Texas Tech head coach responds to jab by Texas with invitation to play Week 1
Texas Tech head coach Joey McGuire opened the Big 12 spring business meetings Thursday with a response to Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian.
Sarkisian took a shot at his former rival’s schedule on May 21 when he said, “There’s a team in our state that plays in another conference that has a schedule that I would argue if I played with our 2s and our 3s, we could go undefeated, and they’ll probably make the CFP [College Football Playoff] this year.”
Instead of returning a shot at the Longhorns, McGuire responded with an open invitation for the two rivals to play in Week 1 in September.
Texas Tech is slated to play Abilene Christian in Week 1 on Sept. 5, but McGuire said he’s already talked to ACU head coach Keith Patterson about buying the Wildcats out and opening the slot for Texas. The Longhorns are scheduled to play Texas State in Week 1, but also face Ohio State on Sept. 12
“I’ve actually talked to Keith Patterson and I’ve talked to G.J. Kinne,” McGuire said, “and they’re willing to take our games, and Abilene Christian will go to Texas State. We’ll buy our contract out with Abilene Christian. I’m sure, because Texas has got a lot of money, they can buy their contract out [with Texas State].
“I do know there’s a lot of Red Raiders that will help them buy that contract out if they don’t want to, and they can come to Lubbock week one, and we can figure out if their twos and threes can win this conference.”
McGuire also offered an alternate location if Lubbock doesn’t work for the Longhorns.
“We would love to play the University of Texas Week 1 in Lubbock,” McGuire said. “I do know that Cody Campbell reached out to Stephen Jones, so if they don’t want to come to Lubbock, we’re gonna work on trying to get AT&T [Stadium] Week 1. So if they want to play Week 1, then we’re ready.”
The Longhorns rolled the Red Raiders 57-7 in the last matchup between the two on Nov. 24, 2023, in Austin. McGuire hasn’t forgotten how that last game played out.
“He played some of his twos and threes, they kicked the crap out of us,” McGuire said. “I know he’s feeling really good about his team if he’s making those comments.”
Both programs will enter 2026 with expectations to reach the CFP. The Longhorns will likely be a preseason top-five team led by quarterback Arch Manning.
The Red Raiders won the Big 12 last season and will be among the favorites to repeat, though their chances will rely heavily on Brendan Sorsby’s appeal of the NCAA ruling him ineligible for gambling.
Could the two CFP contenders meet at Jerry World or in Lubbock? It would immediately become of the top early season matchups.
McGuire wasn’t done talking about Texas as he even offered to help them out with a potential scheduling dilemma in 2028-29.
“I saw a comment by [Texas AD Chris Del Conte] that he’s not sure if Texas is gonna play Notre Dame in ‘28, ‘29– we need a ‘28, ‘29 game too because Mississippi State backed out on us. So we’ll take that game if they want to get out of it,” McGuire said. “If Texas doesn’t want to play Notre Dame, we would love to play Notre Dame in ‘28, ‘29.”
This story was originally published May 28, 2026 at 5:06 PM.
