On Saturday UMass plays its annual BCS/I-A game. It's a challenge this year as we play Texas Tech----- currently ranked at or near the Top Ten in most ranking services
UMass game notes (html) and notes (pdf)
Texas Tech's official football page . Texas Tech's UMass game notes here (pdf)
The UMass game is sold out (at end of article).
The Red Raiders belong to the Big Twelve.
Texas Tech's head coach is Mike Leach. He's the Mickey Matthews of the Big Twelve. The Red Raiders are 3-0 and they beat their last opponent 42-7 and Leach says he's disappointed in their play.
Just to show what all that TV and Big Twelve league money will buy, check out the Red Raiders strength and conditioning center.
ESPN's Texas Tech page here . Scout.com's Red Raider page here.
The best of the Red Raider fan sites is "Double T Nation". That site has links to nine Texas Tech fan sites and a ton of Big Twelve links.
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When you talk Red Raiders, you're talking offense. Texas Tech has had fifteen straight non-losing season in the Big Twelve. Head Coach Mike Leach is 65-37 in one of the toughest leagues in BCS/I-A.
The Red Raiders spread the field and throw the ball. Last year they threw the ball 713 times with 512 completions for 5,705 yards and 48 TD's.
This year their QB Graham Harrell, in three games, is 159-99 62.3 average 1,346 yards and averages 448.7 yards/game. That's good enought to lead the Big Twelve in passing.
Their star receiver is Michael Crabtree. He set three NCAA receiving records as a freshman. Crabtree is leading the Big Twelve with 24 catches for 395 yards 5 TD's and 131.7 yards/game. He should be------but probably won't, with the bias towards QB's, a Heisman candidate.
The Red Raiders usually don't rush much, but his year they have done better averaging 135 yards/game and a 5.5 yards a carry average.
Defense has been the Red Raiders weak point in past years and they're 10th in total defense in the Big Twelve. And they have been playing the "soft' section of their schedule.
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Tomorrow Texas Tech Blogger Seth Jungman will have some detailed information about Texas Tech and share his thoughts about the game in a special pre-game "Question-and-answer' session here on our blog.
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My Thoughts on the Game:
Well, Eastern Washington gave the Red Raiders a pretty good game . They played the game that I hoped UMass would play when I was thinking about Texas Tech pre-season.
Well, we all know what has happened in 2008. Our rebuilt offense took one game to get in sync, but since then has been running on all cylinders despite injuries in the offensive line.
The UMass defense, the defense that held Matt Ryan and the BC Eagles to 323 total yards, has suddenly lost focus. Originally, I had hope for a Boston College result against Texas Tech.
Our lost focus is a bad omen for a game against a team like Texas Tech. Against Bryant later this year, UMass will run it between the tackles in the second half. The Red Raiders are not going to stop scoring.
I do think UMass' offense can move the ball against the Red Raiders. We have at least as much offensive talent as Eastern Washington. We can hope to score and burn some clock time to keep the score respectable.
If our defense, especially the secondary, a number of whom had NFL dreams before this season can recover, this would be an excellent time to do so.
Hopefully, we'll play really hard against a tough BCS team, use that to improve and make a good run in the CAA.
Anyway, I'm there win or lose. Go UMass!