The Red Raiders are 1-1 to open the 2024 season, but with Texas Tech’s performances, it’s been a horrible feeling around Lubbock in just two weeks of football.

How does head coach Joey McGuire believe a turnaround could come for a team who failed in almost every single aspect last Saturday against Washington State? It starts defensively.

“I know nobody believes that who wears red and black and the Double T, but it has to start with us getting better on defense, and then we've got to take care of the football,” McGuire said.

“You’re not going to win games being 129th in the country on defense. And that's me. I'm a defensive coach. I'm embarrassed by the way we're playing defense. I'm sure that Tim DeRuyter is going to come in here and tell you the same thing. I know people don't want to hear it about winning the Big 12 right now, because we just got beat the way we did, but you're not going to win the Big 12 scoring 60 points and giving up 59 points. It doesn't happen. It hasn't happened.”

While plenty have criticized Tech’s offense, the Red Raider defense has struggled situationally, but likely haven’t been helped by McGuire’s aggressiveness that helped him win games during his first season as head coach but has failed the Red Raiders in 2024.

All five of Washington State's touchdown drives on Saturday came within the WSU 49-yard line as the Red Raiders failed on fourth down three times while turning the ball over traditionally three times.

“If we're going to change our aggression, do we change our aggression on our side of the ball? Do we get to a point you know, when the analytics really got started. If you go back, even if you look at Lane Kiffin, his aggression didn't start until he passes the 50, I mean, do we have to do stuff like that?” McGuire said. “And so that right now is something that we've got to get fixed, whenever you're talking about complimentary football.”

The Red Raiders have beaten themselves through two weeks, in all three phases, but with 21 penalties through just two weeks in 2024, it hasn’t helped Tech find success either, especially on offense.

“It's not just the 21 penalties. You know, when you sit there and you think, think about the penalties, there's going to be times that you're going to get a holding penalty,” McGuire said. “You don't want a hands to the face ever, because I think that's a lack of discipline from the standpoint of where you're putting your hands and where you're putting your eyes. But I think we've had 12 to 13 pre snap penalties, and that that is on us.

So, it goes back to number one, going through and talking to our procedure. Are we trying to speed up and are we trying to draw people offsides? You know, there's some stuff that's happening where there's not a play really called, but you're trying to line up quick, and so it's a lack of discipline there.”

McGuire took responsibility for his team looking unprepared to play in Pullman over the weekend, but there’s no rest for the wicked with North Texas coming to town for a final non-conference test this season.