Joey McGuire prepares for Kansas, emphasizes crowd noise
Texas Tech enters homecoming weekend 5-0 and with their first game back at Jones AT&T Stadium since September 13th against Oregon State. The Red Raiders will host the Kansas Jayhawks and are looking to stay undefeated, which would already make them bowl eligible.
Head coach Joey McGuire spoke to the media on Monday and offered very high praise for Kansas quarterback Jalon Daniels and the type of offense they run, while also discussing the importance of a loud home crowd environment, pre-snap penalties, and more.
What McGuire sees from the Kansas offense
The Jayhawks are currently averaging 434.8 total yards of offense per game and 35 points per game. With an offense and a quarterback that continue to be impressive, the Tech defense will need to slow down the offense and contain Daniels. McGuire mentioned that they like to do a lot of motioning, so the more the defense can make Kansas uncomfortable, the better.
“This game is huge. Kansas, if you look at them, they should be 6-0. Easily could be 6-0. They were dominating Missouri at Missouri. They’re a really good football team,” McGuire said. “They’re a physical team. They’re quarterback is a good football player. They’ve got some running backs and receivers are explosive and then, you know, defensively, I think they have the ability to pressure the quarterback. And then the other thing they’re not doing is they’re not turning the ball over.”
“Their quarterback is the real deal. A receiver, I think, is leading the big 12 in yardage. They’ve got a legit two legit tight ends,” McGuire said. “He’s (Daniels) a true dual threat quarterback. He’s got a big arm. He’s really accurate. The receiver, our analytics said, is the fastest player in the country, snap by snap, and he’s hit 20 miles per hour more than anybody else in the country, and he’s running fastest that we’ve played all season long. He plays really fast. He’s got good hands… what they do to you is they really attack your rules defensively, and they attack your eyes.”
Pre-snap penalties and red zone offense
Although the amount of pre-snap penalties decreased since playing at Utah, there were still some that were frustrating to McGuire, especially with a couple being at the one-yard line; otherwise, it would’ve made it a much easier opportunity to score. Along with pre-snap penalties, there were several red-zone opportunities for Tech to score six points, but it had to settle for several field goals.
“I’m struggling with the pre-snap penalties because we are down in the end zone, and we have a penalty, we have movement in the offensive line, we’re going to walk in on that play,” McGuire said. “I thought we should have scored 60 the other night, you know, and, and I know everybody else does… we just got to clean that stuff up and and, you know, become more disciplined. It’s a mixture of things. It’s not on the players, it’s not all on the players, it’s not all on the coaches. It’s a mixture of things that we’ve got to situationally do better.”
McGuire encourages crowd noise
The matchup against Kansas falls during homecoming week, with the Red Raiders wearing their 100th anniversary black jerseys. They have just announced to fans that it will be a blackout for the 6:30 pm kickoff. Although still prioritizing tradition, McGuire emphasizes that the crowd needs to focus on being as loud as possible and limiting any extra penalties that could hurt the team.
“I think the role of our fans, Red Raider Nation, I really need you guys to understand that it’s not about throwing tortillas, like, let’s get it out of the way right off the bat. And then let’s focus on when that defense, which is the best defense in the country, when that defense takes the field, stand up. Get Loud,” McGuire said. “It’s not about the tortillas this week… let’s focus on when that best defense in the country steps on the field, and they’re going to play like their hair is on fire, that we get up on our feet, and we get extremely loud.”
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