– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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ARLINGTON, TEXAS — For what turned out to be a relatively fleeting moment in the early part of this century, Texas Tech football created a name for itself despite the shadows that their bigger, more well-funded gridiron neighbors in the Lone Star State incessantly cast over Lubbock, led by the maverick offensive guru Mike Leach whose “Air Raid” offense gave the school, let alone the program, a national identity. In a way, those halcyon days made the Red Raiders a victim of their own success, and after Leach’s departure — and as spread offenses permeated the college football landscape, turning its innovative offense into a dime a dozen — Texas Tech rapidly receded back into college football obscurity over the next decade plus.
Soon after building a high school football powerhouse, Cedar Haill, in Texas, Joey McGuire took on the college coaching ranks and, in 2022, became the man tasked to bring back football relevance to Texas Tech. After Saturday night, not only has he — aided by mega donors that would make those in Austin jealous — checked off that box, but McGuire also brought the school championship glory for the first time in a couple of generations.
And there’s still more time before the end of this season to see how much more the Red Raiders can continue to raise that bar.
Unlike Leach’s squads of the past, the 2025 Texas Tech edition has hung its hat on defense, and the unit came through again by forcing four turnovers as the No. 7 Red Raiders scored the final 34 points of the game in steamrolling No. 11 BYU 34-7 in the Big 12 Championship Game inside AT&T Stadium on Saturday afternoon. Butkus Award winner Jacob Rodriguez, one of the many headline players brought into the school amidst the millions the university spent in the transfer portal, made 13 tackles while fellow linebacker Ben Roberts recorded two interceptions as the Red Raiders held BYU to a season-low 200 yards in securing their first outright conference championship since 1954 with their second win this season against the Cougars.
The win assures Texas Tech a spot in the College Football Playoff for the first time, and it also likely secured a first-round bye in the 12-team competition.
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Saturday afternoon’s game, with photos taken by ALOST photo editor Ross James. After clicking on a photo to enlarge the picture, press the left and right arrow buttons on either side of the caption to scroll through the rest of the pictures that appear on the first page. Also, click on the numbers and/or arrow appearing immediately below the picture grid to load the next set of photos. There are 47 pictures in total.
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