Texas Tech Football Notebook: New Photos of Jones AT&T; Secondary Improving

The Jones Looks Incredible. Man, oh, man, from Totally Texas Tech, TTURed has some new photos of Jones AT&T Stadium and the red looks stunning.

Secondary Looking Pretty Good. Pretty Good. Also from DMN’s Michael DuPont, he talked with a few players as to who has stood out during camp and WR Dylan Cantrell complimented that secondary:

“I think Justis Nelson, he’s been doing a good job. Really all of the guys coming back: J.J. Gaines, he’s been doing a good job, Keenon Ward, Jah’Shawn Johnson, they’ve been doing a great job,” Cantrell said. “Everybody’s making plays, it’s not just one guy on that defense and I think coach Gibbs is doing a great job.

Oklahoma Drill.

https://twitter.com/AdamDoyle_TTU/status/632013342358372352

https://twitter.com/AdamDoyle_TTU/status/631665707567046656

Mandel Believes. FOX Sports’ Stewart Mandel is asked (by I think a Texas Tech fan that I converse with on Twitter quite often), which 4-8 team is likely to go from 4 wins to 10 wins and he picked Texas Tech:

But Tech did offer some hope in its last three games — a 42-30 loss to Oklahoma, a 34-31 win at Iowa State and, most notably, a tight 48-46 loss to Big 12 co-champ Baylor. Then-freshman quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who took over as starter for an injured Davis Webb in Week 9, threw 10 touchdowns against two picks in those three games. Whichever QB wins the job this month will helm a very experienced offense. Meanwhile, respected new DC David Gibbs comes over from Houston, where his aggressive defenses thrived at forcing turnovers. He inherits some decent talent up front and in the secondary, as well as touted Ohio State transfer linebacker Mike Mitchell.

I feel confident saying last year was an aberration and Tech will at least go bowling in 2015. Could it get to 10 wins? I wouldn’t say it’s likely, but somebody’s got to do it. And it’s not going to be Syracuse.

Another day in the books #FuelingChampions @Kash_Knutson4 @ZachariahFiya @_JonathanGiles pic.twitter.com/8vTuj6Xk6L

— TTU Sports Nutrition (@RaiderFuel) August 14, 2015

Recovering after getting that work in #practicenine #FuelingChampions @TalorNunez @StantonKeane pic.twitter.com/5J7bs7VziQ

— TTU Sports Nutrition (@RaiderFuel) August 14, 2015

Staying On Your Side. LAJ’s Don Williams writes about how the secondary won’t flip according to the side of the field, boundary or field, and so they’ll just play the left side or the right side. Defensive coordinator David Gibbs said that it’s just not practical:

“No question,” Gibbs said. “And the truth is, 10 or 15 times a game, they’re not going to be able to flip, because they (the opposing offensive players) are going too fast, and they can’t run all the way over there, so (the defensive backs) end up (signaling) to each other, and then guess what position they’re playing: Right corner, left corner.

“So might as well just teach them from jump street. It’s logical.”

Williams also gives a breakdown of where he thinks the secondary has been this year and Texas Tech so go check it out.

Notebook: Murphy Solid at Right Tackle. LAJ’s Don Williams lots of news here as Justin Murphy’s teammates feel like he has owned that right tackle spot. Make sure and check out the link, but here are some additional notes:

Keenon Ward was told by Gibbs that he has to tackle better (see above) and that’s what you call motivation.
Paul Stawarz has been slowed because he is recovering from a stress fracture in his shin and the coaches haven’t had the opportunity to really see Stawarz in practice.
Rika Levi will go with the name on the back of his jersey as Talolo-Levi, as Levi is his father’s last name and Talolo is his mother’s last name.

Walk-On Brotherhood. Summit Hogue wrote a piece for the LAJ and congrats Talor Nunez on being scholarshipped, the dedication that it takes to go from walk-on to scholarship. Check it out.

Miscellaneous. USA Today is doing a tour of Texas, with Texas Tech probably coming at some point as Paul Myerberg has been in Lubbock the last few days. Still, if you want some good reading, there you go . . . LAJ’s Don Williams has the second cornerback spot for his All-Time Texas Tech team and picks Denton Fox, who played in the late 60’s, then Carl Carter, who played in the mid-80’s and the Kenneth Wallace, who played in the early 70’s teams . . .