Michael C. Johnson-Imagn Images
All signs point to Texas Tech cruising to victory over Houston when the Red Raiders make the trek to TDECU Stadium on Saturday. However, the school’s athletic director may have committed an unforced error by ensuring the Cougars will head into the game with a bigger chip on their shoulder than they were already sporting.
It’s been 25 years since Mike Leach took over at Texas Tech and injected new life into a program that has historically been overshadowed by a couple of other powerhouses in The Lone Star State. However, the team has been chasing the high of that era since its ugly divorce with The Pirate in 2009, and the four men who have served as the head coach of the Red Raiders since then have struggled to get the program back to where it was at its peak.
Joey McGuire headed into his fourth season in Lubbock sporting a 23-16 record at the helm, and Texas Tech went into the year ranked for the first time since 2018 at #23. They’re currently sitting at #11 after getting off to a 4-0 start (the highest they’ve been ranked since they hit #10 under Kliff Kingsbury prior to a brutal collapse in 2013), and they’ll look to remain perfect when they face off against Houston on Saturday.
The team shouldn’t have much trouble with the Cougars, but if their opponent is able to pull off the upset, there’s one proclamation the school’s athletic director made on Thursday that will end up aging very, very poorly.
Texas Tech athletic director Kirby Hocutt made the unnecessary decision to troll Houston by asserting the Red Raiders will be playing a home game on the road
Texas Tech finished with an 8-5 record last season, which certainly isn’t terrible but still left a fair amount to be desired.
However, athletic director Kirby Hocutt has not been shy when it comes to calling attention to the program’s success this year (which, in fairness, is literally his job). That includes a home sellout streak that encompasses the first three games they’ve already played against Jones AT&T Stadium, as well as the ones they’ll be playing against Kansas, Oklahoma State, and BYU.
The Red Raiders will be 5-0 heading into their contest against the Jayhawks if they can get a win over Houston. The Cougars are also 4-0, but they head into the showdown as 11.5-point underdogs after needing overtime to beat a winless Oregon State squad last week.
They will theoretically have home-field advantage at TDECU Stadium, but Hocutt is confident Texas Tech fans will invade the venue that’s more than 500 miles from his school’s campus to the point where he decided to declare the matchup is their “8th home game this season.”
Red Raider Nation, it’s official – we have declared Saturday night’s game in Houston our 8th home game this season. Houston is West Texas. #WreckEm #15to1 pic.twitter.com/rvJun4vjX5
— Kirby Hocutt (@kirbyhocutt) October 3, 2025
It’s a bold strategy, and while it probably won’t come back to bite him, there was no real need to give the universe any incentive to dole out what would be a massive dose of karma.