Red Raiders trending toward success

Texas Tech football has hit the refresh button on the program.

Joey McGuire has arrived in the desert, and he brought optimism and excitement about Red Raider football with him. Texas Tech is just a few weeks out from taking the field and beginning their 2022 season, which still feels difficult to confidently predict at this point in the offseason. So, here are the best- and worst-case scenarios for Texas Tech football in 2022:

Worst Case

Being a first-year head coach in a conference as good as the Big 12 is tough. McGuire didn’t handpick many of the recruits in the incoming 2022 class due to his hiring date. Texas Tech has big shoes to fill on the offensive line and at linebacker. A wide receiver or two will need to step up and become a difference-maker. There’s plenty of reasons to be excited about Texas Tech football, but there’s also big questions looming.

These questions, the brutal schedule and the first year in a new system could squash some of the excitement around McGuire. Texas Tech walking out of this season with four or fewer wins is conceivable. There’s a learning curve when it comes to rebranding a program as drastically as McGuire is. If that curve sneaks up on the Red Raiders, there will be hard-to-watch moments consistently throughout the season, and another losing season of Texas Tech football.

Best Case

Texas Tech has a three-headed monster at quarterback and a two-headed monster at running back. Zach Kittley runs one of the best offenses in all of college football. Defensive end Tyree Wilson is poised for a monster senior season. The Red Raiders’ secondary might be deeper than it’s ever been. There is a lot to like about this football team.

If Texas Tech can stay healthy and adapt to the new schemes easily, this is a team that can compete in the Big 12. The Red Raiders have been vocal about getting to the Big 12 championship this season. That’s a tall task, but it certainly feels like they’re capable of finishing among the top four teams in the conference — something they haven’t done since the Mike Leach era. McGuire has a lot of talent and good play-callers to utilize it. If it clicks, this could be a very good football team.

Prediction

This is a good football team. There are a lot of good football players on this team, and the change in coaching staff creates initial confidence that they can be utilized correctly. There are serious questions at offensive line and linebacker. These two position groups have to stay healthy throughout the year, or the trajectory of the season could suddenly look completely different. Even with the lack of depth at these two positions, there’s enough playmakers elsewhere to make me optimistic.

Texas Tech’s passing offense is going to be a weapon once again. Whoever the starting quarterback ends up being, big numbers are in store. The running game will be a nice asset to Kittley’s offensive playbook. This Red Raider defense is very intriguing. The secondary truly has the potential to be one of the best in the Big 12 in a good scheme. With Wilson and others on the defensive line putting pressure on the quarterback, forcing turnovers could be a strength of this team.

McGuire may be a first year head coach, but his confidence and edge provides something that Texas Tech football has been missing. There will be some hiccups and some games lost that should’ve been won, but that’s life in the Big 12. I’m confident that at the end of the year, we’ll be looking at McGuire’s first season as reason for confidence going forward. Texas Tech will finish with back-to-back winning seasons and bowl victories for the first time in a decade.

Record: 7-6

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