Texas Tech is 2-0, but Joey McGuire didn’t sound like a coach ready to hand out pats on the back after the Red Raiders’ 35-24 win over Oregon State.
The biggest issue, at least from McGuire’s perspective, was what he saw from Will Hammond at quarterback. After the game, McGuire zeroed in on turnovers, sacks and the kind of decision-making that can drag an offense down even when the scoreboard says a team won comfortably.
“I thought as we went on, we were able to run the football more effectively, but it’s a mixture,” McGuire said. “The turnovers in the game is absolutely inexcusable and that ball should have been thrown out of bounds.”
He didn’t stop there. McGuire also pointed out that four sacks were too many, and he said two of them were on the quarterback.
“There’s two sacks out of the four sacks that are on the quarterback,” McGuire said. “He’s got to throw the ball away. You can’t take sacks.”
McGuire expanded on that point by describing what he expects a quarterback to understand once a play starts to unravel.
“There’s a clock that’s got to go off in your head when you step up, nothing’s there,” McGuire added. “You either run or you throw the ball out of bounds.”
That kind of public critique matters, especially this early in the 2026 season as Texas Tech sorts out what it really has on offense. Hammond finished 20/27 for 189 yards and one touchdown, while Florida State transfer Thomas Castellanos also got several snaps to run the offense after joining the team in recent weeks.
For now, the Red Raiders are still winning, and that gives McGuire and his staff some margin to work with. But the turnovers, the sacks and the quarterback play are clearly bothering the head coach.
A change under center isn’t necessarily coming right away. Still, McGuire’s comments made it obvious this is a situation worth watching.
Texas Tech is 2-0, but the team hasn’t looked nearly as dominant as it did in 2025, when it rolled to a Big 12 Championship and a College Football Playoff berth. There’s still time for the conversation to shift, and next Friday night against Houston could do exactly that.
Texas Tech and Houston will kick off in Lubbock at 7:00 p.m. on Friday, September 18th in the first Big 12 Conference game for both teams this season.
In Other News...
Texas Tech Fans Are Already Sounding The Alarm After Corvallis
Texas Techs first two games have left plenty of Red Raiders fans uneasy, and it is not hard to see why. A narrow win over Oregon State followed by a less convincing showing against Abilene Christian has already turned the early part of the season into a referendum on how sharp this team really is, with social media filling up quickly with complaints about penalties, play calling and the kind of execution that tends to separate a comfortable September from a tense one.
The frustration is less about one bad night than the feeling that the same concerns are showing up too early and too often. For a program that wanted cleaner football out of the gate, the online reaction has made clear that the leash is short and the patience is thinner, which means Texas Tech will have to answer some real questions on the field before the noise around Corvallis fades. [Read more 🡒]
Texas Techs First Road Test Will Answer One Big Defensive Question
Texas Techs first road trip of the season arrives with a chance to see how far this group has come, and it comes in a setting that usually tells on a team fast. The Red Raiders are headed to Reser Stadium in Corvallis to face Oregon State in a game that will air on CBS, and Joey McGuire made clear this is the kind of test he wants early. With Texas Tech sitting at 12-2 and Oregon State at 2-12, the record gap might look lopsided, but the value here is less about the matchup on paper and more about how the Red Raiders handle a different environment.
McGuire has talked about the importance of the road game and the standard he expects defensively, which is where the real interest lies for Texas Tech. Away from home, the Red Raiders will get a cleaner read on whether that side of the ball can travel and hold up when the surroundings change, the crowd gets louder, and the game asks for answers in tougher spots. For a team with bigger goals ahead, this is the kind of early-season trip that can confirm a lot without necessarily telling the whole story. [Read more 🡒]
Texas Tech Escaped Oregon State With A Bigger Question Still Looming
Texas Tech left Reser Stadium with a 35-24 win over Oregon State and a 2-0 start, but it did not come away looking fully settled. Will Hammond managed the offense well enough, finishing 20 of 27 for 189 yards and a touchdown, and the Red Raiders found enough answers to stay in front late after building a 28-24 edge.
The bigger concern was how often Oregon State moved the ball, especially through the air, and how much pressure Texas Tech had to absorb before it could close things out. For a team trying to build on an early-season surge, the result was encouraging, but the way it got there left a sharper question hanging over the next stretch of the schedule. [Read more 🡒]