Maybe it is good to get the bowl out of the way? National Signing Day is on Wednesday, December 20th and my guess is that the staff is probably going to hit Wednesday hard and then they’ll be able to have Christmas off since the bowl game is done and dusted.

The transfer portal is probably the biggest “thing” happening even though the high school players will sign on Wednesday as well. For me, On3’s transfer tracker is maybe the easiest to read and most up to date, which includes Jacoby Jackson entering the portal. And if you just want to know who is transferring in, then On3 is also a good place.

Lubbock Avalanche-Journal’s Don Williams writes that with a bowl win, the expectation is that there should be more to expect next year:

A question hangs over this program: How do the Red Raiders make these late-season surges matter more by not flubbing the first month or two? Do you have a plan for that?

McGuire began to answer it without it even being asked.

“It’s been a really frustrating year, just the expectations that we have as a team, but with a coaching staff,” he said. “We’ve got January coming up, where we’ll be on the road, but February’s going to be a real look in the mirror and how we can get better as a staff. … I felt like we left some games out there that, staff-wise, we have to become a better staff, and that starts with me.

“That’s going to be a lot of digging in and evaluating ourselves so we put these guys in the best situation to win games next year.”

Lubbock Avalanche-Journal’s Don Williams also did a Q&A and the most interesting question was what the edge position looks like:

Q: How do you project the defensive edge positions going into next season?

DW: There’s still a lot that can happen over the next nine months, including the unexpected. With the players on the roster now, though, Tech could man the field end with Dylan Spencer, Charles Esters and Amier Washington, the boundary end with Steve Linton and Isaac Smith, plus Joseph Adedire figuring in prominently on either side. Harvey Dyson can play either side, too.

That’s a core group of seven mostly young guys who have some experience.

Two questions in my mind: Do Linton and Bryce Ramirez stay for 2024 on the COVID-bonus year? If so, is Ramirez a boundary edge, given more than one coach has liked his pass-rush burst, or inside linebacker, where he spent the latter part of this season?

I definitely like the young guys and their potential, but they do have to get to the quarterback more.

I am sure most of you know, but the Lady Raiders are in Hawai’i for the Maui classic with their first game on Tuesday against Tulsa at 9:00 p.m. You can actually watch these games on YouTube.