What Texas Tech coach Joey McGuire said after beating BYU in the Big 12 championship game

ARLINGTON, Texas — For the first time in program history, Texas Tech has won the Big 12 championship.

The Red Raiders pummeled BYU by a 34-7 score Saturday at AT&T Stadium, capturing the conference crown and essentially guaranteeing a first round bye in the forthcoming College Football Playoff.

But even amid the championship celebration, Texas Tech head coach Joey McGuire still elected to lobby for BYU’s Playoff inclusion.

“I truly believe that Big 12 deserves two teams in the playoffs,” McGuire told reporters after the game. “Whenever you look at BYU, they’re 11-2, and their two losses are to the No. 4 team in the nation.

“Man, so much respect for Kalani (Sitake). That’s a really good football team that I hope the committee looks at it, because there’s gonna be 2-loss teams out there, but there’s not gonna be an 11 (win) and 2-loss team. (BYU) did a great job throughout the season getting here.”

After the Cougars took a 7-0 lead on their first drive of the ballgame, Texas Tech responded with 34 unanswered points, bullying BYU in the second half to pull away for the blowout victory.

The Red Raiders held the Cougars to 2.1 yards per carry and 200 total yards, forcing four turnovers as well and appearing every bit of the national championship contender they’ve been heralded as.

“The leadership on this team ... I really ask a lot of them, you know, to bring all the new guys in and make them feel how special it is and how special our building is and how much we care about each other,” McGuire said. “I think consistency is the key. They get the same (head coach) every single day, they get the same coaching staff, and the one thing about us, the most important thing that we have is our players and everybody in our building.

“(The coaching staff’s) job, their sole job is to help (the players) be the best version of theirselves. They feel that every day. We don’t deviate. They get the same guys every single day, and I think whenever people started seeing that, they really started believing in what we were asking them to do and really became a special crew.”

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With the victory, Texas Tech also notches its first 12-win campaign in school history. Assuming the Red Raiders secure a first round bye, they would only need three more wins to bring a national championship to Lubbock.

“I am so proud of this team. I think we’ve got the best coaching staff in the world. We’ve got the best administration staff in the world. We’ve got the best fans in the world,” McGuire said.

“... I can’t wait to see where this committee is going to put us tomorrow. We’re looking forward to the bye, you know, we’re hoping and expecting that’s where we’ll be. We’re football banged up, and if you let us get healthy, man, I really believe we’ve got another gear.”