Texas Tech will play much better than last week
Conventional wisdom suggests that teams make their greatest improvements between week one and week two. Texas Tech fans hope that holds true for the Red Raiders today.
The loss to Wyoming was filled with correctable mistakes. Whether it was QB Tyler Shough making the wrong reads, the pass rushers losing their containment lanes, the defensive backs trying to do more than they were asked to do, or the linebackers not filling the correct gaps, mental mistakes were costly for Joey McGuire’s team.
A week of learning and improving should do wonders. That’s why it is likely that we will see a more disciplined effort from the home team tonight.
We also will likely see Tech play harder this week. While it would not be fair to suggest that the Red Raiders didn’t play hard enough in Laramie, it is also fair to suggest that they did not play with as much intensity and urgency as Wyoming did.
Tonight, the Red Raiders will play their tails off. They will lay it all out on the field to try to shock the Ducks.
That was a hallmark of McGuire’s program in 2022. With the exception of last fall’s lone home loss, an ugly showing against Baylor on the night Pat Mahomes went into the Texas Tech Football Ring of Honor, Tech was able to at least match every opponent’s intensity and in most instances, McGuire’s team played harder.
The Red Raiders won’t win tonight if they don’t out-effort the Ducks. Oregon has a bit of a talent advantage so Tech needs to be the more intense and physical team.
That will happen and that’s why this will be one of the most competitive games of the week. The home crowd will fuel the Red Raiders’ fight and what we will see from Tech will be a much better product than was was put on display against Wyoming.