The Basics

Teams: Texas Tech Red Raiders (6-0, 3-0) vs. Cincinnati Bearcats (4-2, 1-2)
Date & Time: Saturday, October 24th, 2026 @ 11:00 a.m.
Location: Nippert Stadium | Cincinnati, Ohio
TV & Streaming: FS1
Line: Texas Tech -10.5 Open at -11.5

Scott Satterfield is the head coach and play-caller. This is going to be a pro-style offense with a run rate of 55% and a pass rate of 45%. Satterfield will milk the clock a bit and runs a play ever 28.3 seconds. In name, there are two co-offensive coordinators, Pete Thomas and Nic Cardwell. The defensive coordinator is Nate Woody and runs a 3-4 defense (probably with a lot of flexibility) and has a blitz rate of 46.5%. There’s a lot of chatter regarding Woody and Wofford college, which is where a lot of the Texas Tech defensive staff have ties.

The News:

Texas Tech Football: No. 8 Red Raiders look to stay unbeaten at Cincinnati
& Game Notes

Texas Tech football: Texas Tech, Arizona picked for early TV window

Red Raider Sports’ Lane Selph: Joey McGuire sounds off on Big 12’s national perception, Texas Tech’s résumé and College Football Playoff expansion

Lubbock Avalanche-Journal’s Don Williams: Texas Tech football’s Shiel Wood ready for matchup with his mentor

Red Raider Sports’ L. Jordan: Mack Leftwich Breaks Down Texas Tech’s Best Offensive Game

Oregon State Watch: The Beavers rolled Washington State, 48-30 and the Beavers now sit at 5-2 with the only 2 losses to very good teams in Texas Tech and Houston. I am writing this on Sunday morning, but hope that the cowards at the AP and coaches start ranking the Beavers. You don’t have to rank Texas.

The Non-Transcript

Head Coach Joey McGuire:

• Want to thank our fans. Had 2 pre-snap penalties, 2 delays, and down by our band and student section. We know how lucky we are to play in front of this fan base.
• Scout Team Players of the Week: Holden Phillips, J.J. Grant, Tristian Gentry.
• Level and I do the radio show and always talks about candy corn, Level is a big Mike Leach guy and he hated candy corn. Level is hanging on to Coach Leach. Candy corn is a great candy.
• Talked to our staff and stay focused. I start looking around and there’s so many people that are losing on a Saturday and going crazy in football. I’ve told our coaches and the players tomorrow: make it about the football. We are not close to the team we can be. It can take away from what we are trying to do. Moving up in the polls and that’s awesome, but we make it about football and this is a Big 12 opponent and a hostile environment. Love going on the road and the 11:00 a.m. kick. Our guys are focused on being the best team in the stadium.
• NIL and revenue share and you can do it legally, I think Ed Orgeron said he can come in the front door rather than the back door, but what you are seeing is more parity in college football, Indiana gets great players and new coaches can take a whole new roster with them. I love it and think it is great for college football and college football fans.
• I want to give our sports psychologist to him, he came in during spring ball and I have an idea about meeting with each group and playing anxiety and focus. We have an older group and maturity on the line, but the psychologist team, they met with the team all summer.
• I am expecting a great environment. I’ve seen a game, I flew up to scout a football game, have seen the stadium, it is a great atmosphere and built right in their campus. They are 8-2 at home, rushing for 231 yards a game on average, when you can rush the ball then you have a great advantage of winning that game. Can shorten the clock. Really good on the offensive line. Have 3 players on different watch lists and 3 of them have NFL grades. They have a veteran quarterback and he operates their offense.
• It is awesome, all 3 linebackers have a pick-6, great for Ben Roberts to join that. That’s as good a crew in the country.
• I think a guy who is a great example, Skyler Gill-Howard, Tahj Brooks looks incredible, and he’s a Texan, but Skyler Gill-Howard put out on social media that he loves Lubbock and it says so much about the fans and the culture. Kirby has pushed that it is your obligation to have them feel like they belong. I think Tahj and KP went to eat on Thursday night. I’ve said it 100 times, I get a text after the game on Mahomes after every game.
• I know that Oregon State should get some votes for Top 25, they are a good team and are boat racing people. Houston and Oklahoma State was an incredible game. Big match-up with Houston @ Utah, says a lot about the Big 12. Some networks want to push a narrative. You start hearing what we’ve said that the Big 12 is the most competitive, and now another coach in another conference says it. This is a really good conference. TCU’s defense is one of the best in the country. I am fired up and great to see our conference get a win over Notre Dame.
• Execution. I didn’t say anything different. Been saying the same thing since game 1. I think we had great energy. Last 2 game weeks, they were our best practices. Credit to our strength and training staff. Getting to games relatively healthy. Not having a lot of guys miss snaps. Guys locked in and executed and made plays. Did their job at a high level. Play-calling wasn’t different. We were trying to get creative ways to get the ball to Malcolm Simmons and Bryson Jones. Put some pressure on defenses.
• As you go, they continue to build chemistry. Kenny Johnson and Coy Eakin are playing at a high level. So impressed by our receivers, made a point with Micah Hudson and Malcolm, the level of blocking was elite. The more and more those guys are together, you give the quarterback room and the timing. will did a good job of getting the ball out of his hands, the best I’ve seen Will play.
• Of we are fortunate enough to stay where we are at and BYU or Utah, and 2 teams in the Big 12 Championship are undefeated then both should be in the playoffs. I thought BYU should be in last year. Hopefully we don’t have to worry about it with 24.
• Both will see a lot of similarities, has the student become the master. Coach Woody is phenomenal with what he does. You have Teachy who is a Wofford guy along with Rob Greene. When we are in the 3-down stuff we are more similar, but we have morphed into 4-down stuff and you see a lot more odd stuff from Cincinnati. Terminology, they may know what to expect from each other. They are both very proud of their defense in what they do and will go at each other. They are such good friends. I talked to Coach Woody, he wasn’t ready to leave Army, but we wanted him to be co-DC.
• So excited for Stone Harrington, he’s such a great kicker. That starts because Kenny Perry is crazy. That dynamic in that room is fun, their room is by my office. Will Karrol is very funny, Stone missed the extra point and they play off each other and different specialists in the country. They are always a lot of fun, Garrett was a deep snapper and have a lot of love for specialists in their world.
• You hear so much criticism, we are criticizing the world we used to live in, I love college football, but that world is not there any more. So many people opting out of bowl games, and teams chose not to play in a bowl. I go back to high school. I did not care who I played in non-conference. We scheduled at a high level, it didn’t matter. We could get better non-conference games of believing in the narrative last year, last year Texas got beat by Ohio state, so they didn’t get in. If I get home field for 2 rounds, the regular season becomes incredibly important. All conferences went down to the last week of who would be where. It depends on the narrative. I believe that Texas should have been in the playoffs, 13th team, and Notre Dame should have been in, the 14th team. It would have been Houston vs. Texas and the winner would have come to Lubbock Texas. That would be a cool game to play.
• Dante Lee tore his ACL, it was non-contact, you can’t see where his foot gets stuck. It was a strange injury and be out for the season.

AI summary the two coordinators:

• Defensive Coordinator Sheil Wood
  Mentorship & Connection to Cincinnati: Coach Wood expressed profound respect for Cincinnati’s defensive coordinator, Nate Woody, calling him a mentor who was instrumental in his coaching career [28:57]. He discussed their shared history going back to Wofford College [28:51].
• Defensive Growth and Consistency: Wood highlighted that his defense is steadily improving each week [29:41]. He emphasized that the unit does not change its core identity week-to-week (“we’re not a flavor of the week defense”), preferring to stick to fundamental calls, sound leverage, and proper read-and-react techniques [35:59].
• The “Pick Six” Streak: Addressing the string of interceptions returned for touchdowns by the linebackers (including John Curry and Ben Roberts), Wood noted that being in the right position and maintaining rush-and-coverage integrity allows the ball to find them [34:16, 34:57].
• Scouting Cincinnati’s Offense: Wood praised head coach Scott Satterfield’s offensive philosophy, noting that Cincinnati runs the ball exceptionally well (ranking high nationally in rushing), takes care of the football, and uses effective play-action, bootlegs, and zone-read schemes to put stress on the defense [31:31, 33:03].
• Offensive Coordinator Mack Leftwich
  Evaluation of the Arizona State Performance: Leftwich called the previous game the offense’s best performance of the season [50:56], highlighting great energy, effort, and strain [50:59]. However, he noted that the challenge now is to stack consecutive strong performances [52:26].
• Offensive Line Play: He praised the offensive line’s improvement, particularly Jordan Church for playing “nasty” and straining on blocks, as well as Cash Cleveland who competed hard despite being sick all week [52:59].
• Quarterback Play & Will’s Development: Leftwich was very pleased with quarterback Will’s composure, decision-making, and execution [53:44]. He noted that Will’s growth and mental confidence—especially trusting his physical health and knee after returning quickly—have been crucial [54:39].
• Challenging Defensive Matchup vs. Cincinnati: Looking ahead, Leftwich described Cincinnati’s defense as very aggressive and high-blitzing, noting that they do an excellent job disguising coverages and require precise communication from the offensive line and quarterback [51:36].

The Ride:

This Week in the Big 12 & National Games of the Week

Big 12 Game of the Week: Houston and Utah is the game of the week nationally and if you care about where these dumb Saturday morning shows go, one of them should be in Salt Lake City (I typed this on Sunday morning and yes, College Game Day will be in SLC).

West Virginia @ TCU 10/24 @ 11:00 am on ESPN2
Texas Tech @ Cincinnati 10/24 @ 11:00 am on FS1
Baylor @ Kansas 10/24 @ 12:00 pm on TNT
BYU @ UCF 10/24 @ 2:30 pm on FOX
Kansas State @ Arizona State 10/24 @ 2:45 pm on ESPN2
Colorado @ Oklahoma State 10/24 @ 6:00 pm on FS1
Iowa State @ Arizona 10/24 @ 6:30 pm on ESPN2
Houston @ Utah 10/24 @ 9:15 on ESPN

National Games of the Week: The best game of the week is a Big 12 game. It’s not even close.

Iowa @ Minnesota 10/24 @ 2:30 on FS1
LSU @ Auburn 10/24 @ 11:00 am on ABC
Ole Miss @ Texas 10/24 @ 6:30 pm on ABC
USC @ Wisconsin 10/24 @ 6:30 pm on NBC

Education

The Art of Playing Receiver (Deep Dive)