Texas Tech vs West Virginia was a game I had scheduled back before the season as a potential play-in game for the Big 12 Conference Championship game. More so on Texas Tech’s end admittedly, but I thought West Virginia would be in the mix with a shot at glory on Thanksgiving weekend. 

While that is technically true still and both teams could finish with a 6-3 Big 12 record I don’t think either team’s fan base feels like they lived up to potential this season. West Virginia didn’t beat either rival in their non-con and have had an up and down conference season to finally clinch bowl eligibility last week.

The Red Raiders have two wins over CFP ranked teams that are the most likely participants in the championship game in Arizona State and Iowa State, but a blown 17-point loss to TCU, and home losses to Baylor and Colorado have kind of taken the shine off a potential 8-4 season. 

Even so, this 11:00 am tilt in Lubbock is important for both coaching staffs. Joey McGuire and company need to reaffirm their home winning ways and take another step in the rebuild in Lubbock. 8-4 (6-3) would be Texas Tech’s best season since 2009. The second time Joey McGuire would be able to say that after his 2021 campaign. A loss to WVU and it would feel to some that McGuire has stalled out. 

I’ve said this for three years it feels, but Neal Brown is coaching for his job this weekend. He has to be right? He’s now in year six and has been painfully average with a 37-34 record. Had it not been for drama and shake ups in the WVU athletic department he might have been gone last year, but he took a team picked 12th in the preseason and got them to a 9-4 record and was a hail mary away from 10 wins. It really feels like a 6-6 season in year 6 could spell doom for Brown. 

With all of that pressure on the line, Neal Brown should lean on his rushing attack led by Jaheim White, Garrett Greene and CJ Donaldson. All three of them have at least 600 yards and Greene, the quarterback, did it in just nine games. The Red Raiders haven’t had a great track record with running quarterbacks, especially in the last few seasons. Avery Johnson at Kansas State comes to mind.

Texas Tech has their own rushing attack, but it’s all Tahj Brooks. What is going to be interesting is if offensive coordinator Zach Kittley is going to try and replicate what the team did in Stillwater against West Virginia. It’s been Jekyll and Hyde for Texas Tech’s offense this year. At its best, Texas Tech is running tempo and unchains quarterback Behren Morton’s aggressiveness. At its worst, which unfortunately has been when the Red Raiders have a two possession lead, the offense bogs down and goes large stretches without production. 

I’d love for Texas Tech to turn into a team that can eat possessions and grind out big leads, but this team just hasn’t shown the ability. To beat WVU they need to go full throttle for the entire game, similar to how Baylor went full throttle and never let up. 

I think Texas Tech can do that and will take a similar score of 42-28, Red Raiders. 

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