Texas Tech welcomes a team to Lubbock on Saturday that is 0-4 this season against power-conference opponents, and is 0-3 in its Big 12 schedule, but it doesn't sound like that team when head coach Joey McGuire was talking about the Baylor Bears on Monday.

The Red Raiders sit in a three-way tie for the Big 12 lead as the mid-point of the season is upon us and for Tech's head coach, it's about not letting the foot off the gas pedal and seizing the opportunity in-front of them on Saturday at 2:30.

"I know this sounds crazy but I just want to be 1-0 this week and 4-0 in the Big 12, I mean we have such a great opportunity," McGuire said. "So whether it's Baylor or it's whoever is coming here to play, we've just got to find a way to win."

With McGuire's familiarity with the Baylor roster and the coaching staff, the teams are looking for the "tie-breaker" since McGuire and his recruiting staff came over from Waco, but that transition is getting easier as time passes in McGuire's eyes.

Despite the relationships with the staff and players on the roster, McGuire is hoping that the Red Raiders are able to keep it within themselves and take care of business on their home field on Saturday.

"I do think winning last year helped this building, and I'm sure winning year one helped that building, you know, but we're all really good friends. I mean, the people that I know on that staff," McGuire said. "I think year three has probably changed a little bit, for us, you're getting farther and farther away from less players on that roster that we were key in recruiting...So I think it becomes more and more like any other week in the Big 12, just trying to find a way to win."

There's plenty surrounding this weekend's matchup between the Bears and Red Raiders, the relationships with the staffs, a lengthy rivalry that dates back to 1929 and is currently tied at 39 wins a piece, and a pair of homecomings to Lubbock on Texas Tech's homecoming weekend.

Former Red Raider Steve Linton will be back in Lubbock on Saturday, wearing a different jersey than the one that he donned last season, while Lubbock local and Coronado High School legend Sawyer Robertson will get to start at quarterback against his hometown's college.

Linton, who was largely a disappointment for Texas Tech after garnering plenty of excitement around the program in the offseason heading into the 2023 season, makes his return to Lubbock and is having a solid year for the Bears.

""I hate that we're playing a really good version of him on Saturday, I've seen that version," McGuire said of Linton. "I've had nothing but good things to say about Steve, you know, he's he did it the right way. Whenever he left, you know, I was hoping that he was going to go outside the conference, without a doubt."

It will be a challenge, one that is larger than most would expect as Tech sits favored by more than a touchdown early in the week, but it's the week-to-week nature of the Big 12, and Tech will have the chance to maintain pace as the page turns to late October this weekend.