Texas Tech Football Notebook – August 6, 2012

It is 26 days until the 2012 season opener for Texas Tech and Northwestern State in Lubbock.

Texas Tech Football released its reporting roster Sunday night in advance of the first practice of the 2012 season starting today. One of the notable names left off the roster was kick returner Ben McRoy.

RedRaiders.com reported last week that it was doubtful for McRoy to return to the team due to eligibility issues and Head Coach Tommy Tuberville said,

“He might not be around. If he doesn’t make his grades, he’s not eligible.”

Also, Tuberville spoke about depth on the defensive side of the ball on Sunday. Texas Tech was last in the  Big 12 last season in almost every defensive category and injuries didn't help the beleaguered Red Raiders.

From RaiderPower.com, Tuberville said,

“We haven’t had enough depth to compete in this league with all the high-powered offenses we’ve seen the last couple of years. You need about thirty players that can go, day-in and day-out to compete in this league and we had about half that.

But we’ve pretty much doubled our talent on that side of the ball. We’ve taken some junior college players. Most of the players who played last year are back with us, and I think they’re gonna help.”

Defensively, Texas Tech couldn't be worse than it was last season and any improvement could mean the difference between another losing season and 7 or 8 wins.

The kickoff luncheon for Red Raider Football will be August 16th at the Lubbock Civic Center. Not in Lubbock? No problem.

There will be three other luncheons around the state for you Red Raiders not in Lubbock. August 27th there will be a luncheon in Midland to preview the season opener, September 10th in Dallas will be a recap of the first two games of the season and September 17th in Houston will be a recap of the three non-conference games with a preview of the conference portion of the schedule.

For information on these events, go to TexasTech.com.