No. 8 Texas Tech became the second undefeated team to fall in Week 8.
Just two days after James Madison’s hopes of another undefeated season ended, Tech lost 37-24 at Cincinnati. This is the first regular season loss for the Red Raiders in over a year; Texas Tech last lost a regular season game on October 18, 2025 at Arizona State.
Advertisement
Cincinnati took the lead in the first half and turned the game in their favor late in the first half. After the Bearcats led 17-6 with 1:37 left, Texas Tech QB Will Hammond was intercepted by MJ Cannon with 37 seconds left.
The Bearcats were seemingly content to take an 11-point halftime lead. But Cole Tabb had a 51-yard run on Cincinnati’s first play and immediately put Cincy within field goal range. Four plays later, JC French IV threw for his third TD of the first half when he found tight end Lyviel Waters with four seconds left in the second quarter.
Another big run from Tabb put the game on ice in the second half. After Texas Tech cut Cincinnati’s lead to 13 with a field goal, Tabb broke off a 58-yard TD run.
This is the Bearcats’ first win over a top 10 team in the AP Top 25 since the 2021 team made the College Football Playoff and beat the then-No. 9 Notre Dame to improve to 4-0.
Advertisement
It was also a victory that had Cody Campbell, chairman of the Texas Tech Board of Regents and defender of the Protect College Sports Act, moaning on social media.
It’s not the same thing Texas Tech
This Week 8 game was immediately one of the biggest in the Big 12 after quarterback Brendan Sorsby was traded from Cincinnati to Texas Tech after a breakout season in 2025. But Sorsby was a relative afterthought Saturday after revelations about his sports betting habits and eventual departure from the Red Raiders well before the start of the football season.
Tech pushed to add Sorsby after the offense broke out in the College Football Playoff under former quarterback Behren Morton. Hammond, who started that game against Arizona State, suffered a torn ACL while filling in for an injured Morton as the Red Raiders won the Big 12 a season ago.
Advertisement
But it’s also fair to believe that a possible upgrade at quarterback wouldn’t have been enough to hide the flaws on this Texas Tech roster. While Campbell thinks there’s no excuse or reason to lose a game like Tech did against the Bearcats, it’s a loss that wasn’t hard to imagine coming either.
Last year’s Red Raiders team was powered by a defense that allowed less than 12 points per game. Linebacker Jacob Rodriguez was a turnover machine and finished fifth in Heisman Trophy voting. Edge rusher David Bailey’s 14.5 sacks moved him to second overall in the 2026 NFL Draft and Romello Height added 10 sacks of his own. He’s also in the NFL.
Advertisement
Although Texas Tech started the 2026 season 6-0 and forced turnovers at a nearly identical rate to 2025, there were clear signs that this team wasn’t as good as it was a year ago. Opponents averaged just 3.9 yards per game against Tech in 2025. Through seven weeks in 2026, they averaged 5.1.
Even though the Red Raiders would have won on Saturday, they had plenty of competition at the top of the Big 12. No. 2 BYU looks better than it did a season ago, and No. 10 Utah also entered Week 8 undefeated. Although Tech doesn’t play either Utah team in the regular season and the two rivals meet in November, there’s no reason to think the Red Raiders are back-to-back favorites.
Gn sports
