Texas Tech defeated FCS-foe Abilene Christian 33-10 in its season opener. While the Red Raiders captured the victory, there were areas that appeared to need improvement and Joey McGuire believes that they will get fixed sooner rather than later.
LUBBOCK - The season opener for No. 12 Texas Tech ended the way many expected, with the Red Raiders walking off the field at Galaxy Stadium victorious over Abilene Christian by a score 33-10.
While the result went in favor of the hometown team, the way Texas Tech earned that initial win raised a few concerns.
First and foremost, that aforementioned score was a bit closer than was anticipated for the reigning Big 12 champions taking on a school from the FCS ranks.
The final point spread closed at -42.5, with Texas Tech failing short of covering that lucrative number.
Granted, no program cares about Vegas thinks should happen in their matchups, at least they should not, but there were still issues related to on the field decisions that warranted a response.
And head coach Joey McGuire was more than willing to provide one.
In his postgame press conference, McGuire was candid about the missed opportunities and blunders the Red Raiders had in their first showing of the season that cost them the chance to truly put the Wildcats out of the contest.
"A lot of self-inflicted wounds. Our plan to win, number one is is don't beat yourself and we did. We beat ourselves," remarked McGuire before listing off numerous instances of mistakes in the debut.
These included a 12 men on the field flag that would have otherwise resulted in an ACU punt that was solidly returned by Kenny Johnson, a Will Hammond interception just outside the red zone and an abundance of field goals taken deep in Wildcat territory.
To be specific, Texas Tech opted to bring on Stone Harrington four times throughout the game after getting into or near red zone and failing to hit paydirt.
Despite the notable list of needed improvements, McGuire was optimistic about the future of this latest group.
"The great thing about all those is that we get to fix them...We'll continue to get better and, you know, really excited about this team."
It is easy to understand why, as even with the mistakes Texas Tech won comfortably by three scores and had glimpses of the elite team it was envisioned to be, especially defensively.
Outside of a 98-yard kickoff return near the end of the game and a field goal drive kept alive by a costly pass interference penalty committed by the Red Raiders, ACU was seemingly helpless to get anything going offensively.
For Texas Tech, the triple-headed monster of Quinten Joyner, Cameron Dickey and J'Koby Williams in the backfield rushed for a combined 172 yards and two touchdowns, as Joyner scored the first of the year for Texas Tech in his first-ever appearance in Lubbock.
Linebacker John Curry snagged an interception on the first play of the game and reserve defense lineman Jamond Mathis tallied 2.5 sacks and six total tackles.
Hammond also finished with impressive numbers, with nearly 300 passing yards and a touchdown.
There is still a lot to work on for Texas Tech in its pursuit of another Big 12 title and beyond, but the good news for the Red Raiders is there is still plenty of time to do so.
