OTF Premium Putting the latest kerfuffle between Texas and Texas Tech to bed

[Jeff Howe]

I love football.

I love talking about football.

I love writing about football.

I love talking and writing about Texas Longhorn football.

Forgive me then for not champing at the bit to dissect a war of words between Texas and Texas Tech that’s devolved into an obnoxious publicity stunt. Hopefully, we’re nearing the end of this tiresome situation and can get back to actual football matters in the near future.

Consider this my part in helping put it to bed.

Joey McGuire, Cody Campbell, Kirby Hocutt and anyone else on the Red Raiders’ side of the fence who believes they have a dog in the fight have taken umbrage with Steve Sarkisian singling out Texas Tech’s less-than-stellar 2026 schedule. The offended parties appear to be hellbent on milking every possible ounce out of their time atop college football’s offseason news cycle.

The public challenge McGuire and Campbell have issued to Texas — to ditch the season opener at home against Texas State and play the Red Raiders, either in Lubbock or at AT&T Stadium in Arlington — achieved its intended purpose by riling up the Texas Tech faithful and giving casual college football fans perceived ammunition to question the Longhorns’ fortitude.

The same is true of Hocutt’s comments to The Athletic, even though Texas somehow managed to match the Red Raiders' scoring output in last season’s College Football Playoff without participating.

The idle threats have also buried a few key points (including Brenden Sorsby’s ongoing pursuit of eligibility getting moved to the national media’s back burner, for the moment) in the back-and-forth since Sarkisian’s comments in Houston last Thursday.

— Sarkisian didn’t insult Texas Tech, its head coach or its football program. He called out the Red Raiders’ schedule, which nobody has stepped up to defend.

Of the seven Power Four schools in Texas, Dave Campbell’s Texas Football believes Texas Tech has the easiest schedule this coming season.

Parker Fleming’s analysis has the Red Raiders with the easiest path to the CFP of any Power Four team in the country.

College Football News ranked Texas Tech’s schedule 65th out of 138 FBS programs. Only three Power Four schedules were considered easier than the Red Raiders' 12-game slate.

According to Bill Connelly’s SP+ rankings, the two FBS opponents on Texas Tech’s schedule (Abilene Christian is an FCS program) rank No. 91 (Oregon State) and No. 136 (Sam Houston), respectively.

I’ve yet to hear anyone say Sarkisian was wrong about the Red Raiders’ schedule, which has proved his point.

If the CFP selection committee doesn’t use strength of schedule as a primary separator when push comes to shove, then what’s the point of risking a non-conference loss?

— Whether viewed through the prism of subjective opinions or objective metrics, Texas Tech is taking the path of least resistance with its non-conference schedule in hopes of reaching the CFP. Instead of owning it (if the system prioritizes winning a conference championship, no matter how it’s acquired, then admit that's what you're doing and roll with it), the folks in Lubbock threw a fit, went on the attack and tried to gain sympathy in the court of public opinion.

Texas isn’t going to play Texas Tech in the regular season. Social media trolls can cry for the Longhorns to “SPOT THE BALL!” all they want. It won’t matter.

McGuire knows it, Campbell knows it, Hocutt knows and in their heart of hearts, Red Raider fans who possess a modicum of common sense know it’s nothing more than a glorified pro wrestling promo. The goal was for Texas Tech to paint Texas as the villain, an SEC behemoth too scared to play the upstart in-state program that’s beating the Longhorns on the recruiting trail and making a move toward the top of the state’s FBS pecking order.

This was never about getting Texas to agree to a game. It was to make the Longhorns look petty, keep the hype train going after a watershed season in their program’s history, draw attention away from the Sorsby situation and hope to get a few college football talking heads and personalities with large social media followings on their side.

Those things won’t impact anything the Longhorns do on the field in 2026 and beyond. Regardless, the Red Raiders accomplished their goal

— Sometimes, situations like this aren’t that deep. I think this one is for Sarkisian.

A 37-34 overtime loss to Texas Tech in 2022 was enough of a burden to bear for Sarkisian and the Longhorns. McGuire’s speech to his team in the victorious locker room poured salt in the wound.

Specifically, one portion of McGuire’s sermon was so sharp that it might've gotten embedded under Sarkisian’s skin.

“I told you they were going to break and they did,” McGuire told his squad. “The reporter asked me at the end, she said: ‘What does it mean to win this game and beat Texas?' I said, ‘It doesn’t mean anything to beat Texas. We’re 1-and-0 in the Big 12.' That’s what it means.”

Just like Sarkisian’s campaign rally-style pep talk to a hotel ballroom full of alumni, donors and fans in Houston, McGuire’s words were crafted with a specific audience in mind. In both instances, once the comments went public, the offended party processed what was said and prepared to respond as they saw fit.

Leading up to the 2023 season, Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark didn’t mince words about backing the Red Raiders when they made their way to DKR for Texas’ last regular-season game as a member of the conference. In the face of the remaining Big 12 members and the league office making things as publicly uncomfortable as possible for the Longhorns and Oklahoma before their respective departures for the SEC, Sarkisian saved his retort to Yormark, McGuire and anyone else who might find themselves caught in the blast radius for Nov. 24, 2023.

Sarkisian didn’t have to say anything. The 57-7 bludgeoning of Texas Tech that sent Texas to the Big 12 title game spoke volumes.

Essentially, McGuire called Sarkisian’s team soft while downplaying the relevance of the Red Raiders’ 18th win in 73 meetings with the Longhorns (Texas leads the all-time series with Texas Tech, 55-18). If Texas Tech is top of mind for Sarkisian, it would be hard to blame him for the genesis of his ire stemming from what got back to him after a close loss.

Sarkisian and the Longhorns got the last word when it mattered. No matter how bad the Red Raiders want to settle the score, barring a postseason meeting, the status quo won’t change for the foreseeable future.

View full news story

[Jeff Howe]

I wasn't going to publish anything on the situation, namely because Texas Tech took things to such an obnoxious level that it's hard to fathom.

But my theory is that all of this stems from the "everything runs through Lubbock" video that got out after the game in Lubbock. I've known Joey McGuire for a long time and he's been good to me, but looking at that the way Sark might've, that's a first-time college head coach calling your team soft and irrelevant after a game that could've gone either way.

From that standpoint, 57 points in the 2023 game might not have been enough. Whether Tech likes it or not, Sark got the last word and said it with his chest, given the way the Longhorns played that night. Keilan Robinson's kickoff return to open the second half was the ultimate break-your-will kind of moment that happens in blowouts. 

[Blake Munroe]

[Joe Zura]

Can’t believe you did all of this muted Jeff impressive 

[Dawson Yarbrough]

Wasn’t expecting to add this to my summer reading list, but here we are. Eloquently said, sir. Thanks. 

[QuanCosbysBurner]

You can tell Joey is just another mouth piece for Cody Campbell. Hell that interview he did his voice cracks. Joey M isn’t built for this kinda stuff and even if he thinks he is neither is Cody Campbell. 

[Jeff Howe]

2 minutes ago, Joe Zura said:

Can’t believe you did all of this muted Jeff impressive 

Blind squirrels, nuts and whatnot.

[Jeff Howe]

Hopefully, we can get back to football.

[Lock n Horns]

I’m so done with this. It’s time to move on and ignore these guys. We are better than this and don’t need to take the bait and sink to their level. 

[Jeff Howe]

10 minutes ago, Lock n Horns said:

I’m so done with this. It’s time to move on and ignore these guys. We are better than this and don’t need to take the bait and sink to their level. 

🤘

[Roy Hinojosa]

Yeah, I'm done breathing life into this and I won't give my time, clicks or views to anyone trying to stir sh*t.

On the other hand, it seems Sark takes on the personality of his DC. The last few years, Sark has been fairly reserved and hasn't freely given any team bulletin board material. Since Muschamp has joined, Sark is on the attack mode. If it fires up his team in the fall, then I'm all in.

[Bunk Moreland]

This was fantastic, @Jeff Howe! Gotta feed these tortilla-throwing cockroaches the hard truths!

[NothinButDaHorns34]

Joey is a glorified high school coach who couldn’t win more than eight games before we left the big 12, So pipe down, Son. That CFP participation trophy they won has got them acting like they are saban’s bama in their prime. 

[UTexas]

Fantastic article Jeff, as always. 

[UTexas]

23 minutes ago, Jeff Howe said:

Hopefully, we can get back to football.

Let’s please do that. I’m tired of hearing/seeing/reading anything about tech. 

[hookem1014]