Texas Tech will start the 2024 season at 4-1, which is the best start for a Tech team since a 7-0 start in 2013. It’s not great, and it’s far from perfect, but the Red Raiders continue to find a way. They won 44-41 against Cincinnati.
“I’m very proud of this football team. Hats off to Cincinnati. They’re a really good football team. We talked about it all week,” head coach Joey McGuire said. Ta.
“I thought it was going to be a four-quarter game. But I’m so proud of this team…2-0 in the Big 12 and 4-1 overall, which is good. We’re going. I’m going to enjoy this. ”
The Red Raiders got away in the end, as Bearcat kicker Nathan Hawks missed a 51-yard field goal to the right and came up short, but it was smart personnel management on the part of the Red Raiders that cost them the extra time.
A call back to the 2022 Oklahoma State game where Tech was receiving this, after Cincinnati made a substitution, Tech was able to slow down the sub’s movement, reducing the time by an additional 13 seconds. It probably took a play or two away from Cincinnati. Bearcats.
“That’s one of the things we practice a lot, as soon as we start to see someone coming out, they come out of the box,” McGuire said. “No matter how many seconds it was, it was very important.”
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It was a wild game in which the Red Raiders gave up 555 yards of offense but found a way to come away with the win. McGuire was proud of his defense for stopping the run and converting key turnovers, but he feels there is room for improvement in all areas.
“It just goes back to big plays like that. I mean, any big play in a game like that, the first thing that happens is, hey, the coverage flew. That never happens, it’s always like football It’s back to basics,” McGuire said. . “We’re not going to sack the quarterback. So right now we’re drying out the secondary because they’re going to be covering longer than they should be covering. Part of the reason for that is I mean, we’re not locking down the quarterback.”And we definitely have to do a good job a week from now.” ”
McGuire was also excited about the offense, which relies on the team’s star player in Taj Brooks, but also sees important contributions from quarterback Behren Morton and a broader skill group.
“Taj Brooks, you know, something we’ve all gotten used to seeing over the last two years, he threw for 172 yards and tonight was really special,” McGuire said. “I thought Behren stepped up and made some big throws, and we had some guys making big catches as well. It’s great to see Josh Kelly step up.” Because on the first, first few possessions, I was like, “They were really trying to take him away.”
The Red Raiders will put on a show on the road after a perfect homestand in the win-loss column with a road trip to Arizona that will be a very late night in Tucson.
