sorry boys and girls, I was out of town and unable to post yesterday.
it's Saturday, let's Flare...
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WEEKLY LINKS
Numbers of Note: Houston
Staff Predictions: Will Tech turn tide against Houston?
The Recruiting Six-Pack: 2025 OT Lamont Rogers names TTU in Top 12 schools
Tech hosts Cougard for Hall of Fame weekend
Special teams, run game shine as Tech stomps Cougars 49-28
McGuire reflects after first Big 12 win over Houston
Brooks a safety valve in Morton-led Tech win over Houston
Bradford, Baskerville detail second half shutout against Houston
Film Room: Houston
Visitor reactions to Texas Tech's 49-28 win over UH
Grading the Red Raiders: Morton, RB's too much for UH
2024 Texas Tech commits and targets tracker: Week Six
McGuire Notebook - Baylor
Tadlock kicks off practice with optimism around 2024 roster
DeRuyter, Kittley round up win over Houston, turn page to Baylor
Tech locking in on critical road trip against Bears
Top target Chase McCarty details Tech visit and upcoming decision
2023 Red Raiders in the NFL: Week four recap
OurDailyBears' Goodman details Baylor playmakers
Numbers of Note: Baylor
Staff Predictions: Will Tech stymie road woes in Waco?
The Recruiting Six-Pack: Red Raiders have busy first day of October
Tech looks to stack success against Baylor
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TTU RECRUITING THIS WEEK
it was a busy recruiting week with a new addition to the 2024 recruiting class, a handful of new offers, we look at the recruiting edit of the week and more...
TTU coaches add standout long-snapper
Mater Dei (Calif.) long snapper Rylan Vagana announced his commitment to the Red Raiders last weekend. the 6-foot-1, 200-pound prospect was in town for the Red Raiders' win against Houston over the weekend and announced his commitment the following day. Vagana is a preferred walk-on commitment and chose Texas Tech over other offers from Air Force, Penn, Army and San Diego State.
per Rubio long snapping, Vagana is the No. 1 rated long snapper in the nation. he was also chosen to play in the Polynesian Bowl, played in Hawaii and aired on the NFL Network.
whether it turns into actual movement or not, having the double T in a program like Mater Dei is also huge...this program cranks out D1 talent on an annual basis and is a great place to have the proverbial 'foot in the door' for the future.
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new offers this week
the Texas Tech coaches offered Hitchcock 2025 athlete Lloyd Jones III this week. the 6-foot-4, 210-pound junior now holds five (5) offers from your Red Raiders, Colorado State, North Texas, UTSA and Texas State. Jones plays quarterback, wide receiver and some defensive back for the Bulldogs. I'm not sure if this offer is to play quarterback or another position, but last weekend Lloyd put up 302 yards and four (4) touchdowns passing along with one (1) rushing touchdown.
Jones' Mom also posted this after the offer, pretty cool...
the Texas Tech coaches offered Lake Belton 2026 athlete Davion Peters this week. the 5-foot-11, 160-pound sophomore now holds two (2) early offers from your Red Raiders and TCU. per MaxPreps, he has 14 receptions for 328 yards and five (5) touchdowns receiving through six (6) games this season. also, teammate of TTU five-star commitment Micah Hudson.
the Texas Tech coaches offered Hutto 2026 athlete Keilan Chavies this week. the 5-foot-10, 180-pound sophomore now holds two (2) early offers from your Red Raiders and Houston. per MaxPreps, he has 54 carries for 331 yards and four (4) touchdowns rushing along with 19 receptions for 389 yards and three (3) touchdowns receiving through five (5) games this season. also, teammate of TTU four-star commitment Will Hammond.
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TTU recruiting edit of the week
Austin Crockett athlete and Texas Tech preferred walk-on commitment Cameron Dickey shared the recruiting edit of the week.
he is also deserving of a shoutout after his performance last weekend. the three-star prospect accounted for 337 yards and six (6) touchdowns in a win.
from the best long snapper in the nation to standout athletes like Dickey, the Texas Tech preferred walk-on additions are a group of very talented young men...pretty unique with the Matador Club allowing the coaches to recruit these fringe additions and giving them real opportunity to upgrade the roster while providing real opportunity to these standout athletes.
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weekly Micah Hudson stuff
so I was mostly coming here to post this video, and share this edit that Micah himself shared last weekend...
then, as I was typing up the weekly post, someone shared that Hudson is taking an official visit to Aggie this weekend for their game against Alabama.
Hudson spoke with Cole Patterson in an interview posted on September 8th, a week or so before his commitment to Texas Tech where he shared the following...
"Definitely Alabama, A&M and maybe even a Texas game," Hudson told Rivals of his visit plans. "I think Alabama, I might go watch them play Tennessee."
the A&M visit should not bring any worries to Texas Tech fans, just my .02 cents - this was part of a plan where a kid wanted to take visits and see some marque games.
it would not surprise me to see Hudson take an OV to Alabama in two (2) weeks to watch them play Tennessee.
we have seen this over the past two seasons, McGuire/Blanchard and staff do not say 'no' to these official visits...and I would add that we are in some uncharted waters here - re: recruiting five-star caliber players
that is a lot of words to say this...Hudson is a Red Raider, the coaches have done a tremendous job and need to continue doing what they are doing...that's all
I will tell you this...your program is recruiting lights out when Aggie is trying host TTU commitments two weeks in a row (Ofili and now Hudson)
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shoutout TTU social media
the TTU social team recreated the classic 'this is Sportscenter' ad campaign, this one featuring running back Tahj Brooks - who is on a tear this season.
I love these type of videos, these Sportscenter commercials were a big part of my upbringing as a young sports fan and I love when people recreate them
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TTU Athletics on the 'Big Stage'
this is impressive for any program and your Red Raiders have several top athletes playing across sports top events.
who is next???
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Jung doing rare things in the MLB Playoffs
not only did the Rangers sweep the Wild Card series, but Jung was a standout and put up some insane stats to live in the record books with a solid group of players to hit two (2) doubles and a triple in one (1) game
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NCAA 'cleaning up' the recruiting game
I mean, does anything the NCAA does or does not do these days really surprise anyone?
banning 'professional' photoshoots for unofficial recruiting visitors will REALLY make a difference and is a huge issue across the sport. I mean, an overweight blogger with a camera can take pictures at every single high school football game in America...BUT college coaches tell the media the resources and time this takes it 'overwhelming' - yeah right dude
every major program you can think of has taken professional pictures of BABY GRONK, a 10-11 year old social media influencer (gross to type that last sentence, I'm sorry)...but yes, let's not take pictures of Micah Hudson's teammates or the small town kid looking to potentially walk-onto the team because the NCAA deems it unnecessary
I think this might be the dumbest thing that I have ever seen from a recruiting standpoint...I'm looking forward to how staffs across the country skirt this new 'rule'
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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. 12 Oklahoma at No. 3 Texas on ABC
11am - No. 23 LSU at No. 21 Missouri on ESPN
2pm - No. 13 Washington State at UCLA on Pac12 Network
2:30pm - Virginia Tech at No. 5 Florida State on ABC
2:30pm - No. 11 Alabama at Texas A&M on CBS
3pm - UCF at Kansas on Fox
6pm - No. 20 Kentucky at No. 1 Georgia on ESPN
6:37pm - No. 10 Notre Dame at No. 25 Louisville on ABC
7pm - No. 24 Fresno State at Wyoming on Fox
7pm - Texas Tech at Baylor on ESPN2
7pm - TCU at Iowa State on FS1
9pm - No. 15 Oregon State at Cal on Pac12 Network
9:30pm - Arizona at No. 9 USC 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 - 24 total commitments, No. 6 class in the nation
the Sooners did not add a new commitment this week...
Texas - 18 total commitments, No. 13 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...
Arizona - 22 total commitments, No. 37 class in the nation
the Wildcats added two (2) new commitments this week...
DB Rahim Wright
LB Stacy Bey
West Virginia - 20 total commitments, No. 41 class in the nation
the Mountaineers added a new commitment this week...
ATH Keyon Washington
TCU - 17 total commitments, No. 43 class in the nation
the Horned Frogs did not add a new commitment this week...
Cincinnati - 21 total commitments, No. 44 class in the nation
the Bearcats did not a new commitment this week...
Arizona State - 17 total commitments, No. 48 class in the nation
the Sun Devils did not add a new commitment this week...
Iowa State - 17 total commitments, No. 51 class in the nation
the Cyclones did not add a new commitment this week...
Kansas - 15 total commitments, No. 51 class in the nation
the Jayhawks did not add a new commitment this week...
Baylor - 14 total commitments, No. 58 class in the nation
the Bears did not add a new commitment this week...
Oklahoma State - 13 total commitments, No. 60 class in the nation
the Cowboys did not add a new commitment this week...
Utah - 11 total commitments, No. 62 class in the nation
the Utes added a new commitment this week...
ATH Davis Andrews
BYU - 14 total commitments, No. 67 class in the nation
the Cougars did not add a new commitment this week...
Colorado - nine (9) total commitments, No. 72 class in the3nation
the Buffs 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!