The typically upbeat Joey McGuire was noticeably subdued following his team's 39-26 loss to Arkansas on Friday night in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl. Of course, that was no surprise given the way the Texas Tech head coach saw his team perform in its final game of 2024.
Keep in mind that this is the first time in McGuire's career as a college head coach that he's ended a season with a loss. In 2022, Tech secured a 42-25 win over Ole Miss in the Texas Bowl and in 2023, the Red Raiders trounced Cal 34-14 in the Independence Bowl sending the Red Raiders into the offseason on a high note.
The program won't carry that type of momentum into the 2025 offseason, though. McGuire acknowledged the difficulty of the loss, especially for his graduating players.
"Yeah, you know, ending a year is always tough," McGuire said after the game, "but you know, ending on a loss and then, you know, got to address the seniors that you know, that are out of eligibility like Caleb and going to be moving on, and just thank them for how much they've done for this university and what they've done for the guys that are coming back.
"You know, no matter what, whenever the ending of the season, you know, it's always tough, but it's tough whenever you don't play well enough, made too many mistakes. And hats off to Arkansas. I thought they played a really good game. I thought their quarterback played a great game. And, you know, it was tough, but I appreciate the Liberty Bowl for having us. I appreciate the guys the way they finished and played every snap, and it's on mission. I'm going to miss you, Caleb, and got a lot of work to do, Jacob ."
Tech got itself in early trouble by falling into a 21-3 hole after the first quarter. However, by halftime, the Red Raiders had cut the lead to 24-19. McGuire talked about what allowed his team to make it a game in the second quarter.
"Yeah, you know, it started in the first quarter," he said. "You know, we misfit a long run. We checked zone. It doesn't get checked all the way over so then we give up a big pass, and then we just get beat on another one, so we're behind the eight ball.
"It was, I think it's 21-3, and we had moved the ball. We just couldn't get the end zone. I thought we stuck with the game plan, and in the second quarter, we started making some plays, and then we got back in the game. You know, it was tough right there at the end to give up that field goal going into half, because they kind of grabbed the momentum back. I felt like that we had gotten some momentum going, and then they grabbed it back. Then in the second half, just turnovers, you know, they intercept us twice, we give up a safety. You know those things like that make it hard to come back from."
A critical storyline heading into this game was the fact that Texas Tech was without both of it its coordinators from the 2024 season. McGuire addressed the challenges that particular situation posed in the Liberty Bowl.
"Yeah, it's always tough," he said, "because, you know, no matter what you're calling the same plays, it's different, you know, the way you're calling it. I thought at times we did some really good things, and then sometimes some of our things that have shown up all year long showed up again.
"You know, we gave up too many big plays, you know, and that's kind of been at times when we haven't played well that's what we've done. But I thought, you know, Juice and CJ called a good game. Just overall, between the entire team, coaches myself, you know, we didn't do a good enough job executing. "
One bright spot from the game was the play of the two true freshmen running backs, J'Koby Williams and Cam Dickey who filled in for star senior RB Tahj Brooks who opted out of the game. That duo combined for 197 yards and a touchdown on the ground and McGuire talked about the way his freshmen played before explaining why Brooks decided to sit the game out.
"Yeah, you know, I've seen, we all have, we've seen that all year long out of those two guys," McGuire said, "they, just got a lot more carries. And I thought they were really physical. And it's good to have two true freshmen play like that.
"You know, and Taj, it really came down to the amount of carries the last two years he's taken on his body and, you know, coming into this game, especially early, whenever we thought was going to be a close game, we're going to really run the ball, you know, we did at times. And so we're going to let the young guys go. And I feel good about it. I, you know, it was decision, you know, like all these guys, just like Caleb. Caleb's going to be drafted this year, and he's playing in the Reese's Bowl. You know, he decided to play and I really appreciate him for playing, and I thought he played a really good game."
Another storyline that had Tech fans excited for this game was the first career start for true freshman QB Will Hammond. On the night, he threw for 280 yards and a TD on 20-34 passing with one TD and two interceptions. McGuire gave his assessment of Hammond's performance.
"He did some really good things," McGuire said. "And then one thing I'll tell you, both these guys echo it, you know, he'll grow from the mistakes that he made. You know, I hate it for him, because there's the seniors that played their last game and Will Hammond are probably taking this loss the hardest, just because the person he is. But I think he did some really good things, and he'll learn from the stuff, the mistakes that he made."
During the game, punt returner Jordan Brown, who is in the transfer portal and committed to another program, made two critical mistakes. McGuire was asked if he thought motivation was a problem for the players in the portal who played on Friday night.
"No," he said. "I never will, man. Again, I'm never going to take anything away from a player that's earned the right. Look, we didn't lose this game because people didn't play or they weren't motivated to play. They were motivated to play. We lost this game because we didn't play good football."
The final interesting question McGuire fielded was about whether his team will have a true QB competition this offseason with 2024 starter Behren Morton recovering from shoulder surgery and Hammond now having gotten his feet wet as a starter.
"Now I feel really good about both of them," McGuire said. "I thought Baron had a really good year this year. And, you know, you've got a young guy that's going to keep getting better. He's got a lot of talent. He's got a big arm.
"He's got a high care factor. So that room, and we...just gotta keep getting better every phase of the football game. We're not going to take out of this game, we're going to take the loss, and we're going to learn from it. We're going to move on. And, you know, there's the old guys are going to get ready for the Reese's bowl, and he's going to get ready for hopefully, the combine, which I expect, and the young guys are going to come back January 14. We have a team meeting. Jacob Rodriguez told me, right when we walked in, he says, 'What's next, coach?', that's the mindset, you know, we're going to grow from it and get better."