Ok I said it: this is David vs Goliath.

Texas Tech, No. 12 in the country, vs. June Jones’ inherited 1-11 team that is 1-1 this year ... with our first and much-appreciated win in almost a year coming vs, I-AA opponent Texas State, albeit with SMU starting a true freshman QB in Bo Levi Mitchell and many other youngsters. Are we supposed to have a chance against 12th-ranked high-flyin’ Tech on the road because we now have Hawaii’s Mother Teresa?

No ... but understand that, and still get your Pony Ears up ... this is college football, and anything is possible!! These are the reasons why WE (the way we speak in the Jones era) should believe it is possible:

Five reasons why we can win this ball game in Lubbock:

Remember, Buster Douglas didn't have a chance, either (photo by Terry Callahan).

1) This is our Super Bowl. Tech is the highest-ranked team we will play all year (outside of East Carolina, if we had a Cinderella season and met ECU in the Conference USA championship). Jones recognizes this, and will have tricks up his sleeve, and our troops believing it is possible.

2) Bo Levi Mitchell, Emmanuel Sanders and Aldrick Robinson — at least one of these guys can play on Sundays, and all three will board the plane to Lubbock ready to play catch.

3) Last year, Tech barely beat UTEP at home in the fourth quarter, and lost at home to an average 6-7 Colorado team. Bring on the tortillas!

4) Tech’s defense — the Red Raiders gave up 231 points in six combined games last year, and they only beat their first two scrubs in ’08, Eastern Washington and Nevada, by 25 and 16 points, respectively.

5) Turnovers. Hold out hopes for interceptions and fumble recoveries. If we win this battle by a net of three, we have an 86 percent chance of winning this and any college football game.

5 ¼) “Meet in the middle” theory. In a given game, big guys sometimes play down to the level of their opponent, and little guys rise up.

5 ½) Naiveté is good, and full of hope. We are a young team that doesn’t know any better. We are young fans in the June Jones era, and we don’t know any better, either. James “Buster” Douglas didn’t know any better, neither did David.

5 ¾) This country cheers for underdogs — been that way since the Declaration of Independence, I suppose. Top-20 alums aren’t the only ones peering at the ticker on Saturdays to get their alma mater’s updated score. It’s thousands of little guys (and big guys too), looking to see if any upsets are brewing. We, as fans, relish it. We all cheered for ECU’s second win against a ranked opponent (West Virginia) last Saturday, we did for Hawaii last year, and we did for Boise St. a couple of years ago against Oklahoma. That’s what makes college football so great. It doesn’t really exist in the NFL, where we all cheer for the dynasty: Cowboys, Patriots — whatever.

The reality is, there is no better moment in life than knowing you are undermatched, yet believe you are going into battle and believing you can win. We, as Mustangs, have felt this since the Death Penalty.

When I was a senior, we played Texas A&M. They were 10-0 and ranked fourth in the country, and we were 1-9 and probably last in the country, and in an Aggie-filled Alamodome, we stunned the crowd and tied A&M, 21-21. They were lucky, because we missed a makeable field goal to win outright at the end, but our small crowd was loud, and I know people across the country were cheering for us because we “upset” Goliath.

The chance to beat (or tie) a big dog is an experience young men will take with them their whole life, and someday it will get them up in the morning for an important meeting when the odds are not in their favor. I hope these kids relish the moment, and the ball rolls our way, because we have nothing to lose Saturday, and this, in light of our new coach and the hope on the Hilltop, this would truly be a momentous moment for all us.

Go Ponies!!