Little premature but the lists are starting to trim to semi-finalists and finalists. RJ Harvey made the top 10, along with 3 other Big12 RBs. Pretty cool, well deserved. Good for recruiting too.

**Edit** to update the official X posting.

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My brother's in town for the week and wants to join us for the game. Anybody have a single cabana ticket they're willing to sell?

Of the legacy Big 12 schools, I've always wanted to visit Texas Tech. I've been to many of the Texas schools (UT, A&M, TCU, SMU, Houston, etc.) and was curious about the vibe of TTU being in West Texas and kind of isolated. I've always known they've had a passionate fanbase and probably rank third in the state (behind UT and A&M).

No nonstops from MCO obviously, so after connecting in Dallas I got into town last night around 8 p.m. There was a couple from Brevard on the same flights, they were visiting their daughter who is on the Texas Tech dance team. He joked that they've spent more on travel to visit her this season (every football home game) than her tuition.

Too dark to really scope things out, but drove around the campus a bit and got into the stadium and got an early look. I went back today, more about that below.

The first thing you notice about Lubbock is the wind - it's fairly windy here and apparently that's normal. It's flat and kind of dusty.

Anyway, I had already heard about Evie Mae's BBQ and made that the first stop. They open at 11, but people line up early and they're open until they run out of food. It was excellent - I went for the half chicken, brisket chili and jalapeno cornbread with banana pudding. Everything else (brisket, pork, turkey, sausage, etc.) was highly recommended. It was absolutely slammed with business - locals obviously know it's the spot.


Lol at this poster in the restaurant. The "Handsome Touchdown Boys," Kliff Kingsbury and Patrick Mahomes.



From there, I got a daylight look at the Texas Tech campus. The terrain around here reminds me somewhat of UTEP, though UTEP is definitely more desert. The campus is fairly large and somewhat dated in terms of architecture, but not in a bad way. Very similar to other college campuses, UCF is just different because it's so young.

The baseball stadium reminded me of the Bounce House in that it's a basic aluminum structure that gets the job done. Nothing fancy or over the top. Texas Tech has a larger capacity than John Euliano Park, but UCF's baseball stadium probably comes off as more polished. Neither Texas Tech or Oklahoma had as good of a premium area as UCF has with the club.

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In a hard-fought Big 12 battle decided in the final minutes, the Texas Tech Red Raiders edged the UCF Knights for a 24-23 victory in the first-ever meeting between the two schools. UCFSports.com takes you to the South Plains of West Texas to experience the game day atmosphere at Jones AT&T Stadium in Lubbock.

Brandon should we win Saturday are you hearing anything in regards to a likely spot yet?

The power of being in a power 5 league. You can be under .500 and be ranked within the top five in your conference and top 35 in the country.


Big 12 ESPN FPI rankings

There is a game this weekend, although you can hardly tell based on the NIL Twitter war (that I'm guilty of following). That said, I realize I'll miss Saturdays like this upcoming one very much very soon. What's your expectations/gut feeling entering Senior Knight at noon vs Houston?

If you’re reading this right now, you’re probably enjoying that nebulous time before Thanksgiving when not too much matters. You’ve probably already prepped your meal checklist, decided on seating arrangements and dusted off the old folding chairs from the attic that only get used when your cousins from up North come down for the holidays. It’s a fantastic time where you get to just be. Thanksgiving is the best holiday by far. The only presents you have to worry about are your presence and what you’re planning to contribute. Some people start the turkey early, but I head for the Wild Turkey early.

Click here for more from the Sons of UCF.

I have two tickets I’ll gladly give away to a military vet for our Houston game this Saturday. If you or a buddy you know served or has family planning to start service, I can forward my tickets.

Rivals has continued its partnership with Pro Football Focus (PFF) which grants me access to their comprehensive analytics and statistical tools.

After each game, two separate analysts grade every player on each play of the game and the two totals are averaged out. Obviously no subjective ranking system is perfect, but I am finding that my real world impressions of a player in a certain game usually reflects the PFF grade.

PFF Grading Scale

90 and above - Elite
80 to 89 - Great
70 to 79 - Good
60 to 69 - Average to Above Average
50 - 59 - Below Average
49 and below - Poor

Team Offensive Grade (by game)

Kent State - 74.6
Boise State - 82.4
Villanova - 82.6
Kansas State - 68.1
Baylor - 70.5
Kansas - 76.3
Oklahoma - 65.8
West Virginia - 72.1
Cincinnati - 71.3
Oklahoma State - 75.8
Texas Tech - 68.7

Overall Offensive Player Grades (Snaps Played)

RT Amari Kight (75) - 79.0
RB Johnny Richardson (14) - 73.5
C Lokahi Pauole (75) - 70.4
QB John Rhys Plumlee (74) - 70.0
RB Mark-Antony Richards (8) - 69.5
RB RJ Harvey (58) - 69.3
WR Javon Baker (62) - 66.9
WR Xavier Townsend (63) - 66.1
LG Adrian Medley (75) - 64.4
TE Randy Pittman (18) - 60.2
WR Stephen Martin (3) - 60.2
LT Paul Rubelt (1) - 60.0
WR Jarrad Baker (1) - 60.0
LT Tylan Grable (75) - 59.7
RG Marcellus Marshall (75) - 57.6
WR Trent Whittemore (17) - 54.6
WR Kobe Hudson (61) - 53.3
TE Alec Holler (60) - 49.4
TE Zach Marsh Wojan (9) - 45.0

I just decided to go ahead and post the grades instead of waiting for revisions that may not change much.

Offensive Line Grades

Pass Blocking:

RT Amari Kight - 87.0
LG Adrian Medley - 85.1
C Lokahi Pauole - 82.6
LT Tylan Grable - 81.8
RG Marcellus Marshall - 76.7

Run Blocking:

RT Amari Kight - 72.7
C Lokahi Pauole - 65.0
LG Adrian Medley - 62.9
LT Tylan Grable - 60.2
RG Marcellus Marshall - 57.5

Quarterback Grades

John Rhys Plumlee - 70.0 passing grade

Passing Pressure Grades for John Rhys Plumlee:

Kept Clean - 59.4
Under Pressure - 67.7
Not Blitzed - 55.3
When Blitzed - 73.7

Finding the wide open Javon Baker for the easy TD while being blitzed obviously significantly boosts his blitzed grade.

A closer look at passing depth for John Rhys Plumlee:

Deep (20+): 1 of 7 for 39 yards, 1 INT - 52.1
Medium (10-19): 6 of 10 for 149 yards, 1 TD - 87.6
Short (0-9): 5 of 8 for 32 yards - 39.5
Behind LOS: 4 of 5 for 28 yards - 58.8

JRP had perhaps his best deep game vs. Oklahoma State and one of his weaker ones vs. Texas Tech.

Rushing Grades

RJ Harvey - 70.4
Mark-Antony Richards - 70.3
Johnny Richardson - 69.0
Xavier Townsend - 63.2
John Rhys Plumlee - 61.9

Wide Receiver Grades

Javon Baker - 68.2
Xavier Townsend - 62.9
RJ Harvey - 60.8
Randy Pittman - 56.9
Johnny Richardson - 54.9
Kobe Hudson - 53.0
Alec Holler - 50.5

One drop listed (Kobe Hudson).

Another road trip and another loss. It seems I’ve started a few summaries that way, but every trip was well worth the experience as we grow through the pains. New cities, stadiums, fans on the P5 level are the new norm. There are no half-full stadiums, low energy vibes, and teams we will likely curb stomp to victory. It makes the wins feel so much better and the losses, well, they still suck. We are competing in a P5 league without the benefit of P5 resources (yet) and in every road game I’ve met multiple fans that welcomed me to their city, to the B12, and usually were grateful they came out on top. In my opinion, we’ve validated our status in the BIG leagues. My motto on the road is don’t get embarrassed, stay competitive in the second half, and win. Aside from Kansas after the Baylor let down, we were never embarrassed. Good times ahead and the Texas Tech game is the epitome of belonging. An equivalent to benchmark against, the eye test didn’t lie. Leaving the X’s and O’s to the Dungeon Coaching Staff, I’ll reserve my thoughts on the overall state of the team. After a one road game hiatus opting for a trip to the lower bowels of the Grand Canyon over a trip to see UCF play Cindy, I’m back on the road to Lubbock.

Lubbock, a dusty town wedged vertically in the panhandle of Texas between Midland and Amarillo. Where? Exactly. I do have some familiarity with the remote parts of Texas on a personal quest to visit all 254 Counties in the state. I’ve spent time in remote cities such Van Horn, Del Rio, Bandera, Paris, and Pecos, to name a few, and surprisingly Lubbock would be larger. My flight choice of going into Midland and out of Amarillo was predicated on sight seeing and knowing I’d lose my mind if I spent 3 solid days in Lubbock. Combine that with a goal to see places with historical significance, sights most overlook, and chew off a few more counties, I chose a plan most would shake their head at. I don’t blame you either.

Midland: Located in the 86,000 square mile Permian Basin which reaches just south of Lubbock, oil and natural gas is king here. Peek at the satellite imagery north and south of Midland and you’ll see what looks like constellations and images of Space U paraphernalia. Instead of stars being connected it’s oil fields and wells. A vastly different landscape from the palm trees.

Permian Basin Vietman Veterans Memorial: Located just outside the Midland airport, halfway between Midland and Odessa, this memorial honors the 225 men from 30 of the West Texas Permian Basin Counties. It was dedicated on November 12, 1994. It’s a small memorial with dedication plaques and one helicopter on site.

Home of Presidents George Bush and George W. Bush: The family moved quite a bit between Odessa, Midland, and Houston starting in 1948. There is a historical plaque at one of their former homes located at N31 59.913 W102 05.473.

Big Bend National Park: If you think Midland is in the middle of nowhere, try getting to Big Bend National Park. It’s a few hours south and will remain on my to do list, but I’ll mention it as a point of reference since you can’t possibly get there any easier than El Paso to the West or San Antonio to the East. The region is unique and features the Ouachita Orogeny which extends 1,300 miles from Mississippi to West Texas. 80% is buried in the subsurface, but there are two major exposed areas which are the Ouachita Mountains in Oklahoma and Arkansas and the Marathon region of West Texas. The physical features include vertical rock beds with tilted rock layers called unconformities. Fort Pena Colorado Park (N30 09.209 W103 17.258) features visible unconformities such as folds which I did visit and marked my southern boundary for the trip.

Lubbock: I felt that the overall vibe of the city was in support of Texas Tech, but in talking to several locals, they battle a bit of what UCF has over the years in their state. A large population of fans and alumni didn’t grow up in Lubbock, they don’t live in Lubbock, and they likely grew up rooting for other schools in their state (UT). 30 years ago a large majority of folks following UCF now likely were fans of FSU or UF in the 90s. As UCF has evolved, and some grow from childhood fans to alumni, the passion and allegiance shifts. Tech faces much the same issue in Texas, and in that regard, we have some similarities. Two schools fighting for bragging rights in their states. The fans weren’t quite as welcoming as those in Kansas, but then again, that’s the difference between Texas and the Midwest. They also weren’t quite as entitled as Oklahoma given the overall state of their program from a historical stance. I made the lone walk across from campus up Broadway Street which boasts plenty of bars and the Red Raider Outfitter since 1975. I grabbed a drink nearby and met a TT alum who reminded me to NOT eat a tortilla at the game that was likely snuck in around or near someone’s crotch. Don’t eat a random tortilla from a random fan at the game. Check. He bought me a beer and offered to walk into the game with his Dad. I got a walking tour of the stadium and he explained the building architecture along the way. The overall look and feel of the campus is different yet really nice. It’s not UCF or Florida and has a vibe of its own. It’s West Texas. If you’ve been there, you know. After the game I ate at Spanky’s and enjoyed a burger and their famous fried cheese. It was a tasty burger and the cheese was excellent, but you can only eat so many massive logs of fried cheese. Plenty of TT fans made comments about how great a game it was and welcomed us to the conference. I imagine that is an easier conversation for them after gifting that game to them.

Game Day Vibe: The overall vibe inside the stadium was nice. It wasn’t raucous or nearly as loud as Kansas State. The fans were much more engaged into football than Kansas. They were more hospitable than Oklahoma though. The noise level inside the stadium was pretty quiet and calmer than I expected. Temperatures were in the mid to low 50s with a strong and cold wind. I had on T shirt, long sleeve dry fit, and a sweater and still was cold and shivered for the second quarter. I was sitting in section 111 since I didn’t plan on going to the game far enough in advance of the early cut off time where tickets need to be returned, so I bought a cheap $5 (before Ticketmaster fees) to get in. The second half I watched the game from the outside concourse which is open air and looks down into the field. I preferred standing here compared to my seat and enjoyed the view (and less wind). The Red Raider riding out onto the field was cool to see, but I was surprised at how quiet the fans were to welcome their team. Again, I don’t know what I expected but could only compare against the other road games this year.

Buddy Holley (Holly): Kuddos to Brandon for this and stealing my thunder. His gravesite and museum are located just outside of town. I noted that on his grave the spelling was Holley, but the sign inside the cemetery pointing to his grave and the museum drops the E. I’m not sure why and haven’t done the research on that, but plan to at some point. I’ve actually been to the location in Clear Lake, Iowa where he played the night before the plane crash so this visit brought those two together. ** I googled and the E was dropped in a contract he was asked to sign. Who knew?!**

Amarillo: One of the more populous towns in the northern panhandle of Texas, Amarillo sits along Route 66 and the famous Cadillac Ranch and the Big Texan.

Cadillac Ranch: A roadside attraction standing along Route 66 west of Amarillo, Texas, Cadillac Ranch was invented and built by a group of art-hippies imported from San Francisco. They called themselves The Ant Farm, and their silent partner was Amarillo billionaire Stanley Marsh. Ten Cadillac vehicles are half buried in the ground standing upright. Feel free to spray paint them and the concrete road as much as your heart desires. I attempted to spray paint a DIRTYD in pink but failed as it just bled into a multi-colored mess. The ranch is located at N35 11.237 W101 59.222.

2nd Amendment Cowboy: If you’re visiting Cadillac Ranch, this is less than a mile away. Located at N35 11.192 W101 58.447 and also along Route 66, this giant cowboy roadside statue screamed “shoot ‘em up, bang band, get ‘er done guns” to me. I had to stop and check it out. It also doubles as the Cadillac Ranch Gift Shop.

Helium Time Columns Monument/Don Harrington Discovery Center/Amarillo Botanical Gardens: All are located within walking distance next to each other and are great spots to take the kiddos. The helium monument has a 6-story high stainless-steel structure which is a sundial and four sealed tubes. It commemorates the 100th anniversary of the discovery of helium on the sun in 1868. The four tubes are time capsules and are (were) to be opened after 25, 50, 75, and 100 year anniversaries from 1968.

Overall, it was another eventful trip with plenty of new sights to explore. The crushing one-point loss aside, I would recommend a trip to a future Texas Tech game. The overall game day experience was entertaining and the fans were hospitable. It’s not an easy trip logistically and the overall area doesn’t provide a lot of the key attractions that would bring families. If anything, the tortillas tossed is almost worth the price of the trip. There’s a phrase “Lubbock or Leave It”, and while I had fun at the game, I’m going to leave it for the sun and fun of Orlando.

Can our equipment managers order new uniforms? I wear my eyeglasses and still have difficulty seeing the names and numbers on our Jerseys. Go back to the uniform style we had at the Peach Bowl. I liked those dark gold helmets with the black stripe down the middle.
I also liked the all black uniforms we would wear playing that third division school from Tampa.

I was buzzed on beer during the game but my eyes weren't that blurry to see the refs erroneously call back the TD in the endzone and then the 2nd toe tapper in the 2nd half.

Both toe tappers that looked to stay inbounds. Did I miss something? Even the announcers were saying they were catches.

I may have to go watch on DVR again. Or, maybe not.

The refs seemed to be leaning on TTU side, but I admit that I'm biased. Just seems fishy.

I've moved on with the loss, just want to hear other's opinions on those two overturning calls. The first one looks like it would have been legal in the NFL with both toes in with no heel. The 2nd one, the refs called it a catch, but then the ref said it was called an incomplete. During review it looked like it was a catch then they called it incomplete. Wtf did I miss on that?!?

I'm helping out with a charity golf tournament being hosted by our 55+ community, The Plantation at Leesburg, that will benefit Make-A-Wish Central and Northern Florida. If any of you central Floridians are golfers, I hope you would consider participating. No, of course you don't have to be 55+. 😁

We're trying to fill both courses that day for this great cause. If you have a business (or just want to contribute on a personal basis), we can use hole sponsors and raffle items. Our goal is to raise $48,000, which will fulfill six life-changing wishes for children facing critical illnesses in our region.

Here's the link to the tournament/winter festival info: https://plantation.golf/make-a-wish-tournament (please excuse the general website, it's terribly dated and is undergoing a complete renovation)

Some more info:

The Plantation at Leesburg Golf Courses and Make-A-Wish have Teamed up for an amazing day of FUN! To be one of the golfers please call our Pro-Shop number on the flyer (as seen on the website).

The Golf Event:

• Registration begins at 7:30 with Breakfast and coffee, also a Bloody Mary Bar to get the day started right. T-Time is 8:30 with amazing prizes to be won!! Phillips Buick GMC has given us a brand-new Buick Encore for one of our hole in one prizes!! Yamaha has given us a brand-new Yamaha Golf Cart for our second Hole in one!! All Golfers will have the opportunity to hit both holes.
• A Fan Favorite, Putting for Booze: You hit it, you keep it! (Or share it with me?)
• World Champion Long Driver, Jesse Ayers will be at the event hitting your drive on a Par 4 at approximately 370 yards to the green. Just to see this guy hit a ball is worth the price of admission.
• When you are done golfing, jump on the trolley provided by our friends at PAL Realty and head to The Manor for lunch along with the Festival and awards.

The Festival:

• Kicks off at Noon and is open to the public for FREE.
• Starting off with one of our local favorites The Little Tipsy Band from 12-2 PM (Be ready to dance!). Have some lunch, a cold beverage of your choice and browse the vendors and tables set up for raffles, 50/50 drawing, and silent auction items.
• Starting at 2pm we will be giving out awards and recognizing our AMAZING Sponsors.
• Starting at 3pm and playing till 5pm we will have our own local CWMM Recording Artist Pete Lundblad Jr. Pete has over 2500 songs in his arsenal, he will be playing hits from the 70’s to current hits you hear on the radio today. If you have never seen Pete, he is worth the drive.
• 5pm – 6pm we will be awarding all the Raffles, 50/50, and silent auction items. You do not have to be present to win.

Internet rumor or not, I'd welcome those teams. In other news Army to join the AAC in 2025.

Four ACC schools are reportedly “in talks” with the Big 12.

Morgantown, WV – Conference realignment talk is ramping up once again.

According to Greg Swaim of The Greg Swaim Show, Virginia, North Carolina, Florida State, and Clemson are putting plans into place to leave the ACC as early as 2025. With these moves, more ACC schools will look to leave, and a move to the Big 12 may be in the cards.

Swaim would add that Louisville, NC State, Pitt, and Virginia Tech have had “informal third party talks” with the Big 12.

270K viewers, which is almost 100K more than any other CFB game on FS2 so far this year. Houston/TTU had 188K viewers as the #2 most-watched game.

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The atmosphere for the space game was electric. Heck I think the rain somehow even made it better. But the team itself had a lot to do with it. They played like a team that knew they were going to win and win big, and they weren’t going to settle for less.

This Saturday is going to be different. It’s a noon kickoff. It’s not a ranked opponent. It’s not even a new opponent. And it’s Saturday after thanksgiving which means the crowd will probably be lighter than usual.

This team is going to have to learn to make some of its own electricity. If they play well and are exciting the crowd that is there will get into it. If they come out flat so will the crowd. This is a big game, it determines bowl eligibility, but they have to be able to generate some of their own excitement.

Let’s hope they do. There are a lot of seniors on this team, I hope they step up.

The UCF Knights Football team held their weekly press availability in advance of their final regular season contest against Houston. The Knights are coming off of a loss at Texas Tech, and need a victory to get bowl eligible. Kickoff is scheduled for 12pm on Saturday, November 25th.

Hear from UCF Head Coach Gus Malzahn, QB John Rhys Plumlee, and LB Jason Johnson.

Click here for more from the Sons of UCF.

209B Row 7. 4 seats. Softball parking pass available also.

$60 each.

Tonight, 7pm at Mellow Mushroom on East Colonial/Alafaya Trail, OL Marcellus Marshall (from Morgantown, WV) and DB Quadric Bullard (Dania Beach) will be the guests tonight along with Coach Malzahn.

Mention add below and save 20% off your food tab.

Random musings from the game (mostly)

Stop me if you’ve heard this story before

So close, but can’t quite pull it off

2023 in a nutshell

I also love how Gus calls everything a “tough deal”

Demari Henderson, life comes at you fast

Click here to read more from the Sons of UCF.

Rivals has continued its partnership with Pro Football Focus (PFF) which grants me access to their comprehensive analytics and statistical tools.

After each game, two separate analysts grade every player on each play of the game and the two totals are averaged out. Obviously no subjective ranking system is perfect, but I am finding that my real world impressions of a player in a certain game usually reflects the PFF grade.

PFF Grading Scale

90 and above - Elite
80 to 89 - Great
70 to 79 - Good
60 to 69 - Average to Above Average
50 - 59 - Below Average
49 and below - Poor

Season Defensive Grades (by game)

Kent State - 76.9
Boise State - 68.0
Villanova - 78.2
Kansas State - 61.6
Baylor - 74.9
Kansas - 45.5
Oklahoma - 67.8
West Virginia - 67.8
Cincinnati - 63.9
Oklahoma State - 78.1
Texas Tech - 63.0

Overall Defensive Grades

S Nikai Martinez (68) - 77.4
LB Jason Johnson (68) - 75.9
DE Jamaal Johnson (9) - 67.2
LB Walter Yates (64) - 65.9
LB Kam Moore (4) - 62.9
DT Ricky Barber (35) - 62.6
CB Corey Thornton (55) - 62.4
CB Decorian Patterson (53) - 60.2
SCB Braeden Marshall (40) - 59.8
DT John Walker (33) - 59.6
S Jireh Wilson (31) - 59.6
DT Lee Hunter (35) - 58.8
DE Josh Celiscar (35) - 58.2
DT Matthew Alexander (33) - 56.6
CB Brandon Adams (28) - 55.5
DE Tre'Mon Morris-Brash (59) - 53.1
S William Wells (8) - 52.2
DE Malachi Lawrence (39) - 50.9
S Demari Henderson (52) - 49.6

DE Shaun Peterson Jr. and SCB Quadric Bullard were listed as not playing defense.

Here's the breakdown by position:

Defensive End (4):

DE Jamaal Johnson (9) - 67.2
DE Josh Celiscar (35) - 58.2
DE Tre'Mon Morris-Brash (59) - 53.1
DE Malachi Lawrence (39) - 50.9

Defensive Tackle (4):

DT Ricky Barber (35) - 62.6
DT John Walker (33) - 59.6
DT Lee Hunter (35) - 58.8
DT Matthew Alexander (33) - 56.6

Linebacker (3):

LB Jason Johnson (68) - 75.9
LB Walter Yates (64) - 65.9
LB Kam Moore (4) - 62.9

Safety (4):

S Nikai Martinez (68) - 77.4
S Jireh Wilson (31) - 59.6
S William Wells (8) - 52.2
S Demari Henderson (52) - 49.6

Corner (4):

CB Corey Thornton (55) - 62.4
CB Decorian Patterson (53) - 60.2
SCB Braeden Marshall (40) - 59.8
CB Brandon Adams (28) - 55.5

Pressure Tracker (combination of sacks, hits and hurries):

2 - Tre'Mon Morris-Brash, Jireh Wilson
1 - John Walker, Malachi Lawrence, Josh Celiscar, Jason Johnson, Walter Yates, Decorian Patterson

No sacks though.

Missed Tackles:

12 total

2 - Tre'Mon Morris-Brash
1 - Braeden Marshall, Nikai Martinez, Lee Hunter, William Wells, Malachi Lawrence, Matthew Alexander, Josh Celiscar, Jason Johnson, Decorian Patterson, Jireh Wilson

UCF just 3 missed tackles vs. Oklahoma State.