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Texas Tech head coach Joey McGuire stands on the field during the first half of the Big 12 Championship football game against BYU at AT&T Stadium, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025, in Arlington.<\/p>\n
Elias Valverde II\/Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n
Cody Campbell\u2019s snit with the Big 12 commissioner over Texas Tech<\/a> playing a home game against Houston under Friday night lights<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 a violation of \u201choly ground,\u201d as Joey McGuire<\/a> put it this week\u00a0\u2014 was a bit much. I mean, it\u2019s not like the Red Raiders haven\u2019t done it before. As recently as Nov. 24, 1941, in fact. A 7-0 barnburner over Hardin-Simmons.\u00a0<\/p>\n The reason for the heresy back then was the schedule that Dell Morgan\u2019s predecessor left him. Pete Cawthon, a protege of Knute Rockne, famously would play anyone, anytime, anywhere. In 11 seasons in Lubbock, he played 40 schools in 23 states and three countries.\u00a0<\/p>\n All he asked of his players in return was that they\u2019d never lose.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cI dresses you like Notre Dame,\u201d he said after one loss. \u201cI feeds you like Notre Dame.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAnd you plays like Canyon Normal.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Besides an excuse to dig up Pete Cawthon, I summon this history to make a point, which goes like this:\u00a0<\/p>\n If you\u2019re determined to make a scene, you probably ought to back it up.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Red Raiders did as much last year, blazing a trail for all the have-nots<\/a> who never made it to the big time. Tech\u2019s story\u00a0\u2014 a billionaire regents board chair and his buddies buying the Red Raiders a mansion in a blueblood neighborhood\u00a0\u2014 offended folks under the impression that bluebloods got where they are without money. The Red Raiders’ sin was simply doing it overnight.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Anyway, critics took delight in the fact that Tech got its comeuppance in the Orange Bowl. But if they thought the Red Raiders would simply go away quietly, they don\u2019t know Campbell.\u00a0<\/p>\n Next thing you know, Tech is getting an injunction to allow Brendan Sorsby<\/a> to play football despite a considerable history of betting on games, including his own. Before it was all resolved when Sorsby withdrew from the program, Tech\u2019s detractors had increased tenfold.\u00a0<\/p>\n In \u201cThe Program,\u201d a four-part documentary released recently on Paramount+, McGuire tells his team, \u201cWe are the most hated team in the country. I love it. We are now the hunted.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Campbell, as is his nature, stepped it up another couple notches. Besides the scheduling fuss, he\u2019s also taken exception with Brett Yormark, the Big 12 commissioner, over the league\u2019s handling of the Sorsby saga. Thinks it could have been acquitted \u201cmuch more privately.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re not going to forget about that,\u201d Campbell says in the documentary, \u201cand I don\u2019t think they\u2019ll forget about it, either, when we\u2019re up by 40 and still throwing the ball in the fourth quarter.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s where the retribution will come.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n For the record, we\u2019re still waiting on the retribution.\u00a0<\/p>\n Even though they\u2019re 2-0, the Red Raiders, now ranked 13th<\/a>, might be the most disappointing team in the Top 25. They\u2019ve beaten the likes of Abilene Christian and Oregon State by a total of 34 points. In total offense, Tech ranks 72nd, \u00a0uncomfortably sandwiched between Florida Atlantic and North Texas. On defense, the backbone of Tech\u2019s CFP push last year, the Red Raiders are 75th.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n