Texas Tech didn’t wait long to take a swipe at its in-state rival after the Red River Shootout.
The Red Raiders, still unbeaten at 5-0 and ranked No. 10 in the country, had already taken care of Colorado 29-7 on October 3. With Texas now sitting on its first loss of the season, Tech used Monday to make sure the Longhorns heard about it.
“Happy Monday to all the other undefeated teams in the state of Texas,” the Red Raiders posted from their official account on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Texas Tech may no longer share a conference with Texas, but the rivalry clearly hasn’t cooled off.
The Longhorns fell to Oklahoma on Saturday afternoon, dropping to 4-1 in surprising fashion. That loss also put Arch Manning under a louder microscope online, though Steve Sarkisian isn’t joining the pile-on.
“I think that he’s processing fine,” Sarkisian told reporters during his Monday press conference. “Again, I think playing really good offensive football is all 11.
Playing 11 as one. I think it’s scheme, I think it’s momentum of the game.
“I think if you took the name off the back of his jersey and you said, ‘Here’s Joe Smith playing quarterback at the University of Texas and here’s a guy who’s beaten four Top-10 ranked teams in his last 13 starts,’ we’d be praising the guy. But the expectations are high for him.
He understands that. The expectations are high for all of us.
We’ve got to put our nose back to the grind and get back to work.”
Texas gets its next chance to reset on Saturday against Florida, with kickoff set for noon E.T.
In Other News...
Texas Tech's Big 12 Repeat Hopes Come Down To 3 Concerns
Texas Tech enters the middle stretch of its season in a rare spot, sitting 5-0 and ranked among the top 10 in both polls. For a team trying to defend a Big 12 title, that kind of start buys plenty of goodwill, but it does not erase the questions that come with trying to stay on top once the schedule stiffens and opponents get a longer look at what the Red Raiders are doing.
The biggest concerns are familiar ones for a contender: whether quarterback Will Hammond can keep settling in, whether the defense can continue to be the unit that carries the load, and whether enough offensive playmakers emerge to keep this run from leaning too heavily on a few key pieces. Texas Tech has already shown it can win early, but repeating in the Big 12 will depend on how quickly those issues get answered, and whether the Red Raiders can turn a strong opening into something more durable. [Read more 🡒]
Deion Sanders Just Added To Colorados Offensive Pressure
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Even so, the episode lands in the middle of a season in which Colorado has already been searching for answers on offense, with the quarterback situation still unsettled. For the Red Raiders, it is another reminder that game-week edges can matter, even if the bigger issue for Colorado has been finding consistency long before this latest wrinkle. [Read more 🡒]
Texas Tech Gets A Real Test In Arizona State Rematch
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Several Red Raiders have framed this week less as a chance to settle anything from a year ago and more as an opportunity to stay locked in on the task at hand. The conversation around revenge has stayed in the background, with the focus instead on preparing for a real test and letting the result speak for itself when the teams line up again. [Read more 🡒]