Texas Tech is off to a 4-1 start, the best start to a season in over a decade. Tech built momentum with a 3-0 homestand, capped with a thrilling win over Cincinnati.
The Red Raiders now take the show on the road for the second time this season and first time since a no-show in Pullman against Washington State. This time, they get another crack at a longtime Pac 12 school on the road deep into the night, except it’s a newly-minted Big 12 opponent in Arizona.
“The second time this year that we’ve had what they used to call the Pac 12 after midnight, or whatever it is, it’s going to be a late game,” head coach Joey McGuire said Monday. “The guys are in good state of mind. We have a lot of confidence right now, and got an opportunity to go 1-0 in the Big 12, and that’s what we’re going to try to do.”
The Red Raiders have not been good away from Jones AT&T Stadium under McGuire. During his tenure, Tech is sitting with a 3-9 record on the road.
Searching for an answer, McGuire has visited with Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell, Texas Tech basketball head coach Grant McCasland, and many others in the past. But this week, it’s about reflection on how Tech was able to find wins in those three games.
“So this morning in our staff meeting, I pulled up the last three years of our plan to win, and so the games that we’ve won, Iowa State, Kansas and Baylor,” McGuire said. “I’m gonna be captain obvious, but we’re winning the plan to win, and we’re winning it decisively...I mean, good football has to travel. And the losses that we’ve had, and every one of them, we’ve either not won a single one of the plan to win, or we’ve been one of seven in the plan to win. And so we gotta go back and really focus on ‘Don’t beat ourselves.’”
The Red Raiders will face a massive test against the Wildcats in this weekend’s rekindling of the old-time Border Conference rivalry. Arizona’s quarterback-wide receiver duo, one that has plenty of chemistry in Noah Fifita and Tetairoa McMillan, will be a huge focus for Tech.
“We’re facing a quarterback that is really good. He’s very mobile. We have struggled with that, and so we’re gonna have to do a good job of keeping him in the pocket. It’s gonna be tough, because he does a great job of his feet prolonging plays,” McGuire said. “They have probably the best, one of the best, if not the best, wide receiver in college football, McMillan. They have a great chemistry together. They were high school teammates, and they chose to go to Arizona together, and they chose to stay. And you can tell they have great chemistry.”
Texas Tech is hopeful to get back lead corner Bralyn Lux for the matchup, which would help the struggling Tech secondary reel in McMillan this weekend in Tucson.
“We could go into a lot of it, we could sit up here for two hours and talk about the things that we are not doing on defense,” McGuire said. “It is extremely frustrating. And I learned this a long time ago, but insanity is continuing to do the same thing over and over and expecting different results. And so hopefully we are going to be more physical receivers this week.”
Tech and Arizona will meet for the second time since 1990 on Saturday, kicking off at 10 p.m. on FOX.
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