Look. Early on, Texas Tech didn’t win many bowl games. It just didn’t happen. I mean, we’re now on the Red Raiders third trip to the Sun Bowl and Texas Tech’s fourth ever bowl game and we’re still talking about a loss for the Red Raiders.
That’s not great. TTU’s early bowl history was just full of disappointing loss after disappointing loss. And one thing that makes that even worse is how close some of these losses happen to be. Pete Cawthon, who guided the Red Raiders to their first couple of bowl games, lost both by a combined eight points.
Then there’s Dell Morgan who lost his first Sun Bowl matchup (and TTU’s third ever bowl game as well as the Red Raiders’ second trip to El Paso) by just six points.
Now onto Morgan’s third Sun Bowl (which is the Red Raiders’ third Sun Bowl ever) and we get Morgan suffering another close loss in El Paso.
Texas Tech football history: The Red Raiders really struggled to find success in their first few bowl games
Against Miami (Ohio), the Red Raiders came up short, losing 13-12 in the 1948 Sun Bowl. And while Texas Tech just about managed to keep up with Miami in this game, the Red Raiders still weren’t able to come out on top.
To be fair, Miami (Ohio) managed to have a really impressive season as they went unbeaten. A really impressive 9-0-1 record. There’s no shame in losing to a team like that. It’s just that Texas Tech, up to this point, still hadn’t found a way to win a bowl game. That's the issue. And there’s just a little bit of frustration that very naturally and understandably comes with that.
I promise we are getting closer to talking about a bowl win for the Red Raiders. We will get there soon. I’ve looked through the record book. They do exist. Not every bowl game for Texas Tech ends in a close, frustrating loss.