the injury bug has hit the quarterback room, now the Red Raiders take the show on the road.
it's Friday, let's Flare...
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WEEKLY LINKS
Numbers of Note: Kansas State
Staff Prediction: Red Raiders return home looking for third-straight win
Red Raiders look to jump Kansas State hurdle
The Recruiting Six-Pack: TTU offers Shreveport OL Lionel Prudhomme Jr.
RRS TV: Micah Hudson
KSU's Johnson rushes for five touchdowns, Tech denied by Wildcats, 38-21
McGuire reflects on play calling, run defense after loss to K-State
Hutchings, Wilburn recap romp loss to Wildcats
Grading the Red Raiders: Few bright spots in loss vs. K-State
2024 Texas Tech commits and targets tracker: Week Eight
McGuire Notebook: BYU
Kittley explains thought process in second half of loss to Kansas State
DeRuyter reflects on Johnson's big day, turns page to Provo
Red Raiders turn page to upcoming trip to Provo
2023 Red Raiders in the NFL: Week six recap
Visitor reactions to Texas Tech's balckout game vs Wildcats
Eakin drives through adversity, coming on as reliable target
Fall Report: Texas Tech Baseball
DailyUniverseSports' Payne talks potential BYU bounce back
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TTU RECRUITING THIS WEEK
the coaches made a few new offers this week, we look at a few of the 2024 commitments and their performances, along with the recruiting edit of the week and more.
new offers
the Texas Tech coaches offered Forsyth Central (Georgia) offensive tackle Braden Carter this week. the 6-foot-6, 280-pound senior prospect also lists offers from Stetson and Western Carolina. this appears to be a James Blanchard special, re: finding a super under the radar prospect with little to no offers and a great physical profile. in this case, Carter has the frame and is a kid that competes in weight lifting. my best guess in a preferred walk-on opportunity here, but we need to speak with Carter and gather more details.
the Texas Tech coaches offered Bridgeland 2025 offensive tackle Ryan Fodje this week. the 6-foot-5, 275-pound junior prospect also lists early offers from Oklahoma, Nebraska and Houston. the Red Raiders were the first to offer Fodje's teammate, 2025 offensive tackle Jonte Newman, and now the coaches will look to land both of the standout juniors...pretty wild to think there is a high school football team where the two (2) starting offensive tackles both hold multiple P5 offers.
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2024 commit tidbits
another week, another huge performance for Hutto's Will Hammond. the Hippos are 2-5 on the season with a handful of very close losses, and they won game two this past weekend 52-31 over Temple at home.
through seven (7) games, Hammond has 163 completions in 262 attempts (62% completion percentage) for 2,587 yards and 26 touchdowns to six (6) interceptions along with 659 yards rushing with 10 touchdowns.
with these numbers, Hammond currently leads the nation - yes, the nation - in total yards per game at 463.7 yards per game.
Madisonville athlete Lorenzo Johnson Jr. committed to the Red Raiders on February 4th, 2022 - so nearly two (2) years ago. It feels like he gets somewhat overlooked in the 2024 class because of this timeline. the three-star prospect released his mid-season tape this week and it is a non-stop video of him catching touchdown passes and intercepting passes on defense.
for the season, Johnson Jr. has 31 receptions for 526 yards and eight (8) touchdowns receving along with five (5) tackles, four (4) passes defended, two (2) interceptions, 77 interception return yards and one (1) interception returned for a touchdown.
at an average of nearly 17 yards per reception, and looking at the tape...Johnson Jr. usually catches the ball over the middle or close to the line of scrimmage, then uses his speed to make defenders miss in open space.
if this continues, then Johnson Jr. has a pretty good case to see his 5.5 three-star ranking elevated going into signing day this December.
I finally had the opportunity to go and see Lake Belton wide receiver and Texas Tech commitment Micah Hudson in person this past weekend. the five-star prospect absolutely lived up to the billing and was able to exit the game halfway through the second quarter with his team up 30+ points.
Hudson just has another gear, using his speed to break several big plays where it did not appear the Grandbury defense had a chance of bringing him down. in a quarter and a half, Hudson had 130+ yards receiving with two (2) touchdowns along with a 40+ yard punt return that started the drive in the redzone.
we all knew Hudson was very good, but seeing him in person gave me a new perspective on what this could mean for Texas Tech in the short term and long term.
short term - obviously you have to hold onto him, sign Hudson in a few months...but he will absolutely play next season, his speed and talent as a receiver are premier, maybe the best I have seen in person from a high school prospect in my 10 years of doing this thing
long term - sign a player like this, have him play as a true freshman and McGuire opens the door for a ton of other very talented kids across the state of Texas to reconsider their thoughts on Texas Tech as a future home...the dividends of signing a player like Hudson are hard to predict, but I'm very bullish on what this could mean for Texas Tech recruiting in the long term
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TTU recruiting edit of the week (x2)
the coaches share these 'good luck' type edits with commits and targets on a weekly basis, always hard coming up with new creative ideas each week, but this is one of my favorite from the past few months - 'unleash the beast' - who doesn't like that?
also of note, a 2025 target shared this Junior Day invite for next January 13th - these weekends usually include 40-50+ targets from the 2025/2026 classes to see the program + attend a home basketball game...so mark your calendars.
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10 years ago this week...
...the Red Raiders were 7-0 and ranked No. 16 in the Top 25 during Kliff Kingsbury's first season as the Texas Tech head coach.
as we know, the team then went on to lose five (5) straight games, finishing the season with a win against Arizona State in the Holiday Bowl...so 8-5 record in year one for Kingsbury and the Red Raiders. no in depth research here, but I would imagine that was one of the last times your Red Raiders were ranked in the Top 25
10 years ago seems like such a long time ago...but two head coaches later, the program finds itself treading water again, staring another .500 or losing season right in the face.
the program that produced Patrick Mahomes has not had a starting quarterback finish the season healthy or play a full season in what seems like a decade as well...the ability to win consistently becomes increasingly more difficult playing 2-3 quarterbacks per season.
at 3-4 on the season, this year's Red Raiders team has five (5) games remaining to get bowl eligible.
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PFF College on Tahj Brooks
these stats were before the Kansas State game, a game where Brooks somehow only had 17 rushing attempts - his third lowest total of the season, 11 against Wyoming and seven (7) against Oregon
the numbers are pretty clear, when the Red Raiders have fed Brooks the ball 20+ times, the team has been successful and Brooks has been very productive
even with 17 carries, Brooks still had 98 yards and a score rushing this past weekend...the idea of giving the keys to the castle to a true freshman vs. rolling the dice with an all-conference back is banana-land to me, BUT quick disclaimer, I'm just a blogger with three (3) kids who loves watching football and not a coach making over a million dollars a year
Brooks is special and when he gets the ball, the Red Raiders tend to win...so it is time, as they say
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the CFB weekend - what to watch
let's look at what to watch in week four around college football this week...
Saturday
11am - No. 7 Penn State at No. 3 Ohio State on Fox
11am - UCF at No. 6 Oklahoma on ABC
2:30pm - Washington State at No. 9 Oregon on ABC
2:30pm - No. 17 Tennesse at No. 11 Alabama on CBS
2:30pm - Oklahoma State at West Virginia on ESPN
3pm - No. 8 Texas at Houston on Fox
6pm - No. 13 Ole Miss at Auburn on ESPN
6pm - Texas Tech at BYU on FS1
6:30pm - No. 2 Michigan at Michigan State on NBC
6:30pm - No. 16 Duke at No. 4 Florida State on ABC
7pm - No. 14 Utah at No. 18 USC on Fox
7pm - Clemson at Miami on ACCN
9:30pm - Arizona State at No. 5 Washington on FS1
9:30pm - No. 25 UCLA at Stanford on ESPN
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Recruiting - Around the Big 12
we look around the new-look conference this week after more new commitments were made, the rankings are updated and the Sooners retain the top class in the conference...
*listed in current Big 12 rankings order, new programs now officially added to the Rivals rankings list - plus a new 'look' or design from the Rivals team on these lists/pages
*per request, I have added the 'new' Big 12 programs that will join the conference next season - Arizona, Utah, Colorado and Arizona State
Oklahoma - 26 total commitments, No. 5 class in the nation
the Sooners added a new commitment this week...
ATH Michael Boganowski
Texas - 18 total commitments, No. 14 class in the nation
the Longhorns did not add a new commitment this week...
Texas Tech - 20 total commitments, No. 24 class in the nation
the Red Raiders did not add a new commitment this week...
UCF - 18 total commitments, No. 26 class in the nation
the Golden Knights did not add a new commitment this week...
West Virginia - 20 total commitments, No. 39 class in the nation
the Mountaineers did not add a new commitment this week...
TCU - 17 total commitments, No. 41 class in the nation
the Horned Frogs did not add a new commitment this week...
Arizona - 22 total commitments, No. 43 class in the nation
the Wildcats added a new commitment this week...
ATH Quimari Shemwell
Cincinnati - 21 total commitments, No. 44 class in the nation
the Bearcats did not a new commitment this week...
Kansas - 16 total commitments, No. 49 class in the nation
the Jayhawks added a new commitment this week...
OL David Abajian
Iowa State - 18 total commitments, No. 51 class in the nation
the Cyclones added a new commitment this week...
WR K. Cummings-Coleman
Oklahoma State - 15 total commitments, No. 54 class in the nation
the Cowboys added two (2) new commitments this week...
OL Nuku Mafi
OL Semisi Tonga
Baylor - 14 total commitments, No. 59 class in the nation
the Bears did not add a new commitment this week...
Utah - 11 total commitments, No. 61 class in the nation
the Utes did not add a new commitment this week...
Colorado - 10 total commitments, No. 64 class in the3nation
the Buffs did not add a new commitment this week...
BYU - 14 total commitments, No. 69 class in the nation
the Cougars did not add a new commitment this week...
Houston - eight (8) total commitments, No. 94 class in the nation
the Cougars did not add a new commitment this week...
Kansas State - seven (7) total commitments, No. 98 class in the nation
the Wildcats did not add a new commitment this week...
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have a great weekend everyone!
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