Texas Tech football: Why the Texas game still matters

Texas Tech’s seniors deserve to finish with a win

You have to hate that this year’s senior class has the dubious distinction of finishing their careers with four-straight losing seasons.  What’s more, that class has been to only one bowl game.

That’s why this game is meaningful to players like Jordyn Brooks, Broderick Washington, Terrence Steele, Travis Bruffy, and Douglas Coleman.  They have to be looking at this like it is their bowl game and certainly, we all want to see these excellent Red Raiders go out with a win over Texas.

It’s likely that the significance of this senior class will be lost to history.  Given that their careers coincided with the worst stretch the program has seen in over three decades, it’s going to be human nature to dismiss their contributions.

But if Wells is able to right the ship and in a few years we are back to where this program is at a top 25 level, Wells will certainly look fondly on the 2019 seniors.  That’s because during the toughest year of his tenure, his transition year, this group decided to stay with the program and help lead their teammates through a coaching change.

In the modern-day world of college sports, players transfer at an unprecedented rate.  That’s especially true of seniors who utilize the grad transfer portal like NFL free agency.

Certainly, players like Brooks, Washington, Steele, and other seniors would have had plenty of suitors had they decided to enter the portal.  But they stayed with the program and put their love for their university and teammates over their own self-interests.

Though the overall record during their time will not reflect it, Texas Tech football is better off for having this class of seniors come through it.  And it would be satisfying for that group to experience one final win over Texas as they wrap up their Red Raider careers.