For the first time in program history, Texas Tech is playing in a football conference championship game.
The 11-1 Red Raiders will play for the league crown Saturday in Arlington, Texas, where they’ll face a familiar foe in BYU.
“I’m really fired up because I get to play a good friend in Kalani (Sitake),” Texas Tech coach Joey McGuire told media members Monday. “I love that dude. I think he and I are a lot alike, we’re high-energy guys, we have two very physical teams. I think the two best teams in the conference are playing this weekend.
“ ... I’m sitting there watching (BYU’s) last few games since we played, and they just keep getting better and better. I think (Sitake’s) got one of the best freshmen in the country at quarterback (Bear Bachmeier) and got an incredible staff. So, we’re really honored. We’re excited. We do feel like we’ve earned our right to play in this game.”
The winner of Saturday’s matchup would clinch an automatic College Football Playoff berth, though Texas Tech is likely in the bracket regardless.
BYU’s CFP hopes, however, almost certainly ride on the Big 12 championship. McGuire doesn’t agree with such a fate, believing the Cougars are being overlooked.
“I think that, without a doubt, we both should be in the Playoff,” McGuire said. “No matter what happens on Saturday, I think we’ve earned a right (to make the Playoff). I think whenever you look at it, they’re discounting both of us whenever you’re talking about where we’re ranked. I think we’re as good as anybody in the country, and we’re going to put on a great game.”
The Cougars and Red Raiders faced off Nov. 8 in Lubbock, where BYU fell 29-7 for its lone setback of the year.
However, Texas Tech’s 22-point margin of victory against the Cougars was its lowest of the season, and its 29 points was the team’s fewest total with starting quarterback Behren Morton on the field.
And you know what they say — it’s hard to beat the same team twice in the same season. McGuire is well aware of such a truth.
“Sometimes I think whenever you’ve beaten somebody, you just think, ‘Oh, it’s going to happen (again),’ and you’ve got to be really wary of that,” McGuire said. “... The one thing that we do every single Sunday is we go through our plan to win, but we also say the good and the bad, like the things that we did well in the game and the things that we’ve got to do better.
“I asked the coaches yesterday in our staff meeting to really dig in to the first game (against BYU) of where we missed the mark and some stuff where they could take advantage of us where we could take advantage of them. Your team’s ‘why’ is very important to beating somebody twice.”
McGuire credited BYU as a “very big, physical team,” specifically praising Cougars running back LJ Martin, who could soon be named the Big 12’s Offensive Player of the Year.
Martin and McGuire go way back. Martin was once committed to Texas Tech in high school, before instead pledging to Stanford and ultimately ending up at BYU.
But even though the Cougar star never donned the red and black, McGuire is still a “big fan” of Martin nonetheless.
“I love LJ and his parents. (I was) lucky enough to see him at Big 12 Media Days and gave him a hug,” McGuire said. “I mean, he’s a stud. I’m not fired up Saturday to face him, but I’m fired up he’s at BYU because he’s such a good person and he’s with such a good coaching staff.
“He’s a really physical runner. He runs behind his pads, catches the ball well out of the backfield. He’s one of those guys when you meet him, he’s got one of those heights about him.
“He’s got a great smile, and I think he’s kind of a magnet to where people want to be around him. I’m a big fan of LJ’s and I’m gonna root for him in the Playoff. We’re just gonna try to stop him Saturday, but I’m gonna root like crazy for him whenever he plays somebody else.”
Texas Tech hasn’t won a sole conference championship since 1955, with this season potentially having been the best in school history. Thus, McGuire understands the magnitude of the moment before him and his team Saturday in Arlington.
“We pushed all our chips all in this year, and we feel like it’s paid off,” McGuire said.
“I know there’s a lot of Red Raiders that are fired up and are going to be there in Arlington and have been waiting for this moment for us playing (in the) Big 12 championship. I’m excited, it’s gonna be an incredible game, and what’s gonna be fun is the stadium will be packed.”
