Texas Tech's Joey McGuire Doesn’t Hold Back on Oregon Coach Dan Lanning

The No. 5 Oregon Ducks will face the No. 4 Texas Tech Red Raiders on Jan. 1 for the College Football Playoff quarterfinals. The game will be held at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.

Ahead of the matchup, Texas Tech coach Joey McGuire spoke to the media about how the team is preparing for the game against Oregon, highlighting Ducks coach Dan Lanning during his press conference.

Texas Tech Red Raiders Joey McGuire Oregon Ducks Dan Lanning College Football Playoff Orange Bowl Big Ten Big 12 Dante Moore — Texas Tech head coach Joey McGuire shakes hands with director of athletics Kirby Hocutt before the Big 12 Conference championship football game, Saturday, Nov. 6, 2025, at AT&T Stadium in Arlington. | Nathan Giese/Avalanche-Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Joey McGuire Praises Dan Lanning

“I'm a huge fan of Dan Lanning. I listen to a lot of stuff that he does. I love what he does, I think he does it right? He's a great coach. He's great for college football. I love to see how his guys compete. You know, they play with an edge, and he's one of those guys. He's a defensive guy. He's got an edge to him. So, man, just a huge fan of his. This is going to be a great game, you know, two really good teams. I think we're very, very similar whenever you look at our teams. And so I'm looking for a great matchup.”

“You can tell, whenever he's speaking about his team, how much he cares about his players. I mean, I love his story. He was a high school coach for a short time, but then, you know, he coached. He was a GA at Pitt."

"And I could be wrong, Mack (Leftwich), his dad was on that staff. So he tells the story of of Dan showing up three days in a row, just sitting outside of Todd Graham's office, just waiting for him to offer it. Offer him a job he was going to he wasn't going to leave until he gave you an opportunity to volunteer our GA and so that just shows the passion he has for the game. And I just think he does it the right way. You could just tell by the way his players play for him. They play with an edge, and they play with such a great effort. And you know that comes from you know him and his coaching staff.”

Joey McGuire’s Opening Statement

"Yesterday we met and introduced our team to Oregon. And you know, one thing that I said to our guys when we started. Y'all heard me say this before, but you know, how lucky are we, you know, and that's not a question, but, man, a statement of gratitude.”

“You know, if you'd have told my 13 year old self that I'm getting ready to coach on January 1 in the Orange Bowl at 11 a.m. Central time. And I would have probably never believed it. So I'm just so fortunate and grateful that we get to do this. And, man, we're excited.”

“You know, here, I guess in 10 days, we still gotta, seems like forever until we play, but we'll be ready to go.”

What Oregon Does That Will Challenge Texas Tech

“You know, they're very physical upfront. They've got multiple defensive tackles, but the guys that really jump off tape are one and 52 extremely physical. We've got to do a good job of taking care of the down linemen, you know."

"And then the other thing that they're really impressive. They got three running backs that play at such a high level. Two are true freshmen. If they're, you know, in their home run hitters, they're very explosive. And we saw that Saturday in the JMU game. I mean, you look up and they've already scored 30 plus points. I think they had five touchdowns on five drives. So they're really explosive. So we've got to do a good job of making them drive the field."

"Little bit different at quarterback, even though he's a dual threat. I mean, he's pretty special throwing the football. Moore is. But Utah, as far as their physicality on defense, I've got really good length at corner in the secondary. So I'd say a little bit like Utah.”

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How Oregon Matches Up Against Texas Tech In Red Zone

“I think, you know, one of the big things is, I mean, we've got to get there. I think there's a lot of times when you say they've struggled in the red zone, they probably haven't had a lot of red zone, you know, teams having opportunities against their defense. But I think when we've played well in the red zone, we've executed at a really high level. So I think it comes down to that it's definitely going to be really good, that our quarterback is going to be a lot more mobile than what he has been, so he can extend plays. I think that will help us in the red zone with him, Extended plays.”

Oregon’s Speed Against Texas Tech’s Defense

“Yeah, they're really fast team, you know, probably top one or two whenever you're talking about team speed of teams that we face this year, you know, we're going to have to do a good job. I think it really starts with trying to stop the run, because then it really puts us in a situation where we we have a higher percentage of them passing the football and and now we've earned the right to rush the passer, trying to put pressure on those guys. You know, maybe get the ball out."

"They'll have to get the ball out faster. But this is. I mean, Team speed wise, it jumps off the tape. They're a very fast football team.”

McGuire Credits Oregon’s Running Backs

“They're very creative. Will Stein does a great job. I know we're very well excited for him getting the Kentucky job. And then one of the O-line coaches is Mack's little brother (Cutter Leftwich), you know, and he's going with him in Kentucky, and I think he has a lot to do with what they do run game wise."

"But they're one of the teams that we actually throughout the year in the offseason study, because they are so creative in the in the run game. You know the biggest thing whenever I we've talked about and we'll continue to talk about it throughout the game, but what we have to do on defense, we have to set edges. We have to do a good job of taking on half a man and and try to push the ball where we wanted to go versus where they wanted to go."

Texas Tech's Underdog Mentality

"I think, more than anything, it just kind of goes with, I think we're a little bit different each week. We struggle in the red zone, and then we went through two or three weeks to where we're really effective in it. So it's kind of like, you know, who we played BYU was extremely good defensively in the red zone is one of the strongest things that they do, you know, and those were the two games I think we probably struggled the most."

"So it was going into what they're really good at. I think whenever you self scout, we've learned some stuff that we've got to get better at but the biggest thing we've learned is we've got to execute better. I mean, I that's what it comes down to, is whatever the call is, get lined up, know what your job is, and then execute it at a high level.”

How James Madison Ran Against Oregon

“I mean, I saw coach's press conference after, and he was frustrated by, I think he felt like they lost focus after they jumped all over them. So it's so tough, really, to maintain that focus. Because, I mean, it really was, they had their way with them. It was dominant. I thought JMU did some really good things in the run game. The one thing that probably Oregon did the best was knocking down the football, there was especially in the first half, whenever they were moving the ball."

"You had some issues that we've had, and it was a very loud stadium, and they they get down in the red zone, and they had some pre snap penalties that really hurt them. You know that we're going to challenge our guys."

"We got to find a way to run the football. They're, they're great at stopping the run, so we got to find a way to run the football. And then, you know, we talk about it all the time. You know, our receivers, Coy (Eakin) and CD (Caleb Douglas) and Reggie (Virgil), and TC (Terrance Carter Jr.) in there and Johncarlos (Miller II), they have got to go attack the football. We've got to win our one on one battles. You know, whenever we've done that at a high level, then we've been really effective on offense.”

Texas Tech’s Schedule Ahead Of Playing Oregon

"The one thing that we did do, talking about it going into the Big 12 championship is that we'd give them Christmas Eve and Christmas Day off. So we're in pads yesterday. We'll be in pads today. We'll do a walk through early in the morning, get a lift, and then they'll be able to get out of here if they want to go home. We'll be back. So they'll have the 24th and 25th off and come back and practice on the 26th so the majority of guys will go home and, get a break to see their families. And man, it was kind of the reward of going to winning the Big 12 and getting a bye."

Joey McGuire Explains How To Stop Oregon From Gaining A Rhythm

"We talk all the time about complementary football, how we play off of each other. Indiana did a phenomenal job of doing that, meaning their offense was on the field probably longer than, you know, anybody else, or comparable to some of tough games that they've had. It's that Indiana was really effective on offense. We've got to be effective on offense to help our defense. And then I think with those guys, it all starts with their run game.”

“Where they create explosive is off their run game, and so we've got to eliminate some of those explosives, get the ball down, make them drive the field. And the biggest thing you stop the run now you have earned the right to rush the passer, and our defensive line has got to show up. They've shown up every week putting pressure on the quarterback."

Joey McGuire's High Praise For Dante Moore

"This quarterback special. I mean, if he decides to come out. He's probably number one quarterback taken in the draft, him or the Indiana kid, but he's really good, so we've, we've got to put some pressure on him and and we've got to do a good job of stopping the run to get to do that."

How Oregon Has Built Its Football Program

"First, they've they've done a good job of hiring coaches, and Dan was a slam dunk. Second, you know, they made it cool to be an Oregon Duck. I mean, they've got every uniform known to man, and players love that. So I think we're really fortunate with Adidas, our partnership with Adidas and Patrick Mahomes, that we're doing the same thing. We've got some some great looks."

"And then, they have a great booster in Phil Knight that really said, 'Hey, we're going to go win at the highest level, and there's no excuses whenever it comes to finance.' You know, you turn around, and I think that we've shown that we're doing that, and I think we're really comparable."

"We've got guys that have really stepped up and done a great job. I kind of call them the 'Big Five' whenever you talk about Cody and John and Mike, Dusty, and Gary. I mean, those guys have, along with everybody else in Red Raider Nation, but those guys really led the charge. And so whenever you're talking, we're kind of comparable on and off the field in this team. They've just done it for a little bit longer and that's what we're trying to do."

“I think Oregon staff might have been my off in my office in Cedar Hill recruiting Damian Hobbs, who actually went, went to Oregon out of Cedar Hill whenever Chip found out that he was going to be the coach in the NFL, you know? And so Oregon's always done a great job of coming into Texas, and they got a phenomenal freshman out at Duncanville. They got to play a little bit last week coming off injury."

"But you know that Oregon is such a great brand, and it carries a lot of weight in the state. Texas. And, they continue to do such a great job of recruiting, and they've got Coach Samples. His dad is a legend, an absolute legend in this state. And so, you know, he can walk into any high school in the state and and automatically have a lot of credibility. Just one, because he was a high school player, but two, because his dad such a great coach.”

Thoughts On Playoff Structure

“It's really tough, because, you know, you hate to eliminate anybody, but I do think that when you have a criteria of where you're going to select a team, everybody should be in that same criteria. So, and I'm gonna make Notre Dame mad, but being a conference, and you're in the playoffs, maybe they're in the ACC there, in the playoffs and and that's nothing against like Marcus Freeman. I think he's an absolute rock star. I would want my son to play for Marcus Freeman. That's that's not what I'm talking about."

"I'm just talking about like, let's make it across the board, that everybody's measured the same. Well, when you do that, then if you're going to put a G5 in, or a G6 then I think that their scheduling has to change some if they're going to get in. Or at some point, I could see it, and I don't know when that is that you're going to have where you have the FCS, you have the G6 playoffs."

"I think it'd be great if they did the same thing that they do in the FCS, where they have home games. It'd be great for TV, and then you have the power for playoffs. I think there's going to be a lot of talk over this offseason of how fast we expand. Because, you know, as a fan, and I watched all those games, man, I would have loved to seen Notre Dame playing Ole Miss in the Grove."

"And I'd have loved to see BYU play in Oregon there in Eugene, I think that would have been great games and great TV, and so at some point, I think there's going to be major changes. You know, in college football, there needs to be.”

Texas Tech’s Health

“Yeah, we feel really good. You know, the three linebackers slash strong safety. I mean, they've been playing the last month banged up, Jacob (Rodriguez) and John (Curry) and Ben (Roberts), so they're feeling a lot better. You know, Howard Sampson was banged up in the big 12 game. He feels great, you know? And Behren (Morton) is man, he's really bouncing around. He probably hasn't felt this good since probably coming out of camp, and so he always has great energy at practice, but it's good to see him moving around.”