Texas Tech has a tough hill to climb just to reach a bowl
This loss means that Tech is just 3-4 overall on the year. That means that the Red Raiders are going to have to go 3-2 the rest of the way to just get to bowl eligibility this season.
How depressing is it for a season that began with such hype to turn into one that we can only hope ends with a trip to a low-level bowl that will be played in a half-empty stadium against a Group of 5 team? Unfortunately, that seems to be the best-case scenario now.
Tech isn’t going to play for a Big 12 title this season. That was the dream in September but now that idea seems laughable.
Instead, Joey McGuire’s team is going to have to find a way to get three games down the stretch to just play a 13th game this year. Where will those come from? Road trips to BYU, Kansas, and Texas will be daunting while home games against TCU and UCF will be no walks in the park.
Can Tech find three more wins? Sure. Just about anything is possible in college football.
However, trying to do so with a true freshman likely at QB for at least one of those games, maybe more, will make it difficult, to say the least. That’s just the reality we are faced with.
However, does getting to a bowl sponsored by a cleaning product or a power tool company really matter anyway? Does just getting to six wins make this season any more satisfying than getting to only five wins? I guess that depends on your perspective.
For me, it really doesn’t. After all, bowl appearances don’t mean squat for a program’s overall momentum unless they are big-time bowls games or playoff games.
For proof, just look at 2014 when Tech went 4-8 after an 8-5 season and a Holiday Bowl win the year before. Of course, you’d rather play in a bowl game than not but this program isn’t going to make huge strides by playing in the Albuquerque Bowl or something similar.
This season is likely to go down as one of the most disappointing in Tech history. That’s a hard pill to swallow but there doesn’t seem to be much hope of salvaging 2023 now.