Texas Tech football: 3 Red Raiders that must step up against Oregon

Texas Tech QB Tyler Shough can’t make this game a personal vendetta

The top storyline of this game is Tyler Shough facing his old school.  While that is going to be highlighted by the media and the broadcast crews, Shough has to put that out of his mind and just play football as if he was facing any other team.

This shouldn’t be a vendetta game for Shough given that the coaching staff that he played for has moved on and a new staff is in place in Eugene.  What’s more, most of the players Shough was teammates with at Oregon are also no longer on that roster.

Were this game being played at Autzen Stadium where Shough could show off in front of his former fan base, it would be understandable for him to be jacked up and try to do too much.  However, playing in the friendly confines of Jones Stadium should calm the senior QB.

Of course, Shough has to be better this weekend than he was in week one.  He has to be more accurate with the ball, he must be more aware in the pocket, and he has to make the right calls at the line; all areas of struggle for him against Wyoming.

There just isn’t a way to imagine Tech winning this game if Shough isn’t able to at least match his counterpart in effectiveness.  That’s a high bar given how good Nix is but if Shough wants to prove he is an NFL-caliber QB, then he must prove equal to the best players in the nation.

All offseason, we’ve pointed to this as the Tyler Shough vs. Oregon grudge match.  That’s fine for the fans and media to focus on but in reality, Shough has to forget that he’s playing Oregon and just focus on beating the team in the white uniforms this week, regardless of what logo is on their helmets.