Red Raiders end historic season with 23-0 Orange Bowl loss to Oregon

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (KCBD) - After winning 12 games for the first-time in school history, along with their first Big 12 championship, the Texas Tech Red Raiders’ greatest season ended with a 23-0 loss to the Oregon Ducks Thursday in the Orange Bowl in the College Football Playoff. Tech finishes the season with a 12-2 record.

While Tech’s quarterfinal outcome was not what the fans, staff or players had wanted, head football coach Joey McGuire says this loss should not discredit what the team has achieved this season.

“It’s no fun being in that locker room right now. I’ve said it all year long, I’ve been doing this for 31 years. I’ve never been a part of a closer group of men, and I’ve never been so proud!,” he said. “There’s one thing that I told them, and I truly believe it, like when you do something that nobody’s ever done, nobody’s ever done what these guys did wearing this uniform ever, and so then the standard is set!”

After not playing for 26 days since their 34-7 win over BYU in the Big 12 Championship, Tech’s offense struggled to find its momentum all through the game. Quarterback Behren Morton completed 18-of-32 passes and threw two interceptions- the second of which happened in the end zone early in the fourth quarter.

“I think that we had a great game plan. the whole month, really. We know we had a great game plan and we just didn’t execute base plays,” Morton said. “We didn’t run our day one stuff that had run well. I didn’t do a good job of settling down and really focusing on the next play. But there was a lot of things that we could have done differently.”

Morton also fumbled early in the third quarter, which led to a Jordon Davison touchdown, which gave the Red Raiders a 13-0 deficit. Red Raider running back Cameron Dickey also fumbled the ball with 2:29 left in the half. Both turnovers came deep in their own territory.

“You can’t turn the ball over. That’s a really good defense. That’s one of the top defenses in the country. We knew that coming in, so I want to give them all the credit, and they did a great job defending us,” Coach McGuire said. “I thought they did a good job of keeping the ball in front of them and not giving up a lot of big plays. We’ve been a big play, explosive offense, so they kept the ball in front of them, but you can’t turn the ball over four times. That led to 13 points.”

One of Tech’s bright spots of the day was holding Oregon’s highly touted quarterback Dante Moore to 233 yards passing, zero touchdowns and one interception. That’s one statistic linebacker Jacob Rodriguez says he’s proud of.

“Yeah, I think we did a good job of matching up and kind of knowing exactly what they wanted to do. A lot of the errors were on our part, self-inflicted, just us not communicating as much as we wanted to and being in the right position,” he said. “But man, I was super proud of our guys flying around, hitting and going at the ball, and it’s just kind of how it goes sometimes.”

Rodriguez logged 11 tackles Thursday. Ben Roberts led the team with 16 and also intercepted Moore late in the third quarter.

While speaking to the media after the game, an emotional Morton says his heartbreak from Thursday’s loss was not just about the sudden end to the season. It also stems from his lifelong attachment to the university.

“I love this university, everything that it stands for. I’ve been a Red Raider since I was a little kid, so to get to do what I’ve done this year has been awesome,” he said. “It’s a great group of guys. Man, it’s just been so fun just to put Tech back on the map, and Lubbock deserves every bit of everything that happened this year, and we can hang our hat on something.”

The Red Raiders will begin their 2026 campaign Sept. 5 hosting the Abilene Christian Wildcats. Fans, players, and coaches also have reason to be excited on Friday with the official opening up of the transfer portal window.