‘Watching Texas Tech football during the Leach era has been comparable to a live performance by a band with a lead keytarist.  While it’s definitely unique and different, you sometimes scratch your head and wonder how much respect an instrument deserves that’s being played by a cross-dresser wielding a skinny piano tie.  You just never could get a feel for how good it was because nobody else played it.  However, at this point, I don’t care what the guy is wearing so long as it sounds good, and this is about the most well-rounded Tech football team I’ve seen in my lifetime.

 

Keytar football is here to stay.

The Husker defense was impressive as advertised.  Suh, Crick, Allen and Turner all made a lot of hustle players, and delivered accurately on the hype.  One guy that I thought Tech would exploit in space, and he wasn’t having any of it , was MLB Phillip Dillard.  This young man is a ball player, and in sorts, I was more impressed with his performance than the more publicized Suh.  Dillard is taking advantage of his situation and cleaned up a lot of plays in this game, especially on the perimeter.

Player of the Game

There are several guys who stood out in this contest, but I felt there was only really one that we wouldn’t have won this game without.  If you watch much NFL football, you recognize that when two good defenses face off, the team with the better QB wins almost every time.  Steven Sheffield was nothing short of stellar against a DL like the Huskers.  Once padded with a 3 TD lead, he didn’t take any unnecessary risks with the football. When Nebraska finally did hit paydirt, he immediately opened things back up, answered the score, and closed out the game.  I don’t know if Sheffield is the answer for the next 2 years, but he’s the first guy I’ve seen quarterbacking a Tech team that I feel something pretty good is about to happen every time he drops back against anyone, anytime, anywhere.  That’s especially hard level of comfort to achieve with me. 

Offense

For me, this was about as well-called game as I can remember against a quality opponent.  We seemed to have a strategy and plan for winning the game.  Coming out of the locker room, Leach wisely went conservative and played ball security, which paid dividends given the level of defensive play.  Interesting to me is that we possibly should have tried to pound Crick on more plays earlier in the 2nd half as revealed in the game sealing drive.  They didn’t need to do a whole lot except avoid mistakes after capatilizing on opportunities early, which I’m sure Ruffin McNeill appreciated more than myself.   

QB

Obviously, stellar given the quality of opponent.  Sheffield’s mobility played a vital role in neutralizing the effectiveness of the Husker DL.  He made the plays he needed to and avoided bad ones.

RB

Dillard played the game of his life and kept them in check for the most part.  However, you can see why Baron Batch is probably the 2nd most important player on this offense.  He brings a physical closing aspect to our offense and a Brian Westrook-effect out of the backfield.  He just got caught in a weird position on the dropped TD pass with his knee canceling out a would-be great play. 

WR

They had some trouble breaking free against the well-disciplined Pelini unit, but everyone stepped up and made a play or two when their number was called.  Detron Lewis was a difference maker and Leong, Torres, and Franks each made big plays on drives that ended in TDs.  A downfield pass is the equivalent of a long screen for us at this point.  I don’t recall any drops off the top of my head.

OL

The one advantage Mike Leach has right now over the other programs in the conference is that every player on the OL two-deep can move their feet.  If you can move your feet, then you’ve always got a chance even when overmatched.  Brandon Carter gained redemption against Suh and limited the damage better than any player he’s faced this season.  Nice game.  We had a string of bad plays here and there, but hustle and effort weren’t issues, and they won enough plays to make this game a breather. 

Defense

Opposing fans kept telling me this would be a rebuilding year for Ruffin McNeill after the loss of 4 all conference bodies and I believed it.  What’s weird to me is that it almost feels like we reloaded and improved.  When you’re nitpicking plays in the film room over the course of a 4 quarter game, then you’re playing pretty good defense and that’s kind of how it went down in the Tech film room Sunday. 

DT

I was extremely worried about this group.  While not perfect, there’s damn sure no way the Huskers were going to win this football game just pounding it down our throats.  That wasn’t going to be enough and that’s all we really ever need with a guy like Sheffield pulling the trigger.   

DE

To say the Jones’ got exposed would be an understatement, and I have no explanation for why a Midwestern recruiting guru would give D.J. four stars under his name.  He looked like dead weight and Marcel wasn’t much of an upgrade.  With that being said, I thought Nebraska had better tackles coming into this game than the next 5 teams on our schedule.  Brandon Sharpe has now established himself as a player on our defense that must be gameplanned for and he outplayed Suh in this game.  Howard and Henley dominated in stretches as well and I’m having a hard time not considering them a strength from a unit perspective.   

LB

How about this.  You just count on Brian Duncan as a guy that will consistently do his job every play until he graduates and I’ll let you know if anything different starts happening.  Bront Bird again served as an asset and I’m not smart enough to come up with a better way to use his skills than the manner Ruff currently employs.  Marlon missed his screen play we count on every game and it went for about 30. 

CB

If you’re a team like Nebraska and find yourself without the ability to run the ball, this is a regular tied goat screwing trying to make progress against this unit with a QB like Lee.  D.J. Johnson had a couple of rough plays, but could also be cited as an example of how better recruiting can improve your open field tackling.

Safety

I’m not sure if we’re better with Brett Dewhurst on the field over Frank Mitchem.  I don’t think Dewhurst would have missed the tackle on the screen, but when Mitchem runs into someone that’s typically where they stop.  I’ll let you decide, but don’t hold Dewhurst being a white guy against him.  This is a good problem to have.  Davis is a money player and we’re not as good without Will Ford on the field.  What school is this blog about?

Overall

Alright, I’m ready.  Who wants a piece of us?