McElroy Sees Texas Tech Playoff Risk Against Oklahoma State

Texas Tech enters the matchup 8-1 and ranked first among teams outside the College Football Playoff field. McElroy has picked Oklahoma State to win, citing the Red Raiders’ defensive struggles: they have given up 37, 26 and 48 points in their past three games. Their latest was a 53-48 victory over West Virginia, which came back from a 14-point halftime deficit.

McElroy sees Oklahoma State’s passing game as a particular threat. The Cowboys are 6-3 and coming off a 66-28 win over Kansas State. Quarterback Drew Mestemaker threw for 313 yards and four touchdowns, ran for a score and caught a touchdown on a trick play. He has thrown for at least 300 yards in eight consecutive games, a school record.

Texas Tech coach Joey McGuire pointed to the team’s 18 sacks over its past four games as a way to disrupt opposing passers. The Red Raiders may also need to rely on their ground game: J’Koby Williams gained 160 yards in the game with West Virginia, and McElroy observed that McGuire’s teams have a 17-1 record when rushing for more than 200 yards.

Quarterback Thomas Castellanos offers another route to keeping pace. In his second start since taking over for Will Hammond, he completed passes for 362 yards and five scores in the West Virginia game and rushed for 102 yards. Texas Tech can still control its path to the Big 12 Championship Game by winning its final three regular-season games. Saturday’s game kicks off at 9:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.