Three Things to Know about Oklahoma State’s Road Trip to Texas Tech

This ain’t your typical Tech team and doesn’t figure to be a typical road trip to Lubbock for OSU.

The Cowboys and Red Raiders are (historically) known for putting up points and exhausting the scoreboard against each other. Even last year, the 0-9 Cowboys had probably their best Big 12 game when hosting Texas Tech, a 56-48 loss. But I wouldn’t expect a 100-point matchup on Saturday.

Atypical. They’re not even allowed to throw tortillas anymore.

Everyone knows Tech’s got a Scrooge McDuck NIL vault, and we’ll get into what’s going on with the QB matchup later this week. But here are three other things to keep in mind before the Pokes head to West Texas.

1. Tech Is Historically Tough to Run On

The Cowboys’ offensive line looked improved on Saturday, but they’ll have their work cut out for them in Lubbock.

So, there’s still several games to go, but the Red Raiders are on a historic pace when it comes to rushing defense. They lead the nation, holding teams to just 64.29 rushing yards per game. Only twice (101 at Utah and 103 at Houston) has a team reached triple digits on the ground against Tech. Oregon State rushed for eight total yards (!) against the Red Raiders.

We know the Red Raiders are stacked with cash talent, but that’s especially true along their defensive front. Linebackers Jacob Rodriguez and David Bailey lead the way. They both earned Midseason All-American honors.

Rodriguez ranks third in the Big 12 with 62 tackles, and Bailey is second in the nation with 12.5 tackles for loss. He leads all defenders in the FBS by an West Texas mile with 105 (!) TFL yards.

The best rushing defense in Big 12 history was the 1999 Kansas State squad which allowed just 819 total rushing yards in 11 games (68.25 per game) under the tutelage of soon-to-be Sooner head coach Bob Stoops. If they keep their current pace, the Red Raiders will beat that. What a world.

2. Cameron Dickey Needs to Bounce Back (Bad for OSU)

When the Raiders hosted Kansas two weeks ago, the sophomore running back went ballistic, racking up a career-high 263 rushing yards and two scores at 12.5 yards per carry. Then against ASU, he managed just nine carries for 40 yards.

The KU game wasn’t just a flash in the pan. He’d been on a nice trajectory all season and currently ranks third in the Big 12 averaging 90.1 yards per game and is picking up 6.3 yards per carry this season.

Cameron Dickey is a legit devy RB, great size speed freak, and better RB than Quinten Joyner pic.twitter.com/ELqp9EIRgF

— Fantasy Frawd (@fantasyfrawd) October 17, 2025

The Cowboys (in case you’ve been watching through the cracks between the fingers as you hide from the truth) have been giving up oodles of yards and plays on the ground most of the season.

They have been better over the last three weeks, but they’ve still been giving up lots of chunk-yardage plays like that highlight above. OSU ranks T126th in plays allowed of 20 yards or more (40) and is tied for last in the FBS having allowed 23 plays of 30 yards or more.

The Red Raiders have more than one home run hitter, and OSU has not been great about avoiding the big play.

3. Tech Needs to Bounce Back (Bad for OSU)

The Red Raiders lost a heartbreaker to Arizona State sans their starting QB but are still 6-1 on the season and 3-1 in Big 12 play.

Eyeing the last month of football, Tech is one of five teams within a half game of the Big 12 lead if they get past the Cowboys. Tech will have BYU (one of those teams) and UCF at home and have road games at Kansas State and West Virginia. They want to make their first trip to the Big 12 Championship and will be champing at the bit for a rebound performance.

Plus, though OSU has made some slight improvements, the Cowboys are shiftless, are still playing a wide receiver at quarterback and haven’t sniffed an FBS win this season.

Pack all that up and go on the road against the nation’s top ranked defense (by PFF) and the Big 12’s top scoring offense, protecting homefield, ready to get a disappointing taste of their mouths — plus they can’t even use tortillas — and you’ve got a recipe for disaster.