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Will there ever be a quiet day on the Texas Tech front? It seems like it is always something. Veteran NFL beat-writer John McClain tweeted the following (this is a screenshot because I don’t want to give them clicks) by ProFootball Talk and the article is actually written by a David Michael Smith who appears to be one of those serial content generators. Just writing stories to write stories, probably using AI and definitely writing to create clicks. It’s quantity over quality.

This prompted a response from long-time Texas Tech SID Matt Dowdy:

This story & headline have been updated to reflect @JoeyMcGuireTTU‘s full quote.

It’s disappointing @ProFootballTalk just deleted its original post and updated the story without acknowledging the misleading error to its 1.9 million followers on X alone.https://t.co/TkrhK6k4zL

— Matt Dowdy (@Matt_Dowdy) August 26, 2026

Of course it is frustrating and of course it’s not accurate. It is the reason why you should be so thankful for the beat-writers who do cover Texas Tech so well. I think that the Red Raider Sports’ folks sort of blend fandom with reporting, but their reporting is always accurate. Don Williams and Nathan Giese are as solid as the day as are the folks at Inside the Red Raider.

I also try to be accurate, but I always want to remind you that I’m not a reporter. I don’t want to be one and don’t want to be held to the standards of what a reporter should do. McClain is taking a ton of heat for this, but he didn’t actually write the article. He just tweeted it out and that’s what got so much traction. There’s lots of people that are telling McClain to apologize, but that means that also didn’t bother to really read who actually wrote it. Sometimes it pays to dig just a little bit.

Meanwhile, in Ft. Worth, they have banned the Star-Telegram for reporting on an incident regarding two players. Player A supposedly sucker-punched Player B. The Star-Telegram reported that Player A assaulted a player, but not name Player B specifically. Player B then posted on Instagram that he was assaulted and at that time the Star-Telegram reported about Player B. TCU alleged that because the Star-Telegram reported about this entire situation that death threats were received by one of the players (I’m not totally sure who that player is). It would seem that Player A received the death threats for assaulting another player (but again, I really don’t know, hence the use of pseudonyms, but regardless the actions of the players is what caused all of this, not the reporting. It has also been pointed out that Amon G. Carter is a Red Raider, and his name bears the name of TCU’s stadium and started the Star-Telegram. The irony of it all.

On the Pitch

Texas Tech soccer hosts Pepperdine RV today and fans are encouraged to wear red today.

MATCHUP: RV/No. 16 Texas Tech (2-0-1) vs. RV/NR Pepperdine (2-0-1)
DATE: Thursday, Aug. 27, 2026
TIME: 7 p.m.
LOCATION: Lubbock, Texas (John Walker Soccer Complex)

On the Gridiron

Red Raider Sports’ Lane Selph on the commitment of former Florida State quarterback Thomas Castellanos to Texas Tech. Castellanos has one year of eligibility and would seemingly be insurance in case Will Hammond is injured. I suppose this allows Castellanos time to learn the playbook and be ready to “break glass in case of emergency”.

Rivals’ Steve Wiltfong on No. 1 player in the 2027 class Jalen Brewster re-committing to his commitment to Texas Tech over LSU:

“The way they run their program, how they were underdogs and nobody thought they would make it this far. It was me looking for a program where I can be a better self and have a great circle around me and make it to the next level.”

ESPN has the top 100 players in college football this year:

#98: OLB Adam Trick
#94: LB Ben Roberts
#83: OLB Trey White
#66: TE Terrance Carter, Jr.
#27: CB Brice Pollock
#25: DT A.J. Holmes, Jr.

Mic’d up with Jacob Ponton:

Offensive line coach Clay McGuire and tight ends coach Josh Cochran media scrum. McGuire said that the main back-ups that could play are Cash Cleveland, Pat McMath, Danny Sill, D’Anthis Upshaw and then young guys Elias Gillen and Felix Ojo.