Story by
Letdown spot? Hardly a concern for a Texas Tech football team with grand ambitions | Giese
- Story by
- Letdown spot? Hardly a concern for a Texas Tech football team with grand ambitions | Giese
Everything surrounding last week's game against BYU made the Texas Tech football team's home finale feel like another non-conference game.
In a sense, it kind of was. UCF didn't have the bodies or the talent to put up much of a fight against the Red Raiders . Considering the highest of highs Texas Tech achieved, welcoming College GameDay and winning a Top 10 showdown, it would've been understandable if the Red Raiders got caught on a banana peel looking ahead to the Big 12 Conference championship.
Advertisement
That went out the window in just a few minutes. Four plays was all Texas Tech needed to put points on the board (a red zone touchdown, no less) against the Knights. For all intents and purposes, the game was over from there, another blowout victory inside Jones AT&T Stadium to cap a perfect season at home — for now, anyway.
Had UCF been a better team, or had a few more bodies, it's possible the Knights could've caught the Red Raiders slipping. Instead, Texas Tech treated the Knights as if they were Kent State or Arkansas-Pine Bluff: put a bunch of points on the board, get the key players off the field to avoid injury and get the heck out of dodge.
Even with the 48-9 win, though, not much has been decided for Texas Tech. A trip to Arlington seems all but assured (bolstered by Cincinnati's loss to Arizona) but with all the tie-breaker criteria and uneven schedules in the Big 12, the Red Raiders haven't clinched their spot there, or in the College Football Playoff, just yet.
Heck, the Red Raiders were even able to open up the playbook a bit, letting their Heisman-hopeful linebacker Jacob Rodriguez go back to his roots at Wichita Falls Rider, taking the snap at quarterback for a rushing touchdown. Then he had another interception, just because he's like that.
Advertisement
Reggie Virgil never had a carry in college until Saturday, and he took both of his rushing attempts into the end zone for touchdowns.
Behren Morton was an efficient 14-for-20 for 149 yards, and then got to watch two-plus quarters from the bench as Mitch Griffis orchestrated the offense the rest of the way.
Texas Tech's Romello Height celebrates his sack against UCF during a Big 12 Conference football game, Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025, at Jones AT&T Stadium.
Expecting a letdown seems silly, to be honest. This Texas Tech team isn't built like that. If the prevailing thought is the roster is made up of hired guns, then it shouldn't be a surprise that the henchmen focus on the job at hand. They never set out to just beat BYU or UCF or any other school that's on their schedule. The three-letter acronym they have their sights set on is the CFP, and there's still work to be done to secure a spot in that one.
Advertisement
"Just being able to control your own destiny and just focus on that week and not have to hope and pray for other people, it's a great feeling to have," Rodriguez said after the game, "but we have such a mature team. And guys that are eager to get back to work every day.
"We know that we can be this great team, but we have so much more to prove and we have so much more to give."
Texas Tech now has a week off before their regular season finale at West Virginia . Between now and then, the Red Raiders will spend some more time hearing about their inevitable spot in the Big 12 title game and CFP. It's an assumption at this point, but a pretty good one to be sure.
The team remains focused on what they set for themselves before the year. Taking care of the UCFs of the world, leaving no doubt to the outcome, is as good an indicator as any that this Texas Tech squad is out to prove itself every chance it gets.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Texas Tech football remains focused on ultimate goal without looking ahead
