To say that Texas Tech football fans were concerned after last week’s 52-51 OT win over Abilene Christian would be fair. To say that they are furious and hopeless after Saturday night’s 37-16 blowout loss to Washington State would be an understatement.
Nothing went right for the Red Raiders in this game. And it started on the opening kickoff when Tech muffed a pooch kick allowing the Cougars to recover. From there, it was a comedy of errors.
In all, Tech committed four turnovers, was penalized 10 times for 81 yards, and failed on all but one of its five fourth-down attempts. To say that this program looks poorly coached and ill-prepared to succeed would be fair.
It is also fair to suggest the charming hold Joey McGuire once had over the Red Raider fan base is no longer in place. Instead, many on social media and the Texas Tech online message boards are throwing stones at the third-year Red Raider head coach.
The reality is that, if the program was willing to hold Matt Wells to a higher standard than he put forth, the same expectation should apply to McGuire. Though McMcGuire has been marginally better than his predecessor, he should be producing much better results than he has thus far, especially in 2024.
The difference, between Wells and McGuire is that the former never had the support of the Red Raider fan base, and especially the boosters who fund the program. Meanwhile, McGuire has gotten just about everything he’s asked for and yet, he continues to produce performances like we saw in Pullman, Washington.
McGuire is now 3-9 in true road games at Tech. What’s more, he’s yet to win his first road game of the season in any of his three years on the job.
Something has to change for this program and everyone who isn’t wearing scarlet and black glasses knows that. Whether it is a coaching change, a coordinator change, or an attitude change, this program can’t continue down the path it is walking in 2024.
Naturally, Red Raider fans are balancing between being furious with the leadership of this program and being hopeless when considering the prospects for the rest of the season. And as most people are prone to do these days, they took to social media to have a cathartic release. So let’s look at some of the best reactions to another horrible night from the Red Raiders.