Texas Tech University Athletics
Composure, defense wins the day
November 09, 2025 | Football
LUBBOCK – Chaos surrounded Cody Campbell Field all week. On it, there was very little.
With an estimate approaching 2,000 students experiencing and camping in the establishment of Raiderville outside Texas Tech's football facility and stadium throughout the week, head coach Joey McGuire embraced every spectacle possible while also telling his team to "make it about the football." Inside Jones AT&T Stadium on Saturday, 60,229 fans witnessed a dominant 29-7 win over No. 7 BYU where no penalties were called for fans throwing tortillas and a moderate field storming followed the Cougars exiting the field. The Red Raiders made it all about football, eliminating the chaos that surrounded the game to earn their first top 10 win since 2012.Â
"I have to give credit to our student body," McGuire said. "I don't think unless you went out there this week and were a part of it, you may not understand the energy they brought to us every single day. We're walking in the building and I'm in the training room and weight room talking to our players and they're asking if I'm seeing what's going on outside. Our students were incredible this week and I thought our stadium was electric. I can't thank our fans enough."
There were moments during the week when players sat in lounge chairs and played video games with fellow students. Jacob Rodriguez was one of them, making an interception while playing a student in the video game. In the actual game, Rodriguez did the same, picking off a pass to go along with a team-leading 14 tackles and one Heisman pose. Social media captured all kinds of moments throughout the week, from keg stands to a student who brought a donkey. There was an impromptu concert by Haydon Wiginton and a deejay performing in Raiderville – along with a guy giving haircuts. On the way to practice during the week, players and coaches stopped to take pictures with students and signed everything available and imaginable. McGuire signed the keg. ESPN College GameDay was on campus for the first time since 2008, staking claim to the green space and seeing students start filling it around 2 a.m. – six hours before their showtime and nine before kickoff. From the GameDay set, Pat McAfee launched a tortilla behind him and video captured it being caught by a fan in the crowd to create another viral moment. McAfee also gave a student $250,000 and $250,000 more to a charity for making a field on his second attempt. For hours before the game, students lined the streets around campus waiting for gates to open to get into the stadium and do their part. "BYU has to come in here and deal with this," ESPN's Kirk Herbstreit said while pointing back at the Texas Tech students.
"This wasn't needed, but deserved," Rodriguez said. "Everyone in West Texas deserved this weekend. They love football and they love Texas Tech Football. I really believe they deserve this and I'm thankful to give it to them. We had the intent of winning the day and winning the rep. It was a great experience. A once-in-a-lifetime experience. We had a big bunch of the student body out there showing us support. They loved being a part of it and we loved having them."
Patrick Mahomes returned to Lubbock and represented the university on the GameDay set on the field in front of the rabid student section moments before kickoff. There was never a doubt who'd he pick, but the crowd went insane when the pick was made.
"The energy in Lubbock is amazing," Mahomes said. "The football team has had a great year and I'm looking forward to the Red Raider defense showing the country what they've been doing all year. Jacob Rodriguez getting Heisman votes. I'm going with the guns up and Texas Tech Red Raiders."
During the week, McGuire incorporated parts of Raiderville into the team's preparation. He showed the team pictures of the tents on Tuesday on the second slide, talking about how important the game was in the school's history. He wanted them to embrace the moment and use it to fuel them to an even higher level. Everything going on outside the team's meeting room was special, but even more importantly, McGuire spoke to them with confidence throughout the week knowing the team was equipped to handle any distractions.
"Our superpower right now is how much we love each other," McGuire said after the game. "It's really cool. Lee Hunter was hugging me and Cam Dickey and told us we're in this for life. It wasn't just in the moment. That dude's going to say it again tomorrow to somebody. That's the team we have right now."
A week of anticipation and chaos led to an 11 a.m. kickoff in front of the sold-out crowd and national television audience on ABC. As GameDay took its set down and raced it up the tunnel, the energy inside the stadium only grew. It was time for football with all the sideshow aspects now just memories and a prelude to a dominant day. Two weeks ago, the tradition of throwing tortillas into the air and onto the field at kickoff was stopped – on that first kickoff without tortillas that could lead to penalties, J'Koby Williams ran it back 99 yards for a touchdown to ignite a 42-0 win over Oklahoma State. It was further evidence that the evolution of Red Raider football was happening and tortillas were not needed to form this team's identity.Â
Tech, which had lost 16 straight games to top 10 opponents, proved to be unfazed throughout the game against BYU and further cemented itself in the national landscape. The Red Raiders jumped out quick and never looked back – getting started with a Stone Harrington field goal from 47 yards out for a 3-0 lead and then a touchdown pass from Behren Morton to Caleb Douglass for a 10-0 lead. Tech went into halftime with a 13-0 lead and were up 26-0 at one point. With the 26-0 lead, the Texas Tech defense had limited BYU's offense to only 157 yards and eight total first downs. At game's end, Tech had held BYU to only 67 rushing yards and finished with 3-0 turnover advantage.
Rodriguez now leads the team with 91 tackles and has three interceptions through 10 games. Cole Wisniewski had a season-high 10 tackles in the game, John Curry added seven, Ben Roberts had six and Lee Hunter recorded a sack. BYU had traveled to Lubbock as the nation's No. 19 scoring offense at 36.3 points per game and averaging 433.4 yards per game. The Cougars wouldn't score until midway through the fourth quarter and finished with only 255 yards of offense.Â
"Our defense has played at a really high level all year long," McGuire said. "I talked to them about dominating up front. We wanted to stop the run. We took three. You all know how much I like that. I told the defense, if we take three turnovers and stop the run, we'll win the game. They did it at a really high level."
The win pushed Texas Tech to 9-1 on the season, 6-0 at home and up to No. 8 in the Associated Press Top 25 and USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll. "It's extremely special," Rodriguez said. "From Day 1, all the way back in January, we knew we had something special. We haven't gotten to our goal yet, but working to get there is fun."
Only two regular season games remain, starting with the home finale against UCF at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday – the final scheduled game for fans to bring the chaos and the team to show they're built to handle anything in front of them.
"Let's turn it up a notch," McGuire said. "We've got another home game next week ,and like I tell my guys, we have another gear. I think we can be even better as a team and as a crowd."
