Texas Tech Pulls Three Players From Bowl Game, Cites ‘Rule Breaking’

Three players from the Texas Tech Red Raiders will not play in Friday’s Meineke Car Care Bowl against Minnesota. School officials announced on Christmas Eve that the players were pulled because they violated team rules.

Athletics spokesman Blayne Beal made the announcement on Monday but would not reveal which rules were broken.

The three players removed from the bowl game are defensive back Cornelius Douglas, linebacker Chris Payne, and defensive tackle Leon Mackey.

The Texas Tech Red Raiders are 7-5 and will take on the 6-6 Minnesota Gopher. The bowl game comes just three weeks after coach Tommy Turberville unexpectedly left the team to become the head coach in Cincinnati. Coaching the game in his place will be interim head coach Chris Thomsen. Before taking on the head coach role, Thomsen was the team’s offensive line leader.

Taking over for Tuberville next seen will be former Texas Tech quarterback Kliff Kingsbury. The new head coach hire was announced on December 12.

In the meantime, the decision to pull players who violated school policy shows the willingness of the Texas Tech program to follow the rules. College football over the last decade has been marred in various controversies as athletic departments and school officials have turned a blind eye to various issues of misconduct on behalf of their star athletes.

Do you think pulling players because of team related violations shows the strong moral roots of the Texas Tech Red Raiders?