Red Raiders Football: Is Beginning of Season Make-or-Break?
The Texas Tech Red Raiders enter the 2022-23 season as an exciting new era is set to get underway.
But the initial wave of competition for the team and new coach Joey McGuire won’t make a transition into a fresh start all that easy.
The Red Raiders have a meeting with the Murray State Racers in Week 1, a game that shouldn’t present too many issues considering the fact that the Racers went just 6-5 last season while mostly facing Ohio Valley Conference competition.
But then the going gets rough.
The Houston Cougars present one of the toughest games that McGuire and Co. will have all season when coach Dana Holgorsen’s squad comes marching into Lubbock in Week 2. It’s a matchup that Tech won 38-21 last season. But the Cougars finished off the year 12-1 after that game with the only loss coming to the Cincinnati Bearcats, who would go on to be the No. 4 seed in the College Football Playoff.
With Cincinnati’s success is uncertain this season following the departure of NFL draft picks like quarterback Desmond Ridder and cornerback Sauce Gardner, Houston is one of the favorites to win the AAC and should be extra motivated against Tech considering last season’s events.
But you could make the argument that things only get more difficult in the weeks to follow.
Tech will then travel to Raleigh to face a team on the rise in the ACC. The N.C. State Wolfpack will be the final non-conference game for the team in Week 3.
The Wolfpack have one of the best quarterbacks in the country headed into this season, as Devin Leary could potentially have a field day against a Tech defense that was poor in Big 12 play last season.
CBS Sports even called N.C. State a College Football Playoff sleeper team, as the ACC is a conference that is fixing to be wide open this season. If N.C. State is able to run the table, a berth in the CFP isn’t too farfetched.
Then, a heated annual matchup with the Texas Longhorns follows Tech’s trip to Raleigh. The Red Raiders were slaughtered 70-35 by Texas in Austin last season and are seeking revenge.
The Longhorns ended up finishing the season with an abysmal 5-7 record, but are trending upward this fall after a successful summer in recruiting and in the portal. Texas has an elite offense highlighted by playmakers like running back Bijan Robinson, along with receivers Xavier Worthy and Isaiah Neyor.
The Longhorns have won the past four meetings, meaning a home win won’t come easy for Tech at Jones AT&T Stadium.
The month of September will likely define Tech’s potential success this season. A poor start could put the team in a hole that’ll be tough to climb out of in a Big 12 conference that is as unpredictable as ever this year.
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