Jarrett, you kind of echo what a lot of us Tech fans feel. It’s a tough spot to be in as a fan. Sure, you want to score a lot since it’s fun to cheer that sort of thing. But at the same time we, as fans, have to deal with the impressions the rest of the world has on the team and, via proxy, us as individuals. Sad, but true.

I too had a bitter taste at the end of the game. Maybe not as much as the TD, but the way Harrell acted. It was immature. But really, like you said, he has a TON of respect for aTm and thinks your fans and your stadium are among the coolest he’s been around. I have spoken to him twice in Lubbock and he is a quiet kid and almost seems embarrased by his success. I think the emotions of the game probably got to him at the end. Our senior class never lost to the Aggies and that’s a big deal to them. Still, it was a tough one for me as a Tech fan to watch.

I have never been a fan of the way Leach does some things, but he does them. I just wish we, as Red Raider fans, weren’t held accountable for the actions of a coach. It kind of sucks. I am also guessing that if you took aside the players on the team and guaranteed anonymity, they’d prefer we take a knee in situations like that.

Stewart - Love the mailbag. Regarding the issue of teams running up the score, why is it such a big deal and sore spot in college football (particularly College Station)? The game is 60 minutes long, so why are teams with decent leads supposed to give up?
- David Ray, Allen, Texas

I’m glad you brought this up, because it’s become a personal pet peeve lately. First you heard it after the Florida-Miami game, now after Texas Tech-Texas A&M. I even heard people accusing USC of doing it against Washington State, which is absurd. They let the clock run out at halftime with the ball at the opponent’s 12-yard line and threw one pass in the final 34 minutes. What were they supposed to do, take a knee the entire second half?

Why all the belly-aching, people? In a sport where everyone’s constantly talking about “toughness” and “pride,” doesn’t it seem a bit … for lack of a better word, “wussy,” to ask your opponent to take mercy on you at the end? It’s not like the losing team stops trying to score once the game’s out of hand.

I think the problem here is that somewhere over the years we muddled the true definition of “running up the score.” Once upon a time, coaches like Barry Switzer would “hang half a hundred” just because they could, or because they held a grudge against the opposing coach. You don’t see too much of that anymore. I suppose what Mike Leach did against Texas A&M could fall into that category, but he’s never hid from the fact that he doesn’t believe in calling off the dogs, regardless of the opponent. We never got an explanation from Urban Meyer about the end of the Miami game, but it was a rivalry game. What’s the fun of rubbing it in your rival’s face if you have to stop rubbing it into their face at a certain score? And what does it say about the state of Miami football that their fans have been relegated to whining about the other team scoring too much?

My only gripe is if a team that’s got a win in hand starts pulling out flea-flickers and such. That’s just showing somebody up. For the most part, however, I can’t say I blame coaches for trying to score as many points as possible. Take it from a pollster — style points do matter. Regrettably, a lot of times voters are going on little more than the final score when they fill out their ballot. They see that a team only won 24-14, not realizing that they were sitting on the 1-yard line with a chance to go up 31-14. And it works the other way too. If all you saw was that Texas beat Missouri 56-31, you might assume the ‘Horns’ defense wasn’t that great, when in truth Texas gave up 17 points before the Tigers scored two late TDs against second stringers.

Point 1: I long for the day that teams accuse us of piling on the score. Particularly after this game I hope the first team to whine about it is Tech.

Point 2: Tech, and its Classless Clown Coach only proved again that they are, and always will be, classless clowns. As if the goalpost incident were not enough proof, now this. I hope we shove this incident, and the goalpost incident, down their classless clown collective throats some day. They are simply lowlifes.

Is that clear?

why don’t you tell us how you really feel?

Point 1: I long for the day that teams accuse us of piling on the score. Particularly after this game I hope the first team to whine about it is Tech.

By this, I take it that you condone running up the score? If so, why are you whining about it so much? a&m is just as guilty as anyone…see 1986.

Oh, and name-calling isn’t the “classiest” thing a person can do.

pcfawttu, you did not contest the accuracy of the labels I ascribe. I suspect there is a reason for that.