Commentary: Hype looks silly in Texas Tech opener

Joey McGuire was right. His Texas Tech football team did put the country on notice last Saturday night, that is after a long rain delay if much of the country bothered to notice.

And it is this – that after a face plant against Wyoming on CBS and the home opener this weekend against Oregon on FOX, these Red Raiders are not ready for prime time despite their national exposure.

After a summer of strutting and flexing, and getting many buy-ins from media and fans that this could be a special year, Tech was exposed in a 35-33 double-overtime loss to Wyoming in the 7,220-feet air of Laramie. You could hear the thin air going out of the Red Raiders all the way down to the South Plains.

Good teams, contending teams, don’t blow 17-0 first-quarter leads, don’t go 48:21 without scoring a point, don’t make stupid penalties, but here they were in losing to a Mountain West Conference team they were favored over by 12.5 points.

Who couldn’t see this coming, or at least acknowledge this was going to be a tough game? If anyone has any history of Tech football, they surely knew this wasn’t going to be easy and an upset was possible.

Yet, according to one media member who covers Tech for the online RedRaidersports.com., the feeling during preseason camp around the athletic offices and program was not only would Tech win, but it wouldn’t be close. Win? Sure, a team should be confident of winning. Not close? Unwarranted arrogance that had been bubbling all summer.

While Wyoming students were flooding the field in celebration Saturday night, a Tech fan tapped me on the shoulder in the concourse of the stadium, grabbed the Double T logo on his polo shirt and said, “We’ve seen this before, haven’t we?”

Then he went into the men’s restroom – who knows, maybe to throw up?

This much is true about the Tech football program throughout the years – you can’t trust them. You can’t believe in them. Even if you think it might be warranted this time, there’s a little voice that says, “Be careful.”

It’s like Lucy in the “Peanuts” cartoon holding the football for Charlie Brown to kick. Surely, she won’t pick up the football again and cause Charlie to go flying on his back. Not this time. Trust Lucy.

Splat.

Tech was coming off an 8-5 season, returned 15 starters from a Texas Bowl win over Ole Miss and nearly everyone was feeling their oats. It reached peak arrogance at the Red Raider Club Kickoff luncheon two weeks ago.

McGuire, in stoking the fire of the masses, said: “The nation is about to see what we are about … I can’t wait to play Wyoming because I want the rest of the nation to understand that they are on notice because the Red Raiders are ready to take control of this conference.”

How silly does all of that sound now?

No one wanted to really dwell on the fact that Tech was 3-0 in overtime games last year, and won another over a four-win team by four points thanks to two goal-line stands. It was a slippery slope from a 7-5 regular season to 3-9.

Against Wyoming, Tech did the things that kept a two-touchdown underdog in the game. The Raiders missed two field goals, had an interception deep in Cowboys territory wiped out by a hands-to-the-face penalty against an offensive lineman, and dropped a third-down pass at the Wyoming 3 that would have set up a likely touchdown.

A defense that was No. 93 in the country last year – no one wanted to focus on that either – played like it after the first quarter. An inexperienced Cowboys offense behind quarterback Andrew Peasley dictated the game, made plays to keep the chains moving at crucial times and gained confidence as the game went along.

Yet with Tech ahead 33-27 in the second OT, it looked like the Red Raiders might escape as the Cowboys faced fourth-and-7 from the 11. Tech brought the blitz. Peasley found tight end John Michael Gyllenborg on a hot read for the tying touchdown. According to CBS, Tech blitzed nine times, and gave up first downs or bigger plays seven times.

On the mandatory 2-points conversion in the second OT, Sam Scott almost walked in and the celebration was on in Laramie. Meanwhile, Tech may still be wiping egg off its face.

Ahead is the home opener on Saturday against Oregon, one of the name brands in the sport. The No. 15 Ducks overwhelmed Portland State, 81-7. Yes, Portland State is an FCS team that was 4-7 a year ago, but 81 points is a lot against air.

“You can’t let this game define who you are,” McGuire said. “You can choose to let it define who you are, but there’s a game next week.”

First-game snap judgments should be treated with caution. There are many examples of that. Two years ago, Tech opened the 2021 season at Houston and won. Six weeks later, Matt Wells was fired and UH went on to win nine in a row.

It wouldn’t be shocking to see Tech play well or even notch an upset against the Ducks in the wacky world of college football. If not, the Raiders will start 0-2 for the first time in 33 years.

And doesn’t that change the narrative of the preseason arrogance.

Jon Mark Beilue writes about regional sports for The Eastern New Mexico News.