On the Pitch

Texas Tech Soccer: Tech climbs into top-20 of national polls

Fresh off a perfect 2-0 week that featured a top-15 win over then No. 13 Colorado, Texas Tech climbed into the top-20 in both the TopDrawerSoccer Top-25 and the IWSOC Top-25. The Red Raiders were ranked No. 16 in the TopDrawer Poll and No.14 in the IWSOC Coaches poll.

On the Gridiron

Red Raider Sports’ L. Jordan on Cash Cleveland returning to Colorado:

He said he’s excited to make the trip back.

“It’s awesome. The environment there is awesome. I’m super excited to get to go up there and play a game and be with this team now. It’s an awesome experience up there, and I’m glad that we’ll get up there and hopefully get a win.”

Also part of this article is lots of quotes from Will Hammond on the interceptions he threw and how he can’t make mistakes.

Red Raider Sports’ Lane Selph on Kenny Perry’s meeting with the media and the punt return issues:

“This week we’re going to do a lot more, just making it where it’s hard on him (Malcolm SImmons) and doing things that he hadn’t, he’s not comfortable doing yet,” Perry said. “If you hadn’t done it before live, it’s hard to do. We’ve practiced it, but just obviously not enough.”

While Perry understands mistakes are going to happen with some of Texas Tech’s younger special teams contributors, he drew a distinction between those growing pains and ball-security mistakes from veteran players.

“It’s not that we’re not playing hard,” Perry said. “But those other guys, return guys, we can’t do that. And those guys are older guys. That stuff’s just not acceptable, and they know that.”

The next episode of What’s Next with Robert Giovannetti and head coach Joey McGuire:

ESPN’s Bill Connelly on what changed in September and he has thoughts on Texas Tech (if Texas Tech wants to go where it wants to go, which is the CFP):

Tech, meanwhile, had its close calls in Weeks 2 and 3 against Oregon State (a 35-24 win) and Houston (28-26) and at least had to put in a longer shift than expected against 4-for-4 overachiever Sam Houston on Saturday. It needed back-to-back pick-sixes from Austin Romaine to lead at halftime (21-14) before finally shifting into gear in the second half. It has alternated between excellence and listlessness all season, and after winning five games by more than 35 points in 2025, it is still waiting for its first in 2026.

Both IU and Tech are still in perfectly solid shape, even if they’re slightly missing the mark. They’re both projected favorites in every remaining regular-season game — including Indiana’s matchup against Ohio State in Bloomington in Week 7 — but if they continue underachieving against projections, Indiana could lose back-to-back games to Nebraska and Ohio State, while Tech could be in danger in any of its trips to Cincinnati, Oklahoma State or Baylor.