Texas Tech’s McGuire hopes to keep the Hog Calls to a minimum at Liberty Bowl

BY DUDLEY E. DAWSON

It was a special moment for Texas Tech head football coach Joey McGuire Monday afternoon when he and his team arrived in Memphis.

His Red Raiders (8-4) will be facing Arkansas (6-6) – McGuire’s favorite team growing up – in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl Friday night at 6 p.m.

The game will be televised on ESPN.

“We are really excited and proud to represent Texas Tech,” McGuire said. “This such a storied bowl for me personally. Y’all might have heard I grew up a season ticket holder and watched Arkansas all my life.

“So it was kind of a really cool moment when they announced we were going to be playing them. So it was just kind of that cherry on top of playing in a great bowl game.”

McGuire said he is looking for to hearing Razorback fans Call the Hogs, but is not interested it happening too much.

“I have followed the Hogs for a long time and I am going to enjoy hearing it,” McGuire said, “but we are not going to hear it for long because we are going to be ready to play them and we are planning to come out on top.”

McGuire, a Texarkana, Texas native who noted his first telephone land line number was 817-297-1HOG, believes he has a good idea about which team will win.

“We feel really good about where we are at,” McGuire said. “We know it is going to be a really tough game.

“One point I made to our team is the team that wants to practice the most and play in the game this most is the team is going to win.

“I know our guys are excited about it. It’s going to be a great atmosphere.”

While Arkansas will one without several key regular season performers in the Liberty Bowl, McGuire remembers that was also the case two years ago.

The Razorbacks took down Kansas 55-52 in double overtime in 2022.

“You go back to the Liberty Bowl a couple of years ago and Arkansas had nine starters out and beat Kansas – a really good Kansas team,” McGuire said. “It was one of the better bowls because they went to double overtime.

“Right now some guys are getting a lot of opportunities to practice more and so they are going to be excited about it. You can’t look and read about who is not playing and think it is going to be an easy game.”

The game will be a matchup of former Southwest Conference foes.

“We’ve have got such a passionate fan base when you are talking about both Arkansas and Texas Tech and it is that old Southwest Conference match up,” McGuire said. “I grew up on that, watching all the games.

McGuire, a former long-time coach, is very familiar with Arkansas quarterback and former Texas prep standout Taylen Green.

“They have a really good quarterback and I’ve known him since he was back in high school,” McGuire said. “He does a phenomenal job, he’s dual threat. They do a great job of using him on third and short and fourth and short.”

While Arkansas defensive lineman Landon Jackson has opted out of the bowl, the Razorbacks will have linebacker Xavian Storey (89 tackles), defensive back Doneiko Slaughter (74 tackles)and linebacker Stephen Dix (63 tackles).

“Defensively they have been a really good football team this year,” McGuire said. “We have seen a lot of their similar structure, the odd stack and they have a lot of their guys playing in this game, including their top three tacklers.

“So we know it is going to be a really tough game, but it is fun – an SEC opponent and a team like Arkansas with history they have with Texas Tech.”

Photo courtesy of Texas Tech