Texas Tech football: Why the Texas game still matters

Beating Texas is always important for the Red Raiders

When I was in college, I knew an older gentleman who was a Texas Tech football fan but who hardly cared about any other sport.  Seeing him at work one day, he began talking about how he had gone to the previous night’s Lady Raider game and how fun it was to see them beat Texas.

When I said to him that I was surprised he was a fan of women’s basketball, he said, “I’m not.  But any time we get the chance to beat Texas, even if it’s in team duck racing, I’ll be there.”

That’s a sentiment that most of this fan base carries with it regardless of the stakes that are on the line when the Red Raiders and Longhorns meet.  Independent of the fact that most Texas fans don’t care about beating Tech unless something is on the line, Red Raider fans will celebrate any win over the Longhorns.  After all, this program has only accomplished that feat 17 times in 68 editions of the series.

Thus, nothing Matt Weills could do between now and the start of next year will curry more favor with the fan base than beating Texas.  It will be the last impression we get of his program before a nine-month absence and if there was ever a coach who could stand to benefit from some positivity from his constituency, it would be Wells.

It has always felt like beating Texas, OU, or Texas A&M counted double what wins over the rest of the teams on the schedule did.  Of course, the days of beating the Aggies are likely over for good and beating OU feels like nothing more than a pipe dream on the level of landing a date with Kate Upton.

Thus, the only opportunity Wells has left to score a win that would hold sway in the minds of Tech fans comes on Friday.  If he can finally bring home a signature win, even over a very mediocre Texas team, it will give his program a much-needed boost headed into the offseason.