On Saturday, when Joey McGuire and the Texas Tech Red Raiders went to Salt Lake City to match up with the then No. 16 ranked Utah Utes, the Texas Tech football team was facing one of the toughest challenges on their schedule in one of the most important games for the Big 12 this season.
And it’s because many expected Utah to be a team that can compete for the conference championship this season. That can technically still be the case, but the Red Raiders made a statement by beating Utah 34-10 in Rice-Eccles Stadium.
That’s huge. And it suddenly becomes clear that Texas Tech is positioned to have a ton of success this season as long as they continue to play at the level they’re operating at right now. What exactly does that mean for the Red Raiders?
Well, there are still a handful of tests ahead of them. Technically eight games are left on the schedule, but it seems like a few of those might be considerably easy sorts of contests. That said, there are three games that ESPN’s Football Power Index seems to think might be kinda tricky.
Here are the three toughest games left for the Red Raiders after Texas Tech’s week 4 win over Utah, according to ESPN’s FPI:
No. 3: Texas Tech vs. Kansas Jayhawks on October 11
It still kinda feels weird to talk about a Kansas Jayhawks football team being good, but that’s the world we live in these days. This program has really turned a corner in recent years and could be a legitimate threat to Texas Tech when the Jayhawks come to Lubbock to play on October 11.
Right now, Kansas has the No. 9 total offense in the Big 12 as the Jayhawks average 414 yards per game. They’re also averaging 37.3 points per game, giving Kansas the No. 6 scoring offense in the conference. That offense isn’t astonishing the way Texas Tech’s has been, but it’s good enough to cause some problems if the Red Raiders aren’t prepared for it.
No. 2: Texas Tech at Arizona State Sun Devils on October 18
One week after facing Kansas, the Red Raiders will head out west to match up with a true college football playoff contender. Well, from last season. On October 18, Texas Tech will get the opportunity to meet up with the Arizona State Sun Devils.
Arizona State suffered an early season loss to Jeff Lebby and the Mississippi State Bulldogs, and that has taken a bit of shine off of them a bit this year, but the Sun Devils are still unbeaten in conference play and would like to win the Big 12 for a second season in a row.
This matchup is the perfect sort of opportunity for Texas Tech to showcase just how good it is. Arizona State’s offense has been a little uninspiring compared to what it was a season ago as the Sun Devils are averaging just 29.8 points per game right now, but Kenny Dillingham is still one of the best coaches in the conference and this game is in Tempe. It shouldn’t be overlooked.
No. 1: Texas Tech vs. BYU Cougars on November 8
And as of right now, it looks like ESPN’s FPI has the toughest remaining game on Texas Tech’s schedule being against the BYU Cougars at home in Lubbock. I still don’t totally know what to make of the BYU football team this season, but I’m certainly impressed with the way they’ve gotten things started.
Through three games, BYU has managed to score some points. The Cougars are averaging 43.3 points per game right now, which puts BYU at No. 2 in the conference when it comes to scoring offenses. But that’s not exactly what worries me at the moment.
When BYU makes its way to Lubbock, Texas Tech will face one of the toughest defenses in the Big 12. Right now, the Cougars have the No. 1 total defense as teams are averaging just 205.3 yards per game against BYU, and the No. 1 scoring defense as the Cougars are holding folks to 5.3 points per game.