At 4-1 this season, Texas Tech football is off to its best start under head coach Joey McGuire, thanks to a 44-41 victory over Cincinnati. After the thrilling game, which came down to a missed last-second field goal by the Bearcats, McGuire addressed the media about his team’s latest Big 12 win.
“I’m so proud of this football team,” McGuire said. “Hats off to Cincinnati. They’re a really good team, and we knew that all week. We expected it to be a four-quarter battle. But, man, I’m so proud of these guys. Early on, we lost Chapman Lewis to a hamstring injury, and we didn’t think he could come back. Then Jordan Sanford hurt his hand and had to leave, so [Joseph] Plunk finished the first half. So we ended up going through three free safeties.
“In the second half, we got Jordan and Plunk back, but Plunk injured his shoulder. I think he’ll be okay, but it was pretty banged up. So Jordan had to go back in, and he almost made a big interception. He just kept pushing through and going back and forth.”
“And then on offense—man, I can’t say enough. We shuffled the offensive line, and I think as that group of five, really six including Ty Buchanan, continues to play together, we’ll keep improving. Tahj Brooks was, well, Tahj Brooks—doing what we’ve all gotten used to over the last two years. He ran for 172 yards and was really special tonight. I also thought Baron [Morton] stepped up and made some big throws. We had some guys come through with big catches too. It was great to see Josh Kelly get going because early on, in the first quarter and a couple of possessions, Cincinnati was really trying to take him out of the game. But he found ways to make plays.
“Dre McCray had a big night with five catches, and Coy [Eakin] was huge with two touchdowns. It was just an all-around really solid performance. And that’s what Big 12 football is going to be like every week, it seems—tough, competitive games. But it feels great to be 2-0 in the Big 12 and 4-1 overall. We’re going to enjoy this win and then start preparing for what’s going to be a tough game against Arizona. With that, I’ll take questions.”
Texas Tech’s standout defender on the night was sophomore linebacker Ben Roberts, who tallied 12 tackles, forced a fumble, and delivered a crucial QB pressure that led to a pick-six for the Red Raiders. McGuire praised Roberts’ performance as a key to their victory.
“Man, you know, we’re at, that position’s deep,” he said. “Coach Bookbinder does a really good job. But you know Ben again, you know he, he’s one of those guys that every single week, you know, comes up big. You know, that pressure on the pick-six was huge. You know, the caused fumble and us recovering was huge. And he’s such a good football player. He’s got such a high football IQ, you could put him in a lot of spots, and he’s going to succeed and be really, really good football player for us.”
Next, McGuire was asked about on specific play on Cincinnati’s final possession when the Red Raider defense slow-played a substitution to cost the Bearcats critical time off the clock. McGuire said that was obviously intentional.
“Yeah, you know, that’s one thing,” McGuire said. “I mean, there was one drive where we over-subbed. But that’s something we practice a lot, and it’s all about reacting fast from the box as soon as they see someone come off the field. In those situations, man, every second counts, you know. And we were able to get a guy in there.
“The great thing about being able to do that is you have to be deep enough on the defensive line. We’ve got six guys we feel confident in, and I think five of them played tonight. So you’re not panicking about putting someone in who can’t make a play. That was really big, and the defense stepped up right at the end. We felt like their kick line was around the 35-yard mark, and we got them down to the 32. So it was just ahead of their range, which made it harder. It was huge to force them to kick as long a field goal as possible to try and tie it up.”
McGuire also addressed the defensive struggles, especially in the first half, where the Red Raiders gave up some big plays. He explained what he told the defense to keep them focused and engaged enough to make key stops in the second half.
“Yeah, you know, it’s, that’s a really good question,” he said, “from the standpoint of, like, it seemed like all their scores tonight were big plays, you know, like we, they stopped us on fourth down, and, you know, the very next play they score. We don’t wall number two, we don’t walk out on number two. We, you know, they motioned over. They were three by one. They motioned over, two by two. And our outside linebacker, you know, didn’t adjust. So we got a free run. There’s a touchdown.
“They go with a screen pass for a 71-yard touchdown. And, you know, we take the easy way, easy ways, going underneath blocks and sit over the top. And, you know, it just goes back to those big plays. I mean, anytime you have big plays in a game like that, first thing was like, hey, blown coverages. It wasn’t that, you know. It just always goes back to fundamental football of setting edges.
“We, you know, we didn’t, we hit the quarterback. We’re not sacking the quarterback, you know. And so now we’re hanging our secondary out to dry because they’re having to cover longer than what they should have to cover. Part of that is we’re not containing the quarterback, you know, and we’ve got it.
“We definitely whenever a week from now, I’ve got to do a good job, because Arizona’s quarterback can really move in the pocket. And so so many of those big plays where it just goes back to his fundamental of like not setting edges, not containing the football, letting the, you know, coverage they have to cover longer than what they should have. And that quarterback did a really good job tonight. He’s a good football player. I will, I will say this going back to that though, you know, he hadn’t turned the ball over at all. You know, we’re able to get a pick-six. We probably, what’s crazy is Jordan probably intercepts the ball too, if he doesn’t hurt his hand, you know, and we have to he kind of had a half cast on it, and he probably catches that clean. So even though we didn’t sack him, we did cause some mistakes that helped us win the game.”
With 251 yards and two touchdowns on 19/29 passing, Texas Tech QB Behren Morton was again efficient in a winning effort. McGuire talked about his performance.
“I just, you know, he just keeps getting better,” he said. “He’s making some really good decisions. He’s, you know, we had some checks tonight that were really big. I think he’s getting, you know, really had a couple of big runs too. You know that he feels really comfortable, you know, I think he feels really good. And so he’s doing some things, and I think he’ll just continue to do that, you know, be better.
“But I do think the one thing right now he’s operating in a really high level, as far as seeing the field, seeing what we want him to do with the ball. If you go back, there’s one drive that we have to kick the field goal. We dropped three balls. One of them was a touchdown, you know. And you catch, you know, any of those balls, we probably score. But you definitely, you don’t drop from one, you know, going in. I mean, that’s a touchdown. And all three balls were catchable balls. You put it on them. And, you know, it happens, that’s football. You know, you’re going to drop balls. You’re going to, you know, we got to go to what’s next. But he was, he was really throwing the ball well tonight, because I think he was so he was 19 to 29 so you, you know, you take those three right there. And you know, he’s even in a better position.”
McGuire next was asked about the game plan his offensive coordinator, Zach Kittley, put together.
“I think the one thing you know kit is doing a really good job of understanding what the game that’s a big thing,” he said. “We have a staff meeting before we have our final walk-through, and we go through things. And I asked the coaches like, let’s figure out what kind of game it is, and let’s adapt. Let’s attack it that way. I think he is doing a phenomenal job of seeing what they’re giving us, calling plays into it.
“And then guys we, I’ve said it, you know, since spring football, our skill is totally different than what it was the first two years, as far as play-making ability. And then you have Tahj Brooks, you know? I mean, he’s the best running back in college football without a doubt. I mean, he is the best total back in college football. He, the way he rushes the football, the way he catches the ball in the backfield. I think he’s the most physical at picking up any kind of Blitz, helping chip in on pass block. And he’s best in college football, and he’s on our team. And so whenever you have that combination, it’s tough on defensive coordinators to decide what you’re going to try to take away, and Zach’s taking advantage of it.”