Texas Tech held their final spring event on Saturday night where the defense won 60-33 giving the defense the overall win for the spring as they won in Midland and in Lubbock with the offense winning in Frisco. If you’d like to watch the spring game, it was televised on Facebook. I wasn’t able to watch it live, in fact, I had no idea that it was going to be televised at all, but it’s there and it’s without commentary (except for some guys who don’t realize that they being picked up by the camera).
My general impressions are generally the same impressions (or at least they are similar) that I had from the Frisco scrimmage:
The first team offense looks sharp. Nic Shimonek looked really good and he had two touchdowns and an interception on a bad play. I’m not even sure who he was throwing it to, but it wasn’t good. Nevertheless, that was one interception in three scrimmages and I’ll take that from Shimonek. He’s got a good arm and he looks the part.
Defense ruled the day in Lubbock. Spring Series champs. #WreckEm pic.twitter.com/cgQoQ0rf1k
— Texas Tech Football (@TexasTechFB) April 9, 2017
The offensive line is still struggling and Cal transfer Aaron Cochran was there to watch the game. Let’s hope that he saw that he could come in and start most likely. No offense to Bailey Smith, but he’s still struggling and I think that’s going to be an issue for the rest of the year. He’ll eventually be fine, but it’s his strength and he’s not getting much push. He’ll be fine, that just takes time.
I’m going to have to keep a paper roster there on hand because I’m constantly trying to figure out who is who when it comes to the roster, especially on the defensive side of the ball. It seemed like every few minutes, I was looking at the roster to see who had made a play. I wasn’t keeping notes, but there were just a lot of guys making plays. That certainly bodes well for next year as the hope is that there is more depth and not just bodies, but quality depth.
Jamile Johnson really stood out to me as a guy that made plays. Both him and Christian Taylor made plays. Johnson had a fumble recovery for a touchdown and then another fumble recovery later. I think Taylor had an interception.
Thanks to the best fans in the country for helping us top off the spring with a great event last night! #WreckEm pic.twitter.com/PD3VtjgBbB
— Texas Tech Football (@TexasTechFB) April 9, 2017
The back-up quarterback position is somewhat of a mess right now. No quarterback other than Shimonek looks like they are ready to play. LAJ’s Don Williams had a quote from Kingsbury after the game that indicates that Jett Duffey is coming back after his suspension in the spring and summer:
“If the season started today, I don’t have an answer there,” Kingsbury said. “As a coach, you don’t feel great about that, but I have a really good player coming back for fall camp, and so we’re excited about getting him back.
I honestly don’t know what to think about Duffey. I should say that I can’t really give my opinion because I’ve never seen him take a collegiate snap. I just don’t know and the only person that I can rely on for an opinion is Kingsbury.
DeMarcus Felton looked much better running the ball on Saturday, better than he did in Frisco. He had bigger holes to run in, but he was gaining some yards. Justin Stockton was held out again for this scrimmage with a head injury, so it sounds like they’re just playing it safe. Really though, Felton is a lot like Shimonek in that he’s the best running back on the team and the other options aren’t playing great (no offense). Caleb Woodard is not a running back by nature, or at least it seems that way. He’s got to figure out how to run north and south and find holes, not bounce outside.
The sights from Saturday Night Lights.
📸: https://t.co/id8sR2BwSC #WreckEm pic.twitter.com/wVRI9LGObT
— Texas Tech Football (@TexasTechFB) April 9, 2017
The defensive line really is much improved. There’s a steady stream of players running through the line and they all look like they can play. There weren’t perfect, but they were getting a lot of pressure on the quarterbacks and generally causing havoc. Talor Nunez had a good game. Joe Wallace exhibited some strength and caused a pressure sack in the endzone.
Octavious Morgan had that interception of Shimonek and as many of you and myself have confirmed, the defense just looks different. Vaughnte Dorsey is a dude. Jaylon Lane will hit somebody. Morgan looks like a Big 12 player. I felt like looking up and down the defense, no one looked out of place. My eyes aren’t lying to me. The defense looks like legitimate Big 12 football players. Now we have to figure out if they can play. I’ve already told all of you. I’m all in for this year.