After a full week of rest, No. 5 Texas Tech will make a statement Saturday afternoon when it closes its regular season schedule with a visit to West Virginia in Morgantown, West Virginia.
The Red Raiders (10-1, 7-1 Big 12) have a chance to clinch their first-ever berth in the conference championship game with a win and nearly clinch a spot in the College Football Playoff.
Texas Tech can also clinch a spot in the Big 12 championship game if Arizona State loses to rival Arizona on Friday night.
The Red Raiders are entering a four-game winning streak and are scheduled to play their first road game since a 43-20 victory at Kansas State on November 1. Their previous road game, Oct. 18 at Arizona State, ended in a 26-22 loss.
A win would tie the program’s 2008 season for most regular season wins.
“Our guys know exactly what’s at stake,” Texas Tech head coach Joey McGuire said. “When this all started, if you told us before the last game, if we won, we were there, we know (now) that’s the case, so we plan to be ready to play.”
While Texas Tech’s defense has held opponents to 12.3 points per game and 266.1 yards, both leading in the conference, the offense is second in the Big 12 with 481.6 yards per game.
Behren Morton completed 14 of 19 passes for 149 yards and a touchdown in a 48-9 win over UCF on November 15 before being replaced by Mitch Griffis, who was 13 of 17 for 145 yards.
Morton, who took over after Will Hammond was lost for the season due to injury, is playing with his own leg injury. McGuire suggested Morton is on track to play against West Virginia.
“Yeah, he feels good,” McGuire said. “You know, we kept him in a boot all last week. He actually endured everything. It was a shorter practice (Sunday), but he endured everything – he was just in the boot.”
Not only has Texas Tech won all of its wins by at least 22 points, but it has an average margin of victory of 33.8 points. In their last statement, linebacker Jacob Rodriguez lined up at quarterback and scored on a 2-yard run. He also intercepted a pass.
West Virginia (4-7, 2-6) suffered a 25-23 loss to Arizona State on Nov. 15 before taking a week off before Saturday’s game.
With running backs Jahiem White and Tye Edwards already out for the season due to injuries, freshman guard Diore Hubbard will also miss the final game with an unspecified injury. Hubbard was limited to two carries against Arizona State.
The Mountaineers running game will be in the hands of Cyncir Bowers and Curtis Jones. Bowers has 246 yards on 58 carries this season with two touchdowns.
Freshman Scotty Fox Jr. is West Virginia’s fourth starting quarterback this season. He had a game-high 353 passing yards with two touchdowns and an interception against Arizona State.
“I know a lot of teams say, ‘Boy, we had to deal with some injuries’ when they lose a guy,” Mountaineers head coach Rich Rodriguez said. “How about we lose three or four at that position. So we’ll sort it all out this year and then we’ll go from there.”
–Field level media
