Notebook: Freshmen impressing
Freshmen Pete Robertson and Sam Eguavoen have impressed during their first week
of fall camp. Eguavoen, a lightly recruited linebacker prospect out of Garland,
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has been praised by Texas Tech's coaching staff for his athleticism and speed
and it looks likely that he'll play as a true freshman.
Click Here to view this Link."He'll play unless just something happens," said Tommy TubervilleClick Here to view this Link.. "I
just like his tenacity and how he plays defense. He goes all out. He's going to
make mistakes, but he loves the sport. It doesn't make any difference how much
you've played, it's how you react to your situation.
"He hasn't been a surprise,
but it's always a surprise for a freshman to come in and play with kind of a
maturity I guess you could say as he's played."
Tuberville said that Eguavoen lead the team in tackles during Saturday's
scrimmage, and is the type of player he wants on a defense.
"Sam Eguavoen is a guy that, he shows up every day, and he's a linebacker. If
DB's don't show up that often, if they show up it's usually because they've made
a mistake, but linebackers , for Sam for instance, he shows up every play. He
led in tackles Saturday because he just plays reckless. He plays all out to the
ball, and that's the type of player we're looking for."
Robertson has also been turning heads. He's currently backing up safety
D.J. Johnson, and Tuberville has been pleased with his progress.
"He's made a lot of progress, because he hasn't showed up too much. Showing up
in the secondary, if you show up too much at a safety position, the position
he's playing, it means you're making too many mistakes, but he's coming along
good. He plays hard. We've got a lot of young guys that move around, that play
reckless on defense, which he's one of those guys."
DOEGE REFLECTS ON SCRIMMAGE PERFORMANCE
Now that his first fall scrimmage as the Red Raiders' first-team quarterback is
over, Seth Doege has had time to review his performance. Doege said he
had a somewhat ho-hum day, but thought it was a fairly good day for the team.
"It went decent," he said. "I thought my performance was average. Overall as a
team, I thought it was a pretty decent first scrimmage. We got some film, now we
know what we need to work on and improve on before the first game."
Doege is also continuing to build on his bond and timing with the receiver
corps.
"It gets better every day," Doege said. "It's just one of those things that
you've got to come out here and do it the exact same every day. A receiver can't
take a day off and I can't get lazy in my drops with those timing routes. It's
kind of like dancing, you've always got to be in sync with each other. I think
every day we come out here, we try to get better and better at it."
KEOWN SIDELINED WITH INJURY
Center Justin Keown will be sidelined four to six weeks after spraining
his knee during Monday's practice.
"Justin Keown, twisted his knee, sprained knee. Hopefully we'll get him back in
4 or 5 weeks, it'll be that long," Tuberville said. "They'll make a decision as
we go but he won't be back out here (during camp). He's a senior. Unfortunately
some of things happen, but hopefully he'll come back."
At this point, it does not seem likely that Keown will need surgery.
"He's got some damage, but they think they might be able to rehab it and get him
back within a month. No surgery right now."
With Keown unavailable, Tech will shift right guard Deveric Gallington
to center, and insert Terry McDaniel at right guard.
STEPHENS PLEASED WITH PROGRESS
Running back Eric Stephens was pleased with the offense's performance
during Saturday's scrimmage.
"I think we came out and competed pretty well," he said. "It was our first
scrimmage. It think we're a lot further ahead than what we were last year.
That's going to help us a lot when the season starts."
The two-year veteran also liked how Doege has looked thus far.
"Seth is doing great," Stephens said. "As you all know, he had some injuries
throughout high school. This is going to be his first year actually getting to
play and he's looked good."