Texas Tech football: Finally, Red Raiders win a game that they should have lost
Over the past decade or so, it has been rare for the Texas Tech football team to pull out victories in games in which they are outplayed, games that they should have lost. However, that’s exactly what Joey McGuire’s team did on Saturday with a 33-30 double-overtime win over Houston.
Usually, the narrative has been Tech being the team that loses games it should win.
Think back to the Texas game in 2020 when Tech blew a two-touchdown lead in the final three minutes thanks in large part to the infamous “sky kick” that then head coach Matt Wells ordered up in the fourth quarter. Or how about in 2019, when the Red Raiders came within a botched fumble call of beating Baylor in Waco before falling 33-30 in double-overtime?
Though the Big 12 officiating crew royally jobbed the Red Raiders in the first overtime that day, Tech had opportunities to win the game in regulation. In fact, that afternoon, Tech kicked three field goals and threw an interception on four drives that penetrated the Baylor 25 leaving a possible 19 points off the board.
Remember the 2017 overtime loss to Kansas State? That day, Tech missed a 31-yard FG in the 4th quarter when leading by eight points to give the Wildcats new life in a game that KSU would win 42-35 in overtime.
A year earlier, the Red Raiders battled their way to a 45-44 deficit at No. 13 Oklahoma State needing only an extra-point try to knot the game with 1:44 to play only to have the kick miss the mark. You get the point. Tech has had a long history of losing important games that it should have won, not winning games it should have lost.
That’s a sign of a program that’s in ill health. It is an indictment of the culture within the locker room as losing seems to permeate every aspect of a team and becomes contagious.
It will be interesting to see if the win over Houston on Saturday proves to be a springboard for the Red Raiders or just an anomaly. Certainly, it is a potentially positive step forward as McGuire tries to change the attitude inside the football building and around Raiderland.
"“I mean that’s how we win football games,” McGuire said when asked about his team’s composure, “but our team’s number one rule is don’t beat yourself, you know, and that’s huge. I mean, especially, we talked all week about, you know, not making this about football and not getting caught up in things that they could try to get you caught up in. I thought that our guys really responded. If we stay on that side to where we’re winning the penalty battle and winning the ‘don’t beat yourself, we’re going to win a lot of those football games.”"
So let’s take a look at just how remarkable this victory proved to be by not only examining why Tech should have lost but also by understanding how McGuire’s squad pulled it off.