Texas Tech Alum/Duck-Dad, Gives Insider Scoops
The more you dig into Texas Tech football, the more you see that the brains and financial muscle moving the power pieces in Lubbock are chess players, not checkers. This was the year the Red Raiders put the Big 12 into checkmate. The past 20 years Tech football has been mostly good, a little great and seven times below average.
Tech football is like the youngest child in a big family. They’ve gotten overlooked by successful big brothers i.e. Texas and Texas A & M. Even in-state schools like TCU and SMU have represented in the college football playoff in recent years, whereas Tech has been relegated hand-me-down bowls, see the 2022 Tax Act Texas Bowl, and the 2023 Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl. Yawn.
Then little brother started going to the gym, got ripped and hit gold, . . . black gold to be exact. More on that in a moment.
TTU Fan Base: If you’re ever in Lubbock keep an eye out for rival Texas Longhorn apparel at sporting goods stores. It’s normal for Tech fans to walk through stores and turn hats and other Longhorn merch upside down on shelves. It’s called “Horns Down” and got so popular stores started selling hats in Lubbock with the Longhorn logo printed upside down. Tech fans will wear these:
You’ve seen the Red Raiders in the national spotlight before with coaches like Mike Leach and Kliff Kingsbury, a quarterback named Mahomes and the 2008 “Crabtree Catch,” to beat Texas, which is Tech’s version of Kenny Wheaton’s pick.
In 2024, TTU had flashes of brilliance, beating Arizona State, but that same season lost to Washington State by three touchdowns and at home to Colorado by two TDs, Ouch! Their best season over the last 20 was a Leach led 11-2 mark in 2008, the year the Crabtree Catch beat big brother Texas.
The Tech fan base is a group of fanatical, tortilla throwing wannabees. You’d love ‘em. They are ready to prove that little brother is ready to win a national championship. TTU’s only loss this season was a 26-22 nail-biter to Kenny Dillingham and Arizona State. Note: Tech’s starting quarterback, Behren Morton, was injured and did not play the ASU game.
Do you think Dan Lanning might be texting Coach Dillingham this week?
“Merry Christmas Kenny. Sauphia told me to say hi to Brianna. . . . Congrats on the Michigan offer and that ASU extension, good decision. . . Hey uh, . . . one more thing. . . How’d you give Texas Tech their only loss of the season, and how in the name of Gary Zimmerman and Penei Sewell do you slow down that Tech pass rush?”
Texas Billionaire Cody Campbell, Red Raider Mega-Booster. (Screenshot from 365 Sports Video)
Sustainability & Verone McKinley II
The jet fuel Phil Knight and the Division Street/Ducks Rising/Eugene NIL have pumped into Oregon athletics to make it mighty is being refined in Lubbock by oil and gas rockstar Cody Campbell. Similar to Uncle Phil, Campbell has excelled in both business and athletics, as he earned a Masters from Tech in 2004, and he also lettered as an offensive lineman all four years with the Red Raiders.
There are dozens of reports showing how much the big collectives spend. You know the names, Texas, Alabama, Ohio State etc. and now Campbell and the Texas Tech Matador Club are a major player, along with that team out West in green and yellow.
Where do we go for facts on the Red Raider-Duck matchup? Possibly the most knowledgeable, balanced authority on Texas Tech and Oregon football is Verone McKinley II. This is the Verone McKinley that Duck fans don’t know. Dad McKinley played cornerback for the Red Raiders from 1992-95. He’s also the father of former Oregon All-American Verone McKinley, III. (2018-21)
Dad McKinley is a college football expert, and has coached and trained Division 1 players. During his playing days he was a volatile accelerant on a dynamic Texas Tech defense leading the team in pass breakups in 1995. No one has followed Tech and Oregon closer this season, and here’s what McKinley, II, sees going down in the Orange Bowl on January 1.
“Texas Tech got a lot of headlines for the money they spent in the portal,” says McKinley II. “but they didn’t just spend money, they develop talent internally. The defensive line is literally a pro defensive line, and in my opinion they have the best linebacker group in the country.”
Verone McKinley II (No. 2) played cornerback for the Red Raiders from 1992-95. (Photo Courtesy of Texas Tech Athletics)
Ben Roberts and John Curry are both high school recruits that the Tech coaching staff molded from the ground up. They are legit. David Bailey is a future first round draft pick, and teammate Jake Rodriguez may be the best linebacker in the nation. Rodriguez finished 5th in the Heisman Trophy race and is such a bad-ass he married a girl who’s a Blackhawk helicopter pilot. Respect.
Wife Emma Rodriguez is a good X/Twitter follow who threw appropriate shade on the Heisman Trophy process after her husband was not invited to New York.
McKinley, II, Gives Tech a Slight Advantage on Defense..
Offensively Texas Tech takes heat for not being as good as they should be in the red zone. They scored 42.5 points per game, so how bad can a team be in the red zone if you’re averaging 42.5 points per game? They can be electric on offense, but that was against some dubious Big 12 defenses.
McKinley says, “Oregon has a better rushing offense, but right now Texas Tech has a better total offense. You’re not going to beat Oregon kicking field goals. If Oregon can force Texas Tech into field goals, the Ducks will win.”
The epoxy that keeps this diverse blend of new money, Red Raider talent together is the nicest guy at the party. “Coach Joey McGwire is definitely a people person,” says McKinley II. “If you walk into a room and he’s there, you’ll walk out closer to him than anyone else. He’s got that kind of personality and came from the ultra-competitive Texas high school ranks, then to Baylor with Matt Rhule. He’s an elite recruiter who brings young men together.”
Texas Tech HC Joey McGuire. (Photo Courtesy of Texas Tech Athletics)
No. 1 key to the game from Dad McKinley? “If Oregon can neutralize Texas Tech’s defensive line and give Dante the time he needs to throw, Oregon will win. If not. . . . ,” says McKinley.
Verone McKinley II score prediction? In a lengthy interview and multiple follow-up texts, that’s one thing Verone, II. is too smart to nail down. . . “Too close to call,” he says.
Just think if he picked against his alma-Mater? (No one needs tortillas thrown at their house) At the time of writing this article-Vegas has Oregon as a 1.5 point favorite, and 1.5 point favorites in college football win the games about 52% of the time.
Stranger Things about Texas Tech
Question: For decades, what did Texas Tech fans throw onto the field during home games at the opening kickoff?
Answer: Tortillas. Those edible discs are aero-dynamic and can really fly. Opposing coaches complained about it, the tortilla storm was banned by Tech school officials in October of 2025. That said, don’t be surprised if you see some Tex-Mex crash landing on the Hard Rock bermuda grass around 9 a.m. on January 1.
Question: What do TTU fans do at the end of the 3rd quarter?
Answer: While Duck fans are shouting with Otis, the Red Raiders are Swag Surfing. Check out the video above from the 2023 Oregon game in Lubbock to see their fun…
Question: How committed is Texas Tech to elite talent in sports other than football?
Answer: Texas Tech isn’t just football crazy. They paid lights-out softball pitcher NiJaree Canady $1 Million last season, actually $1,050,024. That’s $1M in NIL dollars, $50k for living expenses and $24 in homage to her uniform number No. 24, that’s $1,050,024. Man, I like these guys.
Was the ROI there? Heck yea. NiJaree led Tech softball to the school’s first Women’s College World Series final, where they lost a best-of-3 series, 2 games to 1 to big sister (for now) Texas.
Question: How well known is Texas Tech?
Answer: I polled exactly 100 football fans at James Madison/Oregon tailgaters, most of them sober. (Most) The epicenter of this polling was Sean and Tim Kerr’s legendary RV Row B, space 11 spot. I then branched out from there. My question was, do you know Texas Tech’s mascot? Exactly 61 tailgaters knew the answer: the Red Raider.
We all learned quite a bit of the Stranger Things About Texas Tech, and now we will get to see a great game of two very talented teams–both with their own unique traditions. Go Ducks!
Michael Ostrom
Dallas, Texas
Top Screenshot Courtesy of Texas Tech Athletics
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Mike Ostrom is a 1989 Oregon Graduate (Journalism Major) He worked on air as the TV Sports Director for a CBS affiliate for many years and has free lanced for ESPN, Fox and other media entities. He has covered everything from high school football to the Superbowl. Mike lives in Dallas, TX where he and his wife raised five children. His full time job is in the Google/Social Media advertising space. The Ostroms also run a small ministry that provides soccer balls for orphans and underprivileged kids around the world.