2022 Texas Tech Red Raiders Betting Odds, Picks & Predictions

2022 TEXAS TECH RED RAIDERS BETTING ODDS, PREDICTIONS, PREVIEW

Joey McGuire has his work cut out for him at Texas Tech. The Red Raiders fired Matt Wells midway through his third season although he was just 13-17 during his time in Lubbock. That came on the heels of Texas Tech firing Kliff Kingsbury after leading the program to three bowl games in six years, and Tommy Tuberville infamously stepped away in the middle of a recruiting dinner to leave this job for Cincinnati before that. The boosters and administration have shown they have an unrealistic expectation for success, so it would be a surprise to see McGuire in this role four years from now. 

This is McGuire’s first head coaching gig as he was a high school coach for over two decades before joining Baylor’s staff five years ago as an assistant and became an ace recruiter. He signed a nice initial class considering he only had a little time to put it together, and he already has 23 commits in the Class of 2023. McGuire was brought to Lubbock to try and copy the Baylor model, but that’s going to be tough to follow.

McGuire made a shrewd decision by hiring Zach Kittley to be his offensive coordinator. Kittley will turn 31 just before the start of the season, and he was a student assistant and grad assistant at Texas Tech for five years from 2013 to 2017 under Kingsbury. He is an Air Raid disciple that had instant success with his system at FCS Houston Baptist, and he was hired to be Western Kentucky’s offensive coordinator prior to last season. The Hilltoppers had one of the best offenses in the country after bringing over Bailey Zappe and other players from that Houston Baptist offense, but Zappe is now in the NFL and only one offensive lineman made the jump with Kittley to Texas Tech.

Tyler Shough and Donovan Smith are fighting to be the starting quarterback. Shough transferred to Texas Tech from Oregon two years ago, and he seems like a better fit in this offense as he has averaged 9.5 YPA in his three seasons of college football. He won the job over Smith last year, but he broke his collarbone in September and was lost for the year. Smith completed 61.2% of his passes for 8.5 YPA with seven touchdowns and two interceptions and had nice performances against Iowa State, Baylor, and Mississippi State.

Texas Tech has a decent pair of running backs in Tahj Brooks and SaRodorick Thompson, but only two starters return along the offensive line. Cole Spencer comes in from Western Kentucky to provide an experienced interior lineman in this offense, and Cade Briggs, Ty Buchanan, and Monroe Mills also transferred in this spring to provide depth.

Updated on 04/25/2024

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The top two receivers from 2021 are no longer with the program, so Myles Price will see a lot more looks this season. These receivers are extremely young, and that could be a problem in a new system.

The Red Raiders had the 69^th ranked defense in terms of SP+ last year. McGuire brought in Tim DeRuyter to be the defensive coordinator, and he has a lot of experience, but DeRuyter’s defenses haven’t been great the last few years.

Six starters return on this side of the ball, and the top performers are defensive linemen Tyree Wilson and Jaylon Hutchings. Wilson lines up all over the field and had seven sacks last season, while Hutchings was able to plug up the middle effectively. There are some real concerns in the back seven though as the linebackers and defensive backs don’t have a lot of experience, and the Red Raiders gave up 7.9 YPA and 261.2 YPG in 2021.

This program could be in for a rude awakening in 2022. Texas Tech hasn’t won fewer than four games in a season since 1983, but the Red Raiders are installing new schemes without much talent. They will likely be underdogs in non-conference games against Houston and North Carolina State, and it’s hard to imagine the Red Raiders winning more than two or three games in conference.

Best Bet: Under 5.5 Wins (-120)

2022 TEXAS TECH RED RAIDERS SCHEDULE

• Sat., Sept. 3 - vs. Murray State
• Sat., Sept. 10 - vs. Houston
• Sat., Sept. 17 - at NC State
• Sat., Sept. 24 - vs. Texas
• Sat., Oct. 1 - at Kansas State
• Sat., Oct. 8 - at Oklahoma State
• Sat., Oct. 22 - vs. West Virginia
• Sat., Oct. 29 - vs. Baylor
• Sat., Nov. 5 - at TCU
• Sat., Nov. 12 - vs. Kansas
• Sat., Nov. 19 - at Iowa State
• Sat., Nov. 26 - vs. Oklahoma

WIN TOTAL ODDS

• Over 5.5 (-110)
• Under 5.5 (-120)

TEXAS TECH RED RAIDERS ODDS TO WIN BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP

+4000

Kittley’s offense took Conference USA by storm last year, but the Big 12 has seen a lot of Air Raid offenses over the last two decades. These defensive coordinators have experience stopping this system, so Texas Tech is unlikely to suddenly have one of the best offenses in the conference. This defense is going to be average at best, so any conference title hopes are far-fetched.

TEXAS TECH RED RAIDERS ODDS TO WIN NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP

+50000

The Red Raiders have just one 10-win season since 1976. They have made it to a lot of bowl games since joining the Big 12 in 1996, but this program has continually shown that it can’t get to the next level because it’s hard to get players to want to come to Lubbock.

TEXAS TECH RED RAIDERS 2022 HEISMAN CONTENDERS & ODDS

Donovan Smith (QB) +10000

Tyler Shough (QB) +15000

Neither Smith nor Shough has a realistic chance of winning the Heisman Trophy. The most accomplished Texas Tech quarterback of all-time (Graham Harrell) could only get 13 first-place votes in the season he threw for 5,111 yards and 45 touchdowns while leading the Red Raiders to an 11-2 record.

2021 TEXAS TECH RED RAIDERS BETTING RESULTS

• SU: 7-6
• ATS: 7-5-1
• O/U: 5-8
• ATS-Home: 3-3-1
• ATS-Road: 4-2
• ATS-Favorite: 2-1
• ATS-Underdog: 5-4-1

MORE CONFERENCE ODDS