The staff discusses all of the stuff happening this week, but we start off with some positivity (or we try).

seth: Alright, it’s a new week and let’s get some positivity going in this mo-fo. What are some of the positives that you take from Saturday’s game?

briandc: My biggest takeaway was that the coaching staff clearly reads the site, as they finally implemented many of the (offensive) changes we’ve discussed. Mainly, throwing short and taking advantage of the yards you’re given. And we surmounted a two score deficit! I’m still shocked by that, and incredibly encouraged

seth: That certainly is encouraging and Patrick Mahomes has looked like the guy four weeks ago. The accuracy is there, or at least it’s better than it was.

You know who I’m impressed with other than Jordyn Brooks on defense? Douglas Coleman can flat out play. If there’s a steal from the 2016 class, he just might be it. Absolutely incredible athlete and the fact that he played safety in high school and is now playing cornerback speaks volumes about his athletic ability. It seems as if teams are intentionally picking on Nelson, but when they do throw Coleman’s way, he’s right there. That’s going to be huge against a team like Iowa State.

meestahrogers: My biggest takeaway is this team is fighting. We’ve seen teams like this in previous years pack it in and get blown out. We know it’s possible with this team because it happened against WVU. In a crucial point in the season, where the players could have mailed it in when facing any adversity, they’ve punched back. This team is losing by a possession. They remind me a lot of the 2013 TCU team that went 5-7, losing a bunch of games by only a few points. I can only hope we can get the same jump they did the following year.

seth: It would be nice if 2017 turned out that way because we sure as heck could use some winning football around these parts. So there’s two things that’s happened recently and this dips into some negativity, but what the heck. 1) There are three players that have been suspended? or something by Kingsbury, Gary Moore, Devin Lauderdale and D’Vonta Hinton. 2) Plus, there is the situation with Justin Murphy retiring, but there seeming to be some sort of disagreement (not sure what to call it) between Kingsbury and Murphy. Kingsbury essentially deferred to Murphy to give a reason why he quit football. Do we find any of this out of the ordinary?

meestahrogers: I think the Murphy situation is a little strange in that Kingsbury didn’t really have an answer why he retired. Maybe we’re reading too much into it. The other three players being held out for what seems like disciplinary reasons, I’m Ok with and I’m ok with not knowing exactly why.

seth: And we’ll wait for the others to catch up on this, but also what about the situation with the report that Dakota Allen wants to return to the team. That has to say something similarly that a player wants to return to the fold, right?

meestahrogers: I’m all for Allen returning. If Kingsbury thinks Allen is going to assimilate back into the team and wouldn’t be a distraction, and I’m perfectly fine if he comes back. He’s dealt with the legal aspects of everything. He’s always been described as someone this would be the last thing he’d get caught up in, and if the staff thinks he’s learned his lesson, bring him back (under the assumption he’s probably on the thinnest of ice)

seth: And the other idea here is that as players leave, which they usually do, it’s rare that a player wants to return. I think that says something about Texas Tech and Kingsbury too.

briandc: When I first heard about all of the Allen stuff, the only thing I could think of was “oh man, why would you do something so dumb.” Kingsbury and co. made the right decision by kicking him off the team. It sounds like Allen is completely aware of his mistakes and isn’t shying away from responsibility. Given the nature of the crime, stupid as it is, I’d be fine with him getting a second chance. As for all of the other attrition, as much as we all love reading between the lines, I just think it’s a bunch of bad things happening around the same time. It happens at plenty of programs too, not just us. I hope everything gets sorted out

And speaking of bad things just happening, how awful has our injury luck been the past two seasons?

seth: Last year we were probably blaming the strength coach.

meestahrogers: It’s so weird to think we can go from an embarrassment of riches to having basically nothing in the span of a year.