The Texas Longhorns will be in Lubbock, Texas on Saturday morning at 11 am. The game will be a sell out, at least for the first half and both teams are equally with 4 and 4 records. Both teams are coming off big wins for their respective seasons.

Texas beat an undefeated Baylor squad and Kliff and company beat a TCU team in Fort Worth.

The Baylor win looks better on paper because they were an undefeated team, but Baylor has yet to play anyone with a winning record besides an up and down Oklahoma State. Texas Tech's defense responded in the win over TCU after being dominated by both West Virginia and Oklahoma.

If the two teams had lost last week this would be a completely different game. Charlie's seat would be exponentially hotter and Texas Tech would be fighting for bowl eligibility in a must win game.

It's still a must win for both schools but somehow the pressure seems relieved from where it could have been.

Last years contest was a crazy offensive output that included some crazy plays and the final was in Texas Tech's favor, which does not happen often. In fact The last time Texas Tech won in Austin, before last year, was in 1997. The good news is the year after, in 1998, the Red Raiders beat Texas in Lubbock.

That is the longest win streak that Texas Tech owns against the Longhorns. A streak that can be matched this week.

OFFENSE

If the Texas Longhorns secondary looks like it has the rest of this season then the Texas Tech offense will be able to move the ball on Saturday. Kliff Kingsbury, for the last two weeks, has shown an ability to take what the defense has given him.

This newfound ability will likely lead to Mahomes airing it out. A lot. Not 88 times like against Oklahoma but the pass defense of Texas is definitely the weak link on the team.

DEFENSE

It's a whole different story on defense. All of the plays the Red Raiders missed in the backfield against OU they seemed to make against TCU. The TCU running backs certainly aren't Joe Mixon and they aren't D'Onta Foreman either.

Foreman is in the midst of a monster season that should continue against Texas Tech. He should go over 100 yards for the 10th straight game.

After Foreman runs for more than 100 yards against Tech he'll be just one game shy of breaking Earl Cambell's record of consecutive games of 100 rushing games. That's high praise. He's also rushed for more than 1,000 yards this season. He's the first UT running back to do that since 2007 when Jamal Charles eclipsed the mark.

OTHER

For Texas Tech to have a chance to win they must have a repeat performance in the penalty category. Last week the Red Raiders were charged with one penalty for five yards. They average more than 70 yards per game. They must carry that same discipline into the game against Texas.

Texas Tech must also overcome the 11:00 am kickoff. I don't think I need to remind you of West Virginia or Kansas in 2015.

PREDICTION

I think this game, like most games Tech plays, will come down to which teams makes the most big plays.

Join us on Countdown to Kickoff at 9:00 o'clock Saturday morning until 10:30 a.m. We'll be covering our predictions and keys to the game. You can call in at 770-5326 or you can tweet us @1340thefan.

 

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