Not everyone can win every College Football Playoff game under the sun. Despite having a first-round bye to the national quarterfinals, the No. 4 Texas Tech Red Raiders were no match for the No. 5 Oregon Ducks. In the trenches, these teams matched up equally. Howver, outside the numbers, under center, and on the sidelines, Joey McGuire's team was no match for Dan Lanning's squad, falling 23-0.
This was a painful moment for the Red Raiders. It was the best team Texas Tech has had in some 70 years. While they were certainly a team worth writing home about under the late, great Mike Leach's watch, this year's Texas Tech team was all about its prowess in the defensive front-seven. Even in a blowout defeat, they still jumped off the page in that regard. Too bad they provided no offense at all.
So while Oregon advances to the Peach Bowl, where the Ducks will take on the winner of the Rose Bowl between No. 1 Indiana and No. 9 Alabama, Texas Tech is heading back to Lubbock with its tail tucked between its legs. Yes, this was an immensely positive season for the Red Raiders, but like Indiana a year ago, there are levels to this. Can they learn from their mistakes to be back in 2026?
Here are five incredibly painful observations that Texas Tech must fully recognize and grow from.
5. Texas Tech losing off the bye may result in more playoff format changes
Through the first six games of the 12-team College Football Playoff format, all six teams who had byes into the national quarterfinals all lost. Oregon, Georgia, Boise State, and Arizona State all lost at this stage last season, while Miami's upset of Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl and Oregon's blowout of Texas Tech in the Orange Bowl makes it 0-2 for bye teams this postseason. Will this trend continue?
Depending on what happens in the Rose Bowl with Indiana and in the Sugar Bowl with Georgia, yes, there could come more changes to the playoff format. If top-four seeds getting byes prove to be a competitive disadvantage, it may usher in a 16-team format, potentially as soon as next year. If that were to happen, then it may result in teams in the Big 12 and ACC getting lesser seeds because of it.
The worst part in all of this is Texas Tech rightfully earned the No. 4 seed, but totally blew its seeding.
4. Joey McGuire gave off the wrong kind of CEO-type vibes as head coach
Now is not the time to disparage the Big 12 for being a supposed lesser conference than the Big Ten and the SEC. However, Joey McGuire does need to wear this loss just a bit. This area of concern was always in the back of our minds. He may be the quintessential CEO-type at head coach, meaning he is all about recruiting and being the face of the program, while his assistants largely call all the plays.
Although Shiel Wood's defense more than held up its end of the bargain, Mack Leftwich could not do a damn thing vs. Dan Lanning and Tosh Lupoi's defense. Keep in mind that Lupoi is about to take over at his alma mater of Cal. Will Stein looked a bit distracted trying to juggle his offensive coordinator responsibilities and his new gig with Kentucky. Simply put, McGuire just let the game unravel on him.
Coaching matters exponentially at this stage of the game, and McGuire got exposed massively here.
3. If not for Dan Lanning's arrogance, the final score would be way worse
From an unbiased perspective, man, did Dan Lanning come across especially arrogant in this one... He refused to kick field goals and punt for the most part, coming across as the Big Ten machismo version of Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell. Rather than take a knee and be classy with the game out of reach and goal to go, he had to punch it in because he is ego is absolutely running wild.
From a Texas Tech perspective, Lanning's undeniable arrogance here actually allowed the Red Raiders to stay in the game far longer than they probably should have. Teams that actually have championship pedigree do not leave points on the field. Give Shiel Wood's defense credit for stifling Will Stein's offense for as long as it could. 23-0 seems bad, but this game could have been way worse.
Oregon was the better team for almost the entire contest, but Lanning allowed for it to stay close.
2. Behren Morton was always going to be a massive liability in the playoff
In conjunction with Joey McGuire being completely unproven at this stage of the game as a championship-caliber Power Four head coach, Behren Morton was easily the worst starting quarterback remaining in the College Football Playoff field coming in. Even the highly controversial Carson Beck was far more prepared for this game than Morton ever was. Morton was horrific today.
In what will be his final game for Texas Tech, Morton only completed 18-of-32 passes for 137 yards, no touchdowns, and two interceptions. Any quarterback hoping to advance to the national semifinals cannot average below 5.0 yards per passing attempt. Morton was a measly 4.3 on the afternoon. At this stage of the game, key players at key positions have to separate and elevate, and Morton did not.
This is why we should expect for Texas Tech to be a major player in the transfer portal to replace him.
1. Cody Campbell must do a better job of allocating resources on offense
Although Joey McGuire has certainly played his part in recruitment and helping reshape the identity of Texas Tech football, having a defense essentially bankrolled by alumnus and oil magnate Cody Campbell had the Red Raiders competing at this stage this soon. While nobody can question what the Red Raiders were all about defensively, they were nowhere near dynamic enough over on offense.
This is a complete departure from the many great teams we all once saw in Lubbock under Mike Leach's guidance. As long as the money keeps coming in, Texas Tech can attempt to microwave a championship with the best of them. Unfortunately, they looked just as out of sorts as the high-priced Texas A&M Aggies looked in their first College Football Playoff game from a well over a week ago.
Campbell's intentions seem to be in the right place, but he must allocate financial resources wiser...