Three Things Texas Tech Coach Joey McGuire Said ahead of Tech’s Trip to Stillwater

Last season was the first time since 1995 that the Cowboys and Red Raiders didn’t share a football field, but the two programs will get back at it this weekend.

Oklahoma State hosts Texas Tech at 2:30 p.m. Saturday in Boone Pickens Stadium. Third-year Tech coach Joey McGuire met with the media on Monday to preview the game. Here are three things he discussed.

1. On Oklahoma State

Relative to the expectations many had for Oklahoma State coming into the season, the Cowboys’ on-field performance has been quite the head-scratcher.

McGuire was asked whether he thought OSU’s 3-7 record to this point in the season was misleading. McGuire said it was before pointing to the fact that he thought OSU would’ve probably beaten BYU had quarterback Garret Rangel stayed healthy. He also pointed to injuries to linebackers Collin Oliver and Nick Martin as setbacks for the Pokes before pointing out that the Big 12 is so hectic that even despite OSU’s poor record, the Red Raiders will have to play well in Stillwater to win.

“If you look at it, you’ve got the returning Doak Walker winner in Ollie Gordon,” McGuire said. “He’s still a really, really good football player. I think he had 125 yards last week. Then (Brennan) Presley, their receiver, I think he is now the all-time leading receiver at Oklahoma State. Y’all think about that — the Biletnikoff winners that they’ve had at Oklahoma State, and that guy being the No. 1 guy says a lot about him. …

“This conference, I think anybody can beat anybody if you’re not ready to go on Saturday. So we’re gonna have to be ready to go on Saturday. And it’s gonna be a great environment. Stillwater’s a great college town. The paddles are gonna be banging against the wall, and it’s gonna be loud. Our guys are gonna be ready for it.”

2. On Alan Bowman Playing His Former Team

Back in 2018, Alan Bowman led the Red Raiders into Boone Pickens Stadium as a true freshman before throwing for 397 yards and a pair of scores and leaving with a win. Now the Cowboys’ quarterback all these years later, Bowman will lead the Cowboys into Boone Pickens Stadium against his former team.

This won’t be the first time this season Tech plays a former Red Raider quarterback, as Tech opened the season against Abilene Christian and Maverick McIvor, who was with the program from 2019 to 2021. McGuire was an assistant at Baylor when Bowman started his college career in Lubbock.

“This is gonna be his last home game there, and then he’s playing his old team,” McGuire said. “I know Alan from the standpoint of he’s from Grapevine, and we recruited him at Baylor. Know him well. He and (Texas Tech AD) Kirby Hocutt at media day had great conversation. He’s a great kid, and I know he’s gonna be fired up to play us.”

3. Tech Trending Up?

The Red Raiders are on the outside looking in of a chaotic Big 12 title picture, but they do have a chance this season to do something that hasn’t been done in Lubbock since 2009 — win eight regular-season games.

Tech is 6-4 entering its trip to Stillwater before closing the season with a home game against West Virginia. Win out, and it’ll be the first eight-win regular season since Mike Leach’s final year in Lubbock. If the Red Raiders win these next two games and a bowl game, it would be the sixth time Tech has won nine games in a season since joining the Big 12 from the Southwest Conference in 1996.

“I want it right now — I’m like everybody else,” McGuire said. “… If I’m not the most frustrated person in the country when it comes to Texas Tech football — I live it every day. This is my life. I get the frustration. I appreciate it. I really appreciate it because we’re lucky at a place that we have such a passionate fanbase. I understand the frustration, but I also understand that getting to eight wins … I think it hasn’t been done since 2009. …

“Whenever I say that, it’s not good enough. We all know that. It’s not good enough. I’m here to win the Big 12. It’s not good enough, but to grow this program and push it forward, it’s really important.”