Spitballin' is presented by our friends at SpindleTap Brewery. We cut through the Houston Haze with these insider tidbits, and you can enjoy a six-pack of Houston Haze and other SpindleTap favorites in stores near you!
... I think you will see Terence Steele and Jack Anderson back this week, which should really help Texas Tech's run game against Arizona. Steele has long been viewed as this team's left tackle, and has practiced recently, but with as well as Travis Bruffy has been playing on the left side, it wouldn't shock me if Steele lined up at right tackle when he returns.
... I also think you will see Lonzell Gilmore and DaMarcus Fields back this weekend, which should help Keith Patterson's defense.
... Jonathan Garibay is back and available at kicker but with Trey Wolff playing as well as he has the last two weeks, Garibay isn't needed right away. Wolff has been sneaky good and consistent through two games. If he can keep it going, that spot will remain his.
... You may have noticed this some on Saturday, but Patterson moved some of his guys around at linebacker against UTEP. Adam Beck started at SPUR with Kosi Eldridge backing him up. Xavier Benson started at WLB with Evan Rambo behind him. Tyrique Matthews moved over to SAM, where he's backing up Riko Jeffers. Patterson is still tinkering with things so there's no guarantee that it will stay like this. This is a guess on my part, but I think Patterson wants to train Matthews at SLB so he can play that position next year when Jeffers slides over to replace Jordyn Brooks at MLB.
... Patterson talked about this some last week, but he makes his players write down their goals before each game. His thought is that it unlocks a different part of the brain. "If you aim at nothing, you'll surely hit it," is something he says a lot. In recent weeks, Brooks has written about better footwork and trusting those around him more. I love this about Patterson. It's very Chris Beard-like. If you don't talk about it, it won't happen.
... Patterson is intense during games, too. He isn't willing to concede ANYTHING and is very vocal on the field. It doesn't matter the quarter or situation, the pressure gets dialed up early and late. Don't expect that to change.
... Speaking of Patterson, he worked closely with Northern Arizona head coach Chris Ball for two seasons at Arizona State. It wouldn't surprise me if Patterson spent some time chatting about the Arizona Wildcats with his former colleague this week.
... Linebacker Kosi Eldridge had a bit of a rough game with a pass interference penalty in the first quarter and an offsides penalty in the second half that negated a pick-six by Zech McPhearson. The staff is very high on Eldridge but his inexperience showed up Saturday.
... Texas Tech's defense has held the opposition to 4-of-31 on third-downs so far this season. Saturday, the Red Raiders had three sacks and seven tackles for loss. That's all really, really good but no one around the program is feeling great about things because they haven't done well in the takeaway department yet. Right now, the team is minus-2 in turnover margin. Matt Wells told me after the game that this isn't who they are, but the takeaways are coming and they will come in bunches. Utah State led the country in takeaways last year so this isn't something they are used to and its driving Patterson nuts.
... Speaking of Wells, I don't know if he has used it yet, but he apparently has a helicopter at his disposal that he can use for recruiting purposes around West Texas.
... The next three quarterbacks Texas Tech will face this season are all big-time dual-threat talents, starting with Khalil Tate on Saturday and ending with Jalen Hurts at Oklahoma and Spencer Sanders at Oklahoma State. Charlie Brewer and Brock Purdy follow up that trio, so nothing is going to come easy in the coming weeks. Business is about to pick up.
... Last season, Tate threw five of his eight interceptions when the opposing defense sent a blitz. He completed just 48.5 percent of his passes in those situations. When he was under pressure last season - whether via a blitz or base pressure - Tate completed just 38.4 percent of his passes.
... If not for a phone call from Butch Jones, it's not a stretch to think that UTEP offensive coordinator Mike Canales could have ended up as a member of Wells' staff at Texas Tech. Canales, a Utah State grad, joined Wells' Aggies staff in 2016 as the team's running backs and tight ends coach. He left after just one season to join Jones' staff at Tennessee but was let go, along with the rest of the staff, when Jones was dismissed in 2017. Canales ended up catching on as Dana Dimel's offensive coordinator last year, but it's not unreasonable to think he would be in Lubbock right now had he passed on Rocky Top.
... You can expect to see Joel Filani rotate his players on the outside a bit more as the season continues. I think there was a feeling that T.J. Vasher and Erik Ezukanma played a bit too much in the opener, and that was adjusted a bit against UTEP. We saw RJ Turner, KeSean Carter and Myller Royals last weekend and I would bet that will continue.
... Armand Shyne has been a positive early on - especially against Montana State - but the staff would really like to see him perform better when he doesn't have the ball and during the week in practices. That is what has helped Ta'Zhawn Henry keep that starting spot at running back.
... The sample size is still pretty small, but the running backs have been way more involved in the passing game this season than they were under Kliff Kingsbury. Henry is the Red Raiders' third-leading receiver with 10 catches and has hauled in five passes in each of the first two games. The Red Raiders had a running back catch at least five passes just four times last year - Henry had one of those games, Da'Leon Ward had three.
... Arizona has been flagged 21 times this season for an FBS-worst 215 yards. This isn't a new development for the Wildcats, as they were called for 95 penalties for 908 yards last season. Texas Tech, for the sake of comparison, was flagged 96 times for 890 yards in 2018. The penalties are an issue in Tuscon and hopefully the Red Raiders can take advantage of it on Saturday. Arizona is also struggling mightily against the pass. Hawaii threw for 436 yards and Northern Arizona had 373 yards, giving the Wildcats the second-worst pass defense in the Power Five.
... Two Red Raiders that were up and down during preseason camp, tight end Travis Koontz and defensive lineman Nelson Mbanasor, have both played really well so far this season and done what they have been asked to do. They have both jumped out on film after the first two games and are performing much better than they practiced during August. Now the challenge will be for them to practice as well as they have played.
... Arizona freshman linebacker Derrion Clark will miss the first half Saturday due to receiving two personal fouls this past weekend. Also, former Dallas Cowboy and Oklahoma Sooner standout DeMarco Murray coaches running backs for Kevin Sumlin and the Wildcats.
... There are only two active Power Five quarterbacks with 1,500-plus career rushing yards and 4,000-plus career passing yards and Texas Tech will play them in back-to-back games. Jalen Hurts has thrown for 6,217 yards and run for 2,199 in his three-plus seasons at Alabama and Oklahoma. Khalil Tate has 4,863 yards through the air and 1,981 on the ground so far with Arizona.
... When NFL scouts roll through Lubbock, right now they are looking the hardest at Broderick Washington, Jordyn Brooks, Terence Steele and Douglas Coleman.
... You may have noticed Xavier White (No. 24 to No. 14) and Chux Nwabuko (No. 37 to No. 42) sporting different jersey numbers on Saturday. Both players figure to factor in on special teams this season, so their numbers were permanently changed in order to prevent any duplicate jersey number penalties and skip the hassle of swapping to temporary jerseys on the sidelines.
... Broderick Washington, in his East Texas twang, said this to me recently about the Red Raiders' new, aggressive defense: "It's like letting a dog off of his leash and letting him go play and run around."
... Montana State routed No. 12 Southeast Missouri State over the weekend 38-17. The Bobcats are No. 15 in the latest FCS rankings.
... Chris Beard's first day on the road recruiting yesterday had him in Dallas, Duncanville, Napa Valley and San Diego. We joked that that would have been a two-week drive when he was coaching in junior college. He also mentioned in an interview that DeShawn Corprew would not be back, which shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone on RRS. It stings, no doubt. Now the focus turns to UNLV transfer Joel Ntambwe and getting him eligible to play right away. That process is still ongoing - some feel like it doesn't look good, while others feel really positive about the Ntambwe's chances. He is preparing as if he will play, but we'll see if that ends up happening.
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