Texas Tech is coming off a huge home win against Missouri and is looking to carry that momentum into potentially ending the nation's longest home win streak. We were fortunate enough to catch up with Seth over at Double-T Nation to exchange a little back and forth on the game this coming Saturday.
Check out Seth's responses to our questions after the jump and make sure you look for our answers as well as their excellent coverage leading up to the game over at Double-T Nation.
UPDATE - You can see my answers to Seth here
CC Machine: Is the QB situation a fluid one, meaning if Potts were to struggle early do you think Tubbs would go back to Sheffield?
DTN: If I were the coach, then yes, it would be a relatively fluid situation, but I think that head coach Tommy Tuberville and offensive coordinator Neal Brown trust Taylor Potts a bit more. There are certain things that both Potts and Sheffield can do really well, but they also have their limitations too. I tend to think that the coaching staff has a shorter leash with Sheffield and although the coaching staff has never really come out and said it, I think the reason why Sheffield doesn't play more is because he likes to improvise more with each play while Potts sticks to the game plan. Sheffield is more exciting as a player and has the potential to throw for 500 yards, but last week we saw that he can also be skittish in the pocket, not let the offense develop and will just take off and run if something isn't available relatively quickly.
CCM: Do you expect Tech to employ the recent strategy of selling out to stop the OU run game and force Landry Jones to beat your defense through the air?
DTN: Last week, Texas Tech employed a 3-man front, with a relatively small defensive line, and dropped 7 and 8 players into coverage, just begging Missouri and Gabbert to beat the pass defense. This worked incredibly well as Gabbert threw for 95 yards. The week before against Texas A&M, the defense tried to blitz the Aggie offense to force bad decisions on the part of Ryan Tannehill. This worked incredibly poorly as Tannehill, in his first start ever, threw for 449 yards. Honestly, I think it makes more sense to try to employ the Missouri-game plan, but I've always thought that OU can beat a team in different ways, which is what makes the Sooners so tough to beat.
CCM: What is your over/under for goal line stands against OU's offense? (hint, take the over!)
DTN: Keep in mind that Texas Tech has the 2nd to last pass defense in the country. I'm sure that a fade route to Trey Franks or Kenny Stills or a slant route to Ryan Broyles will be easy. And yes, I did watch OU try to punch the ball in the endzone against TAMU, but I can promise OU fans that you're seeing the 106th overall defense in the country, not the 47th best defense.
CCM: Given OU's struggles on defense and propensity to give up the big plays, where do you feel you match up best?
DTN: WR Lyle Leong has been really good at getting the ball in the endzone, 15 touchdowns so far this year, and defensive backs who were burned by those high fade passes are now getting burned on a wide receiver slant. He's a tough cover despite only weighing only 165 pounds. Since IR Detron Lewis has moved from wide receiver to inside receiver, he's played much better. I've always thought that Lewis is the size of a running back (6-0/208) playing receiver and although he is suspect to dropping easy passes, he's been really good of late. And the Texas Tech running game is starting to ramp up a bit and is bordering on respectable. RB Baron Batch had an excellent game last week, didn't really break anything big, but was really consistent. Not to mention, the Texas Tech offensive line is finally figuring out the zone blocking scheme and the running game will switch between both a zone and a man scheme throughout the game.
CCM: Do you have any possible kids out of your crowd that can kick that are possible transfer candidates you can bring up with you?
DTN: Perhaps OU should try the same thing that got K Matthew Williams the kicker job. In 2009, an apartment complex was sponsoring a field goal contest to win rent for a year or six months. Up walked Matthew Williams who calmly knocked down a 35 yard field goal with his shoes untied. The next day, Leach asked Williams if he'd like to walk-on and be a part of the team. Williams doesn't have the biggest leg, but he's at the very least solid. K Donnie Carona is an awful field goal kicker as he can't get the ball high enough and his field goals are routinely blocked.
CCM: Could you detail any injuries on your end for our readers that you think could play a role in the game?
DTN: How much time do you have? This has been a year where the team has been banged up quite a bit: DE Aundrey Barr, OLB Terrance Bullitt, CB Will Ford, WR Jacoby Franks, CB D.J. Johnson, WR Alexander Torres, and DE Scott Smith (suspended). This list is actually longer than that and perhaps the biggest loss was DE Scott Smith, who was suspended for violation of team rules. There have been players step up, including two walk-ons seeing significant playing time, CB Eugene Neboh and OLB Brent Dewhurst.
CCM: Are there really still any bad feelings from 2008 after you whupped up on us last year?
DTN: Nah, but I will say that I was at that 2008 game in Norman and it was one of the craziest experiences of my life. I had a law school friend of mine who works in Tulsa get me some great seats, 2nd row, 25 yard line and the crowd was electric, the players were watching the intro video and the crowd just fed off each and every play. It was an incredible experience. To answer your question, I don't know if this makes me rare as a fan in that wins or losses aren't necessarily grudge match. Sure, I want my team to win every game, but each year and each team is different. It has been great that Texas Tech has been able to win games in Lubbock against OU, but winning in Norman is a huge task. OU has a 35 game home winning streak and those sort of streaks don't happen because a team is lucky. Teams are different at home, and upsets usually happen on the road, both OU and Missouri can speak to that.