We have learned that Kliff Kingsbury is returning to the South Plains as the head coach at Texas Tech.
The first of Mike Leach's gunslingers at Texas Tech, Kingsbury led the Red Raiders to within one win of playing for the Big 12 Championship in 2002 and departed Lubbock as the most decorated player in school history, holding 39 school records, 13 conference records and seven NCAA records.
Kingsbury spent five years in professional football and began his coaching career as an offensive quality control assistant under head coach Kevin Sumlin and offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen at Houston. Kingsbury was elevated to co-offensive coordinator in 2010 with Holgorsen's departure for Oklahoma State and has experienced nothing but success since.
His 2010 Houston offense ranked fifth in passing offense, 11th in total offense and 14th in scoring offense. A year later, Houston ranked first across the board in each of those categories as the Cougars finished 13-1. Kingsbury was named the 2011 FootballScoop Offensive Coordinator of the Year for his efforts.
Kingsbury followed Sumlin to Texas A&M and found instant success in his star pupil, Johnny Manziel. The redshirt freshman set the SEC single-season total offense record en route to becoming the first freshman to win the Heisman Trophy. The Aggies ranked 13th nationally in rushing offense, 14th in passing offense, third in total offense and third in scoring offense. He again won FootballScoop Offensive Coordinator of the Year honors for his work at Texas A&M.
In Texas Tech, Kingsbury inherits a team that had college football's second-most prolific passing offense, placed 12th nationally in total offense and 16th in scoring offense. The Red Raiders will lose quarterback Seth Doege to graduation, but redshirt freshman Michael Brewer is penciled in as his replacement. Texas Tech has missed a bowl game only once since Leach's hiring in 2000.
Texas Tech athletic director Kirby Hocutt held a press conference Saturday afternoon hours after the stunning news of Tommy Tuberville leaving for the head job at Cincinnati.
Needless to say, Hocutt did not see Tuberville's departure coming. Hocutt said he was at his son's soccer game at 9:15 Saturday morning when he received a call from Cincinnati athletic director Whit Babcock stating his intention to speak with Tuberville. Tuberville called 75 minutes later informing Hocutt of his resignation and plan to take the job at Cincinnati.
Hocutt said that Tuberville nor his agent ever asked for an extension. Said Hocutt, "I have never talked to Tommy's agent."
"Tommy is a good man," Hocutt added. "I wish him well."
Hocutt met with the team earlier Saturday afternoon, describing them as proud and determined to beat Minnesota in the upcoming Meineke Car Care Bowl. He also met with the remaining Texas Tech coaching staff, minus offensive coordinator Neal Brown, and Hocutt anticipates they will lead the team well in the next three weeks.
Hocutt knows he has a good job to sell. He referenced the fact that the Red Raiders have played in a bowl game in 11 of the past 12 seasons, that more than $230 million has been poured into facilities upgrades in the last decade, and an expanded Jones AT&T Stadium saw a school record for average home attendance this fall.
Hocutt did not delve into specifics of finding Texas Tech's next head coach, but he did state on his media conference call earlier in the afternoon that his search will not be limited just to head coaches. "We will move forward as expeditiously as we can, but take as much time as we need," Hocutt added.
"I want to bring the best leader in the country to Texas Tech, someone who knows the fabric of west Texas," he concluded. "At the end of the day we want the right leader who can bring a winning style of football to Texas Tech."
Every coach would agree that earning your way to a bowl game and getting the extra practice time for your guys, especially your young players, is one of the biggest perks of playing in the post season. One of the other big advantages is in regards to recruiting.
If you're traveling to a specific part of the country it gives you an opportunity to be seen by a new demographic, and gives a chance for many fans and recruits to watch you play who might not have seen you play all season. In short, it's a chance to show a recruiting base what your football program is all about.
When it comes recruiting, Tommy Tuberville is one of the best and he explains that playing in a bowl goes a long way.
For Minnesota, Texas Tech's Meineke Car Care Bowl opponent, it's an opportunity for Jerry Kill and his coaching staff to showcase their program in front of one of the most talented recruiting bases in the country down in Houston.
"I remember last year in the state of Texas, there were 450 Division I recruits in football," Tuberville pointed out in the Houston Chronicle. "A normal state's got 15 or 20. The more you can get out and be accessible to the players and coaches and have a chance to put your name out there, it's about sales."
450 Division I recruits out of one state (even one as big and talented as Texas) is mind boggling. That stat alone makes it clearly seem like the big winners of bowl season are the teams that have been picked to play in bowls in Texas. Right now twelve teams have the distinct advantage of playing in a bowl game within the state of Texas.
Oklahoma and Texas A&M (Cotton Bowl), Texas Tech and Minnesota, Rice and Air Force (Armed Forces Bowl), Oregon State and Texas (Alamo Bowl), Georgia Tech and USC (Sun Bowl), and Oklahoma State and Purdue (Heart of Dallas Bowl) all play in Texas based bowl games and thus will have a chance to influence a very large recruiting base.
Tuberville noted that they're looking to increase their visibility and presence in the Houston area as well.
"When I took the job at Texas Tech, we only had one or two players from the city of Houston on our team. We need to have 15 to 20, maybe 25."
Is it possible that Charlie Weis, he who declared his teams would have a "decided schematic advantage" at Notre Dame, put his team at a competitive disadvantage before Kansas even took the field at Texas Tech on Saturday?
The Big 12 mandates that teams may take 70 players on the road. Kansas took just 54 players to Lubbock on Saturday.
"This was about going on the road with guys that really, really care," Weis told the Lawrence Journal-World. "It's important to them. I'll take that group of guys that played today and give us a chance whenever we're playing."
According to the paper, not included among the Jayhawks' 54 travelling players were junior Christian Matthews, who has rushed nine times for 73 yards and a touchdown in eight games and played regular snaps at wide receiver, and redshirt freshman Damon Martin, who started at left guard against Texas.
Is it possible that Weis' team, which scored 10 points in the last half of the fourth quarter to send the game to overtime, wore down as the game stretched into double overtime?
The Jayhawks scored a touchdown to open overtime, but were unable to stop Texas Tech as the Red Raiders scored touchdowns on back-to-back possessions, the second of which saw Texas Tech move forward in increments of 11, 5, 3 and 3 yards to score in four plays.
Kansas moved forward one yard in the ensuing possession, thereby ending the game with a 41-34 Texas Tech win.
So it's certainly possible that Weis put his team at a disadvantage on Saturday, but maybe Weis was correct and his smaller roster banded together to put forth a more focused effort.
Texas Tech head coach pulled the curtain back a bit during his press conference this week. Don Williams of the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal provided a glimpse of how Tuberville and his staff run things during games.
“I don’t like anybody talking on the phones with the coordinator calling plays,” Tuberville said. “Worst thing you can do is have a head coach and assistants hollering in your ear. ... It’s got to be one guy, one thought, but the thoughts of other people come whether it’s timeout or (when) you’re off the field.
“Now, Neal will ask me, ‘Run or pass, coach?’” Tuberville said. “‘If this play doesn't work, if it’s third-and-5, do you want to run it, do you want to pass it?’ And I’ll give him my thought."
Like many head coaches, Tuberville oscillates between the offensive and defensive sides of the headset during games.
“But then he gets the last call," said Tuberville. "He knows a lot more about it than I do, because I’m over on the defensive side and a lot of times I’m not even watching (the offense). I’m listening to the defense and trying to help them.”
Brown was just 28 when Tuberville lured him from Troy to be the Red Raiders' offensive coordinator in 2010. The Texas Tech offense has come under fire of late, as the Red Raiders have been held to 24 points or under four times in Big 12 play this season. Texas Tech lost to Texas 31-22 on Saturday.
“It’s a lot harder when you’re there calling (plays) and you’ve got about 30, 40 seconds to make that decision,” Tuberville said. “That’s the reason we go freeze a lot of times. You’ll see us line up, we’ll get down and we’re all looking at the formation, and we’ll have one guy in the press box giving Neal the front and one the coverage: ‘Neal, they’re going to be in zero coverage, they’re going to bring five’, and then he’ll call a play.”
Tuberville stated that running backs coach Chad Scott and offensive line coach Chris Tomsen give their recommendation on running plays, and inside receivers coach Sonny Cumbie and outside receivers coach Tommy Mainord will do the same for pass plays.
The most-question decision made by Tuberville on Saturday came at the 1:35 mark of the third quarter. The Red Raiders had just scored a touchdown to pull within 24-22 and opted to go for two, which was ultimately unsuccessful. Though Tuberville bore the brunt of the criticism, it was a decision made by the staff ahead of time.
“You don’t go for two just spur of the moment,” he said, adding that the defense was playing well at that stage of the game. “We also thought, ‘Hey, we need to let these players know we’re trying to win the game.’ We’re trying to get back into it, so if we can score one touchdown and get that two-point play, then it would be huge momentum.”
Another full slate of college football action is now just a mere hours away. What matchups stand out to us on the final college football Saturday of October? Here's nine games that we'll be keeping our eyes on throughout the day.
Florida vs. Georgia (3:30 p.m. ET, CBS): Florida has won 18 of the last 22 in this series, and win No. 19 will lock in a trip to Atlanta in December for Will Muschamp's team. Florida offensive coordinator Brent Pease will test Georgia's 72nd-ranked run defense early and often; the Gators have run the ball 319 teams this season and thrown it just 134 times. Georgia will look to turn around an unimpressive three-game stretch that includes a 35-7 loss to South Carolina and two wins by a total of 12 points over Tennessee and Kentucky (combined SEC record: 0-9).
Texas Tech at Kansas State (3:30 p.m. ET, FOX): It's pretty safe to say not many people saw this as a battle for Big 12 supremacy this preseason. The teams that combined to knock West Virginia out of any title conversations square off with first place on the line. Texas Tech head coach Tommy Tuberville's reputation as a giant killer preceeds him, according to blogger Matt Hinton, Tubberville is 7-4 versus top 5 opponents since 2000. Texas Tech, which boasts the Big 12's top defense statistically, meets the conference's most diverse attack: quarterback Collin Klein is the second-most efficient passer in the nation while also rushing for 14 scores, and tailback John Hubert has four 100-yard games on the year. Meanwhile, Texas Tech quarterback Seth Doege meets the Big 12's leading pass efficiency defense fresh off a whitewashing of West Virginia quarterback Geno Smith (season-low 143 passing yards, two interceptions).
Duke at Florida State (3:30 p.m. ET, ESPNU): Saturday's Duke-Florida State game featues a team in control of its own destiny to win the ACC championship, and Florida State. Yes, it is Duke that is alone in first place of the ACC's Coastal Divison, while Florida State needs to win out and a Clemson loss to win the ACC's Atlantic Division. The Blue Devils clinched their first bowl appearance since 1994 with last week's 33-30 win over North Carolina, but to achieve more than that David Cutcliffe's team will need to find a way to slow down the ACC's most statistically-sound team. Jimbo Fisher's squad leads the ACC in nine categories including total offense, scoring offense, total defense and scoring defense.
USC at Arizona (3:30 p.m. ET, ABC/ESPN2): Pac-12 South leading USC travels to Tucson to face 4-3 (1-3 Pac-12) Arizona in what figures to be an easy Trojans win, right? Not exactly. Behind Rich Rodriguez's fifth-ranked total offense, Arizona is the 13th best team in college football according to Football Outsiders' F/+ rankings, six spots ahead of USC. The Wildcats have played better than their record indicates, after close losses to Stanford and Oregon State, Arizona is fresh off a 52-17 pounding of Washington. After losing its conference opener at Stanford, Lane Kiffin's team has feasted on the lower rungs of the Pac-12 standings with wins over California, Utah, Washington and Colorado (combined Pac-12 record: 4-13).
TCU at Oklahoma State (3:30 p.m. ET, FSN): Perhaps Mike Gundy and Gary Patterson can console each other on the hard luck each staff has been dealt at the quarterback position. After redshirt freshman quarterback J.W. Walsh ably stepped in for opening-day starter Wes Lunt, accounting for 461 yards of total offense in a win over Iowa State last week, before he was lost for the season with a knee injury. Oklahoma State will either turn back to Lunt, a true freshman, or to third-string quarterback Clint Chelf. On the opposite sideline, redshirt freshman Trevone Boykin continues to improve as TCU's newly-minted starting quarterback. Boykin threw for 332 yards and four touchdowns in his third start on Saturday versus Texas Tech. Like the majority of games pitting the Big 12's middle class, expect a down-to-the-wire outcome with both teams reaching the mid-30's.
Ohio State at Penn State (5:30 p.m., ESPN): Technically, this is the most meaningless game on the Big Ten schedule in 2012. Or, depending on what you read, it could be the most meaningful college football game played this year. This game could wind up deciding the Big Ten Coach of the Year, as both first year coaches' fingerprints are evident through the improvements each quarterback has shown from 2011. Bill O'Brien's has completely transformed Nittany Lions quarterback Matt McGloin, improving the senior's 2011 totals (1,571 yards with eight touchdowns and five interceptions) through just seven games. McGloin leads the Big Ten with 1,788 passing yards while tossing 14 scores against just two picks. His counterpart, Ohio State sophomore Braxton Miller, places second in the conference with 2,349 yards of total offense and ranks second among all FBS quarterbacks with 959 rushing yards.
Notre Dame at Oklahoma (8 p.m. ET, ABC): Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly stated earlier this week he wants his program to emulate the success that Oklahoma has enjoyed under Bob Stoops. His team can start with a win in Norman on Saturday night. The closer and more low-scoring this game plays the more it will benefit Notre Dame. Oklahoma teams tend to pounce early on any displays of weakness but can fold in a 60 minute boxing match. After going a solid half-decade without losing in Norman, Oklahoma has lost two of its last six home games. Both losses contained a minus-2 turnover margin for the Sooners, good news for Notre Dame and it's plus-9 turnover balance. Notre Dame needs to improve on its 43 percent third-down conversion rate to keep Oklahoma's explosive offense on the sideline.
Michigan at Nebraska (8 p.m. ET, ESPN2): The Big Ten's most-explosive offense hosts the league's most sneaky-good defense in a game that could ultimately decide the Big Ten's Legends Division title. Nebraska leads the Big Ten and ranks among college football's top dozen offenses in yards gained (512.4 per game, 6.9 per play) and scoring (41.6 points per game) faces a Michigan team that arrives in Lincoln quiety riding a three-game winning streak. Michigan defensive coordinator Greg Mattison's unit has held its last five opponents to 13 points or less and checks in at No. 10 nationally in total defense (277.1 yards per game, 4.4 yards per play).
Mississippi State at Alabama (8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN): Both of these teams have benefitted from back-loaded schedules to arrive at this game with a 7-0 record. Only one of these teams has something to prove, however, and it's not the Crimson Tide. Mississippi State hasn't beaten Alabama since Nick Saban's first season and has scored 10 combined points through the first three quarters of the past four meetings. Fortunately for Dan Mullen, his team excells at the best ingredient to creating an upset - Mississippi State leads the nation in turnover margin. But unforunately for Mullen, Alabama checks in just two spots behind Mississippi State in the national rankings.
Texas Tech quarterback Seth Doege had a career day this past Saturday against TCU, throwing for seven touchdowns in their 56-53 triple overtime thriller. The win improved the Red Raiders to 6-1 overall and 3-1 in the Big 12.
In the clip here, Doege and receiver Alex Torres break down the winning touchdown and their assignments and adjustments both pre and post snap.
Good look at a quality play action (and high percentage) pass.
Now that Week 7 of the college football season has come and gone, which coaching staffs did a standout job of getting their teams ready to play? We highlight those stood out to us with our Coaches of the Week.
Head Coach of the Week: Gary Patterson, TCU
One week after suffering his first loss in nearly a full season and four days after announcing that his team will play the rest of the season without its starting quarterback, Gary Patterson's team submitted its most complete performance of 2012. That is what coaches look for when they talk about responding to sudden change. After his first full week of working with co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Rusty Burns as a starting quarterback, Trevone Boykin completed 22-of-30 passes for 261 yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions. Dick Bumpas' defense forced Baylor into six turnovers while holding the Bears to its season low in total yardage and less than 40 percent of its scoring average. Patterson's team broke the game open with a 21-0 fourth quarter and posted 509 yards of total offense, its most versus FBS competition in 2012. Gary Patterson's team is now 22-6 following a loss in his tenure and has amazingly won 14 straight conference road games.
Offensive Staff of the Week: Oregon State
Credit the work of Mike Riley, Danny Langsdorf and staff, because no one would have ever known Beavers quarterback Cody Vaz was starting his first college game on Saturday. Taking his first snaps since 2005, the Oregon State quarterback connected on 20-of-32 passes for 332 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions. Langsdorf's offense also ran for 118 yards and two touchdowns, nearly doubling the the total allowed by BYU's third-ranked rush defense (2.23 yards per carry allowed). Oregon State's 42 points were by far the most scored on a BYU defense that entered Saturday with just 49 points allowed for the entire season. Seamlessly replacing the nation's sixth-most productive passer allowed Oregon State to move to 5-0 for the first time since 1939.
Defensive Staff of the Week: Texas Tech
How's this for perspective of just how dominant the Texas Tech defense was versus West Virginia - coming into Saturday, the Mountaineers' offense had scored 14 or more points in 13 separate quarters this season (that's 65 percent on the year), including seven of eight quarters in Big 12 play. It took West Virginia over 57 minutes to reach that number in Lubbock. Despite not posting any turnovers or sacks, the Red Raiders defense got off the field by holding West Virginia to 9-of-21 on third down and 2-of-7 on fourth down. Art Kaufman and co. held Heisman Trophy favorite Geno Smith to nearly half of his season averages - 52.7 percent completion rate (down from 81.4 percent), 275 passing yards on five yards per attempt (down from 399 yards and nearly 10 yards per attempt) and one touchdown (two below his season average). Texas Tech also held the West Virginia ground game, which so befuddled Texas a week prior, to 133 yards on 3.7 yards per carry. With 50 percent of the schedule behind them, Art Kaufman's crew has halved their 2011 averages (486 yards per game in 2011, 243 in 2012; 6.45 yards per play in 2011, 3.89 in 2012) while jumping 110 spots in the in total defense. A group that finished last season No. 114 in the country currently stands at No. 4.
Special Teams Unit of the Week: Iowa
Kirk Ferentz's team hardly ever does anything spectacular, instead winning with balance, execution and efficiency. Iowa's special teams were exactly that Saturday in the Hawkeyes' 19-16 win over Michigan State in double overtime. Kicker Mike Meyer nailed all four of his field goal tries, including the game-winner from 42 yards in double overtime. Iowa punted eight times, allowing only two returns - one for a yard and another for minus-2 yards. Under the direction of special teams coordinator Lester Erb, Iowa held the Spartans to an average of 17 yards on four kickoff returns while taking their lone kick return 45 yards. In fact, Jordan Cotton's 45-yard kick return in the second quarter sparked the drive that got Ferentz's team on the scoreboard after trailing 10-0.
Call of the Week: Les Miles, Greg Studrawa and Frank Wilson, LSU
With a stable of running backs that boasts Kenny Hilliard, Michael Ford, Alfred Blue and Spencer Ware, you wouldn't think LSU would have to call on his No. 5 tailback, true freshman Jeremy Hill to pull him out of a tight spot Saturday night in Death Valley. But Hill, who entered the South Carolina game with 13 carries on the season, provided the spark that the Miles' team needed with 17 carries for 124 yards and two touchdowns in a 23-21 win over South Carolina. Credit for this move also must go to offensive coordinator Greg Studrawa and running backs coach Frank Wilson - first for getting such running back depth on the roster, and also for keeping all that depth ready to play. "I think that's something the coaches preach," Hill said after the game. "They do a good job of keeping everyone patient. This team has a lot of depth. They recruit well every year. Once you come here, you know you're going to have to wait your turn to play. Once you get that opportunity, you've got to take advantage of it and run with it."
