Texas Tech Football Notebook: McGuire Embraces Expectations

CBS Sports’ Dean Straka writes about his interaction with Texas Tech football head coach Joey McGuire and you’ve heard most of this, but it is nice for a national audience to hear it for sure:

“Here is the deal for me: I understand and can relate to the Red Raiders from the standpoint of that we are going to be tough, we are going to have a chip on our shoulder and we are going to go to work,” McGuire told CBS Sports. “I have that kind of mentality. I’m excited and happy to be there. I think the [fans] have embraced that.”

Athlon Sports predicts the finish of the Big 12 with a prediction that Texas Tech will finish 5th:

Could Texas Tech be this year’s version of TCU and exceed preseason expectations to get to the Big 12 title game? The Red Raiders finished ’22 on a high note by winning their last four games, including a 51-48 shootout against Oklahoma and a 42-25 victory against Ole Miss in the Texas Bowl. Quarterback Tyler Shough returns after a strong finish to ’22, and receiver Jerand Bradley (51 catches for 744 yards) is poised to rank among the best in the Big 12. An offensive line that allowed 41 sacks last year must improve for the Red Raiders to reach the next level on offense. Defense is still a work in progress for coach Joey McGuire, but this unit is experienced (six returning starters) and features two of the Big 12’s top linemen in Jaylon Hutchings and Tony Bradford Jr.

The predicted order of finish:

1. Texas
2. Oklahoma
3. Kansas State
4. TCU
5. Texas Tech
6. Kansas
7. Baylor
8. Oklahoma State
9. UCF
10. Iowa State
11. BYU
12. Cincinnati
13. Houston
14. West Virginia

ESPN’s David Hale ($) ranks all of the quarterbacks and has Tyler Shough in tier 5b, which is low ceiling, high floor and other quarterbacks in that tier is Arizona State’s Drew Pyne, Iowa’s Cade McNamara, Oregon State’s DJ Uiagalelei, Syracuse’s Garrett Shrader, and UCF’s John Rhys Plumlee.

CBS Sports’ Shehan Jeyarajah writes about what the new four Big 12 teams are doing to prepare for Power Five life.

Ed. Note. I am definitely not ignoring Texas Tech baseball’s loss to Florida to end their time in the NCAA Tournament. I followed from afar, mostly busy to the point where I wasn’t in a position to watch games, so it’s difficult for me to criticize. With that being said, I do think that the pitching was an issue at times this year and I think that needs to get better. This is incredibly simplistic and I’m sure that if aces grew on trees, Texas Tech would have a load of them. It is easier said than done. Back to this post, I had enough links to do a football only post, so I did that.

Back To Top