Tommy Tuberville - "We'll Know About Our Defense After Next Week"

As Oklahoma and Texas Tech are prepping to play each other Saturday afternoon in Lubbock, Tommy Tuberville knows that he has a lot of things in his favor. Last season his Red Raiders ended Oklahoma's 39-game home winning streak with a 41-38 shocker in Norman. Texas Tech is undefeated this season and ahead of the Sooners by a game in the Big XII standings. They are playing the Sooners on a field in which Oklahoma hasn't won since 2003 and they have the nation's top defense at their disposal. At leas for now though, Tuberville is holding off on that last proclamation.

When asked to talk about his defense being ranked #1 in the nation at his press conference yesterday, Tech's third-year head coach responded with the following.

Five weeks from now we'll know a lot more. Heck, we'll know a lot more after this week. Last year I thought we played pretty good. We gave up 38 points. Played the best defensive game we played all year against Oklahoma last year, and still gave up 38 points.

Oklahoma doesn't have the best offense that the Red Raiders will face this season but, compared to the four-game sample size of Northwestern State, Texas State, New Mexico and Iowa State, the Sooners will be head and shoulders above the offenses Tech has faced this season. The biggest challenge that OU will present to Texas Tech will be balance, and Coach Tuberville spoke to that.

But they've got Landry Jones. He's back. He didn't have a great game against us last year. I'm sure he's looking forward to getting back in the saddle and going against our defense. It will be a challenge for us. They can run. They can throw. It will be the most balanced team we've seen offensively.

While Tuberville was a bit cautious in his approach to facing OU's offense, Texas Tech defensive back (and Lawton, OK product) Cornelius Douglas wasn't quite as reserved.

I mean, there is really no concern. They're a great team. We're a good team too. We're going to practice hard and watch film and really study them. You know, they say best team wins.

Douglas isn't the only Red Raider beaming with confidence either. When asked about facing Oklahoma's defense, quarterback Seth Doege said the following.

I'm not too worried about really anything. They're always good on defense and always really athletic. We're athletic too. I think we're a lot more athletic this year than we were last year at this time. I think we're running the ball a lot better. So our job is to prepare well, and then on Saturday, go out there and execute and be the best we are at our job.

So...that's what Oklahoma is facing on Saturday, a confident team, that's undefeated, playing at home where the Sooners haven't won since 2003. While Tuberville was mostly reserved in his comments, he did reference last year's upset win in Norman four times in his opening comments before taking any questions. This should all make for a fun afternoon in Lubbock on Saturday.