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Texas Football: Way-too-early game-by-game predictions for 2020

By Jake Mitchell

HOUSTON, TX - SEPTEMBER 14: Head coach Tom Herman of the Texas Longhorns prepares to lead the team onto the field before the game against the Rice Owls at NRG Stadium on September 14, 2019 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images)
HOUSTON, TX - SEPTEMBER 14: Head coach Tom Herman of the Texas Longhorns prepares to lead the team onto the field before the game against the Rice Owls at NRG Stadium on September 14, 2019 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images) /
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STILLWATER, OK – SEPTEMBER 25: The Texas Tech Red Raiders flag flies outside the stadium before the game against the Oklahoma State Cowboys September 25, 2014 at Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater, Oklahoma. The Cowboys defeated the Red Raiders 45-35. (Photo by Brett Deering/Getty Images)
STILLWATER, OK – SEPTEMBER 25: The Texas Tech Red Raiders flag flies outside the stadium before the game against the Oklahoma State Cowboys September 25, 2014 at Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater, Oklahoma. The Cowboys defeated the Red Raiders 45-35. (Photo by Brett Deering/Getty Images) /

It wasn’t an ideal year for Matt Wells in Lubbock, going just 4-8 in his debut season. However, considering he took over for Kliff Kingsbury, who posted a yearly average of six wins and was rewarded with a seven-year tenure at Tech and an NFL head-coaching job, Wells isn’t too far off of the mark.

The key for the Red Raiders in 2020 will be health. Quarterback Alan Bowman missed a large portion of the 2019 season with a shoulder injury, and he doesn’t have the reliable backup that picked up the slack a year ago. Jett Duffey posted a 143.6 passer rating in 2019, compiling 2,840 yards and and a touchdown-to-interception ratio of 18-5 in relief.

This is a series that has been dominated by the Longhorns throughout its history. Texas has a 52-17 all-time lead, and they’ve also taken eight of the last 10 matchups. Tech has made things interesting in recent years, grabbing victories in the 2017 and 2015 matchups, but aside from those two games, it’s been all Texas for the last decade.

The two biggest headline games come early in the year for Texas, against LSU and Oklahoma, but this second half of the schedule is where things will get tricky. They’l follow this road trip with a home game against Baylor, before going back on the road for two Big 12 road trips in their final four games. The two home games in that stretch won’t be easy, either, as they’ll host tough outs in TCU and Iowa State.

Prediction: Texas 28, Texas Tech 20 (7-0, 4-0)

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