TexasTerror
September 11th, 2005, 08:45 PM
Did this on another board and have been all season long, thought I'd provide for the general AGS audience who loves those I-A vs I-AA games.
Texas Tech Red Raiders vs. Sam Houston State Bearkats
Saturday, Sept 17th, 6 PM, Lubbock, Texas
An Eye on the Kats: A second Div I-A game in two weeks. For any I-AA program, this is no small task. The Bearkats have played two I-AA games in a season before, the most recently being against Baylor and UTEP in 2003. The Kats are 1-1 at this point and will have a very long uphill climb if they want to be 2-1. This is a huge game for the Kats after what we realized in the UH game this past week. Check out my keys for the Kats below to get a grip why.
An Eye on the Red Raiders: The weakest non-conference schedule in all of Division I, right? That's Indiana State, Florida International and Sam Houston State. Did you know Indiana State lost to an NAIA school this past week? Oh, they got blown out the Sycamores did. Cody Hodges is Mike Leach's gunslinger this year and Hodges is already taking a liking to Robert Johnson, a JUCO transfer. Hodges didn't miss a beat going 29 of 37 for 450 plus ards. Surprisingly, he got sacked twice by Florida International, a team that wasn't even that great at the I-AA level. Penalties, Tech had 14 of them and that may be wishful thinking as I'm sure Leach is making moves to take care of this, but free handouts wouldn't be too bad.
Keys for the Kats:
1) Avoid injuries. The Kats didn't fare so well in the injury department. They were stricken when Braylon Linnear left the game with a knee injury on the Greg Brown interception. He could be lost for season, though no official word has come out. Chadd Oliphant sustained a shoulder injury. Injuries now are not going to give us any party favors in another run to the SLC championship and a possible playoff berth. These two guys both played in our secondary, which leads to key #2.
2) Keep the Red Raiders off the field. Injuries to two major components of your secondary is not good for a pass happy team. The Kats will need to do a better job running the ball against the Red Raiders because we know they love to run up the score and just take off down the field. The offensive line and running backs are going to have to step up big. The line held their own against the Coogs for the most part and it'll be a bigger task this week as it relates to having longer drives. Converting third downs will do the trick and no dropped balls. Avoiding penalties would help too.
3) Josh Moore, Stanley Garrett, LaDarien Richardson, Robert Herron and Tony Jones. Who the heck are these guys? Oh, I'm sure some of you know about the special team play of Herron and Jones who have come up big numerous times. The others along with these two are the depth in the secondary. The Kats play a 4-2-5 defense, so we have five guys in the secondary and again, with that pass happy defense, we're going to see coach Whitten sending these guys in and out to keep some fresh legs out there. Depth is always an issue in I-A vs I-AA games. Even more important this week.
TT's Prediction: Texas Tech 47-24 Sam Houston. Optimistic perhaps, of course! I think the offense will be much better against the Red Raiders than they were against the Cougars. I feel comfortable with our running backs having better play and less dropped balls, in turn converting third downs. I do not think however the Kats will be able to hang in this one too long, but I feel even with Leach as a coach, this one won't get too out of hand thanks to the Bearkats.
Harmon over at Sportsline has the Kats losing
34-14.(http://www.sportsline.com/collegefootball/story/8820391).
Texas Tech Red Raiders vs. Sam Houston State Bearkats
Saturday, Sept 17th, 6 PM, Lubbock, Texas
An Eye on the Kats: A second Div I-A game in two weeks. For any I-AA program, this is no small task. The Bearkats have played two I-AA games in a season before, the most recently being against Baylor and UTEP in 2003. The Kats are 1-1 at this point and will have a very long uphill climb if they want to be 2-1. This is a huge game for the Kats after what we realized in the UH game this past week. Check out my keys for the Kats below to get a grip why.
An Eye on the Red Raiders: The weakest non-conference schedule in all of Division I, right? That's Indiana State, Florida International and Sam Houston State. Did you know Indiana State lost to an NAIA school this past week? Oh, they got blown out the Sycamores did. Cody Hodges is Mike Leach's gunslinger this year and Hodges is already taking a liking to Robert Johnson, a JUCO transfer. Hodges didn't miss a beat going 29 of 37 for 450 plus ards. Surprisingly, he got sacked twice by Florida International, a team that wasn't even that great at the I-AA level. Penalties, Tech had 14 of them and that may be wishful thinking as I'm sure Leach is making moves to take care of this, but free handouts wouldn't be too bad.
Keys for the Kats:
1) Avoid injuries. The Kats didn't fare so well in the injury department. They were stricken when Braylon Linnear left the game with a knee injury on the Greg Brown interception. He could be lost for season, though no official word has come out. Chadd Oliphant sustained a shoulder injury. Injuries now are not going to give us any party favors in another run to the SLC championship and a possible playoff berth. These two guys both played in our secondary, which leads to key #2.
2) Keep the Red Raiders off the field. Injuries to two major components of your secondary is not good for a pass happy team. The Kats will need to do a better job running the ball against the Red Raiders because we know they love to run up the score and just take off down the field. The offensive line and running backs are going to have to step up big. The line held their own against the Coogs for the most part and it'll be a bigger task this week as it relates to having longer drives. Converting third downs will do the trick and no dropped balls. Avoiding penalties would help too.
3) Josh Moore, Stanley Garrett, LaDarien Richardson, Robert Herron and Tony Jones. Who the heck are these guys? Oh, I'm sure some of you know about the special team play of Herron and Jones who have come up big numerous times. The others along with these two are the depth in the secondary. The Kats play a 4-2-5 defense, so we have five guys in the secondary and again, with that pass happy defense, we're going to see coach Whitten sending these guys in and out to keep some fresh legs out there. Depth is always an issue in I-A vs I-AA games. Even more important this week.
TT's Prediction: Texas Tech 47-24 Sam Houston. Optimistic perhaps, of course! I think the offense will be much better against the Red Raiders than they were against the Cougars. I feel comfortable with our running backs having better play and less dropped balls, in turn converting third downs. I do not think however the Kats will be able to hang in this one too long, but I feel even with Leach as a coach, this one won't get too out of hand thanks to the Bearkats.
Harmon over at Sportsline has the Kats losing
34-14.(http://www.sportsline.com/collegefootball/story/8820391).