tomsepper.net

Classic!

And the great sequel a couple decades later..

Loved these commercials.

Watching the TicketCity Bowl and remembering the reports from last week regarding Tommy Tuberville stating Tech will be running more next year, I got to thinking..

Is that really a bad thing? I don’t necessarily think so.

Like most people, I thoroughly enjoyed Mike Leach and the Air Raid offense. The 2008 season was phenomenal – one that’ll be remembered. How did that season end? Losses in two of the last three games: a 65-21 shellacking at Oklahoma and a 47-34 loss to Ole Miss at the Cotton Bowl. Still a great season though.

But what else was there?

Seasons full of mediocracy and usually extremely poor defense. In order for Tech to seriously become a competitor, three things are needed:

1. One trick pony on offense is not sustainable. I don’t think Tech necessarily has to be 50/50 balanced; however, we need to be able to run the ball. Tuberville knows this with his SEC background. Until today’s TicketCity Bowl, Taylor Potts had the longest run from scrimmage. Yes, our quarterback had the longest run from scrimmage.. that’s pathetic.
2. We need a defense. Ruffin did great things in his all-too-brief tenure, but that’s about it. We’re in the bottom few this year in defense and dead last in pass defense.
3. The team needs discipline, and Tuberville has done a great job of preaching that this year. Penalties (as a general rule) were out of control under Leach. Also, while it was fun waiting all of the 4th and n to go gambles, there is nothing wrong with kicking a field goal!

I’m still not happy with how things played out with Leach; Kent Hance and Gerald Myers should have been fired for that. Although, I said it before and I’ll say it again – Mike Leach wasn’t the coach to lead this team to the next tier of play.

If you look at the last ten years of BCS bowl games, you’ll see that the bulk of teams had solid defenses and an offense that relied on both passing and running. Sure, there may have been an emphasis on one over the other, but both were a big enough threat for opposing defenses.

The jury is (should be) still open on Tommy Tuberville. I’m anxious to see how the next few years will go.. it’ll definitely be interesting.

2009 Playoffs:

2010 Playoffs:

The best ad from last night’s game:

Okay, I might be biased, but that’s just funny. In case you don’t get the reference:

A close runner-up:

The worst? GoDaddy’s ads.

I have been rather vocal about my opinions on Mike Leach (link 1, link 2, link 3), but I am always one to give credit where credit is due: the man is coming off of the greatest football season in Tech’s history. Unless you’re A) not a sports fan or B) living under a rock (and you’re a sports fan), you’ve undoubtedly heard all of the commotion regarding Texas Tech, Gerald Myers, Mike Leach, and the status of Leach’s contract. I’ve remained quiet on the subject..

Until now.

Gerald Myers – you’re a complete moron. How you ever made it as high as Athletic Director is beyond me. You screwed over James Dickey back in 2001 and now you’re trying to do the same to Mike Leach. Dickey deserved firing; no argument there. But the way you did it was pathetic, shallow, and cowardly.

Texas Tech Regents — If you let Mike Leach go, you will reap the whirlwind in terms of fan support, season ticket renewals, and ticket sales. You better think twice.

Here’s my suggestion to the Regents: keep Mike Leach and fire Gerald Myers. Promote Marsha Sharp to Athletic Director as she truly deserves it.

If anyone had told me that Texas Tech at some point this season would be ranked #2 I would have said they were crazy. I have been rather vocal about my opinions on Mike Leach (link 1, link 2, link 3), but maybe I’ve been wrong. 

After seeing the potential displayed this season, Tech absolutely can play on par with the big dogs. Sure, we lost big to Oklahoma. But that’s one game in a season of twelve games. 

This season proves two things in my mind:

1. Defense still wins games. Ruffin’s defense played consistent the entire season — up until the Oklahoma game. They looked discombobulated that entire game, and it spilled over into the first half of the Baylor game.
2. Of equal importance to defense is consistency at quarterback. Graham’s maturity in the program is one of the reasons Tech had such a great season. We cannot go back to the one-year-starter routine again. I think Taylor Potts only has two years of eligibility remaining, so maybe he shouldn’t be the starter.

One final thought regarding this season.. the Tech-Texas game. I am sick and tired of hearing football “experts” on ESPN, ABC, etc. state that Texas lost the game on the last play. The way they are saying it is rather condescending towards Tech. Why? Tech did what it needed to do to win — especially in the first half. Texas came out firing in the second half.. there’s no doubting that. But just because Tech won on the final play only means that they performed well exactly when they needed to in order to win. That exemplifies the media bias against Tech.

In any event, it’s been a great season. If things play out like it seems they will, we’re likely going to the Cotton Bowl. Hopefully we can finally win the game.

Wreck ‘Em Tech!

Because the Green Bay-Chicago game is not competitive anymore, we are taking you to the Tampa Bay-Minnesota game which is quite [their emphasis] competitive.

Seriously? I realize the Bears weren’t playing well at all, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to watch the end of the game.

Tacky, Fox Sports. Tacky.

Classic example of how important football is to Texans.

Lubbock is currently under a state of emergency due to heavy flooding. All three colleges cancelled classes. The local school districts cancelled school. Many daycares did not open.

Where did some first responders go on Friday?

Texas Tech Athletics is grateful for the support of the Lubbock Fire Department and other campus groups who came to the rescue in order to get the field prepared for Saturday’s game. The Lubbock Fire Department had four trucks on the scene on Friday to help drain the field and other campus groups were able to help get the campus pumps back up and running.

http://texastech.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/091208aab.html

That’s Texas folks.