Today, Texas Tech will face a tough test at Washington State. It will be the first road game of the season and that has been a focus for the program throughout the offseason.

You may recall that head coach Joey McGuire went so far as to meet with Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell this offseason to get some tips on winning on the road. Now, let’s see if all that focus on success away from home pays off.

Tech has struggled on the road under McGuire for a number of reasons, some of which were factors beyond his control.

Keep in mind that in seven of his eight road games against Tech, McGuire was either without his Week 1 starting quarterback for the entire game or lost his starting QB in the course of the game. The lone exception was last season when Tyler Shough played the entire season opener at Wyoming.

Additionally, Tech has faced stiff competition outside of Lubbock during McGuire’s tenure. Five of his eight road losses have come against ranked teams. That includes playing a team ranked No. 7 in the national polls (Oklahoma State and TCU) twice in 2022.

On the other hand, self-inflicted wounds have also contributed to Tech’s away woes under McGuire. For example, in half of McGuire’s away defeats, Tech has lost the ball three or more times.

Tonight, the program could begin to change its away story. Washington State isn’t necessarily an intimidating place to play, as the Cougars’ stadium only holds 32,000 fans.

Additionally, tonight’s opponent is rebuilding after a 5-7 season in 2023. What’s more, their starting QB, sophomore John Mateer of Little Elm, Texas, is making only his second career start and his first against a Power 4 team.

In other words, the task facing the Red Raiders tonight is not impossible. If this team can clean up its mistakes from Week 1, it can leave the Pacific Northwest with a win. But for that to happen, these three Red Raiders will have to take their game to the next level tonight.

We don’t know for sure if senior corner Bralyn Lux will play tonight. However, after the Abilene Christian game, McGuire said his top defensive back would be available for this game.

That’s why most expect the former Fresno State transfer to play tonight, despite the fact that he was on Texas Tech’s official injury report this week. If he does play, he’ll have to play as advertised.

Last week, his replacement, sophomore Jalon Peoples, was not good in Lux’s position. He was repeatedly targeted by ACU, often getting beat by double moves or simply being out of position. Despite playing most of the game, he made just four tackles and had just one pass defended in his first start at the college level.

After that game, McGuire said Lux’s absence was a big deal. While he praised Peoples for playing, he said it would have made a big difference if Lux had been in the lineup.

There’s no doubt that Lux is Tech’s best corner. More importantly, he’s the program’s most experienced corner. If he can play this week, he should prove he’s what he’s made of and bring some stability and maturity to the Red Raiders’ defensive backfield, as Washington State has a deadly passing attack.

Another player on this week’s injury report is star running back Tahj Brooks, who is questionable due to an arm injury. McGuire said Brooks will be decided come game time Saturday night.

That’s why the Red Raiders likely need more from junior backup RB Cam’Ron Valdez. Even if Brooks plays, he likely won’t be healthy enough to carry the ball 25 or more times.

Valdez and the other RBs will have to pick up the slack. Behind Valdez on the depth chart, however, are two true freshmen, Cam Dickey and J’Koby Williams, neither of whom have yet to play in a road game for the Red Raiders.

That’s why Valdez is so important tonight. He’s played 17 games as a college player, making him the most experienced backup RB on the roster.

He has never started in college, though. If that’s what he’s asked to do tonight, can he be reliable as a runner and a blocker? And will he be durable enough to help the Red Raiders win? After all, he’s never had more than 12 rushing attempts in a game.

Tech goes into the air tonight knowing it has to do everything it can to protect its defense. One way to slow down the dangerous WSU passing attack is to keep the Red Raider offense on the field by running the ball.

The Cougars typically sell everything to stop the run, however, which means yards can be tough to come by. That’s where Brooks’ ability to break tackles would be sorely missed if he can’t play. But if Valdez can at least give Tech a solid option at RB tonight, even if Brooks can try, the Red Raiders could play keep away long enough to limit what WSU wants to do offensively.

Suddenly, Texas Tech has become thin at the outside linebacker position. That’s a concern considering the Red Raiders struggled mightily to rush the pass against ACU, registering just one sack, which wasn’t really a sack but a tackle for loss on the Wildcats’ QB, Maverick McIvor, when he executed a designed QB draw on the final play of last week’s game.

This week we learned that edge rusher Joseph Adedire will miss the entire year due to a knee injury. Additionally, Tech already lost Dylan Spencer, another promising edge rusher, for the year in fall camp.

Additionally, OLB Harvey Dyson was listed as questionable to play this week on Monday’s injury report. So where will the Texas Tech pass rush come from tonight?

This is where Amier Washington must step up to the plate. Fans may remember him as the hero of the Independence Bowl victory over Cal, a game in which he had two sacks and a forced fumble.

Against ACU, however, he failed to make any sacks or tackles. That’s not going to happen, especially now that the Red Raiders are thin on the ground at the edge rush position.

The same can be said for Isaac Smith, another edge rusher who didn’t get to QB last week, a star who came into the game with high expectations. He and Washington are arguably the best options Tech has at OLB tonight and they’ll need to find a way to catch the passer or it could be a long night in Pullman for the Tech defense.