Texas Tech Football Finishes Best Season Since 2009 With a Bang
Joey McGuire was the perfect hire for Texas Tech. His first season certainly wasn't perfect, but with Matt Wells and Kliff Kingsbury's talent, Joey McGuire led the Red Raiders to their best season since 2009.
You might scoff at the 7-5 record being their best season, but that's how down Texas Tech football has been.
With the win over Oklahoma, Texas Tech went 7-5 for the first since Patrick Mahomes was the starting QB. They had a winning conference record since the last season Mike Leach was snarling on the sideline.
The last time they beat three conference opponents to finish a season? 1995! No, that's not a typo. The Red Raiders haven't finished a regular season with three straight wins since 1995. When was the last time before '95? 1973. Soak that in. 2022 is the third time in 50 years that Texas Tech finished with three straight conference wins.
Early in the year, Joey McGuire had an OT win over Houston and I wrote that Matt Wells wouldn't have won that game. Well, Mike Leach, Tommy Tuberville, Kliff Kingsbury, and Matt Wells all lost one of the last three conference games in every one of their seasons. Even in 2008.
Joey McGuire's teams win in November, and they finish strong.
Just look at the list of accomplishments in year one:
On one hand, I want to say, "Just imagine what Texas Tech will do with the talent that Joey McGuire hand-picks with James Blanchard and the recruiting department." on the other hand, "Just win, baby."
The most impressive piece of the Joey McGuire inaugural season has to be the home record. A 6-1 mark ties the Big 12 with the most home wins across the board. TCU was a perfect 6-0 at home, but nobody had more than 6 wins. Texas Tech was 6-1 with their only blemish against Baylor.
The Red Raiders also beat both of the SEC-bound defecting teams in the same season for the first time ever. Both in overtime. Anytime you do anything for the first time ever that's impressive. Another first? The first winning conference record for the first time ever in the current round-robin version of the Big 12 Conference.