Texas Tech's Joey McGuire Speaks Candidly On Oregon's Playoff Chances

The No. 5 Oregon Ducks took down the No. 4 Texas Tech Red Raiders 23-0 in the College Football Playoff Quarterfinals, and after the game Texas Tech coach Joey McGuire revealed his pick to win the National Championship now that the Red Raiders are eliminated.

“Hats off to Dan Lanning and hats off to the Oregon Ducks. Just an incredible football team. And they played at a really high level today, and I’m gonna be rooting for them. I told Dan after the game I hope he wins the whole damn thing and they’re a good football team.”

Texas Tech Red Raiders Joey McGuire postgame College Football Playoff Orange Bowl Oregon Ducks Dan Lanning Dante Moore Big 10 — Oregon head coach Dan Lanning, left, and Texas Tech head coach Joey McGuire with the Orange Bowl trophy during the head coaches press conference ahead of Orange Bowl on Dec. 31, 2025, in Dania Beach, Florida. | Ben Lonergan/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Joey McGuire After Texas Tech's Loss vs. Oregon

“I want to start by thanking Red Raider Nation for showing up today. It was really special. It’s been an incredible ride this year, but it was really special to have so many Texas Tech fans. I’m sorry that we let you down, but I hope you’ve enjoyed every second of this year. This is such a special team, and I’m so proud of them, but thank you for that.”

“I also thought, as a lot of people don’t say it and I don’t know if I’ve ever said it in a press conference, but I thought the officiating was as good as I been a part of in college football. And so, hats off to the ACC crew today. They did a good job.”

“It’s no fun being in that locker room right now. I’ve said it all year long. Been doing this for 31 years, have never been a part of a closer group of men, and never been so proud. … This is going to hurt for a long time. I know these guys are hurting right now. But can't be more proud of my football team.”

On Oregon's Defense

“Yeah, you can't turn the ball over. It's a really good defense. It's one of the top defenses in the country. We knew that coming in. I want to give them all the credit. They did a great job defending us. I thought they did a good job of keeping the ball in front of them, not giving up a lot of big plays. We've been a big play offense, explosive offense. They kept the ball in front of them. But you can't turn the ball over four times. I think that led to 13 points,” McGuire said.

"Then the other part of that was we were not good on 2nd down. I didn't think we were horrible on 1st down, but on 2nd down we were not efficient at all, so it put us in some really tough 3rd downs, and man, they played really well on defense," said McGuire.

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Joey McGuire Not Making Excuses For The Loss

“Man, the tough thing is if we use the layoff, then we're going to use an excuse. And we believe in this program, you don't make excuses, and you don't let anybody make them for you. We've got to do better. If this is going to be what the College Football Playoffs is, then we've got to find a way to be better to win that game.”

“But I think more than anything, it was a mixture of playing a really good Oregon defense and us not executing at a high level. I think whenever you're in these games, and you're playing teams that's every bit as good and every bit as talented as you are and vice versa, then you've got to execute at a high level, and I think that was the biggest thing.”

“Now, I'll piggyback off of Dan, and we'll see what everybody else says. We're in a world that makes no sense. But that's where we're at, and you've got to find a way to be better to win this game.”

If Oregon Showed Something Different Than Big 12 Opponents

“I know stats are a little bit different, but they rushed for - they were rushing for over 200 yards against Big Ten teams, and they rushed for 64 yards today. I know some of that was in sacks and snaps and stuff like that, but we still did that.”

“I do think, and Behren will probably say the same thing, I think defensively that was probably the best defense we've faced this year. I do think they did a really good job schematically. Their defensive coordinator, defensive staff did a really good job of giving us some issues.”

“But I go back, and whenever you turn the ball over - let's say we turned the ball over four times, if you look at the 4th down conversion, there was really one that was like a competitive gain that we didn't get, so that's a fifth turnover.”

“The score was 23-0. We were desperate, so they get that last touchdown that we didn't hold them out. If you look - and they scored, what did we say, 13 off of turnovers? We didn't play good enough. It really wasn't the patch on anybody's arm. That's a really good football team, though. If the quarterback decides to go in the draft, he's probably going to be the first or second guy taken. It just comes down to execution, and we didn't execute at a high level.”

Slowing Down Oregon’s Offense

"When we went in at halftime, it was 6-0. We missed a field goal - we've got one of the best kickers in the country, and he's made some long critical field goals this year, and we just pushed it to the left. But if you would have woke up this morning and told me it was going to be 6-0 at halftime, then I would have taken that, too.”

“I knew this was going to be a dogfight. We really did. If you look statistically at the two defenses, you've got two of the best defenses in the country going at each other. Yeah, I would have taken the 6-0 at halftime.”

Joey McGuire After Texas Tech's Loss vs. Oregon

Joey McGuire Not Making Excuses For The Loss

If Oregon Showed Something Different Than Big 12 Opponents

Slowing Down Oregon’s Offense

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