Outside the Huddle.

Head coach Kliff Kingsbury talked about the fan support and fan, about how he goes through every game wishing he had called things differently win or lose, but sometimes it just doesn’t go your way.

Notebook: Robertson Played Too Much. LAJ’s Don Williams writes that OLB Pete Robertson played all 103 plays this past week and defensive line coach Mike Smith said that he has to get him out:

“Every week, I say that I’m going to get him out,” Smith said. “There’s a couple of times I had Zeus (Zach Barnes) run out there, and he (Robertson) is telling Zeus to go back. I’m telling Zeus to start the series, and he (Robertson) gets mad.

Branden Jackson played 93 snaps and Gary Moore played 50. That’s a lot of plays. Also discussed in the notebook is the block field goal against TCU.

Huh.

It Never Happens to the Longhorns. SI’s Travis Hale (I won’t get tired of typing that) opines on the ref situation with the Texas/Oklahoma State game.

Keeping Focused. DMN’s Michael DuPont transcribed some quotes from when head coach Kliff Kingsbury was on ESPN’s Mike and Mike and Kingsbury talked about the opportunity of playing Baylor:

“Really just that it’s another great opportunity to show how good you are. You can take it both ways. You can pout or you can get mad about it and try to do something about it and so we’re trying to take that second approach. We’re all mad how the game ended but hey, we have a great top-five opponent this week and you get another opportunity to show how good you are.”

Q&A With Zach Thomas. LAJ’s Don Williams has a terrific Q&A with former Red Raider footballer Zach Thomas, where he talks about how he reads a play and how he developed that ability:

A-J: What is the read to which you’re referring?

Thomas: It’s a blur read. Where most linebackers would start from running back to offensive line, mine was the other direction — from the offensive line to the running back, because a lot of times the running backs will sidestep to get you out-leveraged for the line to come up and block you. Mine was the other way. The line usually will take you where you’re going.

And then you can also, with the line, you can feel from their alignment, from their splits, from the weight of their hands … . There’s so many different things that gave you tips, and that was huge. So when they would go real flat on a play, you knew it was a waggle or a boot, if they’re trying to fake a run. You see so many different things that other (defensive players) would see, maybe it was a half a second later, because they were starting off with the running back. But that’s what makes the difference. I felt like after a while, maybe you had to tweak a few things, but it was pretty much the same read that he drew up on a napkin to me one day.

There’s a ton more there, so make sure and check it out.

Top AD’s. Sports On Earth’s Matt Brown has an interesting post in the middle of a football season, where he ranks the best athletic directors in the nation. Texas Tech AD Kirby Hocutt ranks #14:

14. Kirby Hocutt, Texas Tech. Hocutt has had a quick rise, becoming AD at Ohio at age 33 in 2005, then spending four years at Miami before taking the job at Texas Tech in 2011, just before the Nevin Shapiro scandal hit the Hurricanes. Hocutt is clearly well respected, as he was tabbed to replace Oliver Luck on the College Football Playoff selection committee this season, with a nomination from Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby. He’s the committee’s youngest member at 43. Hocutt is also chairman of the NCAA Division I Football Recruiting Subcommittee, and his most notable move thus far at Texas Tech is hiring former quarterback Kliff Kingsbury, then just 33, as head football coach. The big question has been a messy basketball situation, with the Billy Gillispie era quickly ending in disaster, but the hiring of Tubby Smith was likely a good fit for a tough job to stabilize what had been a broken program.

The interesting thing is that ahead of Hocutt is TCU’s Del Conte at #2, Baylor’s McCaw at #7, OU’s Castiglione at #9, and Kansas State’s Currie at #10.

Miscellaneous. SBN’s Bill Connelly takes a look at the Big 12 conference race 4 weeks into the year . . . Red Raider Sports’ Adrian Martin check in with Amarillo’s Ivory Jackson who is all-in with Texas Tech . . . via the DMN, they have their Big 12 power rankings . . . DMN’s Michael DuPont has five things to know about Baylor . . . Campus Insiders’ Pete Fiutak previews the game as well as picking the game . . .