We've got a special treat, as we shot the Nebraska pep band's entire performance at the North Texas Nebraskans tailgate for the Ft. Hood Troops! Enjoy the performance and check out the group itself, too!

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The hottest tailgate spot in and around Baylor's Floyd Casey Stadium was a corner about a mile away where North Texas Nebraskans threw a party for more than 100 soldiers and airmen from nearby Ft. Hood, who were provided with free tickets, food and transportation to and from the game.

Here's a video of some of the early activity...enjoy!

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WACO, Texas - Sgt. Luke Watt has served two year-long tours of duty in Iraq. He's rotating out of Army soon, but before he does, he got a surprising, unexpected reward for his service: Free tickets to the Nebraska-Baylor game, plus transportation, plus a breakfast tailgate.

All for being a Husker. Watt and two of his buddies from Ft. Hood were among the more than 100 soldiers and airmen treated by North Texas Nebraskans, which raised more $8,000 in two weeks to provide the provide experience.

“My commander told I might be able to get me some tickets,” said Watt, a Wood River native. “I kept nagging him about it and I got some.”

Watt brought along a couple of Ft. Hood buddies – Spc. Ben Silvers and Spc. Matthew Mols – along for the event, held in beautiful, sunny conditions in the corner of a BU parking lot.

Almost 1,000 fans attended at one time or another during the morning, sharing stories, beers, well wishes, smiles and respect for the assembled troops, who arrived on buses, the transportation organized by one of NTN's watch sites, Vitty's sports bars.

Spcs. Spencer Hanel and Ross Breitkreutz were both native Nebraskans and Ft. Hood soldiers enjoying the day. They were cousins, as well. It was Breitkreutz's first Husker game anywhere – including Lincoln.

“Greatest fans base in the world,” Breitkreutz said. “This is absolutely unbelievable. I hope we take it. We should take it.”

NTN president Jill Simpson weaved among various groups of Husker fans, the breakfast station and the big black bus set up to hand out tickets to the soldiers. She said the event, which she figured would attract at least 400 members, had “exploded” into two times that.

“This has been a terrific event,” she said.

She also welcomed the Huskers' 49-member pep band - which showed up to play “Hail Varsity” and an Armed Forces medley – and Gov. Dave Heineman, who appeared briefly to thank the troops for their service.

We'll have more on this story. Stay tuned to Husker Locker for more!

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WACO, Texas - Sgt. Luke Watt has served two year-long tours of duty in Iraq. He's rotating out of Army soon, but before he does, he got a surprising, unexpected reward for his service: Free tickets to the Nebraska-Baylor game, plus transportation, plus a breakfast tailgate.

All for being a Husker. Watt and two of his buddies from Ft. Hood were among the more than 100 soldiers and airmen treated by North Texas Nebraskans, which raised more $8,000 in two weeks to provide the provide experience.

“My commander told I might be able to get me some tickets,” said Watt, a Wood River native. “I kept nagging him about it and I got some.”

Watt brought along a couple of Ft. Hood buddies – Spc. Ben Silvers and Spc. Matthew Mols – along for the event, held in beautiful, sunny conditions in the corner of a BU parking lot.

Almost 1,000 fans attended at one time or another during the morning, sharing stories, beers, well wishes, smiles and respect for the assembled troops, who arrived on buses, the transportation organized by one of NTN's watch sites, Vitty's sports bars.

Spcs. Spencer Hanel and Ross Breitkreutz were both native Nebraskans and Ft. Hood soldiers enjoying the day. They were cousins, as well. It was Breitkreutz's first Husker game anywhere – including Lincoln.

“Greatest fans base in the world,” Breitkreutz said. “This is absolutely unbelievable. I hope we take it. We should take it.”

NTN president Jill Simpson weaved among various groups of Husker fans, the breakfast station and the big black bus set up to hand out tickets to the soldiers. She said the event, which she figured would attract at least 400 members, had “exploded” into two times that.

“This has been a terrific event,” she said.

She also welcomed the Huskers' 49-member pep band - which showed up to play “Hail Varsity” and an Armed Forces medley – and Gov. Dave Heineman, who appeared briefly to thank the troops for their service.

We'll have more on this story. Stay tuned to Husker Locker for more!
See also: NTN Troop Tailgate Photos

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If you've already read the Big Red Troops story and want to share your own story - or just say thanks! - here's the place to do it! Thanks, NTN, for all of your great generosity in helping the Husker troops!

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Forget, for a minute, touchdowns, quarterback debates and even the extraordinary play of Ndamukong Suh. Here's one of the best stories of Nebraska's 2009 football season. One that cuts through the games, the controversies, the media, the penalties, the polls and the nonsense to get right to the communal spirit of this thing we call Husker Nation.

It's July, and one of NU's biggest alumni chapters, North Texas Nebraskans, comes up with an idea: Honor and reward troops from Nebraska by getting them a ticket to the NU-Baylor game this Saturday. By August, the chapter had decided to draw those troops from a pool of 53,000 soldiers and airmen at Ft. Hood, 60 miles from Waco, in Killeen, Texas. The base is one of America's primary suppliers of troops deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“We thought it'd be a great tribute for everything they do for us,” said Jill Simpson, NTN president.

NTN contacted Ft. Hood's Family, Morale, Welfare and Recreation office shortly after that. Public relations coordinator Monty Campbell put out the word to the base. More than 100 soldiers and airmen put their names in.

“They responded very favorably,” Campbell said. “Anytime they can go any event they love it. They're very appreciative of what North Texas Nebraskans are doing for them.”

Baylor had the tickets available. NTN had to raise the money.

Guess how long it took them?

“We put the vibe out there to do the fundraising and we literally raised our money in two weeks,” Simpson said. “We have far exceeded what we needed.”

Two weeks. NTN passed around hats at its three giant watch parties in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area and raised $3,000. Two Husker fans collected $1,100 at Sidetracks Bar in Lincoln the Friday night before a home game. Two NTN members headed to Virginia Tech and raised money there. A few individuals gave $1,000. That's 20 free tickets per donation.

“It just ballooned,” Simpson said. “We weren't even sure we were going to get people to donate, and we have had donations from across the nation.”

More than the donations, Simpson said, were the emails and letters her group received. Even after they shut off the donation, more came pouring in. More queries. More offers to help.

So NTN raised even more cash to pay for the troops' transportation to and from Ft. Hood and a tailgate party with food and T-shirts. Baylor will recognize the troops during the game and furnish a soda and popcorn. Simpson said at least 400 people will be in attendance at the tailgate party.

“That's the absolute minimum,” Simpson said. “We're expecting a lot more...(the soldiers and airmen) would have been thrilled with just the tickets.

“I had no idea that we would get this response. It's an awesome feeling knowing we're gonna take 100 soldiers to the game on Saturday and they're going to have something else to do for four or five hours.”

NTN plans on making a habit out of it. Next year: Texas A&M. After that, Texas.

It can be easy, in the fog of message boards and raucous student sections, to lose track of stories like these. But this story – much like our 50 Husker Fans, 50 States series – hints at the larger culture borne out of Husker football Saturdays. Name another fan base doing this. Not a university – a fan base. What NTN is doing – what other alumni groups will do, if they follow this example – is bloom beyond the game into something more: A communal character.

Tack a story like this onto the 300th sellout as another small, good reminder of who the program's backbone really is.

Check out our North Texas Nebraskans group! Join and tell them thanks!

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Enjoy our terrific photos from the Texas Tech pregame festivities at the Husker Nation Pavillion, as Doc Sadler and the Nebraska men's basketball team made an appearance for some fun and introductions...enjoy...and upload your own photos today!

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Our MVPs and Report Card after NU's 31-10 loss to Texas Tech:

OFFENSIVE MVP: Roy Helu, Jr. Playing with a bum shoulder, Helu mostly maximized gains on what few holes there were. His effort on the 27-yard screen pass was easily the best individual offensive play of the game. Should Helu sit vs. Iowa State? Maybe. He needs to be truly healthy for the stretch run.

DEFENSIVE MVP: Phillip Dillard. Arguably his best game. Dillard chased Tech's backs on passing plays, rendering them ineffective after the opening drive, and imposed his physical will on receivers and linemen. He's catching fire at just the right time in his career.

GRADES

QUARTERBACK: D Zac Lee played his worst game – because it was his most hesitant game. He didn't push the ball downfield. He ate two or three drive-killing sacks. And he didn't get deep enough on a couple of his drops. Playing to avoid mistakes is really no way to play quarterback unless you've got a top-grade running game. And Nebraska doesn't. And while Cody Green gave NU a spark, he could've easily thrown two or three more interceptions.

RUNNING BACKS: B Helu played bravely, but he's not 100 percent, and he's not much of a pass-blocking option when he isn't. Marcus Mendoza caught a few passes, and played aggressively. The coaches erred in not playing him before the Texas Tech game. We'll see more of Tray Robinson next week.

WIDE RECEIVERS/TIGHT ENDS: D Drops, drops, drops. NU's receivers might have been open, and Lee should have found them, but who's to say they would have caught the ball? Niles Paul's blunder is elementary stuff. Cover the ball! Chris Brooks and Khiry Cooper at least catch the ball consistently. Cooper needs to block better. Not a good game for Ted Gilmore's unit, and he's running out of motivation tactics. The tight ends were mostly a non-factor.

OFFENSIVE LINE: D Marcel Jones and D.J. Jones get an F, while the rest of the unit gets, oh, a C or so. The Jones duo was awful, getting manhandled play after play, committing penalties, whiffing on blocks. Jacob Hickman and Keith Williams were fair, but not dominant. Ricky Henry played OK until his bonehead personal foul in the fourth quarter.

DEFENSIVE LINE: B+ The front four generated a terrific pass rush throughout the game, especially ends Pierre Allen and Barry Turner. But they got a little gashed late in the fourth quarter by Tech's quick running game.

LINEBACKERS: B Will Compton had a bad first drive and was replaced by Dillard, who played one of his best. At times, Dillard was mismatched against Tech's speedy receivers. In spot duty, Sean Fisher and Compton were fine against Tech's running formations.

SECONDARY: B- More than one of NU's sacks were thanks to the Huskers' coverage, but two pass interference penalties, plus a couple missed tackles by Prince Amukamara, bring the grade down. The good news: Only Kansas has better receivers, and no team has faster receivers.

SPECIAL TEAMS: C Alex Henery had a poor game, missing a 51-yarder and shanking a punt. Nebraska gave up a big kickoff return at wrong time. The punt coverage units were OK, and Alfonzo Dennard had a nice kickoff return of his own. The snaps by PJ Mangieri were much better.

GAME MANAGEMENT/PLAYCALLING: D Before we even get to Shawn Watson, let's start with Bo Pelini. Stop deferring every won coin toss. Stop calling blitzes on third-and-long on the opponent's first drive of the game. Stop wasting two timeouts per game on the defense. Now Watson, who has a lot of work to do. He wasn't given a lot of options, but he needs to use his tight ends better, and more of them. He needs to have a sense of urgency in the third quarter, down 21 points. He needs to stop giving his quarterback so many options at the line of scrimmage.

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“We have Blackshirts there at Texas Tech, too. Every one of our guys is wearing a black shirt underneath their pads. I'm proud to say the Blackshirts won this one.”

It's pretty safe to say that little nugget from Mike Leach will find its way to Nebraska's bulletin board. The Texas Tech coach, is his own, inimitable way, praised his bunch and poked a little fun at NU's top defensive unit at the same time.

Let's just hope head coach Bo Pelini uses it to motivate the right bunch. Not the Cornhuskers' defense, which forced five punts, notched five sacks and only gave 259 total yards to one of the best offenses in America.

Rather, the quote needs to find its way to the offensive line, which can use every bit of fire, at this point, it can get. May Mike Smith, Keith Williams, Jacob Hickman, Ricky Henry, Marcel Jones and D.J. Jones tack it to their lockers to remind themselves of a performance that left offensive line coach Barney Cotton drained and a little crestfallen.

“I think I've got to do a better job preparing,” Cotton said. “We didn't play the physical ballgame that we had planned on playing...this is a league where you have to be physical to play well.”

Cotton and head coach Bo Pelini both called it “putting a hat on a hat.” The final tally - just 70 rushing yards, and most of those coming via improvisation from Roy Helu, Jr. - suggests the Huskers didn't do it. Couple the leaks with five sacks and a slew of tough penalties – including the drive-killing personal foul by Henry – and it was the sloppiest performance in recent memory.

“We'd always leave a hat open,” Hickman said. “Or a guy jumps. It's just one guy who can kill you...just one guy missing his block, and the play doesn't work. Gotta have 11 guys on the same page. You could really call any play at that point – and it should work.”

Hickman said the line affected quarterback Zac Lee's vision and performance. Although Lee held on to the ball for ten seconds on two different occasions – he was sacked once and threw another pass away - Hickman said some early hits on No. 5 - especially on two playaction passes where Lee couldn't even turn around without being hammered - set a bad tone.

“It threw him on his rhythm,” Hickman said. “It goes through the line first.”

NU planned to physical running game in the opening quarter; the playcalling was balanced through the first four drives. But Helu and Lee's rushing lanes were few; Tech slanted its defensive linemen into gaps, and the Huskers' front unit was unable to clear them away.

The Red Raiders weren't fancy, Cotton said. They just beat Nebraska's linemen into the backfield. When Cotton would gather his unit on the sideline, he'd talk to them – sometimes through the entire Tech offensive possession – about effort, and toughness.

“This was not a game where we were doing a lot of drawing things up,” Cotton said. “We talked about putting hats on hats, and keep those hats on hats. We've got to fight more aggressively and more relentlessly.”

What's that going to look like in practice?

“It's going to be physical,”Cotton said. “Everything we do during the week should be darn near live anyway. That's the way we prepare. But it'll be even more physical.”

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The reverie lasted all of a quarter. All the fanfare and hoopla and warm feelings over No. 15 Nebraska and its potential run through the Big 12 have been put on hold. Indefinitely.

Sloppy, slow and uncertain. That's how NU played in a calamitous meltdown loss to Texas Tech. The Red Raiders looked speedier, smarter and definitely less rattled by one of the more incompetent group of officials I've seen.

Most of all, the seemed sure of themselves. Even before Niles Paul's boneheaded, casual drop of a backwards screen pass, which led to a 82-yard fumble return for a touchdown, the Red Raiders played and acted like the better, more confident team.

“If y'all would have seen the locker room before the game, you would have thought it was a bunch of animals running around,” Texas Tech quarterback Steven Sheffield said. “That's how our program is, just letting go and letting everybody be themselves and a lot of loud music.”

Understand that Tech's already been through a tumult of a season – two tough losses, suspensions, the typical Mike Leach chicanery. Maybe the boys from West Texas can give Bo Pelini some advice on how to handle the next two weeks. Loud music, apparently.

Get ready. It's going to be a bumpy, restless fortnight. Oh, Nebraska can probably handle defenseless Iowa State and toothless Baylor no matter who takes the field. But NU better have this figured out by Nov. 7, or the stretch run of the season could be a long, troubling slog.

What's wrong? Oh, quite a bit. We'll get there. Let's start with what's right.

Nebraska's front four plays like beasts. Every damn one of them. With attitude, toughness and fury. Phillip Dillard – remember, he's not as good as Colton Koehler for the first two games of this season – is suddenly realizing every ounce of potential he has. Can he please start the game next week and give Will Compton the sideline seasoning he needs? Alfonzo Dennard and Prince Amukamara, a few hiccups aside, bring their lunch pail every week. No cornerback – none – has a perfect record. Larry Asante plays a clean, hard-hitting game. And Pelini is starting to put some of those fancy blitzes back in the box – which is a good thing.

Now for the rest of it.

*Nebraska's offensive line is limping along. Something is missing, and the frustration on the face of Jacob Hickman and Barney Cotton make it clear that they don't quite know what it is. Part of it, I fear, is simple personality. The Huskers aren't nasty enough. Hickman, Mike Smith, Marcel Jones and Keith Williams are all, well, pretty nice guys. Analytical, thoughtful. Technicians. And right now, it's just not working. They're all getting beat at the point of attack. Ricky Henry, too, although he certainly brings a mean mug to the field.

You cannot – absolutely not – run a zone-blocking system without being quick, and tough. You don't have to be that big, and you don't have to pancake guys. But that first step has to be vicious. There can't be a hint of a leak. Roy Helu was flitting around all afternoon like a skier on a slalom course. He'd never admit it, but he got almost all of his yards on sheer improvisation.

*The line is forcing Shawn Watson to alter the game plan. Oh, we'll knock Watson when it's on him. And some of Saturday was on him. But not much of it. Sorry, but when NU runs two of its basic – and often successful – playaction passes, and a Tech defensive lineman is in the backfield before the fake is done, you're not going to have much luck with anything. Watson was relegated to calling two-second slant pattern (that Zac Lee can't throw) and bubble screens that were misadventures.

*Lee isn't trusting his game. His performance was painful, because it was the portrait of a quarterback second-guessing himself. Lee wants to go downfield. Something is stopping him. Because he's not Sam Keller, a professional bail-out artist, Lee sits back there, clutching, shuffling, worrying – until he's sacked, or he's left with a two-yard throw.

And he just won't scramble. This, I don't get. Watson doesn't get it, either. Nobody gets it. Lee is fast, he's tough – and he won't run. And when he does, he runs with his body pitched forward, and his head down.

*Bo still blows defensive timeouts. And two in the first half didn't make much sense.

The first of them was on the fourth down play that NU had stopped – until Pelini called the timeout at the last second. Was it to ice Mike Leach, who always does this? The result: A 21-yard gain on an end around that NU seemed utterly unprepared for.

The second occurred when Tech had the ball on the Huskers' four-yard line. Understandable – except that it was first down. What was Bo going to do – design three plays' worth of defense? As it was, Nebraska committed pass interference in the end zone, and Tech scored a few plays later.

*The penalties. Ugh. First of all, the officiating in the Big 12 – across the board – stinks. Bo can't say it. I'll say it. The zeebs on Saturday were confused, disorganized, out of position and generally perplexed. I give them credit for getting the fumble/touchdown right. Not a lot else.

But how does Bo help his cause by berating the line judge to the point where Memorial Stadium even takes notice, and it more or less delays the last kickoff of the game? How? NU clearly has a reputation at this point, and seems to nurture it with Bo's incredulous behavior.

Some of the penalties are earned, of course. The offensive line seems to pay its weekly toll of 30 yards. When does that stop? Can it stop?

*Most of all, it's just the vibe of this team. Tech obviously had a lot to be fired up about, but the Red Raiders seemed loose, active, ready to mix it up. Outside some of NU's defenders, the reticence – the sheer lack of fire - was glaring. The play of the game – Tech's 82-yard punt return – boiled down to a lack of concentration and mental toughness: Lee not getting a deep enough drop, Niles Paul futzing on a catchable ball, and the whole Husker offense just trotting back to the huddle. Folks, not every team does that. A lot of teams have a few guys, at least, with the sense to be safe about it, and cover the damn ball.

In key moments, Nebraska suffers a collective brain cramp. It happened last year. It's happening now. What's Bo and his capable crew going to do about it?

See also: Defending Shawn Watson - For Now

and

NU/Tech Report Card

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It was a simple bubble screen gone bad. But it was the wrong time – the wrong game – to get caught with such a mistake.

Inside Texas Tech's 20-yard line, still in the first quarter, Nebraska quarterback Zac Lee flipped wide receiver Niles Paul, who promptly – and rather casually - dropped the ball. Tech defensive end Daniel Howard scooped it up, darting past an unsuspecting Paul and tackle Mike Smith. Only Lee gave chase, and wasn't quite able to catch Howard at the goal line.

The Red Raiders had just scored the easiest defensive touchdown they're ever likely to enjoy to take a 14-0 lead in front of 86,107 stunned NU fans at Memorial Stadium. It was more than enough, as Lee and the Cornhuskers' offense imploded again and again with penalties, drops, curious playcalling, and shoddy blocking. A late touchdown drive led by true freshman Cody Green was answered by another Tech touchdown as Mike Leach's mercurial team cruised to a 31-10 victory that should send No. 15 Nebraska spiraling out of national polls.

The Red Raiders opened the game by converting two long third-down plays on the arm of quarterback Steven Sheffield, who completed all seven passes on the drive for 93 yards. Sheffield his passes of 34 and 22 yards, and finished off the drive with a 16-yard touchdown pass to Baron Batch.

The Huskers (4-2 overall, 1-1 in the Big 12 Conference) were in business on its second drive of the game following Paul's punt return to the Tech 33-yard line. Five plays later, Paul fumbled and Memorial Stadium seemed drained of energy.

Tech (4-2 and 1-1) scored its third touchdown with a 12-play, 65-yard march in the second quarter, highlighted by a 21-yard run on fourth down and a 18-yard pass on a third-and-eight from NU's 21-yard line. Nebraska answered by going 74 yards in 11 play for an Alex Henery field goal, the drive dying inside Tech's 5-yard line. The Red Raiders finished the half with a field goal of their own after Sheffield hit receiver Detron Lewis for 58-yard pass, Lewis slipping the grasp of cornerback Prince Amukamara.

Most of the second half was a defensive struggle, more painful for NU, which squandered two opportunities for points when Henery missed a 51-yard field goal (after the Huskers had started at Tech's 25-yard line) and it wasted a ten-minute drive on a personal foul penalty by offensive guard Ricky Henry and Lee's overthrow of Niles Paul in the end zone.

Green was inserted for the second time after that play, and promptly led a 40-yard touchdown march, culminating in a 13-yard pass to redshirt freshman Khiry Cooper. On NU's final possession, he threw an interception on a slant route.

Tech ended scoring with another touchdown drive capped off by a Sheffield sneak and aided by a long kickoff return and pass interference penalty on Anthony West that left Pelini infuriated. For the game, Nebraska had 12 penalties for 95 yards, and Pelini spent a good chunk of the TV timeouts thundering away at the officials.

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Join Samuel McKewon as he breaks down the game and provides live updates from Memorial Stadium prior to Nebraska's big tilt with Texas Tech!

He'll give the skinny on how Tech's QBs look, who will replace Rex Burkhead, and whether or not the game will be high-scoring or low-scoring!

Ask the tough questions...get honest answers!

Click here!

The show begins at 1:30 p.m!

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We're back again - and remember - anybody who guesses score right on the button wins a throwback poster - offense or defense - your choice.

Last week, Gassman came quite close to Nebraska's odd-looking 27-12 victory with a 25-13 prediction. Who makes the grade this week? Post and let's find out!

Also: Give us your offensive and defensive MVPs for the game!

Have at it Husker fans and check out our prediction podcast for our take right before the game! We have a...surprising prediction. Is it in favor of NU? Find out!

See also: Inside The Air Raid Offense!

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"People are going to draw conclusions. That's what this is here in Nebraska. The football world we live in."

Zac Lee said it with a smile, but he said it just so, too.

Credit Nebraska's starting quarterback for having tact and a sly sense of humor at the same time.

What the junior from San Francisco needs now is a big game at the right time. None better than a Saturday afternoon soiree with Texas Tech, which sports a better-than-expected defense, but a negative turnover margin that has to have those not-yet-Blackshirts salivating.

Lee, too. After all, he'd be the beneficiary of any short field the defense can produce. And he will take any love he can get.

The kid went through the critic's mill a little this week. So did his offensive coordinator, Shawn Watson. They handled like they do most everything else: With a smile and outward confidence. It takes a little self-worth, after all, to call a tight end hide route in the red zone rain. It takes even more moxie for Lee to sell it like he did, then float a lovely little pass to a wide-open Mike McNeill for a touchdown.

An uneven offensive line needs confidence like that. NU's beaten-up running back corps do, too. The Red Raiders may indeed force Lee to beat them by dropping down a safety and “loading the box.” Lee will, again, check into a play that works for him. From there, it'll be on his brain, and his right arm.

He's played well at home – exceedingly well vs. Arkansas State and Lafayette. Maybe it's the Memorial Stadium crowd. Maybe it was the defenses of the Sun Belt Three. But Tech's pass defense isn't much better, frankly. The Red Raiders have athletes, but they're thin at safety. It's the kind of unit that an upper-echelon Big 12 quarterback should be able to pick apart.

And there's little question that Lee has top-shelf skills in most of the pertinent areas: Arm strength, mobility, sixth sense, leadership. His accuracy, right now, is off on the short, timing routes. Lee throws a terrific deep ball, but that's only a small part of the West Coast Offense. You throw ten little darts to set up one cannon shot. Lee has to put a few more of those darts near the bullseye.

Still, he's an easy player to root for because he wears the pressure lightly, and because you sense his inner playmaker is straining to stay within the structure of Watson's offense.

Don't get me wrong: It's a good structure, especially for ball control, which is necessary vs. Texas Tech. But it was a comfier fit for a guy like Joe Ganz, who can't wing it 70 yards, but can cut a defense for six, seven yard gains at a time. He bled the Red Raiders dry doing just that last year.

Lee has to blaze his own trail. Through five games, he done a lot of things well. He's only thrown two interceptions that matter (his last pass at Virginia Tech could've just as easily been batted down) and, wayward snaps aside, he's not really a fumbler. He avoids bad sacks – Ganz didn't always do that – and he keeps plays alive with his feet. And he creates big plays. That you can't argue. He's not afraid to throw the deep routes, and he knows where to throw them.

It's simply a slightly different model than most WCO quarterbacks. It's a model that needs a good power running game to help set it up.

But if Lee doesn't get that on Saturday – and the Red Raiders will surely try to stuff Roy Helu and whoever else Nebraska trots out there – then he'll find himself in the middle of a dogfight, having to march, instead of bomb, the Huskers down the field.

Is he up to that challenge? Are Lee's receivers?

Hey – Missouri's over. In this space, too.

Now - opportunity knocks. Inside, a one-way ticket to the Oklahoma game, a 7-1 record, and more media buzz than you can shake a space balloon at.

Lee will have a home field, a fairly healthy offensive line and a vanilla defense to work against.

Good quarterbacks rise to this moment. The best ones own it.

Time for No. 5 to put the money where his moxie is.

See also: Guess The Score! NU vs. Tech! and Five Keys to Texas Tech

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The Husker media machine kicked into full gear this week. Nebraska's football team uneasily wore the crown.

You could sense the strain in some of the answers after a 27-12 win over Missouri. Here was NU, after the biggest program triumph in some time, getting peppered with questions about last year's Texas Tech game, handling success, the offensive playcalling, replacing Rex Burkhead, defending spread offenses, you name it. You could almost see the frustration churning inside players and coaches: Wait – didn't we win last week? Didn't we complete the best fourth-quarter rally in Husker history? Did everyone forget that?

Yes, yes and most certainly not. But here's the thing: With each big win head coach Bo Pelini collects, fans and writers can see the shoreline a little more clearly. With a beaten-up, overrated Big 12 out there for the taking in 2009, the vibe is now distinctly “carpe diem.” Thus, the armor chinks become more glaring with each ratchet-turn of expectation.

Nebraskans express hope with worry. It's the natural tendency, the bedrock of our modesty and insecurity. It couldn't really be this good this fast, could it? It just might. If the Huskers can hurdle one Mike Leach, that is.

On to the five keys:

Aggression: Nebraska returns to its home field, in front of a crowd ready to explode with chants of “We're back!” There ought to be enough energy in the joint to kick start three offensive lines, much less one. Needs to be, too. If the Huskers intend to score a first round knockdown, much less a first round knockout, they'll need every bit of anger, muscle and toughness the offensive line can muster. Running backs can only plow through holes that exist, after all.

“We need to play faster, we need to play more physical, and we need to execute better,” offensive line coach Barney Cotton said. We'll take that and a side of peanut cole slaw.

Turnovers: A typical, fallback key of any big game, but, in the case of NU v. Tech, it matters because the Red Raiders – specifically Taylor Potts – have struggled keeping the ball on the team with the right colored jersey. Tech is 99th in turnover margin – rare for a Big 12 school still in the early stages of conference play – at -.67 per game. Nebraska's 15th overall. Big advantage, right there, to the Huskers.

How does NU force them? In the secondary, breaking on poorly-thrown balls without giving up the farm elsewhere.

Pick up “Sticks:” Walk-on quarterback Steven “Sticks” Sheffield has enjoyed a nice couple of weeks, but those were minor rehearsals compared to Saturday. Sheffield can light as many fires as he wishes and scramble all over the house looking to wear out his own legs. But the kid's probably going to have to throw for three bills and two touches to give Tech a fighting chance.

As skinny and untested as Sheffield is, Nebraska needs to make a maniacal effort to pressure the living daylights out him. If Leach wants to install Potts into the game, hey – so be it. The more musical chairs Leach runs, the deeper the hole his team will dig.

Carter vs. Suh: Texas Tech has a quick rhythm passing game and wide linemen splits, and thus feels like it's fairly impervious to any consistent pass rush, even one led by Ndamukong Suh. So the Red Raiders will likely match guard Brandon Carter – the deposed captain who paints his face as if he's going to death metal concert, or readying for a night of carousing with Kym from “Rachel Getting Married” – against Suh, one on one.

Well, OK. It worked to some extent in 2008. But this ain't 2008.

“(Carter) is a really good lineman,” defensive coordinator Carl Pelini said. “They're a man protection team, but they've got five and we've got four rushing. It's the same way every week. We just try to do our thing.”

Pelini's right, of course, but interior pass blocking, against a player of Suh's caliber, is no trip to Cleveland. Can Suh and his mates force the Red Raiders to keep a running back in to block?

Resist the pirate spirit: Nebraska needs to be smart on Saturday not to let Leach's wild gambles rub off on Bo Pelini. When Leach goes for it on fourth down...NU better stuff it. If he tries a trick play, gets cute with his punt formation, or tries to go 80 yards in 38 seconds, you'll have a distinct example of Leach attempting to bait his opponent into bizarre situations. If Nebraska can keep its poker face while the Red Raiders flop about like a fish on dry land, it'll gain one or two extra possessions at least. Tech, which lives or dies by the number and efficiency of plays run, would in be the same spot it was last year. Except Nebraska's defense is more equipped to shut down TTU.

See also: Chalk Talk: Inside the Air Raid Offense and Guess The Score! NU vs. Tech! and Recruiting: All Dressed Up with No Position?

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“We’d better have an edge. We’ve got a helluva football team [Texas Tech] coming in here. They’re playing well. We’ve got our work cut out for us.”

-- Bo Pelini.


See the entire story from the October 13 blog: "Pelini Snuffs Blackshirt Chatter."

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Part of good coaching is knowing when, and how, to push player buttons to get the desired effect.

After Nebraska’s offense laid an egg in the first half of the Missouri game, wide receivers coach Ted Gilmore benched Niles Paul and Menelik Holt. He made them turn in their hand warmers and gloves. He stuck Antonio Bell and Brandon Kinnie out there, to no real avail other than it fired up Paul, who responded with two touchdown catches in the fourth quarter.

“It kind of let me get down on myself,” Paul said. “But then I kind of thought about it and was like ‘he’s doing this for the team.’ And he put us back in there.”

Offensive coordinator Shawn Watson told his quarterback, Zac Lee, point blank: We’re thinking about sitting you for a drive, and inserting true freshman Cody Green.

“He said, ‘We’re going to do it for a series,’” Lee said. “‘Keep your eyes open.’”

Watson didn’t bench Lee. One wonders if his mere consideration was a fire he was trying to light under the junior, who came alive and threw his best passes of the game in the fourth quarter. If Green had entered the game, and played remotely well, Watson would have opened a Pandora’s Box in Husker Nation. As it is, he cracked it opened a little bit,

“It is what it is,” Lee said. “I had to deal with it. I know Coach Wats has my back, I know Coach (Bo) Pelini has my back, so it kind of motivated me to have their back. It’s just part of the game.”

How often do those motivational techniques work? Once? Twice? Ideally, you don’t use them much.

But Nebraska’s offense, especially the running game, has been a little slipshod at times since the Arkansas State game, when Lee looked like the best quarterback in the Big 12. Roy Helu’s bailed out the offensive line with some terrific individual efforts – more than half of his yards this year are after early contact - and Lee’s fired up that great arm of his at just the right times.

Can NU really afford to hope the switch flips at the right time? To assume the offensive coordinator alights on just the right passing plays to beat the opposing defense?

Watson took considerable heat for his playcalling in Missouri. By Watson’s own actions and logic, he deserved some of the criticism.

Watson used the awful, rainy conditions to defend Lee, yet shrugged off those same conditions in defense of his playcalling because Missouri was “loading the box” against the run. But Watson didn’t exactly help his own case when he unveiled a quite successful quad-tight set at the end of the game that ground out 68 rushing yards in eight plays. The Tigers had ten guys hovering near the line of scrimmage – but the Huskers still ran the ball.

Now comes Texas Tech, a “vanilla” defense that doesn’t blitz much and relies on its front seven to stop the run. Will Watson impose NU’s size advantage? Or will the game, again, fall on Lee’s right arm?

The Huskers could, but should not, use the absence of Rex Burkhead as a built-in excuse for throwing the ball 40 times a game. Burkhead was valuable – he made several crucial plays in the Missouri game – but he was only averaging roughly 6-8 touches per game. If Helu has to carry it 30 times, so be it. He’s a great back, Nebraska’s best in a decade. If Helu’s shoulder is too banged up for the heavy load, Watson and Tim Beck need to trust their own coaching skills, and insert Burkhead’s replacement. It’s football, after all, not a North Korean nuclear treaty negotiation.

And defenses are going to start getting wise to Nebraska’s strategy. If it’s that easy to move NU away from the running game, they’ll take the chances with a quarterback and receivers who have been uneven at best over the last month.

Missouri was a handful of plays away from a shutout, frankly. If Burkhead doesn’t make a nifty move to gain four yards on a third-down play, Lee never gets to make that throw to Paul, and the Tigers shift into the “eating game clock” mode. And the bulk of this week is a real bear for Nebraska and its coaching staff, instead of a celebration of Ndamukong Suh’s many defensive talents.

“Bottom line is, we need to score points,” head coach Bo Pelini said. “You’re not going to shut (Texas Tech) out. You’d like to, but they’re a pretty good offensive football team and we need to match them. We need to put some points on the board.”

You wonder if Bo will have to push some his coaches’ buttons to make it happen.

See also: 50 Husker Fans, 50 States: Pittsburgh

See also: Defending Tech's...Running Game?

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Texas Tech’s 15 minutes of fame might be up, but the Red Raiders have Nebraska’s full attention as the Cornhuskers prepare for Saturday’s 2:30 p.m. game.

“This team is better than people are giving them credit for,” NU center Jacob Hickman said.

Tech comes to Lincoln at 4-2, with a 34-24 loss at Texas and a 29-28 loss at Houston. That’s in sharp contrast to the 2008 Red Raider team, which started 10-0 before losing two of its last three games. That version slipped by Nebraska 37-31 in overtime. For NU, the loss served as a rallying point for the rest of that season, and the Huskers only lost once more, at Oklahoma.

In 2009, the Red Raiders are the stumbling block for the suddenly-popular No. 15 Nebraska (4-1), which beat Missouri 27-12 on ESPN. Despite losing stars like quarterback Graham Harrell, wide receiver Michael Crabtree, defensive end Brandon Williams, and safety Darcel McBath to graduation and/or the NFL Draft, Texas Tech still has plenty of firepower, head coach Bo Pelini said.

“These guys are a challenge,” Pelini said. “They were right there with Texas right to the very end. That speaks for itself.”

While Leach’s offense is still putting up huge numbers – scoring 48 or more points in three games this year, accumulating a rather astonishing 2,661 passing yards already in 2009 with two different quarterbacks – it’s the defense, which is 27th nationally against the run, that’s performed better than expected.

There’s nothing fancy about Tech’s defensive approach under coordinator Ruffin McNeill – a standard 4-3 with deep safeties - but the unit already has 18 sacks, which leads the Big 12. And while they’ve certainly bent a little against the pass, they’ve only allowed five passing touchdowns – against several prolific offenses.

“Pretty vanilla,” Hickman said. “They don’t blitz much. They’re gonna play one or two defenses. They’re gonna play so they don’t make mistakse. Basically their goal is to let their offense score points and minimize mistakes.

“But they’re not going to give you anything. You have to earn everything you get.”

Offensive line coach Barney Cotton said Tech’s front seven is among the best in the Big 12, especially defensive tackle Colby Whitlock, who has a sack and 3.5 tackles for loss so far this year.

“They play fast, they play physical and they’ve got linebackers who are extremely fast and play downhill,” Cotton said. “We need to make huge improvements from last week or otherwise we’re going to be very disappointed on Saturday.”

See also: 50 Husker Fans, 50 States: Pittsburgh

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No Blackshirts yet, as Nebraska’s football team Monday began prep for Texas Tech, which leads Big 12 in passing offense and is currently second in the nation.

Head coach Bo Pelini was in no real mood to discuss handing out the black practice jerseys, either.

“No,” Pelini said. “Next question.”

NU’s players are no less interested than the media in a Blackshirt timeline, although senior safety Larry Asante said he has a handle on what Pelini wants.

“Ha - that’s a good question,” Asante said. “I think that’s a question that everybody wants to know. I feel like, going back and watching the film we played good on defense, but we still haven’t played a complete football game yet. I think Coach is waiting for us to play our best football.”

The Cornhuskers, now 15th and 17th in the major polls, held a brisk-but-short 90-minute workout, mostly inside the Hawks Center, that Pelini applauded for its “good tempo.” Terse and to the point, Pelini only spoke with the media for two minutes, interested mostly in praising the Red Raiders, who beat Kansas State 66-14 on Saturday.

“We’d better have an edge,” Pelini said. “We’ve got a helluva football team coming in here. They’re playing well. We’ve got our work cut out for us.”

Said Asante: “This will be our greatest challenge yet. They had a backup quarterback in there this past weekend, and he threw for 490.”

That backup would be Steven Sheffield, a 6-foot-4, 175-pounder nicknamed “Sticks” who may supplant starter Taylor Potts in Lincoln this Saturday. Tech coach Mike Leach, mercurial as he is, will make his starting QB a “gametime decision” that hardly seems like one.

“They’re both good players, they both run their system well and they both play at high level,” Pelini said of Sheffield and Potts.

Note: Pelini said running back Roy Helu, seen holding his shoulder late in the Missouri game, practiced and “had no issues.” Redshirt freshman tight end J.T. Kerr is done for the season after getting shoulder surgery; he’ll return for spring ball.

See also: "There was a lot of disappointment in my room."

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Count on Mike Leach to artificially add a little intrigue to Nebraska’s Saturday matchup with Texas Tech.

The Red Raiders’ coach won’t be naming his starting quarterback for the 2:30 p.m. game during the week. Instead, Leach sardonically said, expect the “excitement and drama” of a “gametime decision” between junior Taylor Potts and sophomore Steven “Sticks” Sheffield, who spelled Potts in a 66-14 rout of Kansas State by throwing for 490 yards and seven touchdowns in his first career start. He won Big 12 Player of the Week for his effort.

Potts, who earned the starting job last spring, clearly suffered a concussion in the second quarter of Tech’s win over New Mexico, although Leach denies Potts is injured at all.

“I’m not into the whole injury thing,” Leach said.

Sheffield, a walk-on, earned his nickname “the day he walked in the door,” Leach said, because of his slight frame. Sheffield is 6-foot-4, 175 pounds. Think of former NU quarterback Beau Davis – only skinnier.

“He’s among the most coachable guys I’ve had,” Leach said. “He just continually gets better, but has been focused in on improving what he does. And then he brings kind of a natural spirit to things. He’s a real grinder when it comes to details.”

Potts is the sturdier of the two, possessing one of the stronger arms in the Big 12. He played well prior to the concussion, throwing for 420 yards in a loss to Texas, and 456 in a 55-10 win over Rice. Sheffield, meanwhile, is more mobile.

“They’re both good football players,” head coach Bo Pelini. “But we’re going to defend their offense. They’re just one cog in the offense. They’re very multiple in what they do. They run it well. They throw it well.”

See also: 5 Secrets to Leach's Success

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Burnt orange makes a lot of Nebraska football fans see red.

Texas, they’ll say, stole the Big 12 away from the Cornhuskers and the rest of the old Big Eight not named Oklahoma. Those rich, liberal, glitzy, gorgeous Lone Studs and Starlets spend too much money, and they make others do the same in futile pursuit. UT’s coach, Mack Brown, is to be trusted about as much as Don Draper in a hotel cocktail lounge.

And, of course, there’s that business about the Horns pulling out wins every time Nebraska seems to have them roped.

But NU faithful with a memory can appreciate a team on a mission. The Huskers had a few teams like that in the 1990s. And the 2009 Texas squad has polished that shoulder chip for eight solid months. On the doorstep of the 2009 college football seasons, it gleams.

Shut out of the 2008 Big 12 and BCS title games because of a strange (and yet unchanged!) conference tiebreaker that essentially penalized the Horns for Arkansas’ bad season (while crediting Oklahoma for TCU and WKRP’s surprisingly good ones), UT whined (and wined) and dined every media toadstool from Bristol to Camaret (Yeah, really. The Brittany contingency. All the way the hell out there. Mack Brown’s got people, and they’re lobbying for a fishing village poll.)

Brown held a mixer at the Big 12 Media Days. Colt McCoy grew a mustache. Sergio Kindle covered the grassroots campaign, one apartment building at a time.

It was one serious summer. In the middle of it, UT’s John Grady Cole, if you will, in McCoy, an undersized, wiry, tough son-of-a-gun who scrambles and throws like Eric Crouch used to run: With so many herks, jerks and effort plays, it leaves the viewer a little worn out. He’s not Vince Young. He’s not a classic passer like Sam Bradford. Yet the kid just wins Red River Rivalries and bowl games like he wrote the book on it. Should UT run the table in 2009, McCoy would become the winningest starting quarterback in college football history.

At least until Tim and his Ten Prophets roll into Pasadena with their traveling carnival of faith healing, arrogance (no shirt, Tim? Really?), counter treys, off-block options, tight end shovel passes and media hosannas fit for a Flannery O’Connor novel, this is the Year of the Horn. Root against our neighbors to the south if you wish, but just remember: Half of NU’s football team will soon be from there.

Oklahoma takes a tiny step back. Oklahoma State isn’t quite ready. Kansas? Child, please. Iowa State prepares for full conversion to the MAC conference.

Nebraska? Oh, we’ve got words for them. In another column. Suffice it to say Bo Pelini has a chance to take his team for a December soiree in Dallas, where Jerry Jones, Tony Romo, Brent Musberger, God and everyone will be watching to see if Alex Henery can boot a punt into the monster video board.

For now, enjoy our offering of superlatives, league finishes, and whatnot. See, we’re smart. We wait until fall camp is practically over before we fry up our donuts. You know, in case somebody got tasered.

Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year: Colt McCoy, Texas QB – His time and his turn. Sam Bradford would have to be, well, miraculous to surpass his numbers from 2008, and his creaky offensive line won’t make it possible. Runners Up: Bradford, OSU WR Dez Bryant

Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year: Sergio Kindle, Texas LB – This is no knock on Nebraska’s Ndamukong Suh. But the spoils go to the victors, and Kindle is just as special as Suh is. Well, on the field. Suh manages to stay away from crashing into apartment buildings off the field. Runners Up: Suh, Oklahoma LB Ryan Reynolds, Baylor LB Joe Pawelek

Big 12 Freshman of the Year: Rex Burkhead, Nebraska RB – How’s that for unearned hype? Whoop whoop! The kid’ll back it up though. Runners up: Texas DE Alex Okafor, Mizzou RB Kendial Lawrence

Big 12 Newcomer of the Year: Grant Gregory, Kansas State QB – Playing the odds here, as it seems Gregory might win the starting job at KSU, and thus accumulate big enough stats to win the award going away.

Big 12 Coach of the Year: Art Briles, Baylor – If he gets the Bears to seven wins and a bowl game in two years? The award is for coaching, right? Not “happening to coach a great team.” Runners Up: Mack Brown, Mike Gundy

Creampuff Award: Goes to team with the largest winning margin in a game. Right now, Oklahoma vs. Idaho State is looking pretty sexy.

The Mike Leach “Soundbyte” Award: Leach, as you know, lost to Mike Gundy in 2007. But he’s the frontrunner.

The “Ream The Refs” Award: Pelini probably took that one home in 2008. How bout ol Mark Mangino in 2009? He’s due for a conspiracy quote or two.

Hot Seat: Dan Hawkins, Colorado. If his season goes according to our plan, he’ll be searching for Division 1-AA jobs by the end of the year. Mike Sherman is on a fairly tight leash at Texas A&M, too.

Best Games Not Called the Red River Rivalry: We’re partial to Oklahoma State at Oklahoma, Nebraska at Missouri, Texas at Oklahoma State and Oklahoma at Texas Tech and Oklahoma at Nebraska.

Predicted Order of Finish and Record (Excluding Bowl Games) (Click on the team name for in-depth profiles. Nebraska’s to come on Sunday)

South

1. Texas (13-0, 8-0)
2. Oklahoma (10-2, 6-2)
3. Oklahoma State (10-2, 6-2)
4. Texas Tech (7-5, 4-4)
5. Baylor (7-5, 3-5)
6. Texas A&M (4-8, 1-7)

North
1. Nebraska (9-3, 6-2)
2. Missouri (8-4, 5-3)
3. Kansas State (7-5, 4-4)
4. Kansas (6-6, 3-5)
5. Colorado (5-7, 2-6)
6. Iowa State (3-9, 0-8)

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Husker Locker will be counting down and breaking down each of the teams in the conference. We hope you view this series as more interesting, comprehensive and definitive than what you may find elsewhere. Where we can make strong takes – we will.

We rank the teams 12 to 1 in overall strength. Then we’ll provide for you the North/South breakdown – and the preseason All Big 12 team, as well.

Enjoy!

Today: No. 1 Texas

Coach:Mack Brown
2008 Record: 12-1 (Beat Ohio State 24-21 in the Fiesta Bowl)

What’s Changed Since 2008: Brown launched a rather exhaustive media tour for both UT football and quarterback Colt McCoy following the Longhorns getting jobbed out of the Big 12 and BCS title games. McCoy grew a mustache which at least two opposing fan bases will mock during the season. Sergio Kindle ran a car into an apartment building, drove away, bought a pizza, saved a three cats from trees, jammed with a salsa band down Sixth Street, resolved the FCC’s dispute with Comcast, piloted a drone into Pakistan, then decided to tell someone about the car, and the apartment. Brown also signed an excellent recruiting class, maybe his best.

2009 Non-Conference Schedule: Pretty dreamy, if you ask us. Louisiana-Monroe a trip to Wyoming, back home vs. UTEP, and a midseason classic against Central Florida.

2009 Conference Schedule: UT makes or breaks its season with this trio: Vs. Oklahoma, at Oklahoma State, and at Missouri. And don’t forget the game at College Station on Thanksgiving. A&M is still a rival.

Offense: Spread Passing

Coordinator: Greg Davis – Smart in the sense that provide the quarterback with enough freedom to make plays. But if the quarterback can’t make those plays, the Longhorns tend to bog down a little. Fortunately, McCoy made those plays in 2008.

Strength: McCoy, who we think is the nation’s best college quarterback. He’s more athletic than Sam Bradford, a better pure passer than Tim Tebow, and possesses just a little more moxie than former Horn Jevan Snead. A fearless runner who plays hurt, cut and dazed, McCoy was deadly accurate in 2008. The receiving corps, headlined by Jordan Shipley and the next great one, Malcolm Williams, is good. UT also has the league’s best offensive line, led by tackle Adam Ulatowski.

Weakness:Texas has lost four tight ends for the season because of various lingering injuries. Vondrell McGee is still learning to be a superior running back.

Defense: 4-3/attacking

Coordinator: Will Muschamp, who has no problem letting his front four do the work – which they often did last year – but likes to mix an occasional five-man blitz featuring Kindle, a rare, exciting athlete who also runs cars into apartment buildings.

Strength: The back seven should be excellent. UT’s defensive backs were a little beaten up last year – 259 yards per game through the air, only six interceptions – but most of the key faces return. The linebackers – Kindle, Roderick Muckelroy and Jared Norton – are the league’s best unit. Kindle is a special player used in a variety of ways. Big enough to stuff the run. Fast enough for coverage.

Weakness:The front four won’t be weak, per se, but you don’t replace Brian Orakpo and Roy Miller – who combined for 17 sacks – easily. How quickly true freshman defensive end Alex Okafor adjusts to the speed of the college game could play a role in how well the Longhorns do.

Special TeamsTerrific. Shipley will handle the punt and kickoff returns, Hunter Lawrence is one of the Big 12’s best kickers, and John Gold and/or Justin Tucker are fine punters. UT generally has good coverage units.

Intangibles: Two big ones work in Texas’ favor. First, there’s a chip on the Horns’ shoulder, and there’s something to prove. UT smacked Oklahoma around for the last three quarters of a 45-35 win, and overcame a 22-0 deficit at Texas Tech – in the fourth game of a brutal stretch, mind you, facing four top 15 teams – only to lose on the game’s second-to-last play. And for all that…OU got the nod? Absurd. Texas is playing mad in 2009. Second is McCoy. The kid’s not afraid of Oklahoma, of bowl games, of injury, and not afraid, it seems, of failure (and he had his share of it in 2007). Every negative stereotype UT teams have – soft, uncertain, talk big and play little – McCoy defies it. He’s not as gifted as Vince Young, but the Eyes of Texas look to him just the same.

Best-Case Scenario: BCS champions. No ties. No controversy.

Worst-Case Scenario: Three losses.

Our Take: We don’t think people fully appreciate how much of a juggernaut Florida’s going to be in 2009. OK, maybe they do. And they should; it’s the closest thing to a dynasty you’re likely to see. We think Texas gets to the Rose Bowl. But we’re not in 2005 anymore.

Permanent Link to this Blog Post

Husker Locker will be counting down and breaking down each of the teams in the conference. We hope you view this series as more interesting, comprehensive and definitive than what you may find elsewhere. Where we can make strong takes – we will.

We rank the teams 12 to 1 in overall strength. Then we’ll provide for you the North/South breakdown – and the preseason All Big 12 team, as well.

Enjoy!

Today: Texas Tech

Coach: Mike Leach
2008 Record: 11-2

What’s Changed Since 2008: Leach and Red Raider brass settled their differences and agreed to a long-term contract; Tech lost record setting quarterback Graham Harrell and wide receiver Michael Crabtree, and also lost the two best defensive backs in recent program history in Darcel McBath and Daniel Charbonnet. The two top pass rushers, too, in McKinner Dixon (who simply left Tech after falling into Leach’s doghouse) and Brandon Williams.

2009 Non-Conference Schedule:The usual buffet of non-major conference teams, but a trip to Houston, in front what should be a decent home crowd, will be a test. Don’t be surprised if Houston is a slight favorite. The Cougars might have the better team. Otherwise, it’s home games against Rice, New Mexico and North Dakota, all of which will be routs.

2009 Conference Schedule: The Red Raiders foolishly agreed to move a game at Texas up to Sept. 19; that’s an invitation to slaughter for a defense that won’t even have its sea legs. Two more difficult road trips to Nebraska and Oklahoma State. Tech hosts Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas A&M and Kansas State, while playing Baylor in the JerryDome in Arlington.

Offense: Air Raid/Spread

Coordinator: Leach, essentially. Year after year, this offense works in all but a few games. Defenses are now so fearful of the short crossing and flat patterns that Leach likes to run that downfield routes, especially for running backs, have opened up. Tech became much more vertical in 2007 and 2008 with Crabtree drawing double teams, and guys like Edward Britton and Tremain Swindoll zooming through the deep seam. The question now, of course, is whether Tech most go back to the short stuff now that Crabtree has left for the NFL.

Strength: The running game, if you can believe it. Returning starter Baron Batch, and redshirt freshman Harrison Jeffers should be the best 1-2 punch Leach has had in his tenure at Tech. The line is huge and reasonably experienced. The receivers are still pretty good, despite the absence of Crabtree. Detron Lewis and Edward Britton. We do not expect the offense to experience much drop off. Maybe in that early game vs. Texas; not much otherwise.

Weakness: New quarterback Taylor Potts is the biggest, strongest of all the Leach quarterbacks. He also has a beard and long hair, looking like a lawman out of the 1970s. But traditional size and strength doesn’t make a great Leach quarterback. Intelligence, and the ability to hit receivers running short routes in stride, does. It’s going to take Potts a month to really find the rhythm, and, by then, Tech may have two losses.

Defense: 4-3

Coordinator: Ruffin McNeill, who took over midway through 2007 and has amped up the pressure and tenacity of the front four. That said, Tech’s pass defense last year wasn’t anything special – even with two all-league safeties.

Strength: Tech returns all three starters at linebacker, and all three were reasonably productive, active players in 2008. It’s a place to start.

Weakness: Two new safeties and, essentially, a brand new defensive line (senior nose tackle Rajon Henley returns after injury) doesn’t bode well for Tech’s pass defense. Look for teams to test the Red Raiders deep, and often.

Special Teams Not great. Punter Jonathan LaCour has been suspended for the first month and kicker Donnie Carona might as well be, considering he went 4-9 in field goals last year. Tech turned to a guy out of the stands halfway through last season, if that tells you anything. The return game is OK. It’s not like Wes Welker is back there or anything.

Intangibles: Jones Stadium works some kind of magic at night, as it’s become a difficult place for the best teams in the Big 12 South to play. During the day, though, it’s perfectly ordinary. Weird, huh?

And Leach himself is an intangible. He’s a good coach, a gambling coach, a coach who plays the “Moneyball” percentages better than most, if you will. But once or twice each year, it backfires spectacularly on him. Last year’s 65-21 loss was a poster child for what happens when Leach rolls craps again and again. His approach invariably wins Tech more games than the talent level in Lubbock has any right to win. But that same approach makes an undefeated season almost impossible to achieve.

Best-Case Scenario: 10-2, with losses to Texas and Oklahoma State, and upset wins over Oklahoma and Nebraska. Could happen.

Worst-Case Scenario: Potts can’t continue the string of Tech QB magic, the defense can’t defend the pass, and Tech falls to 6-6 or 5-7. It’s highly possible, especially if the Red Raiders drop games to cagey Houston and upstart Baylor.

Our Take: 8-4, with a thrilling loss to Houston, and losses in every other true road game.

See other Big 12 Breakdowns: No. 12 ISU, No. 11 A&M, No. 10 CU, No. 9 BU, No. 8 KU, No. 7 KSU, No. 6 Texas Tech
Agree? Disagree? Tell us about it.

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