Raiders in Sticky Situation

Williams: Did Sticks create QB quandary?
By Don Williams/Avalanche Journal

Now he’s done it, the thing Mike Leach hates most.

Steven Sheffield, darn him, has gone and created a distraction.

Leach’s first nine years coaching Texas Tech were free of quarterback controversy, largely because Leach made it so. Years past, when the waters roiled around a Kliff Kingsbury, a Sonny Cumbie or a Graham Harrell, Leach calmed the situation like a first-grade teacher shushing class. Always, he sticks to his starter.

How about now?

Not to say that Taylor Potts deserves to sit, thanks to circumstances beyond Potts’ control. Hey, he’s the nation’s second-leading passer, and he needed all of about three games to earn huddle cred with his toughness.

But can you bench Sticks now? After his rescue effort one Saturday and a rout the next? With him moving the team, making sound decisions and firing up the fans? Heck, Tech higher-ups have to be thinking, too, about ticket sales since Jones Stadium is growing — and because it was much emptier than usual for a 66-14 blowout of Kansas State on a chilly
Saturday night.

Frankly, I don’t know that the quarterback call is one Leach will have to make right away. Potts couldn’t recover in a week’s time from a concussion, and I’d be surprised if he’s cleared to go next weekend at Nebraska.

But after Sheffield’s 490-yard, seven-touchdown gem, it’s clear the Red Raiders have two viable options. At some point, Leach will have to make a choice, be it next week or next month or, looking ahead, next year.

Rest of column here.

I'm not sure whether Taylor Potts is going to be cleared to play Saturday but the Blackshirts have to be licking their chops either way. They either face a struggling passer with a penchant for INTs and a two-week old concussion or a 160-pound gangly freshman. I just hope the Blackshirts don't start reading the Suh for Heisman news clippings and lose focus.

As for Tech, I think they'd be silly to go away from Sheffield. I know he's more talented but he isn't playing like it. Leach should make the change. Doing so doesn't mean he picked the wrong guy. It just means the guy he picked isn't keeping up his end of the bargain.