Texas Tech heads into Saturday’s meeting with Sam Houston with a simple mission: look like a team that can overwhelm somebody.
The Red Raiders have spent the first part of the season winning, but not separating. They’ve been favored by more than a touchdown in every game and still haven’t covered the spread.
With no ranked opponents left on the schedule, that matters. If Tech wants to make noise with voters and the College Football Playoff Selection Committee, it has to start stacking convincing wins, not just results.
That’s especially true after last season’s team built its reputation by putting people away. Tech won 12 of its 13 games before the playoff by double figures and covered the spread in all of those wins.
The standard is right there. Now the 2026 team has to start living up to it.
Saturday’s 11 a.m. Central kickoff against the Bearkats also comes with its own challenge.
Tech may have to create its own energy coming off what was described as one of the most electric games of the Joey McGuire era. Nobody is expecting a thriller in Lubbock, but this is exactly the kind of game where the Red Raiders need to look sharp before the Big 12 schedule gets serious.
One clear place to start: the run game.
Tech has been uneven on the ground so far, and it hasn’t owned a game from start to finish in that department. The Red Raiders’ high-water mark this season is 173 rushing yards against Abilene Christian in the opener, and they’re averaging more than 20 yards fewer per game rushing than they did last year. Against Sam Houston, topping 200 would be a meaningful step.
The matchup gives them a chance to do it. Sam Houston gave up 177 rushing yards to Troy in Week 1 and 241 to Tulsa in Week 2, the only two FBS opponents it has faced. Both teams had success moving the ball on the ground, and Tech needs to follow that script.
There’s also a personnel wrinkle worth watching. Cash Cleveland is set to start at left guard for the first time this week.
After Tech inserted him against Houston, the ground game improved dramatically. That makes him a name to keep an eye on if the Red Raiders start leaning on the run early.
The defense has a separate goal: take the ball away.
That part hasn’t happened enough yet. Tech has not produced multiple takeaways in any game this season, and it has only three total turnovers gained - one in each contest. That’s a far cry from last year, when the Red Raiders led all FBS teams with 32 takeaways.
Sam Houston has been careful with the ball so far, turning it over only twice this season. So Tech may not need a takeaway binge to win this game, but it does need to get in the habit of forcing mistakes. The goal is three takeaways per game, and hitting that number Saturday would match the season total by itself.
The passing game has one more question attached to it: who joins Kenny Johnson?
Johnson has been the most productive receiver so far, leading the team with 230 yards and 13 catches. No other Texas Tech pass catcher has reached 132 receiving yards. That’s not enough balance for what Tech wants to become.
Terrance Carter Jr. has been the player fans have been waiting to see break out, but he is questionable this week with a sprained AC joint. Micah Hudson, meanwhile, has only three catches for 44 yards. Tech may decide to make a point of getting him involved early.
However it comes together, the Red Raiders need more than one reliable threat in the passing game. Carter, Hudson, Coy Eakin or somebody else has to emerge as a true second option. If defenses can key on Johnson every week, the offense becomes much easier to defend.
Saturday is a chance for Tech to start changing that story.
In Other News...
Texas Tech Blowout Still Left One Big Question Behind
Texas Techs 49-14 win over Sam Houston was the kind of result that can make a September afternoon look easy from the outside, even if the path there had a few rough patches. The Red Raiders opened sharply, then hit a messy second quarter when quarterback Will Hammond threw multiple interceptions, but the offense settled back in and the defense took over from there, turning the game into a runaway.
Austin Romaine was right in the middle of it with a pick-six and eight tackles, and the Red Raiders defense squeezed Sam Houston into just 78 second-half yards. Freshman pass rusher LaDamion Guyton also flashed enough to add another encouraging note, even if the more interesting question coming out of the day is how Texas Tech sorts through the quarterback picture after a win that still left some of its biggest decisions hanging. [Read more 🡒]
Texas Tech Loses A Key Passing Weapon At The Wrong Time
Texas Tech is heading into its next game with another hole to fill in the passing game, as tight end Terrance Carter Jr. is expected to sit out after hurting his AC joint against Houston. It is a frustrating turn for a player who has already been slowed by a foot injury earlier this season and has yet to find much rhythm in 2026, leaving the Red Raiders to keep adjusting around one of their more versatile options.
The timing matters because Carter was supposed to be part of a passing attack that could use every dependable target it can get, especially with conference play always tightening the margin for error. In his absence, Texas Tech will lean on its other tight ends to absorb the snaps and try to keep the offense on schedule, but the bigger question is whether Carter can get back on the field soon enough to reclaim a role that has been difficult to establish. [Read more 🡒]
Texas Tech Defense Just Delivered An Early Warning To Everyone
Texas Techs defense wasted no time making a statement in Week 4, and Austin Romaine was at the center of it. The senior linebacker, a transfer from Kansas State, turned consecutive interceptions into touchdowns against Sam Houston quarterbacks Landyn Locke and Brett Holloway, helping the Red Raiders race out to a 21-0 lead and putting the game firmly in their control early.
Romaine had entered the day with only one career interception, so the sudden burst of playmaking stood out even before the scoreboard did. Now he has two pick-sixes, and the way Texas Techs defense cashed in on those mistakes offered an unmistakable reminder that this group can change a game in a hurry when it gets a chance. [Read more 🡒]