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Optimisms/Pessimisms Going Into the 2020 Red Raider Football Season · Talkin' Tech

• 0:39
  SPEAKER_02: Welcome in everybody to the Talking Tech Podcast.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_02: This is episode one of our podcast, man.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_02: Woo! We're doing it.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_02: We're doing it.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_02: This has been kind of a month, what, a month or two that we've been kind of planning this?
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_01: At least.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_01: I feel like you and I have always kind of talked about putting together a passion project of uh to cover Texas Tech Sports in some way.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_01: We just couldn't figure out the outlet to do so.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but I'm so glad to be able to share our passion with people that are just as passionate about us and uh just kind of get this ball rolling.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, man.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, everybody's stuck at home right now.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_02: We all need more podcasts to listen to.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_02: We all need more positivity in our life, you know.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_02: We all need more tech in our lives.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_02: We all need more tech.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_02: We all need more tech.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_02: So um I guess to start off this episode one, we're gonna talk about some tech football.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_02: Three things we're both optimistic about and three things we're pessimistic about going into the season.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_02: But uh to start us off, the big news out of uh Lubbock is uh Marlene Stallings, the coach for Texas Tech Women's Basketball, just recently got fired.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_02: Uh Kirby Hokut just uh had a press conference about it.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_02: You know, probably the biggest scandal in a while.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_02: You know, for Texas Tech.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_02: Uh you hate to see stuff like that with any program really, but especially one that's so near and dear to our hearts.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_02: But uh, you know, to see somebody that just doesn't treat their players right, it's never a good thing.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_02: You never want to see that happen in your program.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely, and this one hurts.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, tech women's basketball is is one of our programs that is more storied than others within our school.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, we we expect a high level of integrity and and and performance.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_01: And it's just unfortunately, while things were getting better on the court, you can't get better on the court while treating your players wrong.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_01: It's just not how we want to do things at tech.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_01: So uh no wins is worth the cost of our players.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely, man, for sure.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_02: To brighten things up a little bit, though, in the men's basketball program, uh Joel Ntabwe returned, which is fantastic news because I thought he was as good as gone, man.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_02: Especially after that whole coming situation, you know, having his brother so close to him, and he, you know, he just thought that he he didn't show up when the rest of the team showed up, and so I was concerned, but uh glad to see that he returned to campus back ready to play.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_01: Talk about a good roster getting even better.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_01: You know, we we couldn't be more excited about this season, and it's while his brother was possibly the biggest recruit we've ever could have gotten in program history at number one in the entire country.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_01: Uh happy to see him doing what he thinks is best for himself.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_01: That's all he can ask of somebody.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but Chris Beard's just getting started.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_02: For sure, man.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_02: It's it's insane how stacked this roster is going into the season.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_02: Uh we'll see how Beard puts it all together, but I really think we have a lot of pieces here to really succeed, not only for another Big 12 championship, but for, you know, possibly a national championship.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_02: So um, yeah, and third on our uh news is uh Texas Tech Soccer ranked first in preseason, which is good stuff.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_02: Uh they had a 75% win percentage at home in 2019, which is one of the best out of all the Texas schools.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_02: Um and yeah, man, just excited to have another good team in Lubbock, you know, succeeding.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_02: That's all you want out of out of these programs.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_01: 100%.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_01: And uh just like uh how baseball is building itself up, soccer's been quietly building itself up over the years at Texas Tech.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_01: Our women's soccer program is one of the best in the conference.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_01: And it's it makes you proud to see us uh make rising in all programs across campus, not just the men, but all we also love seeing our ladies do well too.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_01: So uh I hope uh even though COVID might complicate things, I hope there's still some uh plenty of support behind them in Lubbock, as I know there were there was before.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but you just can't help but get excited whenever you see number one out of ten on a preseason bowl.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_02: And even if it's preseason, you know, you just like to see it.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_02: We had that kind of luxury in basketball last year, just seeing our names up there in top 10 preseason or top 15, whatever, it's just good to see as a fan.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_02: So it gives you some more optimism.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_02: And uh kind of segueing that into our first, you know, topic we're talking about here on the Talk of Tech Pod, uh, we're gonna give three things that we're optimistic about and three things we're pessimistic about in the uh 2020 tech football season.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_02: Um disclaimer, you know, the Big 12 just decided to do an all-conference schedule plus one non-conference game.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_02: Looks like we're gonna be playing Houston Baptist, which is not exciting in the least bit.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_02: But, you know, we we at least hopefully get a dub, an easy dub on the schedule to start us off for the year.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_01: For sure.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_01: You know, as fans, you want to see us playing a tougher competition uh to open up the season to see where we're at.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but I think people need to understand that this these aren't normal times.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_01: Um I'm sure there's plenty that the athletic department is worried about when it comes to planning that non-conference game.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_01: I'm sure an FCS team, which is much cheaper to get to Lubbock than a uh FBS program would be, is definitely a part of it with how much of a hit financially the program's gonna take.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_01: Um and to we'll still be able to see our program take on lower talent and see, you know, where we can where we're rolling with at the very beginning at least.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_01: Kind of see where the players are fitting.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_01: Um I think that's all you can ask out of an on-conference game like this.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and especially for a program like Tech, those first three non-conference games are just vital for the team just to get their stuff together before conference plays start.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_02: And it's gonna be, we're not gonna have that much time for this year, but uh to get an easy opponent like Houston Baptist, I guess, is a good sign uh for us.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_02: So I guess Tristan, why don't you give me your first optimistic thing?
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_01: My first optimistic thing.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_01: So, whatever I was thinking about this, you know, it's it the optimism was easier for the pet than the pessimism for me.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_02: Well, and that's and that's you.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_02: That's you as a person.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_02: You're much more optimistic than than a lot of us are.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_01: And Steven, that's why the football season hurts me so much, man.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_01: As at least to this, as of late, I should say.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_01: Um, as of our whole time there.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_01: So hey, I'm just like you just said, I'm just trying to keep things positive, man.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, man.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, so um my first optimism, I think, is is it kind of um what that's kind of been not not so much quiet.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, the NFL draft has shown it, but our linebacker depth.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_01: That's true.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_01: And and what I'm excited about with the line linebackers, we've had some great names coming out of that position quietly, you know, out of a school like Texas Tech, where our defense is a meme.
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_01: For sure.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_01: Across all major medias.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_01: It's nice to see big names like Dakota come out, and of course, Brooks now, who are both stellar players and stellar and leaders.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_01: That just that's of course a characteristic that can't be overlooked.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but we have several names coming in here that are really gonna help us out, and I I'm hoping to see our improvement in a position like that start to translate across the entire defense.
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_01: Because we're a meme for a reason at defense, and I'm hoping that uh us rising in the in the ranks of at least one position will start to uh translate to everywhere else on that on that side of the field.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_02: Well, yeah, and you and you honestly you talk about the most important position on the defensive side of the field, it's probably the linebacker.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_02: You know, he controls basically everything that happens from the defensive backs upwards to the to the D line.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_02: But, you know, we got guys like Rico Jeffers coming in, he's probably gonna be the best linebacker, you know, at least on the roster.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_02: Uh he has the most, you know, experience coming in, especially at tech.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, I'm also excited about our JUCO transfer, uh, Merriweather, Kashawn Merriweather.
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_02: Uh supposedly he's getting a lot of hype.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_02: So uh I think the whole thing with the linebackers is just depth.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_02: Because for how electric our offense usually is, it it mostly leads to the defense being on the field the majority of the game.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_02: You know, we score in three minutes, but then that means the defense has to hold it down for us.
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_02: And I think that's where depth really comes into play.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_02: Having enough guys to get out there, you can't have Rico Jeffers out there every snap.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_02: It's just not viable for him, especially with how hard he's gonna be working this year.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_02: So, yeah, I think that is something to be optimistic about.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_02: We have we have some guys coming in that, and we're always good at that position.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_02: We really are.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_02: We know how to develop the linebacker.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_01: That was a good point.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_01: Um, all through Kingsbury's tenure, that was always a criticism, especially from the inside of tech fan base, was our defense is on the field for far too long, you know, because of uh, or I shouldn't say long, I should say much.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_01: We were on the field so much because that, of course, number one offense in the in the country oftentimes.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_01: So they score very quickly, but of course they have to get our very tired defense right back on the field.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so hopefully an extension of talent there will uh of course help that out.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_01: So uh I'm sorry I didn't I on to you, man.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_01: What what's what's uh what is what are you excited about with this Red Raider football team coming into the season?
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm not usually the optimistic type, especially when it comes to tech football, but I think there are certain things to look at.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_02: The quarterback depth to me is the biggest thing to be optimistic about because uh, you know, you could look at it in a pessimistic way and say, okay, these guys are always hurt, but you could also look at it as we have three really good quarterbacks coming in that I think are gonna be, you know, starting caliber for the Big 12.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_02: Of course, Alan Bowman, he's on some watch lists, he's you know, in the games that he's played in, he's been fantastic.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_02: Uh obviously, the last two in uh last two years, he's been pretty injury-riddled, uh, you know, the whole lung thing and then the shoulder.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_02: But uh to have him as your starting quarterback is a good thing coming into the year.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_02: He's very talented, uh, he can lead a team.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_02: But his backup, Maverick McIver, who was thought of last year uh to possibly compete with Bowman for that starting position.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_02: And to have that guy be your backup, have him have that hype until he was hurt.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_01: Before the season even started.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_02: No, and I know.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_02: And as a freshman, you know, he was already getting that hype.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_02: So he's a good guy to have behind Bowman right now.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_02: And then we get this Utah State transfer, Henry Columbi, or Columbi, I'm not sure, however you say it, but uh, yeah, man, he knows Wells' system.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_02: Uh he he's just another good quarterback to have that could possibly, you know, lead you up there.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_02: And one of the biggest problems last year was, you know, we had a couple guys get hurt at that position, and we were forced to play Jed Duffy, you know.
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_02: Jed Duffy, I I never hate the guy, but he just wasn't Division I FPS material.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_02: You can see him from his from his road to transfer.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_02: He's been to about three different schools or whatever now, and you feel for the guy, you really do, but he just wasn't the guy meant for the program.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_02: So, uh, but I I'm very encouraged by the depth because you know, seeing how seeing how hurt these guys seem to get every year, it's nice to have that insurance, and we need that insurance.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_01: Last season showed that we needed that insurance.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_01: So it's it's I'm very excited about that as well.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_01: Of course, obviously, I had that on my list of optimism as well.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, I just want to make sure I touch places that perhaps we both didn't think of.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_01: So, um, absolutely on that, and it that's that's awesome.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, well, why don't you give me your first uh pessimistic take, your first negative going into the year?
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_01: You know how hard this was for me, man.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_02: It wasn't very hard for me.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_01: Alright, y'all.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm gonna stay on defense.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_01: Um so whenever I'm writing down my pessimistic, I think these are just the areas where I think we need to improve on the most.
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_01: Um so uh uh the first one I think is obvious that's gonna be to to help us out on the defensive side of the ball is uh improving our secondary.
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_01: Our secondary has been a mess for years now.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_01: Um the amount of big plays we give up, it's it's crushing.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_02: That's that's well it it Tristan knows and and my my close friends know how my two least favorite players since I've been a Texas Tech fan have been both defensive, have been Des Smith and have been um Justice Nelson.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_02: Oh my god, those two dudes, I can't even I can't even do it with those two guys.
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_02: They were always put on the toughest guy to guard, and I have some sympathy for them, but oh my god, they were awful.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_02: Both of those dudes were so bad, and our defensive backs have just been bad in general for the last however many years.
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, sir, and that's exactly what I'm trying to say.
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_01: You know, it's you we have we have we have these great players up front with the linebackers, you know, trying to trying to stop that close game, but as soon as they launch that ball past our line and all that, oh boy.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_02: Dude, I'm scared every single time.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_02: I'm I'm like positive the receivers are gonna catch it over our game.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_01: It's such a sick irony for an air raid school.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's just I until that improves, it's hard to see us winning more games.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_01: You know, you can only we we've seen that we can't outscore our way to wins whenever Pat Mahomes was here.
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_01: So it's just until that improves, and that's why I'm pessimistic about this, is we haven't been given too much reason to be excited about it yet.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm hoping that changes this season.
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_01: Um what about you, man?
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_01: It's hard for me to talk about sadness.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_02: It's it's it's easy for me to talk about sadness because I've been hurt so many times by this team.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_02: But I will say my first pessimistic thing is probably gonna be that the transfers that we're getting are a little too hyped up.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_02: I think, you know, we're getting uh we're getting Townsend from Alabama and we're getting Eric Monroe from LSU.
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_02: And those are very good football schools.
• 14:13
  SPEAKER_02: Alep, you love to get a guy from Alabama, you'd love to get a guy from LSU.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_02: But what you need to look at is why they're transferring, you know, because they couldn't compete with the guys that were also at that school, which is hard to do.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_02: Granted, LSU was the national champion last year, and Alabama's good every year.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_02: But, you know, this guy coming in who's gonna be, it looks like a running back, Chedarius Townsend, uh, was a receiver going into Bama.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_02: And of course, Bama had this stacked receiving core last year.
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_02: He probably found he couldn't break his way into that, but he's he's transferring to a position that he hasn't really played, and that's a little concerning to me.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, you know, we hype him up because he's from Alabama, he's this dude coming in that Nick Saban recruited, you know.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_02: This is uh a great get.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_02: We don't know that yet.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_02: And it's gonna take a little bit to know that.
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_02: You know, we have a luckily we have some running back, uh some good running backs on the roster already, so hopefully this guy will be a second or third option going into the year, but uh, you know, just the fact that he hasn't played the position yet concerns me.
• 15:17
  SPEAKER_02: Uh and Eric Monroe, he's had a lot of injuries in his career.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_02: Uh he was playing, he played minimal last year on the championship team.
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_02: Uh he was still there, which is good, and he's 6'1, which is a good size for uh a safety.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_02: And we we're just so used to getting guys that are small back there.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_02: And to guard these huge receivers coming in from UT and OU, it's just tough for those dudes just to get up there and the height differential uh you can see it.
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_02: So uh it's an encouraging thing that we're getting guys from those schools, I guess.
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_02: You have to you have to understand why they're transferring in the first place.
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_01: So you know that that's a great point.
• 15:58
  SPEAKER_01: Um it's easy to get excited about transfers from those schools, as you just said.
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_01: Um and I guess that the biggest the biggest hope to turn that pop pessimism pessimism into optimism is that those players are getting lost in the sauce, as they say.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_01: That's what you know they they kind of get they they get pushback for whatever reason, be it injury or uh just uh insane amount of depth in that position to where they just kind of keep falling back down on the ladder.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_01: You just hope, like I just said, that they kind of get lost in that mix, but they're still crazy good players that just need their shot on a Well and you look- I mean, if they're going to Bam or LSU, they were at least a five or four-star recruit out of high school.
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_02: So you want to say, hey, you know, maybe they could get back to that level, maybe they could be, you know, where you want them to be, or but uh yeah.
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_01: Would you mind if I use that as a segue into my next uh optimism?
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_01: Alright, awesome.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_01: So one of my optimism is kind of bouncing off the coaching staff is a new transfer tactic.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_01: You know, during the Kingsbury era, we we didn't see transfers like this.
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_01: You know, it was a lot of JUCO guys, true, a lot of guys um that that didn't come from insane programs from like like Alabama DLSU or top-notch.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_01: So my one of my optimism is seeing older guys come in to fill roles that we need that are already experienced and come from the best coached and dynamic programs in the country.
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_01: That's true.
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_01: So I I'm I want to see how that translates into a newer staff like ours and uh, you know, building up this new coaching roster and uh and player roster, I should say.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_01: I would like to see how that would translate with our with the with these new big-time school names coming to tech and seeing how that will result on the field.
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_01: You know what I'm trying to say?
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_02: For sure, yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 17:45
  SPEAKER_02: I get what you're saying.
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_02: Um, yeah, dude, that that could be super encouraging.
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_02: Like I said, with this whole transfer thing, these guys could be awesome, which is something to be optimistic about.
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_02: I just I look at a more negative tone at it because uh you wonder why they transferred in the first place.
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_01: A little yin and yang there from us.
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah, for sure.
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_02: A little bit, but that's how we think when it comes to football sometimes.
• 18:07
  SPEAKER_02: For sure.
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_02: But uh, yeah, man, I guess my second optimistic thing, we had a lot of close games in 2019.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, we lost to K State by three, TCU by two, Kansas by three.
• 18:19
  SPEAKER_02: We don't like to talk about that one.
• 18:21
  SPEAKER_02: Uh 10 to Iowa State, who was a good team last year, and uh three to Baylor, who was in the Big 12 championship game.
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_02: Like, and you know, we talk about shitty calls.
• 18:31
  SPEAKER_02: That was a bad call right there with the at the very end of that game.
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_02: Probably should have won that game in Waco.
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_02: But, you know, that's encouraging, especially for a first-year head coach, that we had so many games we were in.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_02: With that roster last year, I don't know if we should have even been where we were.
• 18:48
  SPEAKER_02: Kingsbury did not leave us in a good spot.
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_02: So Matt Wells coming in, and we had good players, Jordan Brooks, Broderick Washington, those type of guys.
• 18:56
  SPEAKER_02: But uh to lose so many tight games is encouraging because we take that next step.
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_02: Matt Wells takes that next step with his team.
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_02: You can see us winning those, you know, switching a few of those for next season.
• 19:09
  SPEAKER_01: It's always funny to talk about losses in a good way.
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_01: That's what we have to do.
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_01: For sure, especially at this point in our program.
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_01: Um, that's those are those that's a very good point.
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_01: And I didn't even think about that.
• 19:20
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you it's it's one of those things that's said often, but if you can really feel it as of last season, is you know, those close games are bound to switch eventually.
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_01: Or it's bound to go our way eventually.
• 19:30
  SPEAKER_01: And a couple like you just had said, some of those things were uh luck, you know, but just luck didn't go our way when the other teams went like Baylor.
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_01: Um and blowouts were rare.
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_01: We didn't get blown out of the stadium as uh nearly as much as we were in the Cliff Kingsbury era.
• 19:45
  SPEAKER_02: It was OU and U UT last year because you know, last game of the season we were all pretty discouraged at that point.
• 19:50
  SPEAKER_02: But uh yeah, man, the the the close games is something to be encouraged.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_01: And then we can even talk about uh a couple of dubs like uh Oklahoma State.
• 19:58
  SPEAKER_01: You know, we we we that was our most complete game.
• 20:01
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, we we went in there and it it it really seemed like the the well staff was clicking on all cylinders, yeah, and Gundy just didn't auto respond.
• 20:09
  SPEAKER_01: And that's what you like to see from a coach like Gundy, who is obviously one of the most respected coaches of the conference.
• 20:13
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 20:14
  SPEAKER_01: He always put together a good team.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_02: And you have to look at it too, because Bowman got hurt in the game before that against Arizona, so I don't know if they were necessarily ready to play against Jet Duffy, who's a a much different quarterback than Alan Bowman is.
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_02: So that may have caught them off guard a little bit.
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_02: I know Sanders, uh, the Oklahoma State quarterback, had a pretty terrible game that game, but that's credit to our defense.
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_02: Jordan Brooks, that was probably his best game of the year.
• 20:35
  SPEAKER_02: Oh my god, he had like two fumbles and you know a billion tackles, what he always did.
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_01: We kept Chuba Hubbard at bay enough to win.
• 20:43
  SPEAKER_01: So he's the best running back in the country, as many would agree with.
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_01: So it's that was and you hearing us stop the run is something that you like to like to hear.
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_02: You don't hear it often.
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_01: No, but you like to hear it.
• 20:54
  SPEAKER_01: But we stopped it enough to win.
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_01: So I um I digress.
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_01: So, as you were saying.
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_02: So, why don't you give me your second pessimistic thing?
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, so here is something that I have been thinking about for a long time when it comes to something that needs to improve within the Texas Tech football program, is and it's something that's hits very close to home for you and me.
• 21:16
  SPEAKER_01: Um, home games.
• 21:18
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_01: Our uh our record at home is abysmal.
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_01: It's awful.
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_01: It's and that's and I think uh one of the major steps to building a program that gets back up on its feet is you gotta win at home.
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you gotta give the home crowd something to go and cheer for.
• 21:33
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_01: And unfortunately the Jones just hasn't had the energy as it did.
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_02: Well, and and they do, they're still gonna bring that energy on you know, with COVID and everything we don't know about this year.
• 21:44
  SPEAKER_02: Twenty it looks like twenty five percent capacity, which isn't really a home advantage for anybody.
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_02: But you know, when things do get back to normal, tech fans show up for a winning team.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_02: They do.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_02: You've seen it in basketball, you've seen it in baseball, they always show up for these games.
• 21:59
  SPEAKER_02: It's just and even For football, even these last few years for big games, we still show up.
• 22:03
  SPEAKER_01: And we were setting a record attendance during the Kingsbury era, even when we even whenever we were fielding bad teams.
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_01: So tech fans want a team to cheer for, but I get that, you know, we were starting to see some attrition halftime.
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_01: Uh fans were starting to leave and stuff because once we were down at home, you know, there wasn't much of a chance for us to come back.
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_01: Just because we had this strange home field curse.
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_01: You know, we almost felt better about going on the road, which isn't what you want.
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_02: That's not what you want.
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_02: You don't want to be the team that's much better away than at home.
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, you want to be great all the time, but you know, just having seeing that student section half filled is so discouraging as a fan.
• 22:42
  SPEAKER_02: Like, it makes you sad.
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_02: And and you don't, at least for me, you know, I I don't get it because I'm a big f I'm a fan.
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_02: You and me both.
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_02: And and yeah, and we're gonna show up to the games no matter what, whether we're winning or losing.
• 22:55
  SPEAKER_02: But I can see the the everyday normal sports fan who doesn't really care leaving when we're down by 30 at halftime.
• 23:02
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I get it.
• 23:03
  SPEAKER_01: For sure.
• 23:04
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I I remember what our freshman year that we're like, hey, we gotta remember we gotta get there two hours before the game starts to get a seat.
• 23:09
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_01: And that's just tech students right now don't understand that.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 23:14
  SPEAKER_01: Because of how free the space is because of the performance at home.
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_02: You never you never want to get to the point where you're just there for the tailgate.
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_02: Bingo.
• 23:21
  SPEAKER_02: You never want to get to that point.
• 23:22
  SPEAKER_02: You want to be there for the game, you want to be there to cheer on your team.
• 23:25
  SPEAKER_02: Tailgates are great.
• 23:26
  SPEAKER_02: We you know we love tailgates.
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_02: 100%.
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_02: We love, you know, drinking at at eight in the morning, getting ready for seven in the morning, getting ready for a tech football game.
• 23:35
  SPEAKER_02: But uh Raider Gate.
• 23:36
  SPEAKER_02: You're really there for the game and you're really there to see a team win.
• 23:39
  SPEAKER_02: So uh yeah, home games, the more we win at home, the more encouraging it's gonna be.
• 23:44
  SPEAKER_01: So Alright, you hit me with yours.
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so my second pessimistic thing, uh, I think is the youth of the O-line.
• 23:52
  SPEAKER_02: It really concerns me, dude.
• 23:54
  SPEAKER_02: That we have Jack Anderson coming back, which is great.
• 23:57
  SPEAKER_02: He's he's obviously an all Big 12 type of guy.
• 24:00
  SPEAKER_02: Coming into the year, he's getting a lot of praise, but dude, you look at the rest of the team that is on that O-line, I don't know, I don't even know these names.
• 24:08
  SPEAKER_02: I like I don't know these people.
• 24:11
  SPEAKER_02: It's you know, we're getting guys.
• 24:14
  SPEAKER_02: Uh Trevor Roberson is a guy, he's six foot eleven, which is you know, something to talk about.
• 24:21
  SPEAKER_02: He's a really big dude.
• 24:23
  SPEAKER_02: He's a freaking unit of an individual.
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_02: But, you know, Ty Morrow, Zach Adams, Dawson Deaton, I you just never you don't know who these guys are yet.
• 24:33
  SPEAKER_02: And they're very young.
• 24:34
  SPEAKER_01: Keyword yet.
• 24:35
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah, and that's true.
• 24:36
  SPEAKER_02: They may be better than what we've had in the past.
• 24:38
  SPEAKER_02: But to have a lot of freshmen, a lot of sophomores on your team is not good, especially because they're gonna make mistakes.
• 24:45
  SPEAKER_01: And that that's that's a really great pessimism to pick out because um I a problem with Alan Bowman is he's injury prone.
• 24:54
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, soft if you have a soft line, that does not go with an injury-prone quarterback.
• 25:00
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 25:00
  SPEAKER_02: So that's true.
• 25:02
  SPEAKER_02: That's true.
• 25:02
  SPEAKER_02: And just like, I don't know, it's we lose guys like Terrence Steele, we lose guys like Travis Bruffy, who were, you know, at least two, three, four-year starters on this O-line, and they're gone now, and all we have is Jack, and Jack's great.
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_02: We love Jack.
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_02: Might be the best player on the team overall.
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_02: He he really might.
• 25:23
  SPEAKER_02: He truly might.
• 25:23
  SPEAKER_02: He's gonna be an NFL draft pick next year.
• 25:25
  SPEAKER_02: It's just the the youth of this O-line is super concerning to me.
• 25:31
  SPEAKER_02: But it's a good pick.
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, man.
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_01: How do you feel about the D-line?
• 25:34
  SPEAKER_02: D-line, I you know, there's a lot of guys that left.
• 25:37
  SPEAKER_02: You got Broderick Washington who left, who was probably who is our best defensive line guy.
• 25:41
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, so I don't know how we're gonna make up for the interior on the defensive line, but we still got Eli Howard coming back.
• 25:47
  SPEAKER_02: We got a couple other names that are coming back that are, you know, solid players, guys like Tony Bradford and Nelson Banasaur, Jalen Hutchings, those type of dudes that are coming back.
• 25:58
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and then we we have a good group of young guys coming in.
• 26:02
  SPEAKER_02: The good news is they're not gonna have to play right away because we have these we have these, you know, seniors and and uh juniors coming back that are gonna be okay.
• 26:12
  SPEAKER_02: But uh I don't know, the the the O-line scares me.
• 26:15
  SPEAKER_01: So so you're you're worried you're more worried about the O-line than the D-line.
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely, absolutely.
• 26:20
  SPEAKER_02: And that's a little weird saying.
• 26:22
  SPEAKER_02: Uh I'm I'm more pessimistic about the offense than the defense, but uh when it comes to the lines, those that's just in a position that's so damn important for for Texas Tech and for any football team.
• 26:35
  SPEAKER_02: But yeah, I guess why don't you give me your uh your last optimistic uh thing to be happy about?
• 26:41
  SPEAKER_01: Alright, so my my last optimistic one is it's another non-team related one.
• 26:47
  SPEAKER_01: It's a uh good-looking schedule.
• 26:49
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 26:50
  SPEAKER_01: You know, it's it's uh and it's kinda and also uh this is kind of my positive about COVID.
• 26:57
  SPEAKER_01: This is kind of bouncing around.
• 26:59
  SPEAKER_01: Away games aren't gonna be as tough with the new restrictions on all stadiums across the country.
• 27:05
  SPEAKER_01: That's true.
• 27:05
  SPEAKER_01: We're talking about stadiums that are gonna have at most 25% of uh fans in the stands.
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_01: That's not exactly home field advantage.
• 27:12
  SPEAKER_01: So especially whenever we're talking about our younger guys who aren't used to playing in college stadiums yet or are still used to the little Friday night lights.
• 27:20
  SPEAKER_01: Um I think that's reason to be more excited to get some experience on the road without having to deal with the fans.
• 27:25
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 27:25
  SPEAKER_01: Because fans do make a difference.
• 27:27
  SPEAKER_01: You know, a loud stadium is much more intimidating than uh an empty one.
• 27:30
  SPEAKER_01: For sure.
• 27:31
  SPEAKER_02: So and especially in football.
• 27:33
  SPEAKER_02: Exactly.
• 27:33
  SPEAKER_02: Like, you know, you and college sports in general.
• 27:36
  SPEAKER_02: Just the fan base is more wild.
• 27:39
  SPEAKER_02: Things are stadiums are usually smaller, they're more tight, so that leads to louder stadiums, and the fans are crazier, man.
• 27:46
  SPEAKER_02: They just are, they're just nuts.
• 27:48
  SPEAKER_01: 100%.
• 27:49
  SPEAKER_01: And so here I'm looking at the schedule right now.
• 27:51
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so the teams we're hosting at home gives us gives me more optimism.
• 27:55
  SPEAKER_01: You still want to be at home even with these away games being uh you don't have to deal with the travel and all that travel fatigue.
• 28:00
  SPEAKER_01: So we're we're hosting UT.
• 28:02
  SPEAKER_01: You always want UT at home, even if our home record against UT isn't the best.
• 28:08
  SPEAKER_01: We do better in Austin as of late for some reason.
• 28:10
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but of course, I don't think that really correlates with how it should really be.
• 28:15
  SPEAKER_01: Um I definitely want UT and the Jones, especially this year, as they're picked as one of the favorites.
• 28:19
  SPEAKER_01: Uh we're also hosting uh the Oklahoma Sooners, the team that beat in the Big 12 for a decade now.
• 28:24
  SPEAKER_01: Um definitely want them at home.
• 28:27
  SPEAKER_01: So it's that gives me reason to be optimistic about maybe pulling a sneaky upset in that sense.
• 28:32
  SPEAKER_01: And one more I don't want to overlook is Baylor.
• 28:35
  SPEAKER_01: Uh I don't think Baylor will be the team they were last year, but they I I think they made a good hire.
• 28:40
  SPEAKER_01: And um I I'm it's you they don't you don't go from 11 wins to being a bad team in overnight, I don't think.
• 28:48
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm happy to have them at home too.
• 28:49
  SPEAKER_01: What do you think, Steven?
• 28:50
  SPEAKER_02: Well, and that kind of goes into my optimistic thing is I think the Big 12 itself is gonna not be fantastic next year.
• 28:58
  SPEAKER_02: And it and I think it could be a lot of the same of what we saw in 2019, which was not a very strong conference through and through.
• 29:06
  SPEAKER_02: It was a down year for the Big 12, you know.
• 29:08
  SPEAKER_02: And then you talk about, you know, teams like OU, they're losing their quarterback.
• 29:12
  SPEAKER_02: Of course, they're always gonna have another good quarterback.
• 29:14
  SPEAKER_02: Lincoln Riley's fantastic.
• 29:16
  SPEAKER_02: Come to tech, please come back home.
• 29:18
  SPEAKER_02: Come back home.
• 29:19
  SPEAKER_01: I believe the Aranda is also a red raider.
• 29:21
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
• 29:22
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 29:23
  SPEAKER_02: The new guy.
• 29:24
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, Baylor, but Baylor's another one.
• 29:26
  SPEAKER_02: Matt Rule is a great coach.
• 29:28
  SPEAKER_02: He's a fantastic coach.
• 29:29
  SPEAKER_02: And to lose that dude is gonna be big for Baylor.
• 29:33
  SPEAKER_02: It hurts big time.
• 29:33
  SPEAKER_01: They couldn't have hired a better guy to come in and fix the Bryals mess.
• 29:37
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, for real.
• 29:39
  SPEAKER_01: We don't like them, props to them.
• 29:41
  SPEAKER_02: Seriously, Matt Rule was a great hire, and now he's on to the Panthers, which is great for tech.
• 29:46
  SPEAKER_02: Great for tech and him.
• 29:48
  SPEAKER_02: My man got a payday.
• 29:49
  SPEAKER_02: But uh, I think you look at the top, the top two teams, OU and Baylor, they lost significant people.
• 29:56
  SPEAKER_02: And then UT, we could talk all day about hyping up UT.
• 29:59
  SPEAKER_02: We could do that every year.
• 30:02
  SPEAKER_02: But they haven't put it together.
• 30:03
  SPEAKER_02: They still haven't put it together.
• 30:05
  SPEAKER_02: Ellinger, you can talk about him coming back to UT.
• 30:09
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, he's a good quarterback.
• 30:12
  SPEAKER_02: But they're UT just doesn't live up to what they're hyped to.
• 30:15
  SPEAKER_01: That as of late, uh not even as of late, the past decade.
• 30:18
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 30:18
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, 100%.
• 30:19
  SPEAKER_01: And uh I I think the the I think the other team to look out for is Oklahoma State.
• 30:23
  SPEAKER_02: That's true.
• 30:24
  SPEAKER_02: They're gonna be better.
• 30:25
  SPEAKER_01: Very, very experienced team.
• 30:26
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and Gundy's a great coach.
• 30:28
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, I think this is gonna be one of Gundy's years to re like kind of revamp himself amongst the fan base and uh Oklahoma State staff.
• 30:37
  SPEAKER_01: So I think that's another one to look out for as well.
• 30:39
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, man, he's got Shuba Hubbard coming back, and uh This is kind of turned into a Big 12 preview.
• 30:45
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's true.
• 30:46
  SPEAKER_02: But we'll we'll do that in future podcasts.
• 30:48
  SPEAKER_02: But uh, you know, talking about all these guys, West Virginia, I don't think, is gonna still be fantastic.
• 30:54
  SPEAKER_02: Kansas is gonna be Kansas.
• 30:55
  SPEAKER_01: We'll see how uh can we say that right now, dude?
• 30:59
  SPEAKER_01: I think so.
• 31:00
  SPEAKER_02: We can still say that.
• 31:01
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, we lost to him, whatever.
• 31:03
  SPEAKER_02: UT lost to him first.
• 31:05
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so there.
• 31:06
  SPEAKER_02: So there.
• 31:07
  SPEAKER_02: Eat it.
• 31:08
  SPEAKER_02: Um no, but can Kansas State's up in the air.
• 31:11
  SPEAKER_02: We don't know how they're gonna be.
• 31:13
  SPEAKER_02: Iowa State, I think they're gonna be pretty good.
• 31:15
  SPEAKER_02: Campbell's a great coach.
• 31:15
  SPEAKER_02: You know, Campbell's great coach.
• 31:16
  SPEAKER_02: They still have Brock Purdy, but uh I don't know.
• 31:19
  SPEAKER_02: Don't tell an Iowa State fan that they're gonna be good.
• 31:22
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, no.
• 31:22
  SPEAKER_02: No way.
• 31:23
  SPEAKER_01: Uh more like don't tell them they're gonna be bad.
• 31:25
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, yeah, that's true.
• 31:26
  SPEAKER_01: They'll come after you.
• 31:27
  SPEAKER_01: They will.
• 31:28
  SPEAKER_02: They're ruthless.
• 31:29
  SPEAKER_02: I think they search for it on Twitter.
• 31:31
  SPEAKER_02: I think they search Iowa State bad and then they look to comment on who's saying this kind of stuff.
• 31:37
  SPEAKER_02: 100%.
• 31:39
  SPEAKER_01: The Cyclone fans have certainly been rowdiest on the social media train of late.
• 31:43
  SPEAKER_02: For sure.
• 31:43
  SPEAKER_02: They they've definitely gone after you, Tristan.
• 31:45
  SPEAKER_01: No.
• 31:46
  SPEAKER_01: I I have a weird relationship with Iowa State fans.
• 31:48
  SPEAKER_01: I swear anytime I mention them, they're all over me.
• 31:50
  SPEAKER_02: They're all over you, dude.
• 31:51
  SPEAKER_02: That yeah, they just don't like your face.
• 31:53
  SPEAKER_02: No.
• 31:53
  SPEAKER_02: They have a wanted.
• 31:54
  SPEAKER_02: Not a lot of people do.
• 31:55
  SPEAKER_02: They have a wanted that's true.
• 31:56
  SPEAKER_02: No one really likes you that much.
• 31:58
  SPEAKER_02: You know.
• 31:59
  SPEAKER_02: We could go on about how much Tristan sucks.
• 32:02
  SPEAKER_02: But uh, no, we're gonna go into his uh his last pessimism going into the year.
• 32:07
  SPEAKER_01: Alright, my last pessimism.
• 32:09
  SPEAKER_02: What you got for me?
• 32:10
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, so I kinda I kind of stuttered before because I was having a a bit of a spoiler alert.
• 32:14
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 32:15
  SPEAKER_01: Player durability.
• 32:16
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 32:16
  SPEAKER_01: It's just something to be concerned about at the most important position for a Texas Tech football team.
• 32:20
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 32:20
  SPEAKER_01: Uh Alan Bowman, the showman, he's uh he's a real he's a real stud when he's when he's healthy and at his best.
• 32:27
  SPEAKER_02: Um that's a big but.
• 32:30
  SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
• 32:31
  SPEAKER_01: So it's it's a huge butt.
• 32:33
  SPEAKER_01: So I I'm I I I hope he's fully capable once more, and I hope he's not scared to get hurt again.
• 32:39
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I it's it's now's the time for him to pick up the the reins and kind of fill in the shoes of Patrick Mahomes um and the legacy of great.
• 32:47
  SPEAKER_02: It's a lot to ask for.
• 32:48
  SPEAKER_01: I understand that, but it's it's a it's a long legacy of fantastic Texas Tech quarterbacks.
• 32:53
  SPEAKER_01: We expect a lot of that out of that position, and it's no fault of his own to get hurt, of course.
• 32:57
  SPEAKER_01: Um I'm just I I pray that the durability factor won't come into play this season.
• 33:03
  SPEAKER_01: And of course, you know, we have uh our our ESPN top 10 playmaker, TJ Vasher, yeah, um, getting injured last season for a for a little bit there.
• 33:12
  SPEAKER_01: And it's I I want those two to be able to connect.
• 33:14
  SPEAKER_01: I want to be able I want them to be able to fly up the field together, and I'm just I'm concerned it's about that, you know.
• 33:22
  SPEAKER_02: Because that has the potential to be the best wide receiver quarterback combo in the Big 12, at least in my opinion.
• 33:28
  SPEAKER_02: Because Vasher, he's so long and he the dude the dude's got I mean hands like glue.
• 33:34
  SPEAKER_02: Some of these catches he makes is just ridiculous.
• 33:37
  SPEAKER_02: But uh I think you also had to talk about McIver.
• 33:40
  SPEAKER_02: He was hurt his senior year as well at high school.
• 33:42
  SPEAKER_02: Good point.
• 33:43
  SPEAKER_02: So, you know, you take a guy who missed almost his entire senior year of high school, and then he missed the whole freshman year of college with this foot thing.
• 33:51
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 33:51
  SPEAKER_02: So, you know, it is something to be concerned about, the the the injuries for sure.
• 33:57
  SPEAKER_01: 100% I I can't I overlooked that part, you know.
• 33:59
  SPEAKER_01: We we had to jump from our first string to our third string.
• 34:02
  SPEAKER_01: That's yeah.
• 34:02
  SPEAKER_01: So uh, and of course that kind of rolls back to your your hope for the QB depth.
• 34:06
  SPEAKER_01: But uh we've already covered that.
• 34:07
  SPEAKER_01: But that's that's my that's my durability concern.
• 34:10
  SPEAKER_01: It's because that's where our season hinges between several L W's and L's.
• 34:15
  SPEAKER_01: For sure.
• 34:15
  SPEAKER_01: So uh what about you?
• 34:17
  SPEAKER_02: Uh my last pessimism is making up for the contributions of Jordan Brooks and Broderick Washington.
• 34:23
  SPEAKER_02: We've talked a little bit about them.
• 34:25
  SPEAKER_02: Those two guys were so freaking vital to our defense last year, and I don't know how we're gonna make up for Washington, especially.
• 34:33
  SPEAKER_02: You know, Jordan Brooks, obviously, first round NFL draft pick talent, Seahawks.
• 34:37
  SPEAKER_02: He's gonna get a buttload of money this this coming year.
• 34:41
  SPEAKER_02: But uh I don't know if Rico Jeffers can take that next step to be what Dakota Allen, what Jordan Brooks was.
• 34:47
  SPEAKER_02: But uh just to, you know, telling a guy that he has to make up for the tackles that Jordan Brooks had last year is such a tough task, and it's gonna be a team thing because I don't know if Rico Jeffers has the talent, you know, to make up for how many tackles Jordan Brooks brought to the team and how many fumbles and you know, just uh the leader defensively that he was for us.
• 35:10
  SPEAKER_02: Uh and to have that interior pass rush that Washington brought for us, uh, we're gonna miss it a lot, and it's something to be pessimistic about uh losing talents like those guys that only come around every once in a while.
• 35:22
  SPEAKER_01: Especially at a at a school like Texas Tech with our defensive lows.
• 35:25
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 35:26
  SPEAKER_01: So that's a good that's a good one to end on, man.
• 35:28
  SPEAKER_01: Um it's uh we can just pray that our new staff um is really gonna turn around what Texas Tech defense means to everybody.
• 35:36
  SPEAKER_01: Um obviously none of us are asking for uh studs, uh stud of a defense.
• 35:42
  SPEAKER_02: We're just asking for improvement.
• 35:44
  SPEAKER_02: That's all we want to see is improvement out of this team.
• 35:46
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
• 35:46
  SPEAKER_02: Really, and and uh, you know, a bowl game, six six wins, whatever I don't even know how it works this season.
• 35:52
  SPEAKER_02: I don't even know how it's gonna work this season with bowl games, but uh, you know, five, six wins with with you know an 11-game season, I'm I'm encouraged by because it it means we're getting there.
• 36:03
  SPEAKER_01: I I think you and I speak for the whole fan base when we say we're we're just we're ready to see us come out of the basement of the Big 12.
• 36:09
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 36:10
  SPEAKER_01: It's we're too proud of a program to be down there for so long.
• 36:12
  SPEAKER_02: People forget that we were a pretty storied program before this last decade.
• 36:17
  SPEAKER_01: We're we'll always be a storied program, and we'll always have our tradition and our in our fan base pre passion.
• 36:22
  SPEAKER_01: Um it's just it's it's time to start giving back.
• 36:24
  SPEAKER_01: For sure.
• 36:25
  SPEAKER_01: It's time to start giving back to uh the fans that have been giving so much.
• 36:28
  SPEAKER_02: They couldn't do it during our four years, but I hope the incoming freshmen get to see at least a little glimpse of good football.
• 36:35
  SPEAKER_01: 100%.
• 36:36
  SPEAKER_01: But I mean that's the great thing of being a red raider.
• 36:38
  SPEAKER_01: We're in it for life.
• 36:39
  SPEAKER_01: So it's true.
• 36:39
  SPEAKER_02: We're in it.
• 36:40
  SPEAKER_02: We we chose this life.
• 36:41
  SPEAKER_02: So it's paying off for basketball.
• 36:43
  SPEAKER_02: It's paying off for basketball and baseball right now, but uh and track and soccer, and a lot of other things.
• 36:48
  SPEAKER_02: We can go on and on.
• 36:49
  SPEAKER_02: We could go about pretty much all the sports that we're good at besides football.
• 36:53
  SPEAKER_01: And kind of to round out this episode, I think as tech fans, we need to be appreciative of what we have.
• 36:58
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, absolutely.
• 36:59
  SPEAKER_01: Um it's our our our athletic department has been nothing but stellar.
• 37:04
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 37:05
  SPEAKER_01: With across all sports but football.
• 37:07
  SPEAKER_01: It's just it hurts because no matter how good we get at heart, we are a football school.
• 37:12
  SPEAKER_01: You know, here we are in the Lone Star State, the football state.
• 37:14
  SPEAKER_01: So it's just it stings when we're really bad at football, but so good at everything else.
• 37:18
  SPEAKER_02: It stings when all your Aggie and uh Longhorn fans make fun of your football program, but uh then you just say we were in the national championship in 2019.
• 37:26
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, 1v1 us and everything else.
• 37:28
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, how about Chris Beard?
• 37:30
  SPEAKER_02: You ever heard of him?
• 37:31
  SPEAKER_02: Pretty good.
• 37:31
  SPEAKER_02: Hey, Tim Tadlock?
• 37:32
  SPEAKER_02: Tim Tadlock, pretty good.
• 37:34
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that's right.
• 37:35
  SPEAKER_02: But um, yeah, man, I think uh football season, uh we'll see how it goes, especially with all this all this nonsense that's going on in the world right now.
• 37:43
  SPEAKER_02: So um, yeah, man.
• 37:45
  SPEAKER_02: I I am excited.
• 37:46
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, all in all, all in all, I'm excited for football season.
• 37:49
  SPEAKER_02: I'm excited just to have football back.
• 37:51
  SPEAKER_02: Uh I'm excited for sports to be back in general after what was it, four months without them?
• 37:56
  SPEAKER_02: Whole time, dude.
• 37:57
  SPEAKER_02: I was like, how what am I gonna do all day?
• 38:00
  SPEAKER_01: You won't you live and breathe sports, man?
• 38:02
  SPEAKER_02: I dude, it's just such like I I wait.
• 38:05
  SPEAKER_02: I plan my day around games, and that's that's probably my problem.
• 38:10
  SPEAKER_02: But you know, it's just what I do, and so sports coming back, football.
• 38:14
  SPEAKER_02: I hope everything works out with COVID and all this kind of crap going on.
• 38:18
  SPEAKER_02: So uh let's just hope for a happy and healthy football season.
• 38:22
  SPEAKER_01: 100%, man.
• 38:23
  SPEAKER_01: It's uh good luck to it.
• 38:24
  SPEAKER_01: We we were we have all of our support behind the new coaching staff.
• 38:28
  SPEAKER_01: Um I I believe in Kirby Holcutt, choosing the right man for the job.
• 38:31
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 38:31
  SPEAKER_01: You know, he he may have he may not have got it right for with Clink Cliff Kingsbury, but Cliff was the right hire at the time.
• 38:37
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and I think that's a tough thing to kind of realize because really he was encouraging going forward.
• 38:43
  SPEAKER_02: 100%.
• 38:44
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, the fans loved him.
• 38:45
  SPEAKER_02: The downfall for Cliff was recruiting, and we all know that.
• 38:48
  SPEAKER_02: You know, he brought and he didn't really, you know, his lack of focus on the defense.
• 38:52
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, his defense was horrible pretty much every year.
• 38:54
  SPEAKER_02: But uh he did find Patrick Mahomes.
• 38:56
  SPEAKER_02: He did find some some good offensive years for us.
• 38:59
  SPEAKER_02: So uh uh yeah, man.
• 39:01
  SPEAKER_02: I think that's that's it.
• 39:03
  SPEAKER_01: That that's about it on our uh our our our football our football, our football stuff, man.
• 39:09
  SPEAKER_02: First off, for the uh for the optimism and pessimism, we we got both of it going into the air.
• 39:13
  SPEAKER_02: But uh our final segment, uh we do a little song of the week here to end it uh on Talkin' Tech.
• 39:20
  SPEAKER_02: Uh we're gonna give just something for y'all to listen to after you've listened to this.
• 39:23
  SPEAKER_02: Uh something we've been vibing on lately and uh just something we want to give a shout out to.
• 39:28
  SPEAKER_02: So, Tristan, why don't you go ahead and give me your uh song of the week?
• 39:31
  SPEAKER_01: 100%.
• 39:31
  SPEAKER_01: Uh so I'm just a disclaimer, I'm an enormous country music fan, primarily uh Texas country.
• 39:38
  SPEAKER_01: So, what you're gonna hear out of me on a lot of these is a lot of local guys.
• 39:41
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and the good thing about that is I get to talk about a lot of Red Raiders.
• 39:44
  SPEAKER_01: People don't realize how deep of a music tradition our school has, and Lubbock included.
• 39:49
  SPEAKER_01: Um so I'm excited just to share all that with y'all.
• 39:52
  SPEAKER_01: Uh I hope to mix it up a little bit for you, but that's just my disclaimer.
• 39:55
  SPEAKER_01: Um I'm gonna kick it off.
• 39:56
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, because of our theme song at the beginning, I thought it'd be appropriate to give some love to uh the Josh Abbott band.
• 40:02
  SPEAKER_01: Uh he's uh a proud Red Raider and he represents us well.
• 40:06
  SPEAKER_01: He's an overall great dude.
• 40:07
  SPEAKER_01: Um I'm gonna advertise his new single, The Luckiest, because while at face value it it kind of seems like a uh a typical country love song, and it's a good one at that.
• 40:17
  SPEAKER_01: Um it's it reminds us to be thankful for everything we have in our lives.
• 40:21
  SPEAKER_01: He talks about being proud of where you're from.
• 40:23
  SPEAKER_01: He talks about having the right friends that at your back, and he talks about how great your trade is, which uh touches at my heartstrings.
• 40:31
  SPEAKER_01: So please go listen to uh the luckiest.
• 40:32
  SPEAKER_01: I don't think you'd regret it.
• 40:34
  SPEAKER_01: Uh it's a very easy listen, and it just makes you feel happy.
• 40:36
  SPEAKER_01: What about you, man?
• 40:37
  SPEAKER_02: For sure, man.
• 40:38
  SPEAKER_02: I think that's a good one.
• 40:39
  SPEAKER_02: And and w I try to I'm gonna try to mix it up during these, except for this episode, of course.
• 40:44
  SPEAKER_02: Because it's the first episode.
• 40:46
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know, I've just been really vibing with country music lately.
• 40:48
  SPEAKER_02: I I like to listen to all sorts of genres all you know spread across a whole you know hemisphere of music just in general.
• 40:56
  SPEAKER_02: So uh I do have uh Rob Baird, he's an Austin guy.
• 41:00
  SPEAKER_02: Uh you introduced me to him.
• 41:02
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, but Mercy Me, uh Run of Good Luck, and Horses, those three songs are fantastic, dude.
• 41:10
  SPEAKER_02: That dude, he really like he gets into it with his music.
• 41:13
  SPEAKER_02: You can tell it's from the heart.
• 41:15
  SPEAKER_01: I didn't see that coming from.
• 41:16
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I know I knew.
• 41:16
  SPEAKER_02: I knew I was gonna surprise you with it.
• 41:18
  SPEAKER_02: I I have been.
• 41:19
  SPEAKER_02: I've been listening to him lately.
• 41:20
  SPEAKER_02: I uh uh because Run of Good Luck, I think, was the first song you showed to me, and that one is deep.
• 41:25
  SPEAKER_02: Like that one's a fantastically written very good song, and his voice is so pure, you know, during the biggest.
• 41:30
  SPEAKER_02: And the piano behind him is just beautiful.
• 41:32
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
• 41:33
  SPEAKER_01: He and another famous country musician, uh Rustin Kelly, uh wrote that together, and it was about West Texas.
• 41:39
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, nice.
• 41:40
  SPEAKER_01: So it's uh great choices, dude.
• 41:42
  SPEAKER_02: Dude, you know, I had to give a little country, a little country flavor for you.
• 41:46
  SPEAKER_01: And to add on to uh his picks there is that Rob Beard gives you nice a uh uh country blues mix.
• 41:52
  SPEAKER_01: So you're you're gonna hear uh a few influences, not just just country.
• 41:56
  SPEAKER_02: Well, and you'll see that from me.
• 41:57
  SPEAKER_02: I like some bluesy.
• 41:58
  SPEAKER_02: I like some bluesy in my country music, you know.
• 42:00
  SPEAKER_02: But uh yeah, man, I guess that's our that's our first episode.
• 42:04
  SPEAKER_02: Uh I do want to give a little uh a few end of the end of the episode shouts out.
• 42:08
  SPEAKER_02: Uh Spurs in the bubble, San Antonio Spurs, got a gun in for that eighth seed.
• 42:13
  SPEAKER_02: Uh beat Utah today, so we'll see.
• 42:15
  SPEAKER_02: We need some uh a little luck on our side.
• 42:17
  SPEAKER_02: Portland, Memphis, on shall lose a few games for us.
• 42:20
  SPEAKER_02: How about that?
• 42:21
  SPEAKER_02: Keep the streak alive.
• 42:22
  SPEAKER_02: Uh and then I wanted to give a shout out to our buddy Logan, lost his grandpa today.
• 42:26
  SPEAKER_02: Uh we want to, you know, send prayers up to him.
• 42:29
  SPEAKER_02: Um but uh he's a really good guy, so we wanna great people.
• 42:33
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, for sure.
• 42:34
  SPEAKER_02: Great, great guy, great family.
• 42:36
  SPEAKER_02: So uh just shoot your prayers up to him.
• 42:38
  SPEAKER_02: So but yeah, man, that's episode one.
• 42:40
  SPEAKER_01: That's episode one.
• 42:42
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, for sure.
• 42:42
  SPEAKER_02: You can follow us on Twitter.
• 42:44
  SPEAKER_02: Tristan is at Tristy Mick.
• 42:45
  SPEAKER_02: I am at L underscore S underscore Rodriguez.
• 42:49
  SPEAKER_02: Um But yeah, man, you can follow us on Twitter as well, the talking tech pod, at talking tech pod.
• 42:55
  SPEAKER_02: Uh no G, no apostrophe.
• 42:58
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah, man.
• 42:59
  SPEAKER_01: And we welcome y'all to interact with us.
• 43:00
  SPEAKER_01: That's that's that's absolutely what we're out for.
• 43:03
  SPEAKER_02: For sure.
• 43:03
  SPEAKER_02: Shoot us a couple mailbag questions.
• 43:04
  SPEAKER_02: We have a Gmail, talking tech pod at gmail.com.
• 43:07
  SPEAKER_02: Shoot us a couple, and uh hopefully we'll get to those at the end of the next couple episodes.
• 43:11
  SPEAKER_02: But uh, yeah, we appreciate y'all listening.
• 43:14
  SPEAKER_01: Thank y'all and Wreck'em Tech.
• 43:15
  SPEAKER_02: Always Wreck Em Tech.
• 43:17
  SPEAKER_02: Uh wow.
• 43:18
  SPEAKER_03: First of all, uh got a lot of respect for Steven and Tristan.
• 43:23
  SPEAKER_03: Uh their program, tough guys, just uh a lot of fun.
• 43:27
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I just want to congratulate Steven and Tristan on another great podcast.
• 43:31
  SPEAKER_03: They were everything we thought they would be.
• 43:33
  SPEAKER_03: Um, we have a lot of respect for their program.
• 43:35
  SPEAKER_03: We have such a high opinion of them, and want to congratulate them.
• 43:38
  SPEAKER_03: I just want to tell Stephen and Tristan thanks for coming out.
• 43:42
  SPEAKER_03: The energy uh was really, really good in there today.
• 43:45
  SPEAKER_03: You know, we fed off of it.
• 43:46
  SPEAKER_03: I think it goes back and forth.
• 43:48
  SPEAKER_03: Tremendous.
• 43:49
  SPEAKER_03: Uh great job, and um, you know, just just proud of our guys for the way they responded.