UPDATE: Friday Flare
- By M. Clare
- Inside The Double T
- 8 Replies
hey sup...I'm back with a weekly blog - Friday Flare
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WEEKLY CLICKS
...a quick list of links from the various stories posted on RRS this week
Five Things I Liked & Disliked Against NC State
Grading the Red Raiders: Defense shines in tough road loss @ NC State
Major shakeup in week three: Big 12 power rankings pres. by All Hands
McGuire gives injury updates & talks Texas ahead of Saturday's matchup
Rivals150 center Jazz Gardner recaps recent TTU visit, upcoming decision
Notebook: DeRuyter expects balanced Horns attack, praises fellow Tech coach
Kittley: "Biggest thing is we got to protect the football"
Red Raiders in the NFL: 2022 Week Two
Timberview QB/ATH Cameron Bates is one to watch in 2024
Bradford Jr., Martinez, Thompson, & more talk keys to victory against Texas
Fun facts about new Texas Tech OL commit Tyler Johnson
Texas Tech commits and targets tracker: Week Four
Tracking Former Red Raiders: Sonny Cumbie's Support of Clemson
Texas Tech opens Big 12 play in bitter in-state rivalary game
Breaking down Bijan Robinson & the Texas Longhorns
Adams on Batcho: "We think he can play in the NBA in the next couple years"
Dual sport standout Lloyd loves the TTU coaches
Fardwas Aimaq injured foot in workout, according to Texas Tech Athletics
Fardaws Aimaq injured: Who's Next at the center position?
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COMMITS THIS WEEK
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The coaches landed Natchitoches Central (Louisiana) offensive tackle Tyler Johnson during the game against NC State last Saturday evening. Listed at 6-foot-7, 302-pounds, Johnson announced his commitment on social media and surprised everyone with the timing.
He chose the Red Raiders over offers from Baylor, Houston, Kansas State, Memphis, Missouri and several others.
The 5.7 three-star prospect also joined his high school teammate in the Texas Tech 2023 recruiting class, defensive tackle Tre'Darius Brown.
Johnson's commitment gives the Texas Tech coaches five (5) offensive linemen and six (6) defensive linemen in the 2023 recruiting class. Coach McGuire and his staff are making the fronts on both sides of the ball a priority in this first full recruiting cycle.
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2023 Offensive Line Class
Stephen Hamby and the recruiting staff have built quite the offensive line group in the 2023 recruiting class.
The five (5) commitments list 36 Power Five offers combined and the group includes three (3) 5.7 three-star prospects and two (2) 5.6 three-star prospects.
This is a complete guess, but here is a look at how each prospect projects to the college level...
Kaden Carr - offensive guard
Daniel Sill - offensive tackle
Dylan Shaw - offensive guard
Nick Fattig - offensive tackle
Tyler Johnson - offensive tackle
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TEXAS TECH FIRST YEAR COACHES VS. TEXAS
Okay, I'm not going back through the history books here, only back to the turn of the century and starting with Mike Leach's first season as the Texas Tech head coach.
MIKE LEACH
November 4th, 2000 - 6pm @home
Texas Tech loses to No. 20 Texas - 17-29
TOMMY TUBERVILLE
September 18th, 2010 - 7pm @home
Texas Tech loses to No. 6 Texas - 14-24
KLIFF KINGSBURY
November 28th, 2013 - 6:30pm @Texas
Texas Tech loses to Texas - 16-41
MATT WELLS
November 29th, 2019 - 11am @Texas
Texas Tech loses to Texas - 24-49
First thing is first, yikes...each coach over the past 20 years has lost their first game against the Texas Longhorns, can Joey McGuire buck this trend?
Leach and Tuberville were both at home, both played a ranked Texas team, both held the Longhorns to under 30 points and both seemingly played a competitive game.
The Longhorns are the No. 22 team in the nation coming into this weekend's game in Lubbock. There is an element of 'hate' anytime Texas comes to Lubbock, and that is only emphasized by the Longhorns and Sooners leaving the Big 12 conference for the SEC.
All of that being said, the Red Raiders have to stop the run and Bijan Robinson is one of the nation's elite running backs. A rushing attack that can get first downs on the ground and churn the clock is what can quiet a rowdy home crowd pretty quickly.
A big topic of conversation earlier this week was the Texas Tech offense and lack of production this past weekend. Kittley and his unit are back at home for the third time this season, so I expect to see the offense come out ready for the environment at The Jones.
...give me Texas Tech for the big win at home - TTU 27 UT 23
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WEEKEND VISITORS
Full list posted here from @B. Golan
15 - 2023 commitments
Some of these commitments are coming for game two or three on the young season, just look at this list and you can see the position balance. The defensive backs spending time together is probably one thing that stands out about this list, especially a guy like Macho Stevenson coming in from Louisiana to spend time with three (3) guys from the DFW area.
16 - 2024 prospects
There are nine (9) 2024 prospects with an offer from Texas Tech expected to attend the game.
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BIG 12 POWER RANKINGS
you hate to see it, especially to a Kansas State team picked by many to win the Big 12 conference going into the season...which is still possible, but probably not gonna happen
1. Oklahoma
The Sooners went through a ton of changes this off-season, but you wouldn't notice through three (3) games this season. The offense has scored 45, 33 and 49 points in the first three (3) games and that production on offense paired with a Brett Venables defense should be enough to win the conference.
2. Oklahoma State
The Cowboys have been a little all over the place through three (3) games, but the Pokes have a very experienced roster and have an early bye week this weekend before traveling to Waco the following weekend.
3. Texas
This is where things get difficult. The Longhorns looked great at home against Alabama, barely losing to 'America's Team' in college football by only a few points. Texas recovered with a nice home win against UTSA, but they are reportedly starting Hudson Card again with Quinn Ewers still sidelined with a shoulder/arm injury suffered in the game against Bama, which does not necessarily give this team a real identity early in the season.
4. Iowa State
5. Kansas
6. TCU
These three (3) programs are the 'undefeated' currently, still tremendously hard to say what these teams are. Kansas is scoring some serious points on offense, the Iowa State defense is stiffling opposing offenses and TCU has cruised to two (2) wins and the Frogs come off an early bye week to face SMU this weekend in Dallas.
7. Texas Tech
8. Baylor
9. West Virginia
10. Kansas State
I believe any of these four (4) programs can rise up the rankings over the next two weeks of the season, but each of these programs have struggled with scoring points on offense or stopping teams on defense.
West Virginia had a great bounce back win against Virginia Tech on the road this evening.
Kansas State scored 10 points at home in a loss to Tulane last weekend. That game and result puts them at the bottom, but the season is early and it is completely possible the Wildcats rebound this weekend against the Sooners...because why not???
Baylor and Texas Tech both face difficult conference games this weekend, the Bears on the road at Iowa State and Texas Tech hosting Texas at home.
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REMEMBER THE QUINN EWERS RECRUITMENT?
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Texas Tech hired Joey McGuire on November 8th, 2021 and the new Red Raiders coach had a five-star transfer quarterback visiting campus only weeks later.
It is hard to remember the exact play by play, but it seemed like those first 3-4 weeks on the job for McGuire were a recruiting fast break on a daily basis. The new coaching staff added 2022 commitments the night McGuire was hired, so it started fast and the staff has arguably never really slowed down.
At the time, Ewers and his interest in Texas Tech was pretty big news...it was portrayed as a high school coaching tie with McGuire, a conversation and relationship with McGuire that was the sole reason Texas Tech was involved.
Ewers was originally a Texas commitment back in high school at Southlake Carroll and was quoted as growing up a Longhorns fan, etc/etc...so while most Tech fans knew a battle against Texas would likely end with the five-star, highest rated prospect ever, all-everything recruit committing to the 'blue blood' program.
...but that being said, it never seemed that way to me - most coaches who helped with information said Lubbock and West Texas was the perfect setting for Ewers, a kid interested in hunting/fishing during his spare time and someone who routinely spent time in/around West Texas on hunting trips
we all know how the battle ended up and the rumors of massive NIL deals were blamed for the 'loss', but unfortunately months later, none of that banter really matters going into this weekend. most reports have Ewers sitting out again this weekend with the same shoulder injury suffered against Alabama a few weeks ago.
only time will tell what becomes of Ewers and his career at Texas, he looked very impressive in the limited action I was able to watch of him this season before the injury
the biggest takeaway from that entire episode for me was that Joey McGuire can and will compete for top talent in the state of Texas, it was something that seemed to set a tone for what has happened in the 9-10 months since - 26 total commitments, the No. 18 overall rated class in the nation
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have a great weekend everyone!
