Dan Lanning and the Oregon Ducks have accumulated an enormous amount of talent out in Eugene, Oregon and they’ve put together a roster that is primed to create a number of different types of headaches for just about anyone and everyone that they face.
That includes the Texas Tech Red Raiders in the upcoming Orange Bowl as part of the quarterfinals round of the 2025-2026 College Football Playoff. And Texas Tech head coach Joey McGuire is certainly aware of that and the sorts of challenges that the 12-1 Oregon Ducks will be providing to his team.
During a recent press conference, McGuire was asked about the various different ways that Oregon might make things difficult for the Red Raiders and he made it clear how there are several different things that Texas Tech will need to be aware of.
Joey McGuire explains what Oregon does to challenge opponents and what Texas Tech will need to watch out for in the Orange Bowl
“They’re very physical up front,” McGuire explained. “They’ve got multiple defensive tackles, but the guys that really jump off tape are No. 1 [Bear Alexander] and No. 52 [A’Mauri Washington], extremely physical. We’ve got to do a good job of taking care of the down lineman.”
But that’s just one thing that Oregon has that the Red Raiders will need to account for. The Ducks are talented all over the place.
“Then the other thing that’s really impressive, they’ve got three running backs that play at such a high level,” McGuire continued. “Two are true freshmen and they’re home run hitters, they’re very explosive. I mean, we saw that Saturday in the JMU game.”
And that’s definitely the truth! Oregon was able to put up points with ease when facing the James Madison Dukes.
“I mean, you look up and they’ve already scored 30-plus points,” McGuire noted. “I think they had five touchdowns on five drives, so they’re really explosive, so we’ve got to do a good job of making them drive the field.”
That’s probably easier said than done, but Texas Tech’s defense has shown that it can be very tough to move the ball on.