The end has arrived. Throughout the month of July, we’ve previewed every game of the Texas Tech football team’s 2025 schedule, giving you team-by-team breakdowns, fun facts and stats, and predictions for how the Red Raiders will fare during the regular season.
We’ve now reached the regular-season finale, Texas Tech’s final opponent on the docket. West Virginia and a trip to Morgantown await the Red Raiders on Nov. 29 to close things out. To this point, we have Texas Tech compiling a 9-2 record, including a 6-2 record in Big 12 Conference play.
Logic dictates this would have Texas Tech either having locked up a spot in the Big 12 championship game, or at least on the verge of one, when the Red Raiders visit the Mountaineers. It was this same matchup last year in Lubbock where Texas Tech destroyed WVU 52-15, which ultimately led to Neal Brown’s firing. The Mountaineers could very well return the favor by handing Tech a humbling loss and canceling Joey McGuire’s plans for a trip to Arlington.
Will that happen? Do the Mountaineers have the goods to turn Texas Tech’s dreams into a nightmare?
Get to know Texas Tech football opponent: West Virginia Mountaineers
Rich Rodriguez is back to lead the Mountaineers. Much like the reboot with Scott Frost and UCF, West Virginia hasn’t been the same since Rodriguez left for the Michigan job in 2008, and Rodriguez has never come close to the success he had in Morgantown.
Rodriguez has his work cut out for him. While the Mountaineers have been in bowl contention regularly, they haven’t come close to competing for Big 12 supremacy. And now he has just 21 returning lettermen and four returning starters on offense.
The cupboard isn’t entirely bare, though. Jahiem White returns after leading WVU in rushing (845 yards, 7 TDs). Garrett Greene is gone, but Nicco Marchiol has plenty of experience at quarterback, having stepped in the last few years when Greene has dealt with injuries.
West Virginia has a couple more returning starters on defense, but the unit as a whole was a mess, giving up just under 32 points and 420 yards per game last season. They also have to replace eight of the top nine tacklers from last season, and the Mountaineers had few game-breaking takeaways to help their offense in 2024.
One West Virginia football stat for Texas Tech fans to know
Texas Tech has won five of the last six meetings with the Mountaineers, the lone setback coming in the 2023 season when Tyler Shough suffered a season-ending broken fibula that sent the anticipated season into an early tailspin.
Score prediction for Texas Tech football vs. West Virginia
Texas Tech 27, West Virginia 24: Whether or not Tech has a spot in the Big 12 title game wrapped up, the regular-season finale will be like pulling teeth. Either Tech is playing for its College Football Playoff life, or it will be trying to look ahead to the conference championship.
Final regular season records for Texas Tech: 10-2 overall, 7-2 in the Big 12.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Texas Tech football 2025 schedule preview: Get to know the West Virginia Mountaineers
Reporting by Nathan Giese, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal / Lubbock Avalanche-Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
