Showing posts with label college sports. Show all posts

Saturday, August 23, 2025

Rocco Becht: 'Never a doubt' as Iowa State escapes Ireland opener

For Iowa State quarterback Rocco Becht, Saturday's win overseas was about more than just execution. It was about trust.

Asked what has made the Cyclones so consistent in close finishes over the last two seasons, Becht pointed to culture. "I think it's the culture that we have, the connectedness and togetherness that we have as a team, and the confidence that we have in each other," he said. "There's never a doubt in the game when we're down, or when we're up, that we're not going to win. I think everyone has a sense of urgency that we're going to win this game or make the big play that needs to be made."

The sophomore quarterback said head coach Matt Campbell set the tone late, choosing to run out the clock rather than risk turnovers. "Credit to coach Campbell of just taking the win, and just kneeling it down and understanding, you know, get the win and get out of here," Becht explained.

It wasn't easy. Rain in the first half made it difficult to hold onto the football. "With the rain coming down, it was pretty hard to keep a good grip on it," Becht admitted. But the game plan gave him a chance to settle in. "We did a really good job of putting out plays that were short passes for me to get comfortable in the game."

Looking ahead, Becht emphasized that the offense must improve. "Honestly, I have to do a better job of not letting that happen because I want to win by more than that and not have the defense pull up a bunch of stops," he said. "As an offense, like I said, we have to collectively get better and not be in these positions come further in the season."

Iowa State returns home to face South Dakota next Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET. The game will be broadcast on Fox.

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Malachi Nelson named UTEP's starting QB after turbulent journey
National Championship contenders: Ten CFB programs ready to seize the crown

ESPN's FPI Predicts Every Game on Georgia Tech's 2025 Schedule

The time has come for predictions.

Georgia Tech is seven days away from its season opener against Colorado, and with fall camp completed, the Yellow Jackets are set to begin preparing to face Deion Sanders' team in Boulder.

The Yellow Jackets return a good mixture of veteran talent while also adding in freshmen from one of the best recruiting classes in program history. They supplemented thattalent in the transfer portalwith veteran additions in the winter and spring transfer windows as well, and that has fans and analysts alike feeling optimistic that Georgia Tech will be atop-half team in the ACCThis season. Can they be something more?

ESPN uses its FPI (Football Power Index) as an advanced analytical model to analyze matchups and predict outcomes. In ESPN's own words: "FPI is a predictive rating system designed to measure team strength and project future performance. The ultimate goal of FPI is not to rank teams from 1 to 128; rather, it is to correctly predict games and season outcomes. If Vegas ever published the power rankings it uses to set its lines, they would likely look very similar to FPI."

Here is how FPI sees Georgia Tech's season playing out.

Game 1 at Colorado: FPI gives Colorado a 53% chance to win this game (0-1, 0-0 ACC)

FPI sees this as a close game, like I do, but it has Colorado coming out on top at home against the Yellow Jackets.

This is a fascinating game. Georgia Tech is opening as an underdog on the road against the Buffaloes (who have yet to name their starting quarterback), but this is not going to be an easy game. Colorado led the Big 12 in sacks last season and their defensive line should be pretty good. With Georgia Tech introducing some new starters along the offensive line, that could be a favorable matchup for Colorado.

I think Georgia Tech wins, but FPI disagrees.

Game 2 vs Gardner-Webb: FPI gives Georgia Tech a 99% chance to win this game (1-1, 0-0)

Not much to say about this game other than Georgia Tech will be a large favorite and should win comfortably.

Game 3 vs Clemson: FPI gives Clemson a 65% chance to win this game (1-2, 0-1)

This is one of the biggest games not just on Georgia Tech's schedule, but in the ACC in 2025. While both teams face big non-conference matchups in week one, this game will give the winner a huge advantage for the rest of the way in the ACC.

Georgia Tech has not beaten Clemson since 2014, and the only matchup with Brent Key as head coach did not go well for the Yellow Jackets in 2023. The Tigers are the overwhelming favorite in the conference and are projected by many to be national championship contenders.

FPI sees Clemson winning this one and handing Georgia Tech a 1-2 start to the season.

Game 4 vs Temple: FPI gives Georgia Tech a 95% chance to win this game (2-2, 0-1)

Temple is projected to be among the worst FBS teams in the country this season, and this should be an easy victory for the Yellow Jackets.

Game 5 at Wake Forest: FPI gives Georgia Tech a 75% chance to win this game (3-2, 1-1)

Wake Forest is FPI's lowest projected ACC team and they have Georgia Tech able to win decisively on the road.

Jake Dickert is taking over from Dave Clawson in Winston-Salem and has a big job ahead of him. While the Demon Deacons have a favorable schedule, it will be tough for them this year. If the Yellow Jackets can slow down star running back Demond Claiborne, I think they should be able to get a road win against the Demon Deacons.

Game 6 vs Virginia Tech: FPI gives Georgia Tech a 56% chance to win this game (4-2, 2-1)

FPI is higher than most at Virginia Tech, having them rated as the fourth best team in the ACC. However, the home-field advantage should help Georgia Tech and get them a win over the Hokies.

An interesting angle for this game is Hokies head coach Brent Pry being on the hot seat entering the season. After a tough opener against South Carolina, Virginia faces Vanderbilt, Old Dominion, Wofford, NC State, and Wake Forest before they come to Atlanta. There is a chance that Virginia Tech could be 4-2 or 5-1 entering the game and needing this win to help Pry save his job, and I would suspect you get the best effort from them.

Game 7 at Duke: FPI gives Duke a 54% chance to win this game (4-3, 2-2)

This is going to be one of the toughest tests on Georgia Tech's schedule.

Duke is bringing back their entire coaching staff, has one of the best secondaries and defenses in the ACC, and seems to have improved at quarterback with Tulane transfer Darian Mensah. While Georgia Tech is getting a lot of preseason attention as an ACC darkhorse, Duke is not far behind. I think Georgia Tech will win, but FPI sees a close victory for the Blue Devils.

Game 8 vs Syracuse: FPI gives Georgia Tech a 75% chance to win this game (5-3, 3-2)

This is one game that Georgia Tech fans will be looking forward to.

The Orange were the first team to give Georgia Tech a loss last season and the Yellow Jackets will be aiming for revenge. Syracuse is going to be fielding an almost brand new team this season, as Kyle McCord, Trebor Pena, Oronde Gadsden, and LeQuint Alen are all gone from one of the ACC's best offenses. Notre Dame transfer Steve Angeli is taking over for McCord this season.

While Georgia Tech cannot afford to overlook any opponent, I like them matched up against this Syracuse team.

Game 9 at NC State: FPI gives Georgia Tech a 58% chance to win this game (6-3, 4-2)

While the Wolfpack were certainly disappointing this past season, they return a talented QB in CJ Bailey and other talented offensive weapons. On top of that, Raleigh is a very difficult place to play, and there have been plenty of teams to see their dreams go up in smoke there. Georgia Tech will have a difficult time in this game, but FPI likes them to find a way to win on the road.

Game 10 at Boston College: FPI gives Georgia Tech a 57% chance to win this game (7-3, 5-2)

Georgia Tech will have a bye week after their trip to NC State and they will head out for their final road game of the year when they face the Eagles.

Boston College made a bowl game in their first year under former Georgia Tech assistant Bill O'Brien and is looking to do the same in their second year, despite losing key linemen to the NFL. Alabama transfer Dylan Lonergan was named the starting quarterback for BC and he will lead the offense this season.

I think Georgia Tech has a distinct talent advantage in this game, but playing on the road can be tricky.

Game 11 vs Pittsburgh: FPI gives Georgia Tech a 75% chance to win this game (8-3, 6-2)

For their final ACC test of the season, Georgia Tech will host Pittsburgh. The Panthers started last season 7-0, but lost their last six games of the year. Star running back Desmond Reid returns, but can the Panthers be more consistent this season?

Pat Narduzzi has pulled off some late-season upsets before, and Georgia Tech needs to come ready to play in this game. They cannot afford to look ahead to the game against Georgia the week after and need to handle their business.

Game 12 vs Georgia (Mercedes Benz Stadium): FPI gives UGA an 86% chance to win this game (8-4, 6-2)

The biggest game of the year for Georgia Tech will once again take place on Black Friday. The Yellow Jackets brought Georgia to the brink in eight overtimes last season and competed closely against them in 2023. Will this be the year that Georgia Tech ends its losing streak against the Bulldogs? FPI still favors the Bulldogs.

More Georgia Tech Football News:

This article was originally published onwww.si.com/college/georgiatechasESPN's FPI Predicts Every Game on Georgia Tech's 2025 Schedule.

Intent on NIL dominance, Texas Tech is college football's most intriguing team of 2025

Continuing its exploration of the unthinkable, UTSA will finish among the 40 best college football teams in the world, and it will feel like a disappointment.

Welcome, Roadrunners, to the real big-time, where every inspirational feel-good story turns into, "What have you done for me lately?"

Texas, the first preseason No. 1 ever to be listed as an underdog in its opening game, will provide plenty of week-in, week-out debate-show content, and maybe even a third consecutive trip to the national semifinals.

This time, though, Arch Manning might be on the field for the biggest play.

RELATED: As College Football Playoff Tinkers with Format, Some Translation is Required

And Texas A&M? With an absolutely loaded offensive backfield, plus a season of adjustment under a promising new coach behind them, the Aggies are poised to make college football history:

For a record 86^thYear in a row, they will end a season utterly convinced they're a year away from greatness.

But none of those schools boasts the most interesting team in the state, nor do they have the potential to make the entire sport rethink a hierarchy that has existed for at least a half-century.

This fall, Texas Tech will either crash a party or fall on its face. It will either show the power of oil money, or remind everyone of its limits. And if it works out like the Red Raiders hope?

The result won't be overturning one playoff bracket.

It will be "disrupting college athletics."

That's how Tech athletic director Kirby Hocutt put it in a Lubbock Avalanche-Journal story this week about the Red Raiders' unprecedented name, image and likeness (NIL) fundraising.

At a luncheon on Thursday, in which Cody Campbell, the oil billionaire chairman of Tech's board of regents, announced that the school's donor group had raised $63.3 million since early 2022, Hocutt compared Tech's goal to that of athletic revolutionaries.

He mentioned Dick Fosbury, the high-jumping innovator of the Fosbury Flop.

He mentioned Steph Curry, the long-range artist who supercharged a 3-point-shooting takeover of the NBA.

They did not wait for permission," Hocutt said, according to the Avalanche-Journal. "They changed the game, and in doing so, they changed the future. And that is what we are doing at Texas Tech today.

That might sound like a funny way to describe the act of paying college football players a lot of money to play college football, but Hocutt isn't wrong when he describes the impact the Red Raiders might have if they are successful.

Part of this is because of the program's history. Tech has enjoyed its share of great moments and outstanding players, but has not been ranked in the final Top 25 of any season in 16 years. The Red RaidersneverHave finished a season in the final Associated Press Top 10.

They're supposed to be fun. They're supposed to occasionally be good enough to make things difficult for the traditional powers, or to provide an all-time highlight like when Graham Harrell and Michael Crabtree beat UT in 2008.

But they're not supposed to compete for championships. Or they weren't supposed to, anyway.

Campbell, a 43-year-old businessman who played offensive line for coach Mike Leach at Tech in the early 2000s, decided to question that conventional wisdom. He made billions of dollars in the oil and gas industry, and helped start a donor group that has invested more than $300 million in facilities upgrades at Tech.

But lots of other schools have big donors, and lots of other programs have fancy new weight rooms. The novelty at Tech is that Campbell and his group are spending huge amounts of money to attract players.

MORE FROM FINGER: In the new college era, will Arch Manning follow family tradition?

His donor group is reported to have $55 million in NIL contracts across all sports at Tech this season. And in football, specifically, the Red Raiders just added the highest-rated transfer class in the country - one featuring 22 players who attended different schools last year.

In other words, they're trying to prove that a program without a track record of high-end success can catch up to the big boys simply by buying its way there. And it just might work.

Last year, the Red Raiders finished 8-5, marking the 15^thThey have failed to win at least nine games in a row. Next week, they will open their season at home against Arkansas-Pine Bluff as the No. 23 team in the country, with a chance to climb much higher.

Iowa State and Kansas State, two teams supposedly top contenders for the Big 12 title, didn't exactly look ready to set the world on fire in their opening game in Ireland on Saturday. And if Tech emerges as the best team in that conference, earning a ticket to the College Football Playoff in the process?

The Red Raiders might find themselves on the same field as the Aggies, or the Longhorns.

Ready to disrupt more than one playoff game.

Without having waited for permission.

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Friday, August 22, 2025

Texas Tech's Matador Club raises $63.3 million in the NIL era

Red Raiders' donor collective reaches record-breaking milestone with support from thousands of fans

When Texas Tech boosters launched The Matador Club in 2022, even the most optimistic supporters never imagined the group would rewrite the NIL playbook. Two years later, it has done just that, bringing in a staggering $63.3 million to support Red Raider athletics.The number, revealed by co-founder Cody Campbell at the annual Red Raider Club kickoff luncheon,has cemented Texas Tech as a leader in the new era of college sports funding.

Campbell called the total "far beyond what I thought we could do," pointing to 3,500 donors who contributed to the collective's success. For Texas Tech, the impact has been felt across the board, from attracting one of the nation's top transfer classes to funding elite facilities that rival national powers.

Recruiting Firepower

The collective's resources played a major role in Tech's highly rated transfer class of 22 players this offseason. The funding has given the Red Raiders flexibility to operate with an NFL-style approach to scouting and roster building, a system athletic director Kirby Hocutt says has changed the way the school competes.

National Attention

The $63.3 million figure places The Matador Club ahead of nearly every other NIL collective in the country. Campbell was blunt, saying, "There is no way, based on the information I have, that anyone has come even close to matching this number." That distinction has drawn national attention to Tech, with the Red Raiders entering the season ranked in both major preseason polls for the first time since 2008.

Culture and Tradition

The collective's growth has fueled more than just roster upgrades, it has also reinforced Red Raider pride. From tortillas defiantly placed on tables at the luncheon to Coach Joey McGuire rallying the crowd with bold playoff talk, the program has leaned into both tradition and ambition. McGuire told fans, "We've got the best roster I've ever been a part of," signaling expectations that match the investment.

As Texas Tech prepares to open the season on August 30 against Arkansas-Pine Bluff, the question isn't whether The Matador Club has made an impact, it's how far this level of support can take the Red Raiders. With money, momentum, and confidence on their side, Tech enters 2025 believing it can compete with anyone.