Tag: Texas Tech Football

Beat Tech: Texas continues Big 12 revenge tour against the Red Raiders

Texas Tech is awfully quiet entering Texas week after a loud offseason in Lubbock.

The Big 12 revenge tour continues for the Texas Longhorns on Black Friday. The Longhorns (10-1) face the Texas Tech Red Raiders (6-5) in Austin to cap the regular season.

Texas Tech famously made plenty of noise over the offseason as players and coaches made known their bold aspirations for the team. One Texas Tech player had the Red Raiders on the verge of becoming one of college football’s elite programs.

Tech safety Dadrion Taylor-Demerson said the following of the team in an article by The Dallas Morning News.

“It’s literally crazy what’s about to happen around here … This might be the new Alabama, Georgia, Michigan, those schools. It’s about to be booming in West Texas.”

Texas Tech head coach Joey McGuire one-upped his safety and put a timeline on his prediction. He called his shot and made his expectations known in mid-June.

“If you ask any of our kids, they’re gonna tell you this: ‘We’ll win the Big 12 before Texas leaves the Big 12. So, obviously, our plan is to win it this year.”

The season has not gone as McGuire planned as his Red Raiders are 6-5 and not in Big 12 title contention. His team’s hated rival is in the title race, though. The Texas Longhorns have already secured a 10-win season and have an outside shot at a playoff berth.

The Longhorns should undoubtedly be motivated for the game, and certainly McGuire will be hungry for a win of his own. Nevertheless, it’s unlikely the Raiders will want this one as badly as the Big 12 title contending home team wants it.

Texas will look to punctuate its double-digit win season with a win over Texas Tech on Friday at 6:30 p.m. CT on ABC.

A possum was wrongly detained after running on the field during TCU-Texas Tech and fans had jokes

POSSUM ALERT

During Texas Tech’s home game against TCU on Thursday night, a furry guest decided to sprint onto the field to announce itself to the world.

A possum darted out onto the gridiron during the game, which prompted stadium workers to find a grabber to snag the critter and get it off the field and into the possession of those who can humanely relocate it back to the wild.

However, the little fella did not seem all that thrilled about losing its perfect seat for the college football action as it screeched something in possum as it was dragged out of the stadium.

That possum paid for sideline seats, dang it, and it deserved to stay!

Well, this possum probably will go tell all of its woodland friends about how it snuck onto the field in Lubbock, and it’ll be a heck of a humblebrag.

However, maybe Texas Tech fans throwing tortillas onto the field wasn’t the best idea when there was a possum in the house.

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Watch: Texas Tech commit Micah Hudson hurdles a defender in a five-star Friday night performance

Micah Hudson, a five-star Texas Tech commit, showed his enormous potential on Friday night.

Micah Hudson continues to prove why he is one of the top recruits in the nation, putting together a sparkling performance on Friday night. Hudson did a little bit of everything and at times, made it look carefree and simple.

A five-star wide receiver at Lake Belton High School (Temple, Texas), Hudson committed to Texas Tech in mid-September. He is the No. 19 recruit nationally in the class of 2024 according to 247Sports.

His offer list included Alabama, Baylor, Miami, Michigan, Mississippi State, Notre Dame and Ohio State among others.

In a 52-48 win over Killeen (Killeen, Texas) on Friday, Hudson showed why he is the centerpiece of a very strong Texas Texas class of 2024:

 

 

With the win, Lake Belton has won four straight games and is now 6-1 on the season.

Texas Tech is at Baylor on Saturday night (8:00 PM ET, ESPN2)

Texas Tech lands explosive five-star Micah Hudson

Texas Tech lands a coveted wide receiver in Micah Hudson.

Texas Tech got in-state prospect Micah Hudson to stay home, securing a commitment on Monday night from one of the top players in the 2024 recruiting class.

Hudson, a five-star wide receiver, is ranked the No. 19 player in the nation for the class of 2024 according to 247Sports. He plays for Lake Belton High School (Temple, Texas).

Coming into the week, Texas Tech had a top 30 recruiting class in the nation. Landing Hudson will likely see them jump several spots.

He held a strong offer list that included many of the nation’s top programs including Alabama, Baylor, Miami, Michigan, Mississippi State, Notre Dame and Ohio State among others. He is the first five-star recruit in Texas Tech’s class of 2024.

 

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Last season, Hudson had 1,198 receiving yards on 65 receptions with 14 touchdowns. This year through three games, Hudson has 17 receptions for 317 yards with three touchdowns.

Hudson has good hands and is a strong route runner. He has good leaping ability and is twitchy athletic.

In the open field, he is fast and elusive with the ability to get chunks of yards with just a sliver of space.

Big 12 headlines from Week 1 of the 2023 season

Oklahoma easily had the best day, while TCU, Baylor and Texas Tech all lost in upset fashion.

The first week of the Big 12 season surprised on Saturday. Several teams performed below standard including the Texas Longhorns. That said, the majority of those below standard showings performed worse than Texas on the day.

TCU, Texas Tech and Baylor all entered the season with Big 12 title aspirations. The left the weekend with a losing record.

Baylor’s loss was easily the most embarrassing as the Bears fell to the Texas State Bobcats at home. The Bears were nearly four-touchdown favorites before LSU and Auburn transfer quarterback TJ Finley lit up the scoreboard.

Elsewhere, the Texas Tech Red Raiders continued their road woes under Joey McGuire. The team fell to Wyoming in double overtime, 35-33. Given its remaining schedule, the loss does not bode well for McGuire’s team. Tech will take on Oregon next in Lubbock.

Let’s examine a few headlines from the day.

Brett McMurphy has Texas returning to Alamo Bowl in latest projections

Brett McMurphy has Texas Tech winning the Big 12 in these projections.

Most of the national media is in agreement that the Texas Longhorns are the favorite to win the Big 12 title this season. Continue reading “Brett McMurphy has Texas returning to Alamo Bowl in latest projections”

Texas HC Steve Sarkisian wants his team to match opponents’ energy

“At some point, you have to hunt. You have to punch back… we have to make sure that (opponents) get our best shot.”

Steve Sarkisian is fed up with losing to lesser teams. The Texas Longhorns’ head football coach indicated its now time for his teams to take games rather than wait for wins to be handed on a platter.

Sarkisian said the following about how his team can approach the 2023 season and the Big 12 schedule.

“At some point, you have to hunt. You have to punch back… we have to make sure that (opponents) get our best shot.”

The Longhorns are certainly the hunted this season. When a team sees all the preseason acclaim and national attention in the conference, it comes with the territory. This time it’s warranted, and its giving ample motivation for opponents to bring upset-caliber performances against Texas. Sarkisian’s team needs to shut them down.

Texas has been passive in Big 12 play in recent season. That cannot happen anymore. It needs to prioritize winning the “Texas state championship,” a phrase Mack Brown once used for beating in-state teams on the schedule. Baylor, Houston, TCU and Texas Tech comprise one-third of the schedule and the majority of animus towards Texas.

How the team fares against the above four could determine the team’s ceiling. Texas will look to shut down potential upset bids as the season kicks off on Saturday.

Could Joey McGuire’s trash talk backfire against Texas?

Joey McGuire is getting a little too comfortable talking about Texas and Oklahoma.

Texas Tech head coach Joey McGuire is talking with plenty of bravado. For a coach who went 7-5 last season with his fair share of two-score losses, the math isn’t adding up.

McGuire’s latest remark questions whether or not Oklahoma and Texas are really blue bloods. He referred to the two teams in the following way to a Texas Tech dominant crowd.

“These so-called bluebloods — and I really question that. One of them’s really good in Olympic sports.”

That Texas team is 16-4 in its last 20 meetings against Texas Tech. It’s the same Texas that is in the top five nationally in all-time wins. It’s the very program that has four more national titles and 32 conference championships to Tech’s 11 conference titles. It’s the Texas that is 54-18 all-time against the west Texas program.

Not long ago, Texas Tech pulled on the heartstrings trying to keep the Longhorns in the same conference. Their reasoning: The Lubbock economy would take a hit. They may have to enjoy the final game of the rivalry taking place in Austin this season.

McGuire is putting a Texas-sized target on his back. The Longhorns will look to respond on Black Friday on Nov. 24.

Big 12 commissioner tells Texas Tech to take care of business vs Texas

If Brett Yormark isn’t openly rooting for Texas Tech against Texas, he has us fooled.

The Big 12 isn’t going to do the Texas Longhorns any favors in 2023. We could have figured as much. Nevertheless, we didn’t expect to hear what seemed like favoritism from Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark. We will let you decide if that’s what we got on Wednesday.

Yormark made strong comments in support of the Red Raiders in a recent speech to Texas Tech faithful. He said the following.

“Coach (Joey McGuire), I’m not going to put any pressure on you, but I’m going to be in Austin on Thanksgiving. And you better take care of business like you did right here in Lubbock last year.”

The quote is an alarming and seemingly partial statement. While it doesn’t mean the league will tip the scales against Texas on the football field, it certainly draws suspicion. Why is a conference commissioner encouraging the head coach of one team in his league to take care of business against another league opponent?

The Big 12 probably won’t do Texas any favors, but the comments make one wonder if the league will maintain impartiality on the field. If all things are equal, the Longhorns could have the last laugh.

Longhorns Wire fall camp Big 12 power rankings

We kick off our 2023 Big 12 power rankings for the upcoming season.

Fall camp is underway across the Big 12. After contemplating what each team brings back we have solid opinions of where each team will land in 2023.

We’ve shared record predictions over the offseason. Relative to each team’s schedule, that gives some idea of what we expect from each team. Even so, sometimes teams are not what their record might indicate.

Texas, Texas Tech and Baylor are due to face among the tougher schedules in the Big 12. We believe the Longhorns are up to the task of facing their opponents, but there upset opportunities seemingly every other week.

Other teams like Oklahoma State face easier schedules. While the Cowboys should be a consistent Big 12 contender in 2024 and beyond it seemingly lost too much this offseason. The record may not show how where the team really is for 2023.

Here’s an initial Big 12 power ranking for the upcoming season.