Here are the top five storylines leading up to this weekend as Texas Tech (3-2) hosts Iowa State (2-2) on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. for its 2015 homecoming game.
The worst is – or at least should be -- over
The bad news is Texas Tech has dropped two games in a row. They looked great against TCU, but pretty below average and mostly unimpressive against Baylor, committing way too many penalties after significantly improving in this department in previous weeks.
Three of what would be the Red Raiders four starting receivers are injured (unless Lauderdale is good to go on Saturday) and a couple of rotation players on both sides of the ball. Inexperienced players and underclassmen are starting to see the field earlier than you would like.
Many of you reading this have already put together longer lists of negatives. Consecutive losses tend to do that to a college football fan base.
The good news is the worst is – or should be -- over and this should still be a pretty good football team. Outside of the receiving corps, the key players on this roster as a whole have stayed pretty healthy compared to past years. Plus, many of the Red Raiders young players factoring in are extremely talented.
What should be the Red Raiders toughest two games this season -- regardless of a possible bowl opponent -- are over with. They lost, they learned, they grew, it’s behind them and now it gets easier, sort of. Almost anything would be considered easier than back-to-back games against Top 5 opponents. Imagine pulling tractor tires in off-season, then running without the tire. I imagine that’s kind of how this team is feeling right now. Yes, every conference game is important and yes there’s still some really good teams left on the schedule, but not quite the stage they’ve been on the last two weeks.
Time to climb
With what will likely be the top two teams in the Big 12 at seasons end already out of the way, it’s time for the Red Raiders to climb up the conference pecking order with some more favorable match-ups.
Everyone got a glimpse of how good this team could really be versus Arkansas and TCU. Expectations are up, confidence is up, support is up, and the atmosphere around the program this season is the best it’s been in a good while. If this team returns to its Arkansas-or-TCU-game form, any remaining game is winnable.
Oklahoma looks really good, but not Baylor-or-TCU good at this point (insert picture of AD’s hand signal about the “gap” on either side of Oklahoma from the Jack Anderson video clip with Level). Oklahoma State, Kansas State and West Virginia all look pretty tough, but so did Texas Tech two weeks ago. Texas looks pretty bad and Kansas...
STAFF: Someone help me
(right click --> open new tab)
Is Kansas still in the Big 12 for football?
… The biggest uncertainty in the conference right now appears to be Iowa State.
How good is Iowa State?
I know Iowa State is well, Iowa State. Even on a good year for them, the Cyclones usually find themselves in the bottom half of the conference. They’re 2-2 and have to win four of their remaining eight games to become bowl eligible, and right now that’s not looking very likely. But that’s not because of anything the Cyclones have or haven’t done, but because of the simple fact that the Big 12 looks much better and much deeper this season than many people anticipated.
Some have gone as far as labeling Iowa State’s remaining schedule as the toughest in college football. Last year they did not win a conference game. They’ve already played Kansas this year. Do the Math.
But, not so fast.
This team could be better than most people think and could sneak up on some teams.
While they’re coming off an easy win against rival Kansas and their other win was against an FCS school, let’s look at their two losses.
Now-No.22 Iowa (5-0)
Now-No. 24 Toledo (4-0). That’s not to be overlooked.
The Cyclones were tied with Iowa going into the fourth quarter before losing 31-17. It took Toledo – the same team that knocked off Arkansas before Texas Tech had its chance -- overtime to beat the Cyclones 30-23.
Can the Cyclones surprise some people in conference play? Should Texas Tech be worried?
Several starters return on offense for Iowa State from one year ago and the Texas Tech coaches anticipate the Cyclones being much better than last year.
Yes, Texas Tech should win this game, but the Red Raiders still have a lot to prove. This is a must-win game for Tech, while Iowa State has nothing to lose.
Rest and recover or survive and escape?
On any given year, it has become expected for Iowa State and Kansas to finish ninth and tenth in the Big 12 for football. While it doesn’t always happen, it’s happened often enough in recent years for them to get penciled into those spots without even looking at a roster.
Texas Tech’s next two games are against Iowa State and Kansas. In a perfect world, the Red Raiders take care of business, the back-ups play the second half while the starters rest up and these are two easy wins. They get a bit of a break and get ready for their quest of separating themselves from the likes of Texas, West Virginia, Oklahoma State and Kansas State and spend the next seven games making strides as a program and work their way into a good bowl game. That’s the plan in a perfect world.
What the Red Raiders don’t want are two close, hard-fought games. What else they don’t want is to be anything other than 5-2 in two weeks. If any of that happens, the rest of the year doesn’t look so good. Let’s be real, though, Kansas looks light years worse than every team Tech has played so far this year, but don’t sleep on Iowa State. Iowa State shouldn’t be as good as Arkansas and the Red Raiders should be able to put them away with time to spare. The key is making that happen.
Rebound or relapse?
This is a huge game for Texas Tech because the Red Raiders are at a fork in the road. All Red Raider faithful are waiting to see which team shows up: the one that beat Arkansas on the road and coulda, woulda, shoulda knocked off then-No. 3 TCU two weeks ago, or the one that resembles the 2014 Red Raiders -- the one that everyone had almost successfully forgotten about until they made an appearance against Baylor on Saturday.
Before, during and immediately after the TCU game, Texas Tech looked like one of the top three teams in the conference. After last week’s showing they have fallen somewhere between fourth and seventh in most people’s eyes.
Rankings are fluid and the Red Raiders still have seven conference games left. If the team we saw week three or four straps back up, a top three or top four finish in Big 12 play is certainly within reason, with an outside shot of something even higher, although very unlikely.
Will the Red Raiders take care of Iowa State like they did UTEP in week two, put up video game stats, build some confidence, recover from injuries at key positions, and have a bit of a break before their next ranked opponent?
Or, will they struggle and barely squeak by? Or will they l... I won’t go there, and I don’t believe the Red Raiders will either.
Texas Tech should easily win this game. If last year’s team could do it, this year’s team should be able to do it in two-and-a-half or three quarters. Right?
Will they?
The worst is – or at least should be -- over
The bad news is Texas Tech has dropped two games in a row. They looked great against TCU, but pretty below average and mostly unimpressive against Baylor, committing way too many penalties after significantly improving in this department in previous weeks.
Three of what would be the Red Raiders four starting receivers are injured (unless Lauderdale is good to go on Saturday) and a couple of rotation players on both sides of the ball. Inexperienced players and underclassmen are starting to see the field earlier than you would like.
Many of you reading this have already put together longer lists of negatives. Consecutive losses tend to do that to a college football fan base.
The good news is the worst is – or should be -- over and this should still be a pretty good football team. Outside of the receiving corps, the key players on this roster as a whole have stayed pretty healthy compared to past years. Plus, many of the Red Raiders young players factoring in are extremely talented.
What should be the Red Raiders toughest two games this season -- regardless of a possible bowl opponent -- are over with. They lost, they learned, they grew, it’s behind them and now it gets easier, sort of. Almost anything would be considered easier than back-to-back games against Top 5 opponents. Imagine pulling tractor tires in off-season, then running without the tire. I imagine that’s kind of how this team is feeling right now. Yes, every conference game is important and yes there’s still some really good teams left on the schedule, but not quite the stage they’ve been on the last two weeks.
Time to climb
With what will likely be the top two teams in the Big 12 at seasons end already out of the way, it’s time for the Red Raiders to climb up the conference pecking order with some more favorable match-ups.
Everyone got a glimpse of how good this team could really be versus Arkansas and TCU. Expectations are up, confidence is up, support is up, and the atmosphere around the program this season is the best it’s been in a good while. If this team returns to its Arkansas-or-TCU-game form, any remaining game is winnable.
Oklahoma looks really good, but not Baylor-or-TCU good at this point (insert picture of AD’s hand signal about the “gap” on either side of Oklahoma from the Jack Anderson video clip with Level). Oklahoma State, Kansas State and West Virginia all look pretty tough, but so did Texas Tech two weeks ago. Texas looks pretty bad and Kansas...
STAFF: Someone help me
(right click --> open new tab)
Is Kansas still in the Big 12 for football?
… The biggest uncertainty in the conference right now appears to be Iowa State.
How good is Iowa State?
I know Iowa State is well, Iowa State. Even on a good year for them, the Cyclones usually find themselves in the bottom half of the conference. They’re 2-2 and have to win four of their remaining eight games to become bowl eligible, and right now that’s not looking very likely. But that’s not because of anything the Cyclones have or haven’t done, but because of the simple fact that the Big 12 looks much better and much deeper this season than many people anticipated.
Some have gone as far as labeling Iowa State’s remaining schedule as the toughest in college football. Last year they did not win a conference game. They’ve already played Kansas this year. Do the Math.
But, not so fast.
This team could be better than most people think and could sneak up on some teams.
While they’re coming off an easy win against rival Kansas and their other win was against an FCS school, let’s look at their two losses.
Now-No.22 Iowa (5-0)
Now-No. 24 Toledo (4-0). That’s not to be overlooked.
The Cyclones were tied with Iowa going into the fourth quarter before losing 31-17. It took Toledo – the same team that knocked off Arkansas before Texas Tech had its chance -- overtime to beat the Cyclones 30-23.
Can the Cyclones surprise some people in conference play? Should Texas Tech be worried?
Several starters return on offense for Iowa State from one year ago and the Texas Tech coaches anticipate the Cyclones being much better than last year.
Yes, Texas Tech should win this game, but the Red Raiders still have a lot to prove. This is a must-win game for Tech, while Iowa State has nothing to lose.
Rest and recover or survive and escape?
On any given year, it has become expected for Iowa State and Kansas to finish ninth and tenth in the Big 12 for football. While it doesn’t always happen, it’s happened often enough in recent years for them to get penciled into those spots without even looking at a roster.
Texas Tech’s next two games are against Iowa State and Kansas. In a perfect world, the Red Raiders take care of business, the back-ups play the second half while the starters rest up and these are two easy wins. They get a bit of a break and get ready for their quest of separating themselves from the likes of Texas, West Virginia, Oklahoma State and Kansas State and spend the next seven games making strides as a program and work their way into a good bowl game. That’s the plan in a perfect world.
What the Red Raiders don’t want are two close, hard-fought games. What else they don’t want is to be anything other than 5-2 in two weeks. If any of that happens, the rest of the year doesn’t look so good. Let’s be real, though, Kansas looks light years worse than every team Tech has played so far this year, but don’t sleep on Iowa State. Iowa State shouldn’t be as good as Arkansas and the Red Raiders should be able to put them away with time to spare. The key is making that happen.
Rebound or relapse?
This is a huge game for Texas Tech because the Red Raiders are at a fork in the road. All Red Raider faithful are waiting to see which team shows up: the one that beat Arkansas on the road and coulda, woulda, shoulda knocked off then-No. 3 TCU two weeks ago, or the one that resembles the 2014 Red Raiders -- the one that everyone had almost successfully forgotten about until they made an appearance against Baylor on Saturday.
Before, during and immediately after the TCU game, Texas Tech looked like one of the top three teams in the conference. After last week’s showing they have fallen somewhere between fourth and seventh in most people’s eyes.
Rankings are fluid and the Red Raiders still have seven conference games left. If the team we saw week three or four straps back up, a top three or top four finish in Big 12 play is certainly within reason, with an outside shot of something even higher, although very unlikely.
Will the Red Raiders take care of Iowa State like they did UTEP in week two, put up video game stats, build some confidence, recover from injuries at key positions, and have a bit of a break before their next ranked opponent?
Or, will they struggle and barely squeak by? Or will they l... I won’t go there, and I don’t believe the Red Raiders will either.
Texas Tech should easily win this game. If last year’s team could do it, this year’s team should be able to do it in two-and-a-half or three quarters. Right?
Will they?
Last edited:
