Big 12 preview: With experience and health, could Texas Tech be league's darkhorse?

Editor's note: This is part of a series previewing each of the opponents on BYU's inaugural Big 12 schedule, beginning with the Cougars' Sept. 23 road opener at Kansas and leading up to defending champion Kansas State before fall camp opens in August. Today's preview is Texas Tech, which shares a prominent pirate with the Cougars.

SALT LAKE CITY — BYU and Texas Tech haven't met on the gridiron since the lone meeting between the two teams in 1940, but the tie that binds both schools was on full display during Big 12 media days in Arlington, Texas.

That's where Texas Tech second-year coach Joey McGuire showed off his suit jacket lined with black Jolly Roger flags, a clear tribute to the late college football great Mike Leach.

The former BYU rugby player helped revolutionize college football with the Air Raid offense, earning his Pirate nickname for his eclectic personality and an ability to answer questions about Bigfoot and aliens as easily as the College Football Playoff.

He'll be missed, but perhaps at few places more than his alma mater — where Leach learned at the feet of LaVell Edwards and Doug Scoville while playing rugby — and the school where he still holds the all-time record for most wins and will be inducted into the university's Hall of Fame.

"There are a lot of people who have coached this game that have not had an impact on the game the way he has," McGuire said. "There's not a stadium you can go to on a Friday night and watch high school football in this state that doesn't have some kind of Air Raid part, too. The guy was bigger than life."

Last season, the Red Raiders' offense exhibited spurts of Leach-like explosion, averaging 34.2 points per game with the No. 12-ranked passing offense in the country led by quarterback Tyler Shough.

The former Oregon transfer who is 8-1 as a starter in Lubbock averaged 243.8 yards per game in his five starts last season, but injuries have hampered him each of the past two years — including last year's 8-5 campaign that included a 42-25 win over Ole Miss in the Texas Bowl. With 14 starters back, 2023 could be even better.

If Shough can stay healthy and utilize the talent around him that includes former Austin Peay standout Drae McCray and All-Big 12 honorable mention receiver Jerand Bradley, the Red Raiders could find themselves swinging their sword as a darkhorse Big 12 title challenger in offensive coordinator Zach Kittley's second season.

"It didn't dawn on me until Tyler said it during the offseason: This is going to be the first time in his collegiate career that he has the same offensive coordinator in back-to-back years," McGuire said. "The experience that he has, he is a pro. I mean, he is a guy that comes in and prepares at such a high level. He's such a great example to our football program of this is how you have to prepare to play at a high level."

Whether or not a 2023 title run materializes, Texas Tech could find itself being in the position of one of the Big 12's standard bearers after Texas and Oklahoma leave for the SEC.

At least, that's what McGuire believes.

"That's such a powerful word," McGuire said of belief, "and whenever you have that in a locker room, you can do some incredible things. So I think our players do believe that. I do think in 2024, there's an opportunity for some teams to take a huge step in this conference. It's going to start this year with what we do, but whenever you have an administration and an alumni base that is behind a university like they are at Texas Tech, you do have that opportunity."

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