Texas Tech Red Raiders at Kansas Jayhawks Predictions: Avoiding the Trap

Our crew weighs in on if the Jayhawks will be able to get their first road conference victory of the season.

The Kansas Jayhawks clinched bowl eligibility and shook off their road woes in the last two weeks, vaulting them into the rankings with a chance to build for a premier bowl spot. Standing in their way are the Texas Tech Red Raiders, who are trying to string together a few wins to push their way to bowl eligibility in a disappointing second season under Joey McGuire.

With the Sunflower Showdown against the Kansas State Wildcats coming up next week, can the Jayhawks stay focused and avoid a letdown? Or will Texas Tech continue their dominance in the series with an upset win?

Do you disagree with our assessment? Make sure you read them all and then hope over to the Discord or on Twitter to share your own thoughts.

Kyle Davis

Check out our Texas Tech Preview for Kyle's full breakdown and prediction.

Derek Noll

Texas Tech has not fared well on the road this season and Kansas has been amazing at home, so I expect those trends to continue. Jason Bean is getting more confident every game, and I trust the brain trust that is the offensive coaching staff to find new and interesting ways to get Devin Neal involved so KU can get back into being a multidimensional offense, one that will confuse the Red Raiders at every turn. As for the defense, I want to see Austin Booker and company swarm Tech’s young QB. Give me the Jayhawks to roll to 8-2. 

Kansas 48, Texas Tech 28.

Brendan Dzwierzynski

The biggest concern here for KU is that this is a lookahead spot. Texas Tech is having a mediocre season, one with results that have fallen way short of its preseason expectations, while Kansas not only has the momentum of two important wins in as many weeks but also has a massive rivalry game coming next Saturday. Playing a clean game is going to be vital this week. Jason Bean was smart with the ball a week ago, and as long as he doesn’t regress in that department and the ball carriers don’t re-develop their fumbling issues, I think the Jayhawks should be fine. 

Kansas 31, Texas Tech 24.

Andy Mitts

I understand the concern about a trap game, but this is a Kansas team that preaches about looking at only the next game. I have a hard time believing that they will ignore anything about this game. As Derek mentioned, the Red Raiders have been bad on the road this year, but it's even worse than that: They haven't beaten a team from outside the state of Texas all year long.  Both teams are on their backup quarterbacks, but Bean is playing like a top-20 QB in the nation while Behren Morton is still making the mistakes of a young quarterback. Add in an offensive line that still struggles to handle pressure, and the Jayhawks have everything they need for a big win.

But I just keep getting this nagging feeling that this IS going to be a letdown game, although not in the traditional sense. These two teams seem to play more weird games than you would expect. The best example is the blocked field goal that was fielded and then fumbled right back to Kansas at the end of the 2019 game. Expect more oddities, but it won't be enough to keep Kansas from pulling away late. Jason Bean keeps his composure, the defense ramps up the pressure, and Kansas heads into the Sunflower Showdown with a ton of momentum. 

Kansas 31, Texas Tech 21.

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