Joey McGuire talks huge matchup against BYU
Texas Tech is coming off a big 43-20 win at Kansas State to improve to 8-1 on the season. This week, undefeated BYU comes to Lubbock, and so does College Gameday. With one of the biggest games of the year, a win for the Red Raiders could highly influence an appearance in Arlington.
BYU has continued to show that they can finish close games. With freshman quarterback Bear Bachmeier playing solid football all season long, the Red Raiders will have to shut down another running quarterback and an explosive offense. Head coach Joey McGuire spoke to the media on Monday to discuss the upcoming game and what they will need to do to shut down the Cougars.
BYU’s talent on both sides of the ball
McGuire was very complimentary of BYU’s offense, especially their quarterback and their receivers. He expressed how big this Cougar team is on both sides of the ball and how aggressive they play. It will be important for Tech’s front seven to put as much pressure on Bachmeier as possible.
“You don’t see a true freshman play at the level that this quarterback is playing at. He’s got a big arm, can make all the throws, but he’s also a huge load when you’re trying to tackle him. I think he’s 6’2, 230, runs the ball well,” McGuire said. “He’s got great vision, good rush skills, and so we’re going to have our hands full… it’s hard to sit there and look and see that he hasn’t stood up to the challenge. When they got down early against Iowa State, he brought them back. And he doesn’t make a lot of mistakes. He uses his legs whenever he needs to. And he’s a good runner, like he’s he’s very elusive for a guy that big.”
“They’re big humans that take up a lot of space. We’re going to have to do a great job up front on our double teams. You know we’re going to have to win our one on ones. I think that’s huge,” McGuire said. “We’ve got to throw the ball downfield. We’ve got to go attack the football because, you know, we’ve got to create some explosive plays against a defense who’s really tough. They don’t let you drive the football. So we’ve got to create some shorter fields and but they’re a stout, really physical front seven.”
Why this team is ready
It’s been evident all season that this Red Raider team is different and has so many weapons. A big reason for this change is not only the new players brought in, but the returners who are old and experienced. When you combine leaders from the transfer portal with the guys coming back, you develop a team with strong chemistry and a huge desire to make sure everyone is doing their job to win.
“We have great leadership on this football team. You know, a lot of things have got to go, right, you know, and we’ve got to do a good job of focusing on football. That’s the important thing,” McGuire said. “We have a lot of leaders, every single room has a true leader. Like in the past, you might go into one room and that room’s counting on somebody else that’s on the team. You go in the wide receivers room, you got CD (Caleb Douglas) and Coy (Eakin), they’re gonna make sure that things are done right in that room. You go in the O line room. You’ve got Sheridan Wilson and Howard Sampson… you go in each room and you’ve got a person in that room that’s like, I’m in charge of making sure this group comes to practice and practices at a high level, and I think that’s a big part of it. I think whenever you’re playing great football in December, and you get a chance to play in December and January, defense travels, you know. And I think we got a great defense.”
McGuire’s thoughts on the environment
Almost immediately after Tech’s win over Kansas State, College Gameday announced it was coming to Lubbock. They haven’t been to Lubbock since the iconic matchup in 2008 between the Red Raiders and the Texas Longhorns. With this being such a big game, McGuire is still making sure it’s all about the football and not letting outside noise distract his team from the job at hand.
“We’ll play off the energy of our crowd, you know. And one thing I’m gonna tell the guys tomorrow is that they’ve earned the right to play in this game. The administration and I didn’t say anything to the team until after the game, but we knew if we won the game at K State, that we were going to get Gameday. And so they earned the right to play in this game. Now they’ve got to go earn the right to win it,” McGuire said. “We’ve got strong leaders, and they’ll bring the energy. Whenever Skyler Gill-Howard’s been on the on the field that, you know, we’re undefeated. So I’m glad that he was with us at Manhattan. He’ll be with us, on the field on Saturday, giving his pre game speech… I think it’s awesome for our students, that’s what I think it’s really cool. I think it’s great for our brand. I think it’s great for our university. You know, but my job is to get this team ready to go play football and win a game.”
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