It was nothing but smooth sailing and lots of points in Texas Tech’s opening game. But now, the Red Raiders embark on the defining stretch of their season. The Texas Tech week two opponent is one of five currently ranked top 25 remaining on the schedule. However, it is a team that the Red Raiders defeated last season. In fact, the Houston Cougars only suffered one other loss in 2021. That was in the AAC championship game to playoff-participant Cincinnati. Will Houston avenge the 2021 loss and keep a dream season alive? Or can the Red Raiders play spoiler again and carry new confidence on the road next week against one of the top ACC teams of 2022?
Aww Shough-s
A quick reminder to all the readers. Texas Tech quarterback Tyler Shough’s name is pronounced: “Shuck.” Shough suffered an injury to his left arm in the first quarter of the Murray State game. It could be related to the collarbone or the AC joint. He is expected to be sidelined anywhere between three and six weeks. As of right now, it does not appear surgery is required. If Shough does require surgery, that would put his recovery time closer to that six-week range. Shough will be out for the Houston, NC State, and Texas games at a minimum. Where the bye week falls (week seven of the season), Shough would only miss up to five games. Donovan Smith now assumes the starting quarterback position for the foreseeable future. Behren Morton will likely still appear in games for select packages, something head coach Joey McGuire has stated multiple times since fall camp opened.
Muffle Any Loud Tunes
Jones At&t Stadium will be filled with lots of passion and high-energy songs to fuel that home crowd. No doubt that energy can be weaponized by Texas Tech in its big upset attempt. The real key though is for the Red Raiders to go full old man, “Get off my lawn” and turn down that new-fangled Tune energizing the 713. Of course, Clayton Tune is far from a new face in college football. The former Hebron high school quarterback from Carrollton, TX is playing his fifth season with the Cougars. Tune took over the starting quarterback position for good in 2019 when he came in for D’Eriq King after the fourth game of the season.
Last year, Tune’s numbers pushed him into the top 10 in multiple career program passing records. According to his official bio page, those included “seventh in the program’s all-time career passing yards (7,926), fifth on the all-time career passing touchdown list (64) and eighth on the career completions list (622).” Quite the accomplishment considering this program has had Case Keenum and Andre Ware play quarterback for them. Leading the Cougars into a hostile stadium should not phase the veteran signal-caller.
So how can the Red Raiders distort Tune’s frequency? A great way to stop a great quarterback is a disruptive pass rush. Tyree Wilson is coming off a game where he had six tackles, two of those were for a loss, and chipped in a half sack. Wilson has been generating some buzz from NFL scouts because of his size and strength. A breakout game from Wilson would go a long way to boost his stock even higher. A Texas Tech week 2 win is going to start with the defense line disrupting the offense of a Dana Holgorsen team.
Texas Tech Week Two Prediction
This is going to be a really fun game in West Texas. Houston escaped UTSA in a three-overtime thriller in week one. Texas Tech is going to be able to move the ball on Houston. Not with the ease that it had in week one, but there isn’t any reason to expect Tech to score under 30 points in this one. However, Houston knows how to fill up to scoreboard as well. It is a coin-flip type of game as Tech should play with high energy. Strap in for what will be a wild Texas shootout. Ultimately, whichever team has the ball last will win this game. The football gods smile down on Lubbock. Texas Tech wins on a game-ending field goal and secures a win over a top-25 opponent for the first time since the 2019 season.
Texas Tech 38, Houston 35
Main Image courtesy AP Photo/Brad Tollefson
