Tag: Tyler Shough

‘He’s an NFL QB;’ Texas Tech coach Joey McGuire talks Bo Nix, Dan Lanning, and the Ducks

Texas Tech head coach Joey McGuire had some glowing things to say about Bo Nix and the Oregon offense ahead of Saturday’s game.

The Texas Tech Red Raiders have a lot to prove this weekend when they host the No. 13 Oregon Ducks in Lubbock for their home opener. Joey McGuire and his squad didn’t get off to the best start in Week 1, blowing a 17-point lead and losing to the Wyoming Cowboys in double-overtime.

Texas Tech had high expectations going into the season, being picked to finish fourth in the Big 12 this year. Despite the season-opening loss, they still have those high expectations, and they hope to get things back on track this week with a statement win against an Oregon team that put 81 points on the board in the first week of the season.

On Monday, McGuire met with media members to preview the matchup, talk about his team, and go into detail on what it is about the Ducks that makes them such a team. Here are some of the most notable quotes from his press conference when talking about Oregon:

Texas Tech head coach to officiate wedding of Red Raiders’ quarterback Tyler Slough

Texas Tech head coach Joey McGuire is going to get an unique opportunity with his QB1 next April.

Few relationships in sports are more vital to success than the relationship between a football head coach and their quarterback. For Texas Tech head coach Joey McGuire and quarterback Tyler Shough that relationship is stronger than most.

During Big 12 Media Days, McGuire talked about becoming a wedding officiant and having already married two former players. Now he’ll be adding a third player to that list. McGuire will be officiating the wedding between Shough and his girlfriend in April.

During his availability to the media, Shough discussed how the idea came up for him and his fiance, “It was really kind of a spur of the moment, where I was like, oh my God, we should just get him to do it,” the Red Raiders signal-caller said. “We asked him about it, and he was, like, broke down. He was super happy. It was really cool.”

For Texas Tech, the story is perhaps another feather in the cap of how personable and well-liked by his players, head coach Joey McGuire is. While the Red Raiders have had a large amount of hype built around the program this spring, McGuire has also become known for being a relationship-driven head coach.

Shough transferred to Texas Tech prior to the 2021 season after spending three years with Oregon. McGuire joined him shortly after being hired by Texas Tech in November of 2021.

The Red Raiders enter the 2023 season looking to follow up their first eight-win season since 2013. They were picked by the Big 12 media to finish fourth in the conference in this year’s preseason poll.

Dillon Gabriel among On3 Sports top 5 Big 12 Heisman contenders

Dillon Gabriel was included in On3 Sports top five Big 12 Heisman contenders.

Ahead of the 2023 season, expectations are sky-high for the Oklahoma Sooners. And that includes returning quarterback Dillon Gabriel.

On3 Sports’ Jesse Simonton took a look at the top five Heisman contenders in the Big 12 in 2023, and Gabriel came in at No. 2. Gabriel was behind Red River Rival Quinn Ewers at Texas

Some other names on the list are Kansas State QB Will Howard, Texas Tech QB Tyler Shough, and TCU QB Chandler Morris.

Here’s what Simonton had to say about Gabriel:

Dillion Gabriel actually finished second in the Big 12 in passing (3,168 yards) despite missing most of the TCU game and the entire blowout against Texas with a concussion.

The UCF transfer had 31 total touchdowns and just six picks in 2022, and if Gabriel can stay healthy this fall and led the Sooners back to the top of the standings in the Big 12 then he could find himself in the mix for an invite to NYC in December.  – Simonton, On3

It’s easy to see why Gabriel is so high on this list. He has the most experience and is coming off a pretty solid individual season, helping lead the nation’s No. 13 offense and 32nd-ranked scoring offense despite missing a game and a half due to a concussion.

He also put up pretty good stats throwing for 3,168 yards, 25 touchdowns and only six interceptions.

Those numbers should improve in Gabriel’s third year in Jeff Lebby’s offense and second year at Oklahoma.

The one thing he did struggle with is consistency and, more importantly, accuracy at times. There were times Gabriel was pinpoint accurate throughout a game, and then there were times he’d miss some throws that left fans scratching their heads.

He completed 62.7 percent of his passes in 2023. For the Sooners to be Big 12 and national title contenders, that completion percentage needs to get above 65%.

It won’t be an easy task after losing star wide receiver Marvin Mims, running back Eric Gray, tight end Brayden Willis, and three starting offensive linemen.

But with the addition of five-star Jackson Arnold waiting in the wing, the hope is Gabriel’s rushing ability will be unleashed more in 2023 than last season.

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Post spring Big 12 quarterback rankings for 2023

Where each of the 14 QBs rank for the Big 12 following spring ball.

We’re moving onto the Big 12 in our post-spring rankings series. There are plenty of gunslingers to highlight as we march toward the 2023 college football season.

Dillion Gabriel of Oklahoma and Quinn Ewers of Texas look to lead their team to the Big 12 Championship game before the Sooners and Longhorns head to the SEC. Both have five-star backups ready to get an opportunity if either has injury concerns in 2023. Texas has the Manning family scion, Arch. While the Sooners took top Texas quarterback Jackson Arnold.

Oklahoma and Texas will command plenty of the headlines while the remaining 12 teams look to send them out of the conference on a sour note. Kansas State returns Will Howard, who led them to the conference title a year ago. TCU will start Chandler Morris again, hoping he can stay healthy this time.

Check out our initial power rankings for the Big 12 quarterbacks with spring football all wrapped up.

Ranking the top 10 quarterbacks in the Big 12 during the 2022 season

Breaking down Big 12 quarterback rankings based on their passing grades through the 2022 college football regular season.

The Big 12 Conference has been known for its passing offenses over the better part of the last two decades.

The Texas Tech Red Raiders, Oklahoma Sooners, and Oklahoma State Cowboys have led the way with such passers as Landry Jones, Graham Harrell, and Mason Rudolph. The three are among the top four passers in the conference’s history. The Red Raiders produced three of the top 10 passers, while Oklahoma and Texas have produced two apiece.

With the 2022 college football regular season in the history books, Sooners Wire is diving into the numbers for the quarterbacks. Which passer from each Big 12 team led the way and where do they rank among their peers?

We used PFF’s passing grades to rank the signal callers, each quarterback needed at least 150 dropbacks to qualify.

Report Card: Sooners defense can’t hold up in finale vs. Texas Tech

Oklahoma’s defense was unable to get stops at the end as the Sooners fell 51-48 to Texas Tech. From @thatmanbryant

With an opportunity to solidify themselves above .500, Oklahoma traveled to Lubbock, Texas to take on the Texas Tech Raiders. Texas Tech took the first couple of punches from the Sooners on the chin before fighting their way back into the game. The game would eventually go to overtime, where a missed Zach Schmit field goal would lead to Texas Tech kicking the game-winner for a 51-48 victory to leave the Sooners at 6-6 for the regular season.

It was far from a horrible performance for the team as a whole, but it followed a similar script we’ve seen too many times this year. Oklahoma came out on fire before they eased up and let the other team back in the game.

The offense did a magnificent job from the opening snap, while the defense and special teams left a bit to be desired.

Here’s our report card from the Sooners’ loss to Texas Tech.

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Oklahoma Sooners defense backslides in loss to Texas Tech

It was a performance similar to those Big 12 losses earlier in the season as the Oklahoma Sooners fail to get enough stops against Texas Tech. From @john9williams

In three of their last four games, the Oklahoma Sooners looked to be making progress on the defensive side of the football. The Baylor game was the last performance where the Oklahoma defense really struggled.

Like the offense did a week ago, the defense played great for a quarter. But Oklahoma’s defense couldn’t sustain that dominance, and Texas Tech scored 51 points over the final three quarters and the first overtime to send the Sooners back to Norman with a loss.

After a strong performance a week ago against Oklahoma State, where they came up with key stops and turnovers to prevent the Cowboys from forging a comeback, Oklahoma’s defense couldn’t find the key plays to get off the field consistently in this game.

The defense allowed 599 total yards of offense. Tyler Shough torched Oklahoma all night, throwing for a career-high 436 yards and two touchdowns. His previous career high of 399 passing yards came in 2021 against Florida International.

The Sooners were just mentioned in the same light as Florida International.

They held the Texas Tech running game to 3.6 yards per carry, but the Red Raiders were good enough to sustain drives and take pressure off of Shough. According to Pro Football Focus, the Sooners’ defense only had Shough under pressure on 18 of his 55 dropbacks in the game.

A week after registering six sacks against the Cowboys, the Sooners were only able to sack Shough one time in the loss. Texas Tech was allowing more than three sacks per game coming into the contest. Oklahoma’s pass rush wasn’t good, and the coverage wasn’t much better.

Shough was able to complete 61% of his passes beyond 10 yards or more for 273 yards and 2 touchdowns. On throws of 20 yards or more, he was 3 of 6 for 102 yards and a touchdown.

The difference this week vs. last week, Oklahoma couldn’t get off the field on third or fourth down consistently enough. Texas Tech was 9 of 19 for a 47% conversion rate. Against Oklahoma State, the Sooners held the Cowboys to 7 of 24 on money downs. A conversion rate of just 29.1%. That’s a vast difference.

The defense wasted a strong offensive performance from Dillon Gabriel, Marvin Mims, Eric Gray, Theo Wease, and Brayden Willis. That side of the ball wasn’t perfect and the coaching staff left some points on the board, but Oklahoma should be able to win a game in which their offense scores 48 points.

It’s not good enough. Brent Venables and the defense have a lot of soul-searching to do in the wake of the loss.

Here’s a look at some of the best photos from Oklahoma’s loss to Texas Tech.

 

Oklahoma Sooners fall 51-48 in OT to Texas Tech Red Raiders

The Oklahoma Sooners lost to the Texas Tech Red Raiders in overtime on a field goal from Trey Wolff. From @bendackiw

The long, neverending nightmare that is the 2022 season for the Oklahoma Sooners got a little worse in the final game of the regular season. The Sooners lost to the Texas Tech Red Raiders 51-48 after leading 14-0 in the first quarter and 24-6 in the second.

In the final seconds of regulation, Texas Tech lined up for the game-tying field goal. Brent Venables decided to ice the Texas Tech kicker. Venables called his timeout, but Texas Tech snapped the ball. The play proceeded as normal. OU blocked the kick.

No matter.

Since Venables called timeout, the play didn’t count. Trey Wolff did not miss his second attempt. After Oklahoma kicker Zach Schmitt missed his field goal on the opening possession of overtime and Wolff hit his attempt to give the Red Raiders their first win against OU in a decade.

There were over 1200 yards of total offense in this game. Jeff Lebby, for the most part, called an excellent game, and Dillon Gabriel looked phenomenal. The southpaw had a career-high six touchdowns on the night. Gabriel threw for 449 yards and six touchdowns.

Texas Tech’s secondary could not defend the deep ball, and Marvin Mims, Theo Wease, and Jalil Farooq all took advantage. The Sooners’ talented trio of pass-catchers each burned the Red Raiders downfield. Mims finished a yard shy of setting a new career-high in yards with his five-catch, 162-yard first-half outburst. After a dominant performance in the first 30 minutes, Mims didn’t have a reception in the second half. Wease stepped up to set a new career-high in yards with 123 yards and a touchdown on three receptions. Brayden Willis got in on the action as well, with seven receptions for 74 yards and a touchdown.

But the strong offensive performance was let down by another poor performance from the Oklahoma Sooners defense.

After last week’s phenomenal effort against Oklahoma State, the defense looked dreadful. There always seemed to be one Texas Tech receiver open downfield. Down the stretch in the fourth quarter, the pass rush got no push. Another quarterback that started the season as a backup sliced and diced the OU defense.

This time, it was Tyler Shough’s turn. Shough threw for 436 yards and two touchdowns and added 44 yards rushing, taking advantage of wide-open space in the scramble drill to kill Oklahoma’s defense. Texas Tech gained 599 total yards and converted 7 of 17 third downs and both of their fourth down attempts.

It was just an incredibly frustrating and, quite frankly, deserved loss. The Sooners did not deserve to win this game. They had their chance to bury Tech, much like they could have buried Oklahoma State, and they couldn’t.

OU will finish the season 6-6 and 8th in the Big 12.

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Oklahoma Sooners at Texas Tech Red Raiders: Sooners Wire staff predictions

The Oklahoma Sooners look to finish Brent Venables’ first conference season on a high note as they travel to face the Red Raiders. Sooners Wire Staff predictions.

The Oklahoma Sooners (6-5 and 3-5) will go on the road to take on the Texas Tech Red Raiders (6-5, 4-4) in primetime.

Coming off of their best defensive performance of the season, this week looks like another challenge for [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag] and Ted Roof’s defense. The Red Raiders can put up some points and have thrown for a lot of yards in 2022.

[autotag]Spencer Sanders[/autotag] threw for 381 yards a week ago, but the Oklahoma defense came through in clutch situations to force turnovers and make stops to force the Cowboys into kicking situations.

Going on the road against Joey McGuire’s Red Raiders hasn’t been easy for anyone in 2022. Texas Tech is 5-1 in the friendly confines of Jones AT&T Stadium this season. On the road, they’re just 1-4. The Sooners are 2-2 in true road games but lost their most recent outing in Morgantown to West Virginia.

Lubbock isn’t an easy place to play, and Oklahoma will have to overcome a raucous crowd Saturday night.

Up Next: Sooners Wire Staff Predictions

Pages: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4

By the Numbers: Oklahoma travels to Lubbock to face Texas Tech

Who holds the statistical edge in Oklahoma’s primetime matchup with the Texas Tech Red Raiders? From @john9williams

The Oklahoma Sooners’ defense has been trending in a positive direction for about a month now. Though their performance against Baylor wasn’t all that impressive, the Bears’ offense was aided by three interceptions and several short fields on their way to 38 points and the win.

On defense, Oklahoma played well against Iowa State, West Virginia, and Oklahoma State, and the Sooners will need them to play well again on Saturday night if they want to come out of Lubbock with a win.

The Sooners hold a 23-6 edge in the historical matchup and have won 10 in a row dating back to 2012.

Unlike previous years, this Texas Tech team has had a revolving door at quarterback with Donovan Smith, Behren Morton, and Tyler Shough each getting starts. Shough has recently stepped in to start at quarterback with an injury. Shough was named the starter in the preseason, but injuries led to Smith taking over before Joey McGuire inserted Morton into the lineup.

Back healthy, the Red Raiders have gone back to Shough, who’s expected to start for Tech this Saturday night in Norman.

Oklahoma’s had more stability at the quarterback position, but over the last month, [autotag]Dillon Gabriel[/autotag] has struggled to find consistency. Over the last four games, Gabriel’s completing just 57.8% of his passes for 214.5 passing yards per game, and has thrown five touchdowns and four interceptions. He’s also rushed for 37 yards per game and two touchdowns during that stretch, but he’ll have to find more efficiency throwing the football than he has in the last month.

The Sooners need their starting quarterback to rebound from the final three quarters against Oklahoma State, where he was just 6 of 22.

On paper, this looks like a fairly even matchup, but let’s take a look at the two sides in our weekly “By the Numbers” preview.