Texas Tech football: 5 games Red Raider fans should watch in week one
Who will Texas Tech fans root for in Deion Sanders’ debut at Colorado?
It isn’t a stretch to say that almost all Texas Tech football fans dislike TCU. However, the Frogs open the season against one of the most polarizing personalities in college football, Deion Sanders, who makes his Colorado debut in Fort Worth on Saturday. Will Tech fans pull for the brash and cocky Sanders to pull the upset or will they want to see the Frogs serve him some humble pie after an offseason of huge talk and bravado in Boulder?
This is a matchup of completely rebuilt teams. Many of the stars of TCU’s Cinderella run to last season’s National Championship Game have departed but the Frogs have hit the transfer portal in a big way bringing in a number of fresh faces from high-profile programs. Still, replacing eight 2022 NFL Draft picks will be a challenge for Sonny Dykes.
Meanwhile, Sanders essentially kicked over two-thirds of his roster to the curb after Colorado’s spring game. Bringing in a whopping 51 transfers, he is attempting an unprecedented overhaul the likes of which college football has never seen.
Still, it is hard to imagine a team that went just 1-11 in 2022 transforming into a bowl team just 12 months later. That’s not realistic and there’s also the question of whether a team featuring 60 new faces can gel and develop the type of collective mentality that football requires of winning programs.
The QB showdown in this game will be fascinating. Sanders’ son Shedur will get the start for the Buffs after playing at Jackson State the past two years. Is he ready to be a major-conference QB?
Meanwhile, Chandler Morris will get another shot to start for TCU after a week-one injury cost him his starting job in 2022. Living up to the expectations that are now in place in Fort Worth, especially at QB where Max Duggan was the Heisman Trophy runner-up last year, will be tough for Morris. Is he going to be as good as Duggan was, especially with the intangibles?
This game should go the way of the Frogs. They have a better roster and a full year under Dykes’ guidance. However, Colorado is going to be one of the most fascinating teams to watch all season and that’s why many Red Raider fans will be tunned in to this game on Saturday.