by Caden Simpson
The Texas Tech Red Raider football team had a disappointing start to the 2023-2024 football season.
They lost their first two games by being shocked by Wyoming and having their hearts broken a week later against Oregon. Luckily, the team rebounded, blowing out Tarleton State 41-3 Saturday.
No one in Lubbock was expecting a 1-2 start to the season, but the team showed some good things against Oregon despite the loss and has momentum with the Tarleton State win. Momentum will be so important as the Red Raiders gear up for the thick of the season starting Saturday: conference play.
Texas Tech plays nine Big 12 conference games this season. In those nine games last year, Tech finished 5-4, their first winning record in the Big 12 since 2009.
Their Big 12 home games are against Houston, Kansas State, TCU and UCF. They go on the road for West Virginia, Baylor, BYU, Kansas and Texas. The away games will be pivotal if Tech wants to match or even surpass their success from last season, especially for a team that only won one road game in 2022.
Tech alternates home and away games this season. Personally, I thought this was very peculiar as I have never seen a schedule like this before. Usually, there’s a string of two games in a row at home or on the road, but not this time.
One thing that pops out about this schedule is the omission of Oklahoma. With the Big 12 adding four teams to the conference this year, the Big 12 will no longer have a round-robin football schedule. The win in Jones AT&T Stadium against Oklahoma last year could be the last time the Red Raiders play the Sooners for at least a decade.
Speaking of Big 12 newcomers, Tech plays three of the four new teams. They have home games against Houston and UCF, and Tech will travel to Utah to play BYU.
Tech has played Houston in non-conference play the last two years, winning in overtime in 2022 and running through them at the Texas Kickoff in Houston in 2021. The Houston game Sept. 30 will also feature Donovan Smith at quarterback for the Houston Cougars, the man who started at quarterback for Tech against Houston last season.
This season will be the first ever matchup between the UCF Knights and the Red Raiders. The Red Raider fans will try to introduce UCF to a very tough environment in college football and get to 1-0 in the all-time series while also honoring the seniors Nov. 18.
Texas Tech is 1-0 against BYU, but the one game was in 1940. It was also in Lubbock, and BYU has one of the toughest environments in college football. Tech will need to bring their A-game Oct. 21 in order to leave Provo, Utah, with a win.
That leaves the six games against the mainstays of the Big 12. Tech will open conference play against West Virginia on Saturday, a team that Tech handled easily at Jones AT&T Stadium to a 48-10 rout and hasn’t lost to since 2018.
One difference between that game and this one, besides the location, is that it will be Tyler Shough getting the start at quarterback, not Behren Morton.
The Red Raiders will also be traveling to Waco, Texas, and Lawrence, Kansas, as well when they play Baylor on Oct. 7 and Kansas on Nov. 11. Both Baylor and Kansas played in Lubbock last season. Tech got the win over Kansas but had their worst game of the season in front of Patrick Mahomes and the Lubbock faithful against Baylor, getting blown out 45-17.
A big note for this schedule: the games against the Kansas State Wildcats (Oct. 14) and TCU Horned Frogs (Nov. 2, the lone Thursday night game for Tech) are in Lubbock this year. These two teams played each other in the Big 12 Championship Game last season.
Kansas State is the reigning champion, but it was TCU that became the first Big 12 team to win a game in the College Football Playoff. Both games against these teams last year were close with Tech losing by nine and 10 points, respectively.
Now that the Horned Frogs and Wildcats have to travel to Lubbock, those results might have a better chance of flipping in Tech’s favor.
The story of the Big 12, and a big one in college football through the first quarter of the season, has been the start that Texas football has had. They are 3-0 including a double-digit win against Alabama in Tuscaloosa.
Texas is currently ranked third in the AP poll and looks like the best team in the Big 12 so far, and this game will be played in Austin.
With UT also leaving for the SEC next season, this could be the last team the Red Raiders play the Longhorns for a very long time. Tech fans might want to look ahead to it, but it’s Nov. 24, the Friday after Thanksgiving. Tech will play eight conference games before then.
The season has not gotten off to the start the Red Raiders wanted, but a strong showing in conference play can make that all go away.
Full schedule here. Featured image from Texas Tech Athletics.
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