Texas Tech can beat any team left on its schedule and 8 wins are not out of the possibility
The benefit of playing OU to open Big 12 play is that the inevitable beating that is the every-other-year trip to Norman is out of the way early. And now having beaten Oklahoma State, Tech can claim that it has beaten what could be the second-most talented team on its schedule, at least from an individual talent perspective.
The Red Raiders just beat a team featuring the nation’s leading rusher, Chuba Hubbard, and the Big 12’s leading receiver, Tylan Wallace. What’s more, the Cowboys were quarterbacked by 2017 Mr. Texas Football, Spencer Sanders.
That’s nothing to dismiss. And there’s no team left on the schedule that will present that type of firepower. While Baylor has scored tons of points this year and Iowa State still has a formidable defense, what team left on the schedule intimidates Tech fans?
The obvious answer is Texas and there’s no doubt that the Longhorns have a talented roster. But keep in mind that UT beat Oklahoma State by six points in Austin in a game that would have gone OSU’s way had Mike Gundy’s team not had multiple disappointing trips into the red zone. Twice, OSU had to settle for field goals when crossing the UT 20 and once, the Pokes were stopped on a 4th-and-goal play from the UT three-yard-line.
By far, Tech’s 10-point home win over Oklahoma State was more dominant than Texas’. There’s no reason to think that what we’ve seen from UT this year will be anywhere near the level of talent we saw from the Sooners and playing in Austin has not been all that daunting in recent years.
Tech will have the talent necessary to run the table. But that isn’t going to happen. However, if the team we saw on Saturday shows up more often than not, 8 or more wins is far from a fantasy.