On the Gridiron
Good Guys: Texas Tech Red Raiders (4-0, 1-0)
Bad Guys: Houston Cougars (4-0, 1-0)
Where: TDECU Stadium | Houston, Texas
When: Saturday, October 4th @ 6:00 pm
TV & Streaming: ESPN
Radio: The Varsity Network
The Line: Texas Tech -12.5
Game Notes: Texas Tech | Houston
Weather Report: Sunny, High 91, Low 74
Lubbock Avalanche-Journal’s Nathan Giese previews and predicts today’s game:
Texas Tech 30, Houston 17: While the teams have identical records and each had iffy non-conference schedules, Texas Tech proved it can make hay on the road, and, no disrespect to the Cougar faithful, but Houston’s homefield advantage pales in comparison to what Utah brought to the table.
Lubbock Avalanche-Journal’s Don Williams made an open records request to find out what players have multi-year deals as Joey McGuire said after the Utah game that Will Hammond has.
In September, Tech responded to an open-records request from the Avalanche-Journal that asked for a breakdown of the number of players on one-year, two-year, three-year, and four-year or longer NIL revenue-sharing contracts. Tech said 97 players are on one-year agreements and none are on three-year, four-year, or longer deals.
Lubbock Avalanche-Journal’s Don Williams on special teams coach Kenny Perry who played at Houston:
“I was a highly, highly rated running back coming out of high school,” Perry said this week, tongue in cheek. “So highly that the second week I was there, Coach (Jack) Pardee moved me to defensive back, so I was a defensive back my four years there.”
ESPN’s Bill Connelly on the biggest games this weekend:
Willie Fritz lost defensive coordinator Shiel Wood to Tech, but the UH defense has been even better with replacement Austin Armstrong. But the Conner Weigman-led offense remains a work in progress. The Coogs go three-and-out nearly 39% of the time (124th), and that will probably be their downfall in this one. But if the defense sets up some easy scoring opportunities, this one quickly moves into “upset watch” territory.
Current line: Tech -10.5 (down from -12.5 on Sunday) | SP+ projection: Tech by 13.9 | FPI projection: Tech by 7.0
ESPN’s Max Olson with the defensive stop rate of every program and Texas Tech is 3rd (Houston is 15th):
Texas Tech checks in at No. 3 thanks to coach Joey McGuire’s efforts to totally overhaul his defense this offseason. McGuire hired Shiel Wood away from Houston to repair a unit that ranked 94th in stop rate and last in passing yards allowed. The Red Raiders spent millions to assemble one of the best defensive lines in the country and are rolling with seven new starters acquired via the portal. Four games in, 35 points of the 45 points they’ve allowed have been in garbage time at the end of blowouts.
CBS Sports’ Chris Hummer with predictions of this week’s games:
Hummer (Texas Tech -10.5): I enter this game wondering if Houston can score enough to keep up with Texas Tech. The Cougars are better on that side of the ball but still rank just 86th nationally in yards per play and 116th in offensive success rate. That could be a problem against what’s been an elite Texas Tech defense and an offensive unit capable of putting up points in bunches. Houston’s defense keeps this game close for a while, but Texas Tech is going to be tough to beat coming out of a bye week. — Texas Tech 28, Houston 17.
On the Pitch
Texas Tech soccer downed Oklahoma State 4-0 on Thursday night as Texas Tech dominated in every respect, 20 shots on goal to just 3 for the Cowgirls. The 4 goals came from Peyton Parsons, Macy Blackburn, Taylor Zdrojewski, and Millie Elwood. The Red Raiders will host No. 21 Kansas on Sunday afternoon, first touch at 1:00 p.m.
On the Net
Texas Tech volleyball fell 3-1 to RV Iowa State. These ladies will be back at it against No. 12 TCU on Saturday.
On the Hardwood
Head coach Grant McCasland joins Matt Brune and Jamie Shaw on the Dimes, a college basketball podcast.