The first few games on the 2025 Texas Tech football schedule aren’t that tough. They’re just simply not. There’s not a lot in the first few games for Joey McGuire and the Texas Tech Red Raiders that will truly challenge this team.
That’s not to say that these games aren’t valuable and it’s not an attempt to tear down the Arkansas-Pine Bluff Golden Lions, Kent State Golden Flashes, or the Oregon State Beavers. It’s just an acknowledgement that these first three games probably aren’t going to be as tricky for the Red Raiders as some of the games that follow.
Like that week 4 matchup against the Utah Utes in Salt Lake City. That could be a tough one for McGuire and the Red Raiders.
So, as Texas Tech gets settled into this season, what do these first few games bring for the Red Raiders?
Joey McGuire seems to believe that Texas Tech’s early stretch of games can provide plenty of value for the Red Raiders
These early games will allow the Red Raider coaching staff to get a much better feel for what the younger members of the roster bring to the table and how they’re going to perform in actual games. Not just practice.
In a press conference earlier in the week, McGuire mentioned that.
“It’s going to be huge, we’ve got to take advantage of these games for the guys that we think can play,” McGuire said.
This game against Arkansas-Pine Bluff, and then the subsequent matchups in weeks 2 and 3 will give the Red Raiders some valuable reps to test how some of the younger members of the roster do on Saturday, which seems important.
“We know what we see in practice, sometimes practice you know how they’re going to pass set and everything like that,” McGuire explained. “I think he’ll continually study and get better, but you know, you don’t see a lot of who are you going to go against this first week.”
These reps in games matter. This is a great time to continue to develop this roster.
“We got to see some of our young guys like that,” McGuire stated. “Are they going to play the way they’ve practiced? And so I think it’s really important to get those guys in the game.”
This matchup with Arkansas-Pine Bluff should hopefully afford just that sort of opportunity. And hopefully as things continue to ramp up over the next couple of weeks, those opportunities continue to show up in meaningful ways.