The Red Raiders are 5-0 overall and 2-0 in the Big 12 after an open week. They beat Colorado 29-7 in Boulder before the break, and they sit ninth in the coaches poll.
The AP ranking has seesawed all year. Tech opened at No. 12 and slipped after unimpressive wins over Abilene Christian and at Oregon State. It rose after beating ranked Houston 28-26, then dropped back to No. 12 despite a 49-14 win over Sam Houston.
Head coach Joey McGuire has heard the criticism. "I haven't had a team that was 5-0 getting critiqued this much," he said, comparing it to his 2012 team at Cedar Hill High School. That team led Katy until the fourth quarter and lost the state championship game. By his count, Tech's last three first halves add up to 38-38 and its second halves to 72-9, though he said he could be wrong about the stat. His view is simple. "I'll take an ugly win over scoring a bunch of points and setting all kinds of records."
Tech now sits between two other unbeaten Big 12 teams, No. 8 BYU and No. 11 Utah.