Official Announcement. The official site released the news of Texas Tech accepting an invitation to play LSU in the AdvoCare V100 Texas Bowl at NGR Stadium in Houston on Tuesday, December 29th. Here’s athletic director Kirby Hocutt:
“Texas Tech is honored to accept an invitation to play in the AdvoCare V100 Texas Bowl,” Director of Athletics Kirby Hocutt said. “We are excited to be returning to the great city of Houston to compete in our second Texas Bowl. Texas Tech has a fantastic history and excellent relationship with Houston. Anytime we can play a bowl game in the state of Texas, it’s great for our student-athletes, fans and alumni. We are all grateful to once again be a part of this great bowl.”
Kingsbury: “It’s a Great Team.” Via the LAJ, Texas Tech head coach Kliff Kingsbury said that LSU is a great team and and the LSU offensive coordinator, Cam Cameron, is a great offensive mind:
“It’s a great team,” Tech coach Kliff Kingsbury said. “I think it’ll be a great atmosphere. With their fan base and our fan base in this state and Houston, it’ll be rockin’. That makes for a great deal for both universities and the bowl itself.”
“We throw it more, push the pace more, but their offensive coordinator (Cam Cameron) is a great mind. I’ve seen what he’s done in the last few years there. You give a coach like that a month to get ready and he’ll have a great plan.”
Kingsbury also says that LSU RB Leonard Fournette is a one in a generation type of running back and is a phenomenal athlete.
Player Reaction. As always, these are not quotes, the one’s that I’ve hurriedly typed down non-transcripts of the players and what they said from the video. To read actual quotes, check out LAJ’s Nicholas Talbot. Although I should mention that I can confirm that Awe did say, “that dude from Texas” rather than Chris Warren, III.
IR Jakeem Grant: Great to extend the season another game. A great opponent, LSU is a great team, we’re also a great team. We came out in the bowl game and felt disrespected, like against Arizona State.
C Jared Kaster: Great opportunity for this university and program and it is an honor to go to the Texas Bowl, take it one day at a time. Close to home and family, a little homecoming, bowl games are exciting because they are fun. It’s cool, kinda wraps the whole senior season up. Feel like we’re doing good, really getting our minds right for this bowl game, eager to get back. We’re prepared and we’ll get prepared every day.
LB Micah Awe: I was happy, it was an exciting moment, first because we got to a bowl game and second because we get to play LSU. I had a dream about tackling Fournette. As a kid growing up, now you’re actually part of the action. It was a great dream because I woke up and it wasn’t real life, to go against literally one of the top five running backs is a dream come true. Have played some great running backs Perine, Nixon, the dude from Texas.
DE Branden Jackson: Great challenge, many things we don’t do well, it’s going to be fun tackling a guy built like me. It’s always different, when they run a game they’re not used to. We got a taste of bigger running backs, the Big 12 has already got us prepared.
DeAndre Washington: Just a relief to get the process over with, now we can put together a game plan and look to make a statement. The Washington clan will definitely be in full effect, to finish in my hometown and the Red Raider fans and my family. Fournette is a good back, he’s had an outstanding season and looking forward to the defense stepping up. It’s a statement game and there will be a lot of critics and doubt, but we’re confident. They’re just another team in the way.
Dream Match Up. LAJ’s Nicholas Talbot writes that Micah Awe’s dream of stopping Leonard Fournette is a dream match up:
“I don’t blame ya’ll. (for saying he is going to run all over us),” Awe said. “Looking at the stats people run for 400 yards (on us). At the end of the day we just have to win the game and give our offense one more possession to win the game.”
Awe isn’t wrong.
But, it isn’t going to be easy.
Fournette can’t even be stopped by good defenses.
He ran for 180 yards against Florida and 228 against Auburn.
And he is going to decimate Texas Tech, which is still ranked 125th in the nation, giving up 271.8 yards per game on the ground.
LSU is 10th in the nation, gaining more than 259 yards rushing a game.
That’s not a good combination.
Miles Talks Texas Tech. Nola.com’s Jim Kleinpeter transcribed some comments from LSU head coach Les Miles and talked a little about Texas Tech:
“I know Texas Tech, since I was in the Big 12 conference and they are very talented on offense, move the football well against everybody. I think they are second ranked nationally on offense. They have a 1,400 yard running back, and a very capable quarterback and receiving core. Their defense is very sound, plays on top, plays to the strength of the offense, very capable on special teams, so we recognize this is going to be a great challenge. I think our guys will look forward to that challenge and that will add to the preparation of the bowl game.”
Lots more quotes there, so check it out.
LSU Considers Tweaks to the Offense. The Advocate’s Marcus Rodrigue writes that Miles is considering tweaks to the LSU offense in getting ready for Texas Tech:
“The issue is that we have to accomplish the play that’s being called and execute better,” Miles said Sunday. “I promise you, I recognize the effort and energies of my coaching staff. I understand what’s being coached. I have an understanding that we, collectively as coaches and players, have to improve.”
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“This would be a time where you would look at change,” he said. “Not necessarily a widespread, complete (change), but tweak things to make yourself more productive.”