Kingsbury is a guy who likes to put on a show and have some fun. The Red Raiders passing game should be worth the price of admission.
With all the excitement surrounding Texas Tech hoops -- and the hiring of fiery Bob Knight as coach -- the gridiron Raiders want to get their share of the limelight.
Leach has done an admirable job in his first two seasons, leading the teams to consecutive seven-win seasons and back-to-back bowl games.
In 2000, the Red Raiders lost to East Carolina in the gallerfurniture.com Bowl. Last season, Texas Tech barely missed only its fourth eight-win season since 1976 when it lost to Iowa, 19-16, in the Alamo Bowl.
Iowa’s Nate Kaeding kicked the winning field goal with 44 seconds left. Kingsbury was intercepted three times while throwing for 309 yards on 29-of-49 passing. He threw one touchdown pass.
Texas Tech had the football only 10 minutes in the first half.
"I thought we squandered the first half," Leach said after the game. "At times we had the mentality of waiting for good things to happen. You got to go out and make things happen."
That’s the approach the Red Raiders will take in 2002. The nucleus of the offense returns, led by Kingsbury and a talented group of receivers.
Still, it was the defense that stole the show in the spring game, keeping Kingsbury and company out of the end zone most of the day.
QUARTERBACKS
The Red Raiders are hoping to ride the arm of Kingsbury (6-4, 212) a long way this season.
How high are the expectations? Before spring practice started, the Texas Tech media relations department launched a web site, www.kliffkingsbury.com, dedicated to the senior quarterback’s run for the Heisman Trophy. In the summer, the site featured chats, diaries and question-and-answer sessions with the Heisman hopeful.
Kingsbury entered the 2002 season with 33 individual passing records and was on pace to surpass the 10,000-yard passing mark for his career. Only 18 other quarterbacks have done that.
Last season, Kingsbury earned second-team All-Big 12 honors by the Associated Press and the league’s coaches. He completed 365-of-529 passes (69 percent) for 3,502 yards and 25 touchdowns. He was intercepted only nine times.
Kingsbury threw for 318.4 yards per game and ranked second in the Big 12 in passing efficiency.
In the bowl game, Kingsbury set a Texas Tech record by piling up 309 yards on 29-of-49 passing. He was intercepted three times and threw one touchdown pass. Against Oklahoma State, Kingsbury threw for 440 yards, surpassing the 400-yard mark for the fourth time in his career.
Junior B.J. Symons (6-1, 194) will be Kingsbury’s backup. Last season, Symons played in four games and completed 23-of-35 passes for 160 yards and two touchdowns. He was intercepted twice.
RUNNING BACKS
Perhaps the most competitive battle in the spring was for the starting job at running back vacated by Ricky Williams, a bull of a back last season. Williams, the lone back in the pass-happy offense, led the team with 726 rushing yards, averaging 5.1 yards per carry, and scored 14 touchdowns.
Williams was a four-year starter and one of the top backs in Texas Tech history.
Red-shirt freshman Taurean Henderson (5-9, 187) entered the spring as the No. 1 "F" back, with junior college transfer Johnnie Mack (5-7, 167) as the backup.
Mack rushed for 1,500 yards and 24 touchdowns in 2001 at City College of San Francisco, which finished the season as the No. 1 junior college team in the nation. The team went 12-0 last season and Mack was third in the nation in JUCO scoring, averaging 12 points per game. He scored 24 touchdowns.
Henderson spent the 2001 season working with the Texas Tech scout team. Two years ago, Henderson rushed for 2,953 yards and 32 touchdowns and helped Gatesville (Texas) High School win the Class 3A state title.
Junior Foy Munlin (5-10, 219) and junior Loliki Bonga-Wanga (5-10, 208) will also compete for carries this fall.
Munlin, the biggest of the backs, played in 10 games last season but had only 12 carries for 27 yards. He has the edge in experience, having backed up Williams the last two seasons.
Bonga-Wanga missed the 2001 season with a ruptured Achilles tendon.
WIDE RECEIVERS/TIGHT ENDS
Seven of the top nine receivers -- not counting Williams -- who caught eight or more passes last season return to the pass-oriented offense. There is plenty of experience and talent in the receiving corps.
Munlin, who started one game at H-back last season, was slotted as the starter when spring practice began.
Starting receivers in the spring were junior Wes Welker (5-9, 174), junior Mickey Peters (6-3, 201), senior Anton Paige (6-5, 207) and junior Carlos Francis (5-9, 192).
Freshman signee Thomas Bachman (5-9, 176) was slotted as the backup for Welker and sophomore Clay McGuire (6-1, 223) was Peters’ backup. Sophomore Nehemiah Glover (5-8, 174) was Paige’s backup and sophomore Trey Haverty (6-0, 187) was Francis’ backup.
Peters and Haverty are what the Red Raiders’ staff call inside receivers/stand-up tight ends. Paige and Glover are split ends and Francis and sophomore Armon Dorrough (6-1, 169) are wide receivers.
Although not slotted on the two-deep chart at the start of the spring, Dorrough will certainly be a factor if the spring is any indication.
Dorrough, working with the first team in an April 1 scrimmage, ran a post route and caught a 70-yard touchdown pass from Kingsbury. It was the highlight of the scrimmage. On another play, Dorrough delivered a vicious block on a defender after Francis caught a pass.
As a freshman, Dorrough didn’t catch a pass but was one of the more highly touted players in the 2001 recruiting class. Dorrough was bothered by a hamstring injury for much of the year.
OFFENSIVE LINE
Three of the five starters on the line have departed, and replacing left guard Matt Heider and right tackle Jason May was a concern in the spring.
Returning starters on the line are center junior center Toby Cecil (6-4, 295) senior right guard Rex Richards (6-4, 315) and sophomore left tackle Daniel Loper (6-7, 309).
Loper, who started five games last season, was limited in the early spring after pulling his right hamstring running a sprint.
Last season, Loper bumped senior Paul Erickson from the starting left tackle spot in the last month of the season.
One big move made in the spring involved Cecil, who started all 12 games at center. Cecil was moved to left guard and sophomore Dylan Gandy (6-3, 280) was slotted as the starting center.
Junior Casey Keck (6-4, 295) was the starting right tackle alongside Richards, who started all 12 games last season.
Gandy adjusted well to the move until he suffered a dislocated left shoulder and had re-constructive surgery. When he was hurt, Cecil moved back to center.
Cecil is the most versatile of the linemen, having started one game at left tackle and one at right guard as a red-shirt freshman in 2000. He also played both guard positions last season as a backup.
Anae’s plan in the spring was to find the five best linemen and get them ready for the season opener.
Backups in the spring were red-shirt freshman Bryan Kegans (6-5, 284) and sophomore Jon Rodriguez (6-4, 299) at tackles, senior J.J. Williams (6-5, 292) and sophomore Cody Campbell (6-4, 302) at guards and red-shirt freshman E.J. Whitley (6-5, 315) at center.
KICKERS
Senior Robert Treece (5-8, 185) is back after a solid junior season as the starting kicker.
Treece made 12-of-15 field-goal attempts last season and all 43 of his PAT kicks.
In the season opener against New Mexico, Treece made his first kicks in a game since he was in high school, hitting from 33 and 32 yards before missing from 28 yards. His long field goals in 2001 were two 42-yarders against Nebraska and Oklahoma.
DEFENSIVE LINE
In the spring, the defense looked solid and it started with the front line, led by third-team All-American Hunt.
All four starters return from the 2001 season, and it will be bolstered by a couple of newcomers.
Hunt (6-3, 258), a senior, and Rodney McKinney (6-1, 287) were slotted as the starters at defensive ends in the spring. McKinney started seven games last season at left end and one at left tackle.
Hunt started eight games at right end. He was fourth on the team in tackles last season with 85 and led the team with 19 tackles for loss and 12 sacks. Hunt was chosen as a third-team All-American by Football News and was on its All-Big 12 first team. The league’s coaches picked Hunt as a second-team all-conference player and the Associated Press listed him on the first team.
McKinney had 47 tackles last season, including six tackles for loss and four sacks.
Red-shirt freshman Randall Cherry (6-3, 260) was not slotted in the two-deep chart when the spring started but could work his way into the rotation in 2002. Cherry gained almost 31 pounds since reporting to campus in 2001.
Sophomore Adell Duckett (6-4, 245) will also play a key role at defensive end.
Senior Lamont Anderson (6-2, 285) is back after starting 11 games at left defensive tackle. Sophomore Clayton Harmon (6-6, 285) started the last eight games at right defensive tackle in 2001.
LINEBACKERS
It was an open competition for the linebacker spots in the spring, even though two of the three starters returned, led by senior Lawrence Flugence.
Jonathan Hawkins, second on the team in tackles with 121, was the key loss to the linebacking corps. Hawkins had eight tackles for loss, three sacks, and tied for the team-high with 14 quarterback hurries.
Junior Jason Wesley (6-0, 227) and junior Marquis Turner (6-1, 210) were the frontrunners for Hawkins’ job on the right side in the spring.
Sophomore Mike Smith (6-2, 218) started the last eight games of the 2001 season on the left side, but was battling for the job in the spring with sophomore Geremy Woods (6-1, 244) and red-shirt freshman John Saldi (6-4, 210).
Senior Lennard Christensen (6-2, 213) could also work his way into the linebacker rotation. Christensen was slotted as a backup in the spring.
Smith tied with Hunt for fifth on the team in tackles last season with 85. He had four tackles for loss and two sacks.
The marquee linebacker is Flugence (6-2, 235), who started all 12 games in the middle last season. He is probably the only lock for a starting job after leading the team in tackles with 145 last season. He was a third-team All-American selection by the Associated Press and was on the Associated Press All-Big 12 first team and the coaches’ second team. He also led the team in tackles as a sophomore.
DEFENSIVE BACKS
There were two openings in the secondary with the departures of cornerback C.J. Johnson and safety Kevin Curtis.
Curtis started the first four games of the 2001 season at strong safety and then started at free safety the rest of the way. He was third on the team in tackles with 102 and tied for the team-high with four interceptions.
Johnson started the first six games at right cornerback and was replaced by senior Ricky Sailor (5-10, 195) for the last six.
Sailer should retain his starting job at right corner. His backup when the spring started was sophomore Tory Mitchell (6-0, 191).
Junior Ryan Aycock (6-0, 198) started the last eight games at strong safety when Curtis made the move to free safety. Aycock should retain his starting job. Last season, he had 78 tackles and tied for the team-high with four interceptions.
Junior Josh Rangel (6-2, 208) will be a backup safety.
Junior B.J. Johnson (6-1, 200), a backup corner and special teams player last season, is the probable starter at free safety in place of Curtis. Junior Marcus Boyd (6-0, 194) and Rangel will also contend for the job.
Other potential starters at cornerback include senior Joselio Hanson (5-9, 167) and sophomore Damian Chandler (5-11, 170). Hanson has an edge in experience; he played in all 11 games last season and finished with 52 tackles and led the team with 20 pass breakups. He had one interception.
Junior college transfer Raymond Pierce (6-3, 195), from San Bernardino (Calif.) Junior College, could also contend for the job if he can absorb the system quickly.
PUNTERS
Greathouse, the backup kicker, will likely retain his job as the starting punter.
Last season, Greathouse was the only punter used by the Red Raiders. He averaged 40.2 yards on 43 kicks with 12 inside the 20-yard line. He had two blocked.
In the middle of the 2000 season, Greathouse took over as the starting punter and averaged 39.5 yards on 36 punts.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Sophomore Ivory McCann (5-8, 158) was signed as a running back and could also be used as a receiver, but with the depth at those two positions, he may only be used as a kick returner. He’s a good one, too.
Last season, McCann earned All-Big 12 third-team honors by the coaches as a kick returner. He averaged 27.5 yards on 22 returns. He caught a kickoff eight yards deep into his end zone and returned it for the touchdown against New Mexico, giving him the longest return in school history.
Against Oklahoma State, McCann caught a kickoff deep in his end zone and returned it to the Cowbys’ 41, setting up a score. He also returned two 40-yarders against Kansas State.
In the spring scrimmage, McCann returned a kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown.
Look for McCann to handle all kickoffs -- or as many as he can get to -- this season.
Welker, the wide receiver, was the primary punt returner last season, averaging 8.0 yards on 34 returns. He returned a punt against Nebraska for an 85-yard touchdown.
Senior Eric Bartee (6-2, 215) returns as the starting deep snapper.
RECRUITING CLASS
The Red Raiders signed 25 players, 15 who will play defense. All but three were high school signees.
Included in the class is defensive lineman Chris Hudler (6-3, 265), who committed to Houston but changed his mind and signed with the Red Raiders. Hudler is from Mesquite, Texas.
Two of the recruits -- running back Johnnie Mack of City College of San Francisco and wide receiver Thomas Bachman (5-10, 182) of Evangel Christian High in Shreveport, La. -- enrolled at Texas Tech for the spring semester.
Bachman was rated as the 39th-best wide receiver in the nation by Rivals.com after catching 96 passes for 1,453 yards and 20 touchdowns as a senior. He led his team to the state championship and doubled as a punt returner.
Mack is also expected to work his way into the running back rotation as Leach splits time between the backs.
"We try to recruit runners and hitters," Leach told the Avalanche-Journal, "and I feel like we’ve got a lot of runners and hitters."
Two of the top defenders signed were tackle Ken Scott (6-3, 289) of Newton (Texas) High School and linebacker Chris Campbell (6-0, 205) of King High in Kingsville, Texas.
Campbell was one of four linebackers signed.
"I think Chris Campbell is one of the most intriguing of the linebackers," McNeill, the linebackers coach, told the Avalanche-Journal. "He has great explosion, great speed and power. He’s does a 440-pound bench press, 650 dead lift and runs a 10.4, 10.5 100 meters."
McMackin, the defensive coordinator, said all of the six defensive backs signed could play in 2002. Only one of them, safety Raymond Pierce (6-3, 195) of San Bernardino Valley College, is a junior-college transfer.
BLUE RIBBON ANALYSIS
It will be the Kliff Kingsbury show this season at Texas Tech, and the Red Raiders’ fortunes are resting on his passing arm.
Last season, the Red Raiders led the Big 12 and ranked fifth nationally in passing offense. Forget the run. Texas Tech was last in the Big 12 and 113th nationally in rushing offense. That needs to improve.
The Red Raiders were loaded at the skill positions, and if they can shore up the offensive line for the 2002 season, they should be able to score plenty of points.
It will be up to the defense to make a stand this season, and it showed signs of progress late in 2001 and in the spring.
After holding out-manned Stephen F. Austin to three points in the last regular-season game, the Red Raiders lost to Iowa 19-16 in the Alamo Bowl. If Leach had been told before that game his team would give up 19 points, he would probably have taken it. His team averaged 35.1 points during the regular season.
Often referred to as a Mad Professor of the passing game, Leach will try to concoct a formula that will push the Red Raiders higher up the Big 12 standings. In his second season in Lubbock, Leach was able to get the high-octane passing game rolling. Now, he needs to get rest of the team caught up with Kingsbury.
