What does Texas Tech have as an encore to the historic 2025 season in 2026?
LUBBOCK, Texas - It was 26 days inbetween the final two games of the unforgettable 2025 football season for Texas Tech: the Big 12 Championship on Dec. 6, a historic Red Raiders win over BYU, and the Capital One Orange Bowl on Jan. 1, a shutout loss to Oregon as a brutal elimination from the College Football Playoff.
Now there are 246 days between Jan. 2, the day the transfer portal opens, and Sept. 5, Texas Tech's 2026 season-opener at home against Abilene Christian.
Though the long layoff and ugly loss were an unfortunate way to end the memorable 2025 campaign, head coach Joey McGuire is turning the page past Tech's second loss of the season, saying the long break was not something his toughness-driven program will blame.
“If we use the layoff then we’re going to use an excuse, and we believe, in this program, you don’t make excuses,” McGuire stated to the media postgame. “You don’t let anybody make them for you. We’ve got to do better."
The extended time between conference championship weekend and the quarterfinals of the CFP make it hard for teams like Texas Tech that play well enough to earn a bye past the first round, but are tasked with picking up where they left off nearly a month earlier while their next opponent has a tune-up game of sorts. Oregon was in rhythm after hanging 50 on James Madison to advance as Tech came out cold.
The two years of the new 12-team bracket have been a clear indication of a format still working through it's kinks.
Tech was the sixth team in a row to lose its first CFP game after sitting through a bye. After this past weekend, only one team has had a bye and won its quarterfinal matchup to advance to the semis - the undefeated No. 1-seed Indiana this year led by Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza.
"If this is going to be what the College Football Playoff is, then we got to find a way to be better to win that game," McGuire said after his offense totaled just 215 yards of offense and four turnovers.
"I think more than anything, it was a mixture of playing a really good Oregon defense and us not executing at a high level. I think that whenever you’re in these games and playing teams that’s never been as good and never been as talented as you are, and vice versa, you’ve got to execute at a high level.”
Though the new Big Ten foe Oregon was a beast Tech had not yet faced after its dominant run through the Big 12, McGuire leaned on how his elite defense kept the team in the game long enough to compete.
“I know stats are a little bit different but they were rushing for over 200 yards against Big Ten teams, and they rushed for 64 yards today. I know some of that was in sacks and snaps and stuff like that, but we still did that,” McGuire said.
The other side of the ball was a different story.
“That was the best defense that we have faced this year, I do think they do a really good job schematically. Their defensive coordinator, defensive staff, did a really good job of giving us some issues," the coach added.
"That’s a really good football team… We didn’t execute at a high level.”
Though this one will sting for a few days, Red Raider Nation can rest assured that McGuire has built this program into a national power with a foundation of relentlessness (and financial support that is second to none) that allows Texas Tech to be competitive on the biggest stages.
The Red Raiders will have Sep. 5 circled in red as we turn the page to the 2026 season, but now with the transfer portal in full bloom, we bet there will be many exciting days in the near future, as well.