - we may as well get well prepared to say exactly those things.

Graham Harrell and Michael Crabtree for Heisman

The Texas Tech Athletic Office has got the "official" website up and running for all of those that want to keep up with this amazing duo and their drive for a trip to the Downtown Athletic Club.

Bookmark the site and keep it handy - they seem to be doing a good job of keeping related news stories linked at the site...

I will keep it available to the right in our lineup of linked sites...

Heisman talk in Detroit, Dallas

Detroit Free Press
October 17, 2007
Kyle O'Neill

2. Heisman thoughts: As of right now, if I had to rank the best in college football, it goes 1. QB Andre Woodson, Kentucky: Beating Florida could keep him in this top spot the rest of the way in; he just needs to avoid another South Carolina performance.
2. Mike Hart: The non-sexy pick seems like the most logical at this point, but No. 2 is a safe spot for him until U-M really gets back into the spotlight.
3. QB Graham Harrell, Texas Tech: The Oklahoma State loss is a tough one to get over, but 31 TDs to 3 interceptions? If Texas Tech wins out, he's any easy pick regardless of the "system" the Red Raiders use.
4. WR Michael Crabtree, Texas Tech: It wasn't as though the Red Raiders began using the spread offense this season. Crabtree's appearance into the lineup has been the added spark to put this team into the elite of '07.
5. QB Tim Tebow, Florida: The stock is dropping.
Other notables: QB Matt Ryan, Boston College (Needs a tougher schedule and bigger wins with his stats.); RB Darren McFadden, Arkansas (He'll still make more money in the NFL than anyone else on this list.); QB Matt Grothe, South Florida (Needs to stay unbeaten and get a little more name recognition.)



Dallas Morning News
October 17, 2007
Brandon George

Tech athletic officials have started pushing Harrell and Crabtree for Heisman Trophy consideration. It's about time. The numbers they have posted deserve attention.

National media affiliates from ESPN to USA Today spoke with the two this week. A writer from Sports Illustrated spent time in Lubbock and will cover the Tech-Missouri game Saturday in Columbia, Mo.

Later this week, Tech plans to unveil a Web page on its athletics site dedicated to Harrell, a junior from Ennis, and Crabtree, a redshirt freshman from Carter. The page will feature their highlights and statistics this season.

The whole article is really swell - you should read the whole thing.

Your Heisman Headquarters

(Thanks to CBS Sportsline for the pic!- link below)

I remember not too long ago when I would jump for joy when I found ANY mention of a Tech football player in the major media - online included. Now it seems we can hardly keep up with the onslaught of commentary. This is my attempt to help bring it all together for you...

The first four links aren't necessarily "Heisman" focused but are lists that feature either Harrell or Crabtree...

Props to "Manuel" who spotted me the ESPN link - and to various folks on the raiderpower.com football forum that helped with the others...


Race for the recordbook - CBSSports.com


Scout.com: Tuesday Question - Midseason Bests


FOX Sports on MSN - BCS - Loose Ends: Bests, Worsts of NCAA season


NCAA Football Freshman Watch - CBSSports.com


Heisman Links:


ESPN.com - Heisman Watch


SI.com Gene Menez: Tebow leads wide-open Heisman race


NCAA Football Heisman Hopefuls - CBSSports.com


2007 Heisman Watch - AthlonSports.com


SportingNews.com - College Football - Heisman Watch: As fluid as the Top 25


Rivals Video - No mention of Harrell at all - so don't bother


Wreck 'em.

Crabs don't grow on trees - and Moss is underfoot

Tokyo Police Club - It's only like $6 (on iTunes) of really catchy stuff - so skip your trip to your favorite chain coffee joint and get some good new music in your head.

Before we get started - I found another Aggie Blog - this one looks especially well written - it also looks to be practically brand new - and we hope that they drop by and see us...

This Day in Aggie Football


Here's a couple of links you're gonna need:

NCAA 2007 Record Book (although it's already outdated)
cfbstats.com (the ultimate site for stats junkies)

We're (the collective Texas Tech 'we') are halfway through the 2007 season. It seems like it just started and we're already halfway through. Better make the most of what is left.

And what is left is the meat of the schedule. It's interesting to remember that Tech wasn't thought well of pre-season because of three main problem areas: 1) The Offensive Line 2) The Defensive Line and 3) The Wide Receivers. On the whole, the OL has done quite well, although in the game against Iowa State they seemed for the first time to have some lapses (although these lapses were just that and I wouldn't expect to see this as a trend). The DL has been re-emergent under Ruffin McNeill as has the entire defensive unit - that has been well-documented I think. As far as the receivers go - well that's Mr. Crabtree's department.

Let's delve into the production of Crabtree and discuss why he should be getting national publicity.

By the way - I'm not sure a freshman should be considered for the Heisman - even if Crabtree breaks all the records we're about to go over - I think that award should go to Juniors and Seniors. Graham Harrell should be a contender for the Heisman - but I think despite all of the stats Crabtree continues to pile up - he should begin his Heisman campaign later. BTW - if I had a Heisman vote I would cast it for Darren McFadden anyhow. Graham is starting to get some ripples of attention, however.

Back to Crab-man...

50% of the season to go - and against much tougher competition. Let's take his current stats and put them up against the record book - we'll double his current stats exactly and see what kind of pace he is on and we'll also see what he needs to do to get the "Triple-Crown" of WR records: Season Receiving Yards, Season Receptions and Season TDs by a WR. Let's not forget Points scored either - we'll cover that as well...

From Texas Tech's Athletics site:

LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) -- Texas Tech's Michael Crabtree set an NCAA record for receiving touchdowns by a freshman in his sixth straight multiple-TD game, a 42-17 victory against Iowa State on Saturday night.

Crabtree scored three times against the Cyclones, giving him 17 for the season. The redshirt freshman got No. 15 and the record on his second catch of the day when Graham Harrell hit him on a slant across the middle and Crabtree ran 20 yards to put Tech (4-1, 1-1 Big 12) up 7-0 midway through the first quarter.

The Red Raiders' receiver broke the freshman record of 14 TD catches by Jabar Gaffney (Florida in 2000), Mike Williams (Southern California in 2002) and Davone Bess (Hawaii in 2005).

One record in the books (with HALF THE SEASON TO GO). That would be "TD Receiving by a FR"

A review of the current statline:

	Name	Team	Yr	Pos	G	Rec.	Yards	Avg.	TD	Rec./G	Yards/G
1	Michael Crabtree	Texas Tech	FR	WR	6	70	1074	15.34	17	11.7	179.0

Records (BTW - I'm only going to list the Div 1/FBS records):
----------------------------------------------

Season Receiving Yards:

1. Trevor Insley - Nevada - 2060 (1999)
2. Troy Edwards - La Tech - 1996 (1998)
3. Alex Van Dyke - Nevada - 1854 (1995)
4. JR Tolver - SDSU - 1785 (2002)
5. Howard Twilley - Tulsa - 1779 (1965)

1074 * 2 = 2148

---------------------------------------------

Season Receptions

1. Manny Hazard - Houston - 142 (1989)
2. Troy Edwards - La Tech - 140 (1998)
3. Nate Burleson - Nevada - 138 (2002)
4. Trevor Insley - Nevada - 134 (1999)
5. Howard Twilley - Tulsa - 134 (1965)

70 * 2 = 140

----------------------------------------------

Season TD Receptions

1. Troy Edwards - La Tech - 27 (1998)
*. Jerry Rice - Mississippi Valley - 27 (1984) okay I included one Div1AA guy - sue me.
2. Randy Moss - Marshall - 25 (1997)
3. Larry Fitzgerald - Pitt - 22 (2003)
3. Manny Hazard - Houston - 22 (1989)

17 * 2 = 34

----------------------------------------------

Season Points Scored

1. Barry Sanders - OSU - 234 (1988)
2. Brock Forsey - Boise State - 192 (2002)
3. Troy Edwards - La Tech - 186 (1998)

Season Points by a Freshman

1. Marshall Faulk - SDSU - 140 (1991)

17 * 6 = 102 * 2 = 204

Was Barry Sanders a beast or what?!?!?!!!!!1!!!11!1!

-----------------------------------------------

There you have it - an opportunity to write his name in the record books for a season performance.

It begs the next question of course. Will Crabtree stay for all of his eligibility? I don't know much about his family situation and won't dare to speculate. All I will say is "Dear Baby Jesus, please. Amen."

We will peruse the record books soon as we cover the halfway point of Graham Harrell's 2007 campaign. I think he can gain some real momentum in the Heisman race if the team performs well over the final half.

Wreck 'em.

System Quarterback?

If Graham is a system QB - then so is Colt Brennan.

World's Greatest Offense? Geez....

The Red Raiders are clearly focused on stopping OSU's "World's Greatest Offense" this weekend.