Texas Tech-Kansas: Raiders Give Jayhawks the Ruff Treatment

Well, well, well...that was fun, wasn’t it? That’s what I’ve been waiting for all year—a good ol’ Tech butt whuppin’.

While I was happy for it, I’m kind of sad it came at the expense of Kansas. I’d have much rather seen this come at the expense of Aggy or you know who down in Austin. I just don’t have anything against Kansas or its fans.

I’ve had to travel to Kansas a lot and spent a good deal of time there in my work, and I’ve never failed to find the people up there to be anything but friendly and good-natured folks—except for this one plaintiff I went up there to depose who threatened to throw me down a flight of stairs. But he was from Missouri anyway.

What made this game so fun were the facts that the outcome didn’t ever really seem in doubt and our defense played well throughout the game. It was just “fun,” and I wasn’t kicked out of the family room for having angst-induced grand mals in front of the kids (my anxiety sometimes gets the better of me, manifesting itself in shrieking, beer spitting, and inanimate object kicking).

But you have to cut me some slack—I’m a product of Texas Tech football circa 1979 through 1983. You know: the "12,000 in the stands, "Rocket" Ron Reeves turf-skipping incomplete pass, couldn’t beat Rice, Rex got on the wrong plane, gawddamned SMU lateral on the kickoff" era of Texas Tech football.

While I may not agree with all the observations of my esteemed fellow scribes on this blog when it comes to Spike Dykes, I’ll be the first to say that Leach is a Godsend. Crazy? Well, maybe so...give me crazy over a sane loser any day. A drunk? Fine by me...drinks are on us, Mike. A lawyer?...Well, what can I say?

But one of the things I love about Leach is that he put Ruffin McNeil in charge of the defense. I love this guy! At one point relatively late in the game, when the win was well in hand, Kansas began moving the ball. Ruff calls the guys over during a timeout and he’s so worked up, HE’S SPITTING WHEN HE’S YELLING AT THEM! You gotta love a spitter!

That’s what I wanna see...a guy who doesn’t want the other team to score even if the game is in the bag. Beats that “bend but don’t break” crap an day. "Patooey! Get yo' butt out there and tackle!"

Of course, our happiness must be tempered by what’s to come. Tech now has to face the Evil Empire. I really don’t hate UT like I do Aggy. I know a lot of UT grads who are decent guys to have a beer with. But that arrogance is always there—you can just sense it.

Well, I suppose they have the right to be arrogant: They have several national championships, as compared to our, well...zero national championships. And unlike our insane, delusional, Maroon-wearing friends, their last NC didn’t come from the leather helmet wearing “24...87...36...hike, hike, hike!” days.

Face it, we'll probably always be in their shadow. Their coach is a grandfatherly good ol' boy. Tech's coach is a loco, pirate-loving lawyer. They play in a 100,000-seat stadium. Tech is hoping to get the Jones to 65,000 with a planned addition.

They have so many blue-chip recruits, they don't know what to do with them all. Tech has a kicker recruited from the Lynnewood apartment complex halftime kick-o-rama. So what? He did go 9-for-9.

I don't care about any of it...it's part of being a Tech alum. We're strange, but hey, we're fun to be around.

Tech's offense is firing on all cylinders now, so it should be able to score. It’s Coach Ruff and his slobber-inducing D we need.

The Furby-resembling quarterback for UT is completing passes at a percentage that is simply too good to believe. Shipley and Cosby are running wild. UT is playing scary good right now. Texas is supremely confident they will beat Tech.

When UT defensive tackle Roy Miller heard about the 63 points Tech hung on Kansas, he only said, “Well, we’re not Kansas.” Of course you’re not, Roy. People in Kansas aren’t arrogant turds.

OU felt pretty confident coming into Lubbock last year. I am hoping Coach Ruff and his boys can administer a dose of humility.

P.S. What say we all chip in and buy Jon Bible a two-week ticket to Hawaii or someplace?