No. 8 Texas Tech turned the second undefeated workforce to go down in Week 8.
Simply two days after James Madison’s hopes of one other unbeaten season ended, Tech misplaced 37-24 at Cincinnati. It is the primary regular-season loss for the Pink Raiders in over a 12 months; Texas Tech final misplaced a regular-season sport on Oct. 18, 2025 at Arizona State.
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Cincinnati took a first-half lead and flipped the sport in its favor late within the first half. After the Bearcats went up 17-6 with 1:37 to go, Texas Tech QB Will Hammond was intercepted by MJ Cannon with 37 seconds to go.
The Bearcats had been seemingly content material to take an 11-point lead into halftime. However Cole Tabb ripped off a 51-yard run on Cincinnati’s first play and instantly put Cincy into discipline aim vary. 4 performs later, JC French IV threw his third TD of the primary half when he discovered tight finish Lyviel Waters with 4 seconds to go within the second quarter.
One other massive run from Tabb put the sport on ice within the second half. After Texas Tech minimize Cincinnati’s result in 13 with a discipline aim, Tabb broke off a 58-yard TD run.
It is the Bearcats’ first victory over a workforce within the high 10 of the AP Prime 25 for the reason that 2021 workforce that made the Faculty Soccer Playoff beat then-No. 9 Notre Dame to maneuver to 4-0.
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This is not the identical Texas Tech
This Week 8 sport was instantly one of many largest within the Massive 12 after QB Brendan Sorsby transferred from Cincinnati to Texas Tech following a breakout season in 2025. However Sorsby was a relative afterthought on Saturday after the revelations of his sports activities betting habits and his eventual departure from the Pink Raiders lengthy earlier than the soccer season started.
Tech pushed so as to add Sorsby after the offense cratered within the Faculty Soccer Playoff beneath earlier quarterback Behren Morton. Hammond — who began that sport towards Arizona State — suffered a torn ACL whereas filling in for an injured Morton because the Pink Raiders received the Massive 12 a season in the past.
But it surely’s additionally honest to imagine {that a} potential improve at quarterback would not have been sufficient to cover the failings on this Texas Tech roster.
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Final 12 months’s Pink Raider workforce was powered by a protection that allowed fewer than 12 factors per sport. Linebacker Jacob Rodriguez was a turnover-causing machine and completed fifth within the Heisman Trophy voting. Edge rusher David Bailey’s 14.5 sacks propelled him to the No. 2 decide within the 2026 NFL Draft and Romello Peak added 10 sacks of his personal. He is within the NFL too.
Although Texas Tech began the 2026 season 6-0 and was forcing turnovers at almost an an identical charge to 2025, there have been clear indicators that this workforce wasn’t almost pretty much as good because it was a 12 months in the past. Opponents averaged simply 3.9 yards per play towards Tech in 2025. Via seven weeks in 2026, they had been averaging 5.1.
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Even when the Pink Raiders would have received on Saturday, that they had loads of competitors on the high of the Massive 12. No. 2 BYU seems to be higher than it was a season in the past, and No. 10 Utah additionally entered Week 8 undefeated. Whereas Tech would not play both workforce from Utah within the common season and the 2 rivals meet in November, there isn’t any cause to assume the Pink Raiders are the favorites to go back-to-back.