Oregon at Texas Tech preview: Ducks should 'cover easy' against Red Raiders

Oregon came out with a bang in its season opener against Portland State this past weekend to score a school record 81 points and start the year 1-0 and now draws Texas Tech. The Ducks travel to Lubbock in Week 2 to take on a Red Raiders team that dropped its first game 35-33 to Wyoming.

With both schools trending in opposite directions to start the year, former LSU fullback turned radio host Jacob Hester joined On3‘s Andy Staples to discuss the matchup. He had high praise for Oregon, saying it should “cover easy” as mere 6.5-point favorites on the road.

“Dan Lanning has this Pac-12 team that’s always been high-flying and fast and play on the edge,” Hester said. “He’s got them pissed off and mad and angry and physical and all those things. For whatever reason, Willie Taggart and Mario Cristobal, you get to Oregon and it’s a great job and you win then you leave. I don’t understand why.

“…Dan Lanning feels like he wants to be there and wants to build that program. Now they’re going to the Big Ten. It’s a program that is taking on an identity that I never thought you could get from Oregon and that’s scary for every other team. I think they cover and they cover easy.”

Oregon quarterback Bo Nix finished an efficient 23-of-27 passing for 287 yards and three touchdowns despite playing just three quarters in Saturday’s win. The Ducks also showed their dominance on the ground with running back Bucky Irving going for 119 yards rushing and two touchdowns on only four carries.

As for Texas Tech, the Red Raiders entered the year as a potential dark horse candidate to win the Big 12. They got off to a quick start Saturday and led 17-0 by the end of the first quarter. However, the offense fell flat the rest of the way as Tech scored just three points over the final three quarters and the game went to overtime.

The defense was unable to come up with a stop in two extra periods of play, leading to a massive disappointment in Week 1. Hester said he never understood why there was so much hype around Texas Tech after its poor defensive performance in 2022 and losing linebacker Tyree Wilson to the NFL.

“I don’t understand the Texas Tech love affair in the offseason,” he said. “Not to say they’re a bad football team, because I think they can be good. Coach (Joey) McGuire, I think he’s a really good football coach. That was a defense that was like 123rd in total defense last year. You lose an edge rusher, the most important position in my opinion on the defensive side of the football.

“Everybody we talked to, anybody that had ties to the Big 12 was like ‘Watch out for Texas Tech.’ Tell me why. I think they can win games, yes. But why are we putting them in the same category as some of these other teams? I never really bought in to all the hype they had in the preseason.”

Now the Red Raiders face the risk of starting out the year 0-2, but will hope to show there was some credence to those preseason predictions. Quarterback Tyler Shough began his career at Oregon, so there is a revenge narrative there with him. He threw for 338 yards, three touchdowns and one interception in the Week 1 loss.

“If you’re a Texas Tech fan and you’re trying to pump sunshine, you can be like ‘We were up 17-0 and we just didn’t focus,'” Hester said. “…I think they can be that team because I think they have the right coach and we’ve seen Texas Tech reach those heights before. Just didn’t think they were ready. Maybe they read those clips as well because you go out there and you lose to Wyoming and you got a team coming to town that has a new identity.”

Kickoff between Oregon and Texas Tech is set for 7 p.m. ET on Saturday in Lubbock.