Texas Tech football: Game by game predictions for 2020 season

West Virginia – Win

Tech returns to The Jones after the only back-to-back road games on the schedule to face one of the worst teams in the conference, West Virginia.  The Mountaineers were one of only two Big 12 teams that Matt Wells’ team beat last year and they will be one of the ones his team hangs a loss on this fall as well.

It was in the fourth quarter of that loss to Tech in November when the Mountaineers began preparing for 2020 by turning to QB Jarrett Doege, brother of former Red Raider Seth Doege.  Now, the Wolfforth product is the starter this year after closing out last season in that role and there is some optimism that he could be the answer after he engineered wins over TCU and Kansas State.

While Doege will have a decent group of receivers to throw to, the rest of his offense is questionable at best.  In fact, there’s reason to believe that the Big 12’s worst ground game from last year won’t be much better this year after seeing two scholarship transfers at RB.  What’s more, the offensive line is expected to be one of the worst in the Big 12.

On the other side of the ball, the Stills brothers return to lead the D-line after each racked up seven sacks a year ago.  However, WVU will be looking to replace both starting corners, something that is never ideal in the Big 12.

The reality is that WVU is not as talented as Texas Tech, especially with the Red Raiders’ recent influx of talent from the transfer portal.  What’s more, when you look at every position on the field other than the defensive line, Tech looks to have more talent across the board.

The Mountaineers have only lost once in Lubbock, 2012.  That changes this year as the Mountaineers still look to be at least a year away from being a quality program under Neil Brown.  Thus, they will become Tech’s third-straight victim.