Midweek Availability.
Practice has been spirited, you would expect that, they are pushing the pace at practice . . . remember seeing his parents’ faces and that’s memorable, didn’t really convey that to the team, sometimes he thinks that the players are too close to the fire to appreciate this how proud their family is of what they have accomplished . . . Brad Pearson has worked for everything he has has found his role and works as hard as anyone on this team and love to see . . . Bobby Esiabia, one of our best special teams players works hard on scout team, says that the offensive players get frustrated because he goes so hard . . . Micah Awe, another great example of a student athlete, came back for the senior year, the things he does for the community is huge for the program . . . Dakota Allen was limited, will come down to it, will trust him with limited practice reps . . . Taylor Symmank will punt tomorrow . . . WR Ja’Deion High, just trying some different combinations . . . there is temptation to give DeAndre Washington the ball more and trying to find that happy medium . . . K-State has been very competitive, and happy taking 3 yards and a pop, know we’ll get a heavy dose of the run . . . talk about the legacy the seniors will have and have a great opportunity against Kansas State . . .
Last Day. LAJ’s Don Williams writes that this is the last day at hand for the Texas Tech seniors at Jones AT&T Stadium and the seniors are pushing the pace of practice:
“Being senior day, it’s been very spirited this week,” Kingsbury said after practice Tuesday. “Those seniors have taken a leadership role that you’d expect, knowing it’s their last game in that stadium. They’re excited. They’re pushing the pace in practice.”
Notebook: Run Game Worry. LAJ’s Don Williams files his notebook for today, lots of the Kingsbury quotes are hurriedly jotted down by me above, but Williams notes that the Kansas State running game is worrisome for head coach Kliff Kingsbury:
They’re a ball-control offense,” Tech coach Kliff Kingsbury said Tuesday. “They’re happy with taking 3 yards a pop, letting the (play) clock run down to one second left. They try to take you out of your game.
“They execute at a high level and they’re not afraid to run it every snap, and so with our struggles against the run, I know we’re going to get a heavy dose of that.”
- LB Dakota Allen was limited in practice, but Kingsbury said that he doesn’t need a lot of time to practice.
- P/K Taylor Symmank should play this week.
- WR Ja’Deion High hasn’t played much at all since Kansas and there’s no reason other than they just haven’t put him in the game.
Drops. LAJ’s Nicholas Talbot writes about the receivers dropping passes isn’t acceptable:
Coutee had a chance to get a first down and haul in the pass in at the West Virginia 40-yard line. But the ball slipped through his fingers and Tech punted after five plays.
Lauderdale’s end-zone drop came on the next series for the Red Raiders. Then on a second and 9 at the West Virginia 32 midway through the fourth quarter, Cameron Batson should have pulled in a pass at the Mountaineer 10-yard line, setting up a first and goal for the Red Raiders.
Notebook: Barden Punting Well. LAJ’s Don Williams has a notebook (this is from Tuesday), noting that Michael Barden is punting well and that Taylor Symmank is still questionable with a hamstring injury.
- Jakeem Grant only had 8 yards receiving and head coach Kliff Kingsbury said that West Virginia bracketed him (expect this from Kansas State):
“They just kept two guys on him,” Tech coach Kliff Kingsbury said. “One guy inside and one guy over the top. Took him away.”
- J.J. Gaines didn’t play much, only kickoff coverage, but that wasn’t necessarily the plan.
- Texas Tech had 83 gradable snaps and 78 of the were run defenses or run blitzes. o_0
Hocutt on Football. That’s a generic lede, but Texas Tech athletic director Kirby Hocutt was interviewed by Football Matters to discuss how his football career helped shape his professional career:
Every single one of them! I learned through college football that there is a process to everything we do. The process to playing college football is one that is paved with hard work, one that’s paved with success and failures. The game teaches you, through this process, that success doesn’t come overnight, but it comes with years and years of passionate hard work and dedication. And I learned that the success came from the process of focusing on being the best that I could be each and every day.
There’s a lot more there, so check it out.
Miscellaneous. Land Grant Gauntlet’s Matt Turney with his weekly Big 12 quarterback rankings . . . also from LGG, Land Grant Gauntlet’s Grant Thome with the Grant Application, a good Big 12 podcast for your ears . . . DMN’s Michael DuPont with five things to know about Kansas State . . .