Mike Leach has held nothing back from the public since being fired at Texas Tech and continues to insist that Craig James’ smear campaign against him is what cost him his job. Leach even went as far as to write a book that gave some insight into some of the falsehoods by Craig James and his son that caused Texas Tech to fire him.

Leach has moved on since Texas Tech by becoming the head football coach at Washington State but he still has no problem taking verbal jabs at the person he perceives got him fired.

* – Mike Leach photo credit: via The Washington Post

Here is the transcript of what Mike Leach had to say about the incidents that took place with Craig James on the Scott Van Pelt Show.

“Obviously the smearing and the passing along of misinformation definitely had a chilling effect. I think also as the information’s come out, everybody’s seen my position is entirely accurate, I think that’s clarified a lot of things. But when you have a national broadcaster, I think we all know who I’m talking about — he thinks he’s going to be senator — dissatisfied with his son’s playing time and used ESPN as a platform to fire a sitting head coach, then hired a PR firm before he even complains about everything, obviously there’s going to be some negative information passed around. It’s all proven to be false and I think the majority of people see it that way. I think that it’s all turned out well, but it’s unfortunate that I had to squander two years of my career just for kind of selfish personal interests.”

Once Mike Leach began to tell his side of the story and depositions from his law suit became public knowledge, many people started to believe that he was wronged by Craig James and Texas Tech. James used his status as an ESPN personality to attempt to decimate Leach’s character, which caused James to be extremely disliked among college football fans.

Craig James is planning to run for a seat in the U.S. Senate and most college football fans hope he wins so they no longer have to hear him on ESPN. He is so disliked that there is a common hashtag on Twitter, #firecraigjames, which can be seen in abundance every time he appears on people’s television sets.

In the eyes of the public, Mike Leach came out on top and Craig James’ attempt to ruin his name backfired and caused him to became one of the least-liked personalities at ESPN. James was never reprimanded by ESPN for his actions that ultimately caused the college football fans to loathe him.

Leach was fired at Texas Tech based on false statements made by Adam James, who is the son of former football star and college football analyst Craig James.  Craig James claimed that his son was forced to practice with a concussion and had been locked in an electrical closet for three hours.

In an excerpt from Leach’s new book it reveals that Adam James was lying about the whole incident and he admitted this under oath.

According to Pincock’s statement, he specifically told James not to go into the electrical closet by the media room. James admitted under oath that he ignored Pincock’s instructions. He admitted that he let himself into that closet and that he shot a video — a video that would start a firestorm of allegations — because he thought it was funny.

Craig James became so enthralled in his son’s lies that he went on a personal crusade to get Mike Leach fired.  Craig James went to the Chancellor of Texas Tech University to spread his son’s lies and demanded that Mike Leach be fired.

According to both his and Anders’s depositions, Craig demanded that I be fired. Hance called me and said that Craig had phoned Anders to complain about his son being forced to play before his concussion was healed, which was simply not true. I explained the situation to Hance, and also told him how often Craig called up the Tech coaches to lobby for more playing time for his son. I told him that Adam had been a constant discipline problem and that I planned on cutting him from the team. Hance told me not to cut Adam.

Things got worse for Leach when the company that Craig James worked for, ESPN, reported this story in an extremely biased way that made him look guilty of these false accusations.  This story was reported on pure speculation and had not been based on facts. Once they reported this story the public had automatically assumed that Leach was in the wrong and needed to be fired.

The actions by the two James men have caused them to embarrass not only their reputations but the reputation of Texas Tech.  Both Craig and Adam James need to be held accountable for their actions that led to the firing of Mike Leach.   It will probably never happen, but the two of them need to make a public apology to Mike Leach and admit that they were in the wrong for getting him fired.

Texas Tech claimed that the Adam James incident was not the reason that Mike Leach got fired, but it certainly was not because of his team’s lack of success.  In all ten seasons that Leach was the head coach at Texas Tech the Red Raiders made it to a bowl game.  Leach turned Texas Tech into perennial contenders to win the Big 12 South every season and won a total of 84 games.

This incident will forever tarnish the credibility that Craig James will have as a member of the media.  The James name is already taking a hit in the public’s view and this ugly incident is the first thing that people think of about Adam and Craig James.

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* – Mike Leach photo credit: via 6magazine 

* – Adam James and Craig James photo credit: via La Late

As first reported on Sports by Brooks on Thursday, Feldman was suspended indefinitely by the Worldwide Leader for his work on the recently released book, Swing Your Sword, by former Texas Tech coach Mike Leach.

The same report, as well as a subsequent radio interview with Leach, calls out the fact that Feldman sought and received ESPN’s approval before aiding in the compilation of information for Leach’s book.  At no time after the book’s release did Feldman promote it; and while ESPN has offered no formal statement (until about an hour ago), his participation in the book is the apparent cause of this suspension.

Matt Hinton of the Dr. Saturday blog on Yahoo also had an interesting post on the subject, complete with a few excerpts from the book.

When looking at the situation in its entirety, a few things stand out:

1. The sheer volume of support from fellow journalists is overwhelming.

Countless members of the media have taken to Twitter with anything from kind words to encouraging people to cancel their ESPN Insider subscriptions.  In any line of work, true respect and accomplishment are best measured through the eyes of your peers and contemporaries.  Using that alone as a barometer tells you everything you need to know about Feldman.  The fact that he’s a tremendous writer is just icing on the cake.

2. The easy path here is to somehow tie this back to ESPN Analyst Craig James, whose personal (yet professionally constructed) case against Leach’s handling of his son Adam ultimately led to Leach’s firing.

Like any of these coach-athlete disputes, each party has their own side to the story, although in this particular case, James’ use of his position and unique opportunity to take to the airwaves was questionable at best.  Regardless, the fact that many people don’t think much of Craig James as an analyst or dislike the way he handled this scenario aren’t the issue here.

The issue is that ESPN, in an apparent attempt to back the reporting of Joe Schad and the behavior of James throughout this whole scenario, has chosen to essentially ignore the track record that Feldman has compiled over years as a talented and well-respected journalist.  Is the potential of losing one of the best in his sport and/or losing customers worth it just to save face based on how the incident was handled?  So far, the answer is yes.

3. There has been some speculation that ESPN will assert their motivation for the suspension was Leach’s ongoing lawsuit against the network.  Let’s assume for a second that’s true, which I suppose it could be.  Then why would you not release a statement to that effect as opposed to the always helpful “No comment?”

4. Craig James tweeted earlier today that he is a “respected colleague & friend of Feldman since early 90’s.  Surprised!”  I doubt many people will even believe this, but even if it’s true, I have no clue what good James thought would come of this.

5. I realize that some people delight in railing against ESPN at every opportunity, but for many people currently atop a soapbox (particularly those who aren’t members of the media), this reeks of hypocrisy.

If ESPN came and asked most sports fans to work there, people who be halfway down the road to Bristol by the end of the day.  I’d be lying if I said I wouldn’t consider it myself.  It’s fun to pile on and join in the angry mob, but do that based on your principles of how to treat people with respect and decency, not because it’s fun to hate the bully on the block.  Would the same people be outraged if Feldman worked for a local newspaper or the Big Ten Network?  Would it bother them as much to hear about the same type of thing happening in another industry?  Because I have news for you, it does.

6. Earlier in the week, The Big Lead ran a post calling into question the credibility of Mike Barnicle, whose had a piece published on ESPN’s Grantland this week.

In short, the article spelled out multiple instances where Barnicle had either fabricated information in prior stories or plagiarized the work of others with no attribution whatsoever. The contrast between these two seemingly unrelated stories is apparent. Based on their actions, ESPN has condoned the breaking of two of the fundamental rules of journalism by allowing Barnicle to contribute content to their site.  Yet Feldman, who allegedly had permission to participate in Leach’s book and owns a pristine reputation in the industry, has been (was) suspended.  The only common thread is that ESPN chose to ignore the track records of both Feldman and Barnicle when making these decisions.

Based on the tremendous groundswell of support from the media alone, this story will continue to evolve in the coming days.  Many of the outraged will find their way back to ESPN online or on TV, and you can rest assured that Feldman will end up writing somewhere.  You can’t keep the biggest or the best down for long.

Update: Since I first sent this article to Jerod for posting, ESPN has released a statement according to The Big Lead.

As any rational person would point out, the fact that ESPN didn’t respond to this immediately makes their latest assertion a little tough to believe. Sports by Brooks has already fired back via Twitter that “ESPN is ONE THOUSAND PERCENT LYING about Feldman not being suspended,” so this is by no means the end of this story.

Ultimately people will believe what they want to believe. In the end, Feldman is back on the job, which is only good news for fans anxious for college football to start (like me). The other outcome, which was certainly unintended on ESPN’s part, is that Leach’s book just received a mountain of extra publicity. Given some of the excerpts I have seen, this incident won’t be the last time the Worldwide Leader is left to defend itself related to Mike Leach.

At best, Leach may already be heading towards the road of becoming college football’s answer to Dandy Don Meredith or Madden (as someone in the YouTube comments suggested). At worst, he could be fired by CBS by this time next week.

Let’s take a quick look back at Week 2, most notably Leach’s booth debut, and then get to the Week 3 college football picks.

My favorite Leach comments from the NC State/UCF broadcast:

• ‘Seven out of 11 is pretty good, if you can get seven out of 11 on a tackle…you wonder where the other four are…’ (Shades of his ‘we were only playing with nine’ from his infamous post-game locker room rant following the Baylor regular season finale last year).
• ‘Now they’re playing the Hell’s Bells song (over stadium sound system) which is one of the greatest inspiration songs for a defense in the world. You’ve got black jerseys, now it’s time to stop NC State…’ (good thing that UCF did away with it’s usual gold home jerseys at least for this game)
• ‘And I’ll tell you the other thing about the Wilson family (NC State quarterback), I’d like to know the cumulative IQ scores because his parents, his uncles, his aunts, his Mom, his Dad, and probably everybody prior to that was a college professor or an administrator.’ (PBP man Roger Twibell then mentions that Wilson’s grandfather was indeed the president of Norfolk State University).
• ‘I’m not sure the officials were oh for one on that third down conversion.’
• ‘And Audie Cole (NC State linebacker) is a little bit like Muhammad Ali when he beat Sonny Liston and he says ‘What’s my name???’ We’re not going to forget Audie Cole’s name for a while, he’s been going from sideline to sideline tearing this thing up today…’
• ‘I think once in a while you want to get everybody’s butt together so one hand grenade can kill you all.’ (Suggesting that NC State go into a spread formation).

You can tell some Bobby Knight influence as well, evidenced by his Under Armour sponsorship. How I would love to be a fly on the wall in that Athletic Department office hearing those two do a chat.

I’m just worried that Leach might go over the line with his commentary. He no doubt touched some nerves late in the broadcast when he noted NC State coach Tom O’Brien’s patriotic cap (Nike had coaching staffs in special outfits for 9/11), then rambled on making reference to a UCF player whose parents immigrated from Somoa and served in the U.S. military. That somehow led Leach to recall how Fourth of July celebrations between neighbors used to go down in his native Wyoming.

It’s evident Leach likes talking about explosives as much as Beavis and Butthead, but 9/11 is too sensitive a subject to broach and the same holds true for Hurricane Katrina, as Dan Hampton knows after getting bitten making reference to that on TV recently (you can painfully hear him trying to check that swing). As far as Leach is concerned, he has 12 weeks to get all his material in about his childhood July 4th antics.

Leach has to reign it in at least a little. But I’m also thinking of possible PBP partners for him as time goes on. Leach and Gus Johnson could be a perfect storm, but that combo would probably be like the Krispy Kreme cheesburger with the chocolate covered bacon. The donut might be good, the burger might be good, but not necessarily all of it together.

I’ve got my solution, throw Cris Collinsworth to the curb and pair Leach with Al Michaels on Sunday Night Football, just how many perfect lead passes Al could hit Leach with??? That might be my dream commentary pair…

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Now for my ATS college football picks (LAST WEEK 7-12-1, SEASON 14-23-2)

Georgia Tech (+1.5) at North Carolina – The Jackets ran into a buzzsaw against an obviously motivated Kansas team last week, now Tech has it’s wake-up call, and will take it out on UNC. PICK: Ga Tech

Maryland (+10) at West Virginia – Terps have lost four straight in this series, look for that to become five… PICK: UWV

Iowa State (+3.5) at Kansas State – Game at Arrowhead stadium, you may have seen the endless promotion of the game on the stadium’s new ribbon board during the Chiefs game Monday night. PICK: K-State

Arkansas (+2.5) at Georgia – Best wishes for a speedy recovery to Razorbacks return man/running back Dennis Johnson, who sustained an injury last week I wouldn’t wish on anyone. PICK: Hogs

East Carolina (+19.5) at Virginia Tech – Actually the perfect storm will be Mike Leach doing an East Carolina Pirates game, he will need a pair of Depends for that one. Meanwhile, Virginia Tech might be better off focusing on an actual game plan rather than what breakthrough uniform design to unveil this week. PICK: ECU

BYU (+10) at Florida State – This game was a rout in FSU’s favor last year in Provo, and the Cougars have the additional misfortune of catching Florida State in piss-off mode after they had their heads handed to them at OU. PICK: Chop ‘em up Noles

Air Force (+17) at Oklahoma – Handicapper Phil Steele had the Sooners as his #1 team heading into the season. Maybe it’s time to believe him a little. PICK: OU

USC (-12.5) at Minnesota – Don’t know if I would favor Lane Kiffin’s troops by two touchdowns over anyone, but Gophers did lose yet another game to a FCS foe last week. Minnesota might want to get any team located in the Dakota’s off their schedule. PICK: Trojans

Baylor (+21.5) at TCU – An awfully huge number to cover, but TCU’s going to look at putting up big numbers if their Tea-party BCS Championship Game campaign is to go anywhere. PICK: Frogs

Arizona State (+14) at Wisconsin – Badgers are their usual methodical selves, and 14 may be too large a number v. Pac-10 foe. PICK: ASU

Nebraska (-3) at Washington – Believe it or not, the toughest non-conference obstacle for the Blackshirts this year. PICK: Huskers

Florida (-14) at  Tennessee – I don’t see the Vols getting demolished two weeks in a row at Neyland Stadium. This is a game that probably wouldn’t be betting on. PICK: Tennessee

Louisville (+19.5) at Oregon State – Wasn’t the Ville pretty good like three years ago, UofL had it’s hands full with FCS foe Eastern Kentucky last week. PICK: Beavers

Tulsa (+7) at Oklahoma State – Comment that Dan Hampton can even make. The prevent defense of the Golden Hurricane was more like a tropical depression on that last play at East Carolina two weeks ago. PICK: OK State

Clemson (+7) at Auburn – Auburn either wins this game convincingly or Paul Finebaum is going to be calling for Gene Chizik’s head on the radio. PICK: Auburn

Mississippi St. (+8) at LSU – Bulldogs came within a yard of beating LSU last year in Starkville, that should have the attention of Les Miles and his squad. PICK: LSU

Notre Dame (+3.5) at Michigan State – Another classic moral victory for the Irish after helping make Michigan QB Denard Robinson the early Heisman front-runner. This early-season road test will be more of a referendum on how coach Brian Kelly’s first season will turn out. PICK: Domers

Texas (-3) at Texas Tech – Last time two teams played in Lubbock was the memorable Michael Crabtree finish. UT will make sure to close the deal this time around. PICK: Horns

Iowa (-1.5) at Arizona – This might be the NCAA’s version of a Ravens/Jets game, both teams have conceded a combined 22 points with their four opponents thus far this year. PICK: Hawks

Houston (-3) at UCLA – How much time will Neuheisel spend game-planning v. planning his post-game concession speech.  PICK: UH

The video below, from NewsChannel 11 (in Lubbock, I believe), shows the now infamous “shed” and “electrical closet” where Adam James was sent because of his concussion.

Looks to me like there are not quite the dungeons of terror or torture chambers of doom that they were initially made out to be.

Video: “Shed” and “Electrical Closet” where Mike Leach sent Adam James

A couple of quick takeaways from the video:

First, could you conjure up a more perfect lawyer for Mike Leach? I can’t put my finger on exactly why, but the guy just seems like a perfect fit for the enigmatic, pirate-obsessed Leach.

Second, do either of those places really look like such bad venues to spend an afternoon while your teammates are practicing, you cannot, and you are supposed to be out of the sun and in a cool room? Sure, maybe James was mocked a little bit when he went in there, but grow a little thicker skin. Seriously.

Update: Of course, when your dad is apparently hounding your coaches about your playing time, it is probably a little bit harder to do so. From the Fort Worth Star-Telegram:

The source said Craig James has been “hounding these coaches at Texas Tech — not just Mike — all year” for more playing time for Adam James.

“They suspended him because a family is upset about the kid’s playing time,” the source said. “That’s what it is. [Leach] didn’t do anything wrong with this kid.

“James wanted Mike, No. 1, to promise that his son would be a starter next year, which you can’t do.”

Craig James did not return a telephone call seeking comment.

Third, with the knowledge that Leach and Tech AD Gerald Meyers do not have a good relationship, plus the fact that Leach is owed an $800,000 bonus if he is the coach once the new year begins, wouldn’t we all be fools if we didn’t think there were forces behind the scenes trying to make this seem bigger than it is? (i.e. bigger as in a reason to fire him “for cause”?)

Fourth, I will reiterate what I’ve said twice now on Twitter: if Texas Tech is foolish enough to get rid of Mike Leach for this (assuming there are no worse skeletons in his electrical closet), can you give me one good reason why Indiana shouldn’t do everything in its power to bring Leach to Bloomington?

(And yes, I know that our last dalliance with a former Big 12 coach – who shall not be named – didn’t end so well. But this is much different than repeated and excessive recruiting violations.)

Sure, it would take him a few years to get a recruiting base in the Midwest, but he is exactly the kind of coach IU needs to recapture its glory of the 1980s and actually be competitive in the Big Ten.

What do you think?

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* – Mike Leach photo credit: Ross D. Franklin : AP via Chron.com

Geez, a guy gets to double-digit wins one time and his mouth turns into a news making megaphone.

Who knows, maybe Mike Leach has always been like this; but like his beloved pirates who are all the rage in the news right now, stories of Mike Leach’s megalomaniacal attitude and controversial comments have been quite plentiful this offseason.

First, there was the tense period of contract negotiations between Mike Leach and Texas Tech after the Red Raiders won 11 games in 2008. Ultimately, despite an unnecessary pissing match between Leach and the school, they agreed on a 5-year extension to keep Leach in Lubbock through 2013.

Then, during this weekend’s NFL draft, Mike Leach had some choice words for Cleveland Browns head coach Eric Mangini. After Tony Grossi of the Plain-Dealer reported that the Browns had been turned off by Michael Crabtree’s purported “diva attitude” – not citing Mangini as a source or with any direct quotes, mind you – Leach had this to say (courtesy of our friends at Shaver Sports, via the Sporting Blog):

“Crabtree as a receiver has been more successful than that guy has been as a coach. … I think he took it upon himself to figure that in a few minutes he had all the expertise on the subject of Michael Crabtree that he needed. And so we’ll see how those non-divas up there in Cleveland do this year.”

Well alrighty then.

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I know that a coach has to, and should, stick up for his players. However, it seems to me that there just might be a more tactful way to do it, especially since Leach is basically trusting Grossi who is trusting a source – it’s not like the words came straight from Mangini’s mouth. Either way, Leach came across sounding like the kid over in the corner of the sandbox who has trouble getting along with the other kids.

And the coach sounded even more like that in the most recent report of unnecessary comments by Leach, this time concerning a player from a school in his own sandbox state. For whatever reason, Mike Leach decided to take what most people are interpreting as veiled shots at former Texas A&M QB Stephen McGee, who by all account is a nice, upstanding young man – albeit one who never totally lives up to his high school hype.

I am sure that a major reason for Leach’s comments was the fact that McGee was drafted while Tech QB Graham Harrell was not, despite Harrell’s college production dwarfing that of McGee’s. (And in the irony of all ironies, Graham Harrell ended up signing a free agent contract with the Browns.)

Anyway, here is what Leach had to say about Stephen McGee (courtesy of Deuce of Davenport, via the Dallas Morning News):

“I’m happy for Stephen McGee,” Texas Tech coach Mike Leach said. “The Dallas Cowboys like him more than his coaches at A&M did.”

Now look, there is nothing in that statement that is inherently awful. However, Mike Sherman and Stephen McGee took offense to the comments. And with Leach’s track record, plus the Tech-A&M rivalry, they probably have good reason too.

With Sherman still trying to win over the Texas A&M fan base, and McGee probably feeling a bit defensive about his underwhelming college career that he hopes to turn around in the NFL, I can see how they might be taken aback by what Leach had to say. Moreover, whether what Leach said was that bad or not, why not stay focused on your program? More than anything, it just seems pretty tacky to me.

Said Mike Sherman in response to Leach’s comments about McGee:

“I don’t understand Coach Leach’s comments about Stephen McGee,” Sherman said Monday. “He was named our starter until he got injured. I’ve always believed in Stephen’s character and I’ve always believed in his talent, and I always will. I see him having an outstanding NFL career.

“Coach Leach is in no position to comment about my relationship with Stephen McGee.”

For his part, Stephen McGee showed one of the reasons why so many NFL scouts were high on him as a potential second-day sleeper in the 2009 NFL Draft; he showed that he has something in abundance that Leach apparently lacks: class.

“I don’t know where that comment came from or who it was directed at,” McGee said. “But I am shocked because my time at A&M was very special to me. Obviously, I got injured, and many people think that Coach Sherman benched me. That’s just not true.

“If I had a son today and he was a college quarterback, I would send him to Coach Sherman or Coach Fran without any doubt, without any question, first and foremost.”

And Leach’s response?

“…based on all the fuss and commotion on this, I can’t help but wonder what round Coach Sherman would have drafted Stephen McGee, given the fact he was once a head coach in the NFL.”

As for an apology?

“I’m not sorry for what I said,” Leach said. “I’m sorry if they feel offended.”

After reading the quotes, too big of a deal is probably being made of this latest Leach story. Stephen McGee and Mike Sherman probably need to get their panties unbunched and not get so defensive.

The truth is, Mike Leach knows that he will always face an uphill battle staying relevant out in Lubbock with the majority of the national attention in the Big 12 being showered upon Austin and Norman, OK. And honestly, that’s one of the things that makes Leach perfect as the Texas Tech coach. He’s brash, outspoken, and has proven he can win there consistently and attract national attention to a campus that isn’t typically on the national college football radar screen.

But boy is Mike Leach acting emboldened now that he has his 11-win season, was a hot commodity for every major coaching vacancy this offseason, and now has a new contract. Or maybe he’s always been saying things like this and I’m only now paying attention because of the three aforementioned reasons have increased his profile and because his previous quote about Mangini and Crabtree pierced through the noise of this draft weekend for the Browns.

Either way, something tells me his bosses at Tech are smiling, even if they’d never say so publicly. Leach can’t be vanilla like Mack Brown is at Texas, otherwise Tech will fade right back into the third and fourth tiers of college football relevance. But if Michael Crabtree does turn out to be a diva in the NFL, we’ll have a pretty good idea of at least one example he is probably following.

Texas Tech comes into Saturday night’s matchup (at 8:00 ET on ABC) with an 10-0 record, a #2 ranking, and off of back-to-back wins over top 10 teams Texas and Oklahoma State. The Oklahoma Sooners will defend their home turf Saturday with a 9-1 record, a #5 ranking, and a loss to Texas (in Dallas at the Cotton Bowl) as their only blemish of the year.

Both teams have offenses that are pretty much ridiculous. Texas Tech, powered by the lethal combo of Graham Harrell and Michael Crabtree, is #1 in the nation in passing yards per game with 438.6, and they are #2 in overall offense. Oklahoma is led by superstar sophomore Sam Bradford and is #4 in total offense and #3 in passing offense. Holy crap I am getting excited for this game.

If the over-under is anything less 100, take the over.

What are the keys to victory? I’ll run down a few in the preview and then offer up a prediction. But first, chime in with your prediction:

Texas Tech-Oklahoma Preview: Keys to victory for Texas Tech

1 — Emotion and Mindset

For two straight weeks, Texas Tech has played “the biggest game in school history” and they have won both of them. The Texas game was a knock down, drag out fight that they were able to pull out by the skin of their teeth with an incredible touchdown pass from Graham Harrell to Michael Crabtree in the final seconds. It is the kind of play a team makes when they are that season’s “darling of destiny.” (Case in point: think about Tennessee in 1998 and how they won a game on a phantom pass interference and another when Clint Stoerner fumbled while attempting to run out the clock. Some teams just get all the breaks for an entire season.)

Texas Tech needed no breaks against Oklahoma State, however. They thoroughly whooped the Cowboys, who failed to get Dez Bryant enough play-making opportunities. Now, the Red Raiders are 10-0 and have spent a two weeks since the Texas win listening to everyone tell them they are the greatest thing since sliced bread. Not to mention, they have played with a very high level of emotion and concentration for two consecutive weeks.

Can they maintain it? That is the key question. Norman will be a hostile environment and Oklahoma usually jumps out to early leads with their high-octane offense. If Texas Tech gets down, they can’t panic or lose their emotion. Emotion and mindset have been a strength of Texas Tech all year. It needs to be again.

2 — Pressure Sam Bradford to force turnovers

In Oklahoma’s lone loss this year, Sam Bradford was picked off twice by Texas. He has only been picked off four times in their other 9 games. Texas fell behind early but was able to come back because of timely special teams plays and turnovers. Sam Bradford has been spectacular through nearly two seasons, but has shown a propensity to lose his poise late in games or when Oklahoma is down. Texas Tech needs to capitalize on this and get to him every chance they can.

3 — Establish a ground game

Texas Tech is known for its aerial assault, but Texas won because they stayed committed to running the football. Colt McCoy threw 35 passes and as a team they ran it 35 times. Texas Tech doesn’t need such an even split (McCoy ran it 14 times himself, while Harrell won’t do that), but they do need to try to control the ball, especially late if they have a lead. The top two running backs for Texas Tech average over 5 yards per carry. The Red Raiders will rack up points behind the superb ability of Graham Harrell in leading the spread, but they can salt away a victory by pounding a struggling Oklahoma defense with the run.

Texas Tech-Oklahoma Preview: Keys to victory for Oklahoma

1 — Special frieking teams

Oklahoma has been plagued by special teams breakdowns all season long. They had Texas dead to rights with a 14-3 lead and all of the momentum before Jordan Shipley gave the Longhorns a glimmer of hope with a kickoff return for a TD. Oklahoma scored on the very next possession and could have been up 21-3. Instead, it was 21-10, and Texas got it back to 21-20 before the half. The Sooners dominated the first half in every way, but led by only one at the break. Take away the special teams failure and the game could have had a drastically different outcome.

Oklahoma almost always jumps out and has their offense clicking early. Texas Tech’s D has played well this year, but the offenses in the Big 12 this year, and Oklahoma specifically, have proven they could rack up points with 15 defenders on the field. If Oklahoma gets up early at home, they need to maintain their lead. If a special teams play can spark a struggling Red Raiders team, it could be deja vu all over again for Oklahoma in a big game at home.

2 — Sam Bradford needs to be better than Graham Harrell

In each of the key Big 12 games this year, the quarterback who has played better has been on the winning team. Colt McCoy outdueled Sam Bradford in Dallas, and Texas won. Graham Harrell made one more play that Colt McCoy in Lubbock, and Texas Tech won. Graham Harrell was better than Zack Robinson, Colt McCoy was better than Chase Daniel, and so on it goes.

Sam Bradford’s statistics are incredible. But the one whisper I continuously hear from people who watch the Big 12 closely is that Sam Bradford, while he has the prototypical body and arm of an NFL quarterback, lacks the moxie and winning ability of Colt McCoy and Graham Harrell. This game will be Sam Bradford’s chance to prove that he is a legit Heisman contender and that he can lead a team to victory in a hue game. He failed against Texas, but Oklahoma needs him to be better than the de facto Heisman front-runner right now, Graham Harrell. And part of Sam Bradford being able to do this will be the ability of his offensive line to protect him adequately.

3 — Bob Stoops needs to be better than Mike Leach

Last week, Texas Tech kicked the snot out of Oklahoma State because Mike Leach had his team mentally, emotionally, and tactically more prepared to play than Mike Gundy did. Oklahoma State inexplicably did not use Dez Bryant correctly, and their defense had no answer for Texas Tech. The defense part is not so egregious, because no defense can stop Texas Tech.

But no defense has been able to stop Oklahoma either. And while Texas Tech possesses one of the better defense’s Oklahoma has faced all year, they shouldn’t be able to contain Sam Bradford and the balanced attack of the Sooners — if Bob Stoops doesn’t screw it up, that is. His offense has been superb all year, but coaches sometimes outthink themselves and try to do “special” things in big games. I think this is what has made Mike Leach such a great coach: Texas Tech does what it does and it doesn’t seem to change from the preseason to regular season. They just execute and understand their identity.

Bob Stoops, however, does not have the reputation of a great big game coach; and I think part of the reason why is that he makes the same mistake other coaches make by not staying committed to doing the things they do well. Stoops and the Oklahoma coaches need to let Sam Bradford run the show and not outthink themselves. You know that Mike Leach will do so for Graham Harrell, which is why Graham Harrell has been so good in key spots.

Texas Tech-Oklahoma Prediction

I was really leaning towards picking Oklahoma when I began writing this. They are at home, Texas Tech has to be emotionally drained from the last two weeks, and Oklahoma’s offense is, overall, every bit as good as Texas Tech’s.

But there are two key differences between Texas Tech and Oklahoma: Graham Harrell-Mike Leach and Sam Bradford-Bob Stoops.

Graham Harrell has proven that he is clutch this season, and that he is the type of zone where he believes that he can make every play. Sam Bradford couldn’t do this in his biggest test of the season against Texas. And despite Bob Stoops longer and more decorated coaching resume, I actually trust Mike Leach more in a big game to have his team ready to play, and to not lose its identity. Bob Stoops and Sam Bradford can change my mind with a win Saturday night, but I’m not ready to bank my credibility as a prognosticator on it.

The Sooners are favored by somewhere around 6, but I’m taking the Red Raiders outright (and, like I said, the over if it’s anywhere under 100).

Texas Tech 56 – Oklahoma 52 in an another 2008 Big 12 instant classic.

[tags]texas tech red raiders, oklahoma sooners, college football, big 12[/tags]