Things to Know about NC State’s Opponent: Texas Tech

The Wolfpack will host a Non-ACC Power 5 opponent tonight in Carter-Finley, for the first time since they beat Notre Dame in the rain in 2016. Here’s a few things to know about their opponent tonight: Texas Tech.

• Joey McGuire is the new head coach for Texas Tech in 2022. After getting his start at the high school ranks, McGuire spent the his first 5 years of collegiate coaching at Baylor, where he served as an Assistant coach for 5 years.
  • Texas Tech fired Matt Wells in the middle of last season, after posting a 13-17 record. McGuire inherited a team that went 7-6 last year, a team that defeated Mississippi State (a team that beat NC State 10-24 in 2021) 34-7 in the Liberty Bowl.
• Starting Quarterback Tyler Shough missed the final 9 games of last year due to a broken collarbone, and went down in Week 1 of this year with a shoulder injury to his non-throwing arm. Sophomore Donovan Smith stepped up to the plate in the season opener against Murray State, completing 14 of 16 for 221 yards and 4 touchdowns.
  • Against Houston (who was ranked #25 at the time), Smith struggled a bit. He threw 3 interceptions and fumbled the ball twice (0 lost). With that being said, he did throw the ball for 350 yards and 2 touchdowns.
  • Smith also has the ability to hurt you with his legs. His stats are deceiving. It says in the Box Score, that he rushed the ball 21 times for 31 yards, for an average of 1.5 yards per carry. It’s deceiving, because he was sacked 6 times by Houston. He actually gained 88 yards on the ground, but lost 57 due to sacks.
• Turnovers killed the Red Raiders against Houston last week, because the game shouldn’t have been close. They had 20 more first downs than Houston, and held the ball for nearly 15 minutes longer than their opponent.
• Tech had 2 receivers go for 100+ yards in the season opener.
  • Junior Loic Founji had 6 receptions for 110 yards and 2 touchdowns and Redshirt Freshman Jerand Bradley had 4 receptions for 108 yards and 2 touchdowns.
• The Red Raiders rushing attack is better than their 3.4 yards per carry shows. 78 yards have been lost, and 57 of those are sacks on the QB.
  • Junior Running Back Tahj Brooks is averaging 5.6 yards per carry, and has 4 rushing touchdowns.
  • Senior SaRodorick Thompson is averaging 4.9 yards per carry.