The sport of college football is driven in large part by upsets. Every week it seems as if a nationally-ranked team stubs its toe against an inferior opponent. Many times, those shocking results occur when the favorite has to play on the road.
After decades of being one of those plucky underdogs that no one wanted to face in Lubbock, these days Texas Tech is living a new reality as a massive favorite in every regular-season game on the schedule. Now, the Red Raiders have to face the challenge of being the marquee opponent for every team they tangle with, and that could make life more difficult, especially on the road.
The good news is that head coach Joey McGuire appears to have figured out how to get his team to perform well in enemy territory. That was once a huge problem for him, given that he lost ten road games in his first three seasons on the job. That included four road losses in each of his first two campaigns.
However, last season, Tech was 4-1 in road games, with the only loss being at Arizona State when starting QB Behren Morton was unable to play with a leg injury. What's more, in the last two seasons, Tech has gone 6-3 on other teams' campuses.
Of course, the change in Tech's road fortunes can be attributed to the massive influx of talent the program enjoyed last season. But even in 2024, when Tech went just 8-5, there were positive signs that McGuire was starting to exorcise his program's road demons.
This year, Tech has the benefit of playing what are expected to be the three toughest opponents on the schedule at home. None of the five teams the Red Raiders travel to face will begin the season ranked, and four, Oregon State, Colorado, Baylor, and Oklahoma State, are coming off of losing seasons in 2025.
Still, there will likely be at least one fistfight that Tech will have to win behind enemy lines this year. The three games below are the most likely road tests in which the Red Raiders could be in for an unexpected tussle.
Texas Tech must watch out for these three road trap games
The first time the Red Raiders could be pushed to the limit on the road is on October 24 at Cincinnati. That road trip lost quite a bit of steam when former Cincinnati QB Brendan Sorsby left the Texas Tech football team earlier this summer. That development should take the hatred down a few levels when McGuire takes his team to Cincy for the first time in program history.
Still, the Red Raiders should expect to get the Bearcats' best effort. Cincy has an underrated home atmosphere, and last year, the Bearcats went 5-2 at Nippert Stadium.
On the other hand, at home last season, they didn't beat a Big 12 team with a winning record. What's more, they lost their last two home games.
Still, the residue from the Sorsby drama could give Cincy extra motivation to put one over on Tech this fall. What's more, Tech will be coming off of a home game against an Arizona State program that is usually one of the more physical outfits in the conference. Therefore, Tech has to be careful when heading to the Queen City.
Then, in November, a pair of back-to-back road tests could tell the story of Tech's regular season. On November 14, the Red Raiders will head to Stillwater, where they have won just twice since 2003.
Though OSU has not won a Big 12 game in two years, many expect the Cowboys to be competitive this year under new head coach Eric Morris, a beloved Texas Tech football alum. Morris has brought in an astounding 92 new players this year, and though that chemistry experiment may take time to gel, by the time Tech heads to Boone-Pickens Stadium in mid-November, the Cowboys could be playing their best football of the season.
A week later, Tech will head to Waco to face McGuire's former employer, Baylor. Though most of the people McGuire was close to during his time at Baylor have moved on, playing the Bears has always meant a lot to him.
It has also seemed to mean quite a bit to Baylor. Tech is just 1-2 against Baylor under McGuire. But strangely, both losses have come in Lubbock.
The only time McGuire has coached in Waco as an opponent, Tech handed the home team a convincing 39-14 loss in 2023. Hopefully, that history will repeat itself this year.
Baylor and Tech often play some intriguing games, especially in Waco. But if the Bears implode early in the season, most think they will fire head coach Dave Aranda, who enters the season as one of the head coaches least likely to survive the season, according to the oddsmakers.
If Aranda is gone by the time Tech heads to central Texas in the second-to-last game of the regular season, then Tech will probably have little trouble. But if he finds a way to cobble together a strong season and save his job, he could have Baylor playing well enough to be a problem for the Red Raiders.
Regardless of when it happens, there will almost certainly be a game this year in which Tech has to fight for its life. If that occurs on the road, then it might be in one of these three foreign ports of call that the Red Raiders find out what they are made of.
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