Notebook: Flat Tuesday

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30-daytrialTexasTech'sTuesdaypracticewasflat.

Someplayersgaveaconsistentlygoodeffort.QuarterbackSethDoegeseemedoffthrowingballslowatthelineofscrimmage,butthegoodballswerebeingcaughtupbyJaceAmaro,DarrinMoore,andBradleyMarquez.CornerbackCorneliusDouglasbattledhardwiththeoutsidereceiversandthesecondarylookedprettygoodasawhole.

Butthepracticewasmissingsomething,especiallyconsideringwheretheteamleftoffMonday.

Theweatherwascoolerwithovercastskies,astrongwindandtemperaturesinthelow60sandheadcoachTommyTubervillethoughttheweatherwouldbeperfectfortheteamtocarryforwardwithsomegoodmomentumfromthelastpractice.

Hewaswrong.Physically,theteamisfine.Mentally,thecollectiveteamseemedboredTuesday.

"Notagreatpractice,"Tubervillesaid."Weshouldhavehadthebestoneofall.Wewereblessedwithalotofprettyweather.It'sawfulcoolouthere.Butforsomereason--We'renotphysicallytired,butitlookslikewe'rementallytired.We'vegotnoroomtoslowdown,we'vegottopickitupasIjusttoldthem.

"Weonlyhavefourdaysofcampleft.We'vegottoimprove.Offense,welookedsloppy.Defense,wegotalittlebetter.Butthat'saboutassloppyasyoucanlookonoffense."

Tubervilleaddedthebestteamsinhis32-yearcareerasafootballcoachdon'tdropofffromonepracticetothenext.

"Yourgreatfootballteamsareexperiencedandthey'vebeenthroughit,"hesaid."Theyknowwhattodo,buttheymentallystayinitthroughallofpractice.We'vegotsomanyyoungguysoutherethathaven'tlearnedasmuch.They'rehavingtoputtheirbodyintoitandtheirmindtoitanditdoesn'tcomenaturally.Whenyoudothat,mentally,youjustburnout.It'slikestudyingforanexamforthreeweeksandfinallyyourmindjustgetsweary.Thingsjumbleuptogether.

"Butwedon'thavetimetotakedaysofforgobackandjustrunbasicstuff.We're11daysfromteeingitupandalotoftheseyoungguysjusthavetokeeppilingiton.Wehopesomeofitsticks.Oncewegettopreparationweek,wecancutbackonalotofit.Butthisisstillspringpracticemodeandtryingtogetthemtolearnasmuchastheycan."

Tubervillethenhammereddownhispoint.Hesaidhetoldtheplayersthekeyisn'tsurvivingfallcampbutratherlearnthemechanicsoftheirpositionandhowtheyfitintothebiggerpicture.

TheTechplayersenteredfallcampmadabouttheirrankinginthemediapollbutthatfrustrationmindsethastakenabackseat.ItseemsliketheRedRaidersaresearchingalongwithfansforamagicfastforwardbuttontoSept.1oratleastAug.24whenthey'regameplanningexclusivelyforNorthwesternState.

"We'readdingthingseverydaysoit'sthecoaches'jobstogetthemmentallygoingandgeteveryreptheycanoutofit,"Tubervillesaid."Theydon'tallhavetobeperfect,butit'sallamentalgameandwe'replayingagainstourselvesallthisyear."

-Graham

TorreswasM.I.A

ReceiverAlexTorressatoutTuesday'spractice.

TubervillesaidTorresisbangedupandthecoldweatherwasn'tgoingtohelphimloosenup.

Theygavehimthepracticeoffbecausetheyalreadyknowhowheisgoingtofitintotheoffenseandheknowstheplaybook.

EricWardandHappinessOsundealsomissedpracticeandhavebeenaskedtostayawayfromtheteamTuesdaybecausetheyhavetheflu.

-Graham

Douglassettlingin

Afterbeingthrownintothefiremidwaythrough2011,formerreceiverandcurrentcornerbackCorneliusDouglasfinallyfeelsgoodabouthisroleondefense.Hehasafullspringandsummerunderhisbelt,andheknowswhatheneedstodotosucceedthisfall.

"Ifeelawholelotmorecomfortable,"hesaid."Iactuallygottolearnthebasicsofthedefenseandactuallygooutthereinsteadofcomingin(duringtheseason)andgoingoutthereandtryingtolearnthedefense.IreallycaughtonandI'mgettingacclimatedtowhat'sgoingon."

DouglasthinkshisexperienceatreceiverhasaidedhismoveandhelpedhimtoadaptasaDB.

"Yeah,justlearningfromthesplits,wheretheylineup,andthedifferentformations,thatreallyhelps.Howareceivercomesofftheball,howtheystem,howtheylean,thatreallyhelpsyoutounderstandwhatthey'regoingtodoonthefield."

-McKay

HyderlikesdepthatDT

JuniordefensivetackleKerryHyderhasbeenthroughsometoughtimesatdefensivetackle.Mostthoughthewasthebestinteriordefenderin2011,andthecoachingstaffhadtoburnhimoutabitwithsuchlittledepth.HyderthinkshehassomehelpthisfallandisreadytoseewhattherestofthetwodeepwilldocomeSept.1.

"Withthedepth,we'realotbetter,"hesaid."We'vegotpeoplethatcankeepcominginandrotating.Ifeltlikelastyear,oncethefirstteamcameout,itwasalittleletdown.Thisyearwe'vegotmoredepth,arefaster,andaremovingbetter.Ifeellikewe'vegotmoredepththisyear."

Hyderhasemergedasaleaderonthedefense.He'sbecomeoneofthemostvocalplayersontheteam,andhemadeitapparentonTuesdaywhenhetriedtopumpuphisteammatesduringthepostpracticeconditioning.

"Ijusttrytokeepeverybodyontheirtoes,keepeverybodyenergizedbecauseit'seasytogetsluggishandstartslowingdownattheendofcamp,"hesaid."Itwastooquietouthere.That'sthefourthquarterdrill.Attheendofthegame,we'vegottostillbeenergizedandstillbehyped,soIjusttrytospreadalittleenergythroughouttheteam."

-McKay

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