Seth: Well, here we are, an unexpected win against TCU and now, the Longhorns come to town. It’s amazing how one game can turn perceptions around a bit, or at least make those perceptions pause a bit. What were your general thoughts about the win against your favorite Big 12 team, TCU?
Travis: Early in the 2nd half, I was tempted to tweet out that Tech would win the game. It just felt like, even though it was ugly, and even though they’d rarely given me any reason to believe, that Tech was for the first time in a long time in control of their destiny. They had very few penalties, and, for the most part, played solidly. I was particularly happy to see them respond when things didn’t necessarily do their way. The botched punt, turnovers, offense not performing, none of it seemed to get them down.
And I’ve seen a lot of folks saying “well, they beat a mediocre team,” which might be true, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be happy to get the win. I think they showed character.
So, it’s Texas week, which means we’ll inevitably be discussing a targeting penalty that wasn’t called against the Horns in the game. I’ve watched a lot of their games this year, and I always joke about it, but those dudes lead with their helmet at least once a game, and it NEVER gets called. Do you think the ugly, burnt orange unis actually burns the referees eyes and they can’t see the dirty hits?
Seth: I agree with the beating a mediocre team part in that since Kingsbury has been hired, he hasn’t beaten a ton of road teams that aren’t named Kansas or Iowa State and to beat TCU where they absolutely thrashed Texas Tech two years ago, it gives me a bit of happiness. And I think someone commented that if TCU had a decent kicker they would have beat Texas Tech and I’d guess that maybe that’s true, but I don’t feel like this is something that we should feel bad about. Heck, if Texas Tech had a pass-rushing defensive end that was 6-3/250 then Texas Tech probably wins by 2 touchdowns.
I don’t know what it is with Texas and targeting, it certainly makes you want to put on your tin-foil hat and presume that something is being coached, or maybe proper technique and the intent to injure isn’t being coached and just overlooked. Either way, I don’t like it. I mentioned the other day that Breckyn Hager’s comments about injuring Mahomes don’t bother me that much other than the fact that he verbalized his intent and in criminal law, when you make your intent known, it carries a greater penalty. That’s my thought is that he’s already making his intent known, which means that he actually wants to see it come to fruition and that’s the bothersome part. I’d guess that lots of players internalize this, but the ones that make their intent known are the ones that get into the most trouble.
So maybe Hager did us all a favor in that the refs might be watching him a bit closer and the Longhorns, but since we all know that UT lines the refs’ pockets with all sorts of cheddar we know there’s no chance for a fairly called game. Now that we got that out of the way, how do you see the game playing out on Saturday, do you think that Texas Tech sleep-walks through the game or are they going to be excited to play some football?
Travis: It’s hard to imagine them being completely amped for the game because of the start time, and I don’t see the crowd being as intimidating as they could be if this was a night game. Overall, I don’t have a good feeling about the game because of those things. Oh, and they have a monster running back that will probably rush for 400 yards.
And there will be a questionable hit to a Tech player’s head and it won’t be called. Betting on that now.
I suppose it is a game that Tech could win, but I hate the 11am start. Hate it with the passion of a severely aggrieved man.
So, do you have any good trick or treat stories with the boys on Monday night?
Seth: I don’t have a good feeling about the game too. I think it’s a toss-up. Texas has better talent, but I think Mahomes is going to have a good game. I don’t know that Texas will be able to keep pace offensively. That’s my hope.
So, the one thing that my town does absolutely correct is that they close down this one main street for the night, it’s a neighborhood street, no businesses, just houses. And so the kids and families are free to walk up and down this street without fear of any vehicles. As a town, we donate candy to the people that own these houses so that they’re not having to take out a second mortgage to essentially give away candy to every kid who lives here. So it was Youssouf’s first Halloween and he went as a fireman and Fitsum went as a ninja. We got the costumes at Costco in September for $20 each and talk about some terrific money spent.
Youssouf wasn’t real sure about all of the folks that looked liked zombies. He’d stare at them and even turn around to try to figure out what the eff is going on with these strange looking people. I can only imagine being in his brain when he sees the guy groaning like a zombie at him. I’m pretty sure he went for his plastic axe. Oh, and there’s one house that has a ton of creepy things in their yard. A zombie baby in a swing in a tree that talks and a bunch of other things that totally creeps these kids out. Fitsum, being an old pro, had no issues, but Youssouf was literally on guard. And one other house had some guys dressed up as clowns (of course) and the trick or treaters would walk through a tent and the guys would blow the air horn and the kids would jump out of their skin.
As of this minute, I trying to figure out why we put them through this. Oh, yeah, it’s candy.
What about you? What were your kids dressed up as and did they have to grab any plastic weapons to potentially beat down a zombie?
One more thing. Who is coaching this defense next year?
Travis: On Halloween night they went with their old standbys. Cash (our 4 year-old) was Iron Man and Cade was Captain America. These are just their “walking around,” costumes, the ones they wear around the house on most days.
Halloween is Cash’s favorite holiday. He’s been getting ready for it for about 6 months. But it’s funny though, because he’s still pretty apprehensive about the whole deal. He’s a lot like his mom in that he likes to plan out everything and needs reassurance that bad things aren’t going to happen. We went camping a few weeks ago and he asked me if I was sure we’d be safe in the woods. When I told him yes, he said, “well I watched a Halloween show and they were in the woods and it didn’t turn out so well.”
So we went out pretty early and they both collected their loot, but Cash was sure to stay away from anything scary. He’s all about fun Halloween and not so much spooky Halloween. Cade on the other hand isn’t afraid of much. Except Elf on the Shelf. He’s terrified of Elf on the Shelf.
I think, for better or worse, this is Gibbs’ bed now. He’s the only one sleeping in it.