Texas Tech Game Preview Presented by Visit Lubbock: West Virginia

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The Red Raiders have set themselves up with a bit of a sticky situation. The worst team Texas Tech could have lost to was Cincinnati. Not just because of all of the off-field stuff from the spring and summer, but because both Utah and BYU actually play the Bearcats. Big 12 teams already needed to win the conference to ensure a spot in the playoff, but now most of the roads Texas Tech is travelling lead to tiebreakers that Texas Tech simply are on the wrong side of. 

The main one being BYU, Utah and Texas Tech finishing with an 8-1 tie in conference play. That would put the Beehive State in the Big 12 Championship game because the three of them would have played Cincinnati and only Texas Tech lost. Oof. 

The rest of the tiebreaker scenarios are also bad for Texas Tech. If there are a bunch of 7-2 teams in conference play, Arizona and Houston all of a sudden jump in front of Texas Tech. Don’t ask me how that makes sense. I don’t know. 

All of that being said, this game against West Virginia is the most important game on the schedule to date. Texas Tech is a massive favorite at -16.5 at the time of this writing and that sharpened up from -17.5 earlier in the week. 

After Arizona, the Mountaineers present a much different problem for Texas Tech. We’ll start with the offense. Michael Hawkins has been a touchdown machine this year and has 27 total with 16 of those coming on the ground. The option look that Rich Rodriguez broke through with is seeing shades of Pat White and Steve Slaton with Hawkins and Cam Cook. If you bite on the quarterback, Cook is running into the second or third level. If you spend your resources on Cook, Hawkins is in the endzone. 

Hawkins has been responsible for at least three touchdowns in 6 of the 8 games this season for West Virginia. He’s a true threat. Even through the air at times. If a team is biting on all of the run fakes, Hawkins is really good at hitting the throws he’s asked to make. If Texas Tech can get West Virginia outside their gameplan, something West Virginia is very stubborn about, Hawkins won’t be able to sit in the pocket and make all the throws under duress. 

If Hawkins is comfortable, watch out. 

The one thing West Virginia hasn’t had to deal with this year is an elite interior defensive threat paired with great linebackers. I think Arizona has a solid Big 12 defense, but they don’t have A.J. Holmes and Ben Roberts. To me, the Red Raiders defense will be able to hold West Virginia under their lofty season averages offensively. 

I also think that Texas Tech can reach the season averages that West Virginia is giving up. I respect Zac Alley as a coach, but the Mountaineers just don’t have the depth or top talent to play great defense in the Big 12. They are giving up 40 points per game in conference play and over seven yards per play through eight games. That is porous. 

J’Koby Williams and Thomas Castellanos should be able to run for more than 200 yards for a second straight game and the team might eclipse 300 for a second straight conference game. The real question is if Castellanos can hit some of the shots he missed in the passing game against this West Virginia secondary. 

I think he can. 

Another thing this West Virginia team hasn’t had to do is go into a venomous night environment like Lubbock will provide at Galaxy Stadium on Saturday night. It will be pitch black at the 8:30 kickoff and The Jones student section will be in all black and towering over the backs of the Mountaineers. 

I think Ames, Iowa and Jack Trice Stadium are great, but the last road trip this team took was to the Fort Worth Library to play TCU. 

I think the Texas Tech fans, as cordial as they’ll be outside of the stadium, will make West Virginia wish they hadn’t had to Visit Lubbock ™. 

Just give me the season averages for both defenses, but I’ll give the Lubbock crowd an extra touchdown negated for a final score of 40-17. Red Raiders roll and stay alive for both the Big 12 Championship game, but more importantly the College Football Playoff. 

Traveling in for the game? Visit Lubbock has you covered for Things to Do, Can’t Miss Experiences and Where to Stay