{"id":82446,"date":"2025-11-13T09:00:26","date_gmt":"2025-11-13T14:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/?p=82446"},"modified":"2025-11-12T17:50:34","modified_gmt":"2025-11-12T22:50:34","slug":"texas-tech-week-12-no-letdown-against-ucf","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/2025\/11\/13\/texas-tech-week-12-no-letdown-against-ucf\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas Tech Week 12: No Letdown Against UCF"},"content":{"rendered":"
Here are the Red Raiders sitting in the playoff rankings at number six. Some think they are a shoo-in for the Big 12 title game<\/a>. Not to mention, this Texas Tech week 12 showdown is against a UCF team that Vegas views as no challenge to the Red Raiders as a 24.5-point underdog. However, Joey McGuire and his staff must keep the pedal to the metal and maintain a focused approach. Due to their loss to Arizona State<\/a>, there is no room for error for this team. The game plan is simple: show up on Senior Day with another focused effort, intent on sending a January message.<\/div>\n

Texas Tech Week 12: No Letdown Against UCF<\/h2>\n

Any UCF Strengths To Be Concerned About?<\/h3>\n
It has been a relatively successful first season for Scott Frost in his second stint as the Knights’ head coach. While going bowling looks unlikely, Frost was starting the job with an empty pantry in terms of talent. Possibly their biggest loss was defensive tackle Lee Hunter<\/a> transferring away to help anchor this elite Texas Tech defense. But there are a few things that this UCF team does well. It starts with a strong pass defense. It ranks 12th nationally at allowing only 168.2 yards per game. Offensively, the Knights are running the ball at an above-average clip. Their rushing attack ranks 33rd nationally at 186.3 yards per game.<\/div>\n

What To Do At Quarterback<\/h3>\n
For the Red Raiders on offense, besides the Red Zone woes, the biggest question is how to handle the quarterback position. At his weekly press conference on Monday, McGuire spoke on Behren Morton<\/a> being in a walking boot, \u201cWe\u2019ll definitely limit movement all week to get him going on Friday. Our fast Friday would be the aiming point for where he really ramps up and gets going.\u201d He would further add that it is a similar approach to the one they had two weeks ago. \u201c[Morton] hates it, but he\u2019s just going to have to hate it. But two weeks ago, he was in a boot, and we really wanted to keep him in a boot. He didn\u2019t want to, because the boot bothers him a little bit.\u201d During the BYU game, ESPN revealed that the lower leg injury Morton has dealt with all season is a hairline fracture in his fibula.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
In a perfect world, the 1-2 punch of Cameron Dickey<\/a> and J\u2019Koby Williams<\/a> would feast against a UCF rushing defense that allows 153.4 yards per game (81st nationally). Assuming the defense held up its end of the bargain, quarterback Mitch Griffis<\/a> could come in around halftime to get this game to the end without being asked to do much. But, as mentioned in the introduction, that requires this team to be locked in the same way they were against BYU.<\/div>\n
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Photo Credit: Michael C. Johnson-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Lean On The Defense<\/h3>\n
There are a lot of good matchups for this Texas Tech week 11 game to be won decisively by this defense. UCF ranks 119th in third-down conversion percentage, while the Red Raiders’ third-down conversion defense ranks 12th. The third-best scoring defense in the country is facing an offense that ranks 70th in scoring offense. While UCF does run the ball effectively, it must face the number rush defense on the road. Should-be Heisman contender Jacob Rodriguez<\/a> anchors the defense.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
After his outstanding performance last week, he joined some rare company with former Buffalo standout Khalil Mack<\/a>. The are the only FBS players since 2005 to record at least five forced fumbles, three interceptions, and two fumble recoveries in a single season. Defensive coordinator Shiel Wood should see his defense physically overwhelm a UCF offense that only scored three points against Baylor.<\/div>\n

Texas Tech Week 12 Prediction<\/h3>\n
The culmination of preseason expectations is in sight. The Red Raiders will look to secure their seventh 10-win season in school history. Their victory over BYU<\/a> was their ninth by 20 points or more this season. This is the most in the FBS and matches the most in school history. Texas Tech ranks second nationally in average margin of victory at 33.2 points this season. This team recognizes how close they are to achieving their goal.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The Red Raiders have proven that this team is different from those of the past, which would stumble against a team with superior talent. While the crowd likely won\u2019t be as juiced for this one, it still will be the final home game of the regular season, so it should be another full house. Expect this game to be over by the end of the first quarter and Texas Tech to just find a way to get it over as soon as possible.<\/div>\n

Texas Tech 38, UCF 6<\/strong><\/p>\n

Opponent: UCF<\/strong>
\nDate and Time:<\/strong> Saturday, Nov. 15th \u00a0| 3:30 PM\u00a0EST
\nLocation: <\/strong>Jones AT&T Stadium Lubbock, Texas
\nTelevision:<\/strong> Fox<\/p>\n

Main Photo: Stephen Garcia\/Avalanche-Journal \/ USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here are the Red Raiders sitting in the playoff rankings at number six. Some think they are a shoo-in for the Big 12 title game. Not to mention, this Texas Tech week 12 showdown is against a UCF team that Vegas views as no challenge to the Red Raiders as a 24.5-point underdog. However, Joey […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3959,"featured_media":81679,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"1","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6,2,17,35658,35662],"tags":[8318,34534],"class_list":["post-82446","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-big12","category-featured","category-news","category-texas-tech-red-raiders","category-ucf-knights","tag-joey-mcguire","tag-shiel-wood"],"modified_by":"Kate Pearson Halyburton, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82446","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3959"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=82446"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82446\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":82464,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82446\/revisions\/82464"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/81679"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=82446"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=82446"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=82446"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}