Three Things Texas Tech Coach Joey McGuire Said ahead of the Cowboys’ Trip to Lubbock

The last time the Cowboys went to Lubbock, they won 23-0. If that happens Saturday, it’d be one of the most shocking results of the college football season (and maybe the past decade).

Oklahoma State plays Texas Tech at 3 p.m. Saturday in Lubbock. Tech coach Joey McGuire met with reporters Monday to preview the game. Here are three things he said.

1. No Mas Tortillas

Before McGuire got going on his regularly scheduled news conference, Tech AD Kirby Hocutt announced Tech fans were no longer permitted to throw tortillas at the opening kickoff, something that’s been happening in Lubbock since the 1990s.

“As we move forward, we are no longer going to encourage nor permit the throwing of tortillas at the opening kickoff for our home football games,” Hocutt said. “… We know that as Red Raiders, no one tells us what to do. We make our own decisions, and we encourage actions because they are the right thing to do.”

Tech was penalized twice during its most recent home game for tortillas being thrown. This comes after Big 12 ADs voted 15-1 to assess a 15-yard penalty after two warnings for objects being thrown on the field. ESPN reports that the one in that 15-1 vote was Hocutt.

“I believe in tradition,” McGuire said. “Y’all know I’ve said it a million times, there’s no place in the world I love more than this place. I’m so lucky to be the head coach at Texas Tech. …

“I still believe the last (home) game, it was as loud as I’ve ever been a part of. … The energy and how loud it was had nothing to do with tortillas.”

We’ll see how that goes.

Personal thoughts: I think the tortilla throw at kickoff is a fun tradition, but it’s easy to see where trusting a bunch of college kids to throw foreign objects toward the field could go south.

2. Tech QB Behren Morton Day-to-Day

The Red Raiders don’t have as many quarterback questions as Oklahoma State does, but there is still a wonder what that position will look like for the team moving forward.

Behren Morton is Tech’s starter, but he’s dealt with some injury struggles this season. Morton injured a knee in Tech’s season-opener but didn’t miss a time because of it until re-aggravating it against Kansas and missing Tech’s loss to Arizona State this past weekend.

Morton also came out of the Red Raiders’ win against Utah because of a hit to the helmet.

Redshirt freshman Will Hammond has come in as Morton’s backup. He’s taken part in seven games this season, throwing for 578 yards, six touchdowns and three interceptions. Hammond went 22-for-37 against the Sun Devils, throwing for 167 yards, two touchdowns and one pick.

“(Morton) ran (Sunday) in the pool,” McGuire said. “Ran (Monday) in the AlterG (anti-gravity treadmill). He’ll run again (Monday) afternoon. It’ll be day-to-day. I was proud of him. He was a little bit better of listening. I wished he could’ve played. He wished he could’ve played. But we’re gonna take it day-to-day to make sure that he’s 100%.”

3. On OSU

Saturday’s game features a Tech offense that has averaged 43.9 points a game (best in the Big 12) vs. an OSU defense that is giving up 38.4 points a game (worst in the Big 12). And it features an OSU offense scoring 16.6 points a game (worst in the Big 12) vs. a Tech defense that gives up 14.1 points a game (best in the Big 12).

What could possibly go wrong?

Despite the final score, the Cowboys did look a little better against Cincinnati this past weekend, but OSU still has a long ways to go before anyone picks the Pokes in this game (the FanDuel line sits at Tech -37.5).

“I thought, and Cincinnati’s a really good team, they’re undefeated in our conference, they played Cincinnati really well,” McGuire said. “The running back (Rodney Fields Jr.) had a lot of yards, especially early in the game. They have a new OC. I think Doug’s moved more into the head-coaching role. They’ve got an OC. I thought he was really creative. He actually did some things that bothered us against Arizona State, some unbalanced stuff. So, we’ll have a good plan for that. We’ll have to because they’ve seen it on film, and we’ll see that probably for the rest of the year at different times just because that gave us some issues on defense.”