McGuire's expectations for Houston matchup after bye week
Texas Tech remains undefeated after a 34-10 win against Utah on September 20th. After their first bye week of the season, Tech now heads to Houston to take on the 4-0 Cougars on Saturday. Houston remains perfect after a 27-24 victory in overtime against Oregon State this past weekend.
With both teams playing very well defensively, it will be important for the Red Raiders to start fast on offense. Head coach Joey McGuire met with the media on Monday to discuss Tech’s bye week, what he expects to see from the team against Houston on Saturday, and more.
What McGuire expects from Houston
McGuire preached about how good Houston’s defense has been so far this season and all the different threats it creates for offenses. Having an efficient defense so far means Tech will need to explode on offense early.
“They’re a really good football team. You know, defensively, they’ve done a good job of stopping the run. They’re one of the top teams in the country on defense. They’ve done a good job of creating turnovers,” McGuire said. “I do think also this is going to be two of the better corners we faced all year long. I mean, their secondary plays well, but the two corners are really good, so, you know CD (Caleb Douglas) and Reggie (Virgil) are gonna have to have to play really well and and go up and catch some contested balls. We got to be able to run the football, because the one thing that we don’t want to do is get them in a situation where they can go to their third down package and really pressure us.”
Team health
McGuire discussed how this past week was the perfect time for the bye week, as it allowed several players who were out to return and get back into practice, while also allowing starters to heal from bumps and bruises that occurred during the first four games of the season.
“Cash Cleveland will be back. He practiced all last week, practiced yesterday. Ellis Davis practiced all that last week, practiced yesterday and, you know, this is probably as healthy as we’ve been since going into camp, it was a good week to have off,” McGuire said. “TC (Terrance Carter) has been banged up a little bit, so he felt good yesterday, and so it was good to have that week off. And even though a lot of those young guys still practiced, the old guys were able to to get a little bit of practice in during the week and then run a lot to keep us in shape… Behren (Morton) looked good yesterday. He feels great.”
Houston ties
Defensive coordinator Shiel Wood and AJ Holmes both came to Tech from the Cougars last season, and this weekend, they will be making their return. Although playing against their old team can tug at some heartstrings, that is not what the focus has been or will be during this week of preparation.
“Because this is such an old team, and they’re vets, just make it about the football like, if we’re the best version of ourselves, and I feel like we can play with anybody,” McGuire said. “I watched a lot of football this last weekend, you know, and I felt good about our football team whenever I was watching that football, if we take care of our business. So that was a point. Let’s don’t make it about Houston. I know we’re playing Houston, and they’re 4-0, but let’s make it about how good we can be.”
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