Big XII Football: Taylor Potts or Steven Sheffield to Lead Texas Tech?

There's a gun battle brewing in Lubbock. Two gun slingers ready to prove they can lead the 2010 Texas Tech football team to the top of the Big XII conference. Both have shown they're capable of big time performances.

New head coach Tommy Tuberville has already expressed that both players will be on a level playing field and both players will have an equal shot at winning the starting job.

That could very well spell bad news for 2009 starter Taylor Potts. After suffering a concussion in a win over New Mexico on Oct. 3, backup Steven Sheffield made the start against Kansas State and threw for 370 yards—in the first half.

Sheffield would finish with 490 yards passing and an astounding seven touchdowns en route to a 66-14 blowout win.

Is that really that impressive though? Remember that this was a Kansas State team that gave up 294 yards and four touchdowns to Oklahoma backup Landy Jones, trailed Louisiana-Lafayette 14-2 through three quarters before falling 17-15 in the final seconds, and almost gave up an 18-point halftime lead to UMass before winning 21-17.

Though I had made the prediction that Potts would need to fall on his face to lose the starting job, the more Red Raider fans I talk to, the less I'm convinced of that.

I've been told on several occasions that Sheffield is not only a fan favorite, but a team favorite as well.

What is holding Sheffield back at this point is a broken foot he suffered during a 31-10 win over Nebraska on Oct. 17.

Coach Tuberville said Sheffield is getting better but told Mark Schlabach of ESPN.com, ""He's getting better and should be running around in a couple of weeks. We want to make sure we get a good look at him."

Seems to me like Tuberville sees in Sheffield what a lot of fans saw in him last season. Why else would he postpone the start of spring practice so Sheffield could have time to fully recover?

This should be the most interesting battle to come during Texas Tech's spring practice, though don't count on it being the only battle that goes on for a starting spot.

There's no question in my mind that Texas Tech is good enough to challenge Texas and Oklahoma for the Big XII South title and earn a shot at the Big XII championship at the end of the season.

To accomplish that, this team needs a leader to get them there. One that's going to make good decisions.

Whether that leader will be Taylor Potts or Steven Sheffield, it will be an interesting battle to see who wants it more.

When the smoke clears, who will be left standing?