BY DUDLEY E. DAWSON

It was a special moment for Texas Tech head coach Joey McGuire on Monday afternoon as he and his team arrived in Memphis.

His Red Raiders (8-4) will face Arkansas (6-6) — McGuire’s favorite team as a child — in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl on Friday night at 6 p.m

The game will be televised on ESPN.

“We are truly excited and proud to represent Texas Tech,” McGuire said. “For me personally, this is such a legendary bowl. You may have heard that I grew up with a season ticket and watched Arkansas my entire life.

“So it was a really cool moment when they announced we were going to play them. So it was kind of the icing on the cake of a great bowl game.”

McGuire said he wants to hear what Razorback fans call the Hogs, but isn’t interested in too much happening.

“I’ve been following the Hogs for a long time and I’ll enjoy hearing it,” McGuire said, “but we won’t be hearing it for long because we’ll be ready to play them and we plan on coming.” Great.”

McGuire, a native of Texarkana, Texas, whose first landline number was 817-297-1HOG, believes he has a good idea which team will win.

“We feel really good about where we are,” McGuire said. “We know it will be a really difficult game.

“One thing I told our team is that the team that wants to practice the most and play the most will win.

“I know our guys are excited about it. It will be a great atmosphere.”

While Arkansas will be without several key regular-season performers in the Liberty Bowl, McGuire remembers that was the case two years ago as well.

The Razorbacks defeated Kansas 55-52 in double overtime in 2022.

“You go back to the Liberty Bowl a few years ago and Arkansas had nine starters and beat Kansas — a really good Kansas team,” McGuire said. “It was one of the better bowls because they went to overtime.

“At the moment some guys are getting a lot of opportunities to practice more and so they will be excited. You can’t look and read who isn’t playing and think it’s going to be an easy game.”

The game will be a clash of former Southwest Conference opponents.

“We have such a passionate fan base when you talk about both Arkansas and Texas Tech, and it’s the old Southwest Conference game,” McGuire said. “I grew up with it and watched all the games.

McGuire, a former longtime coach, is very familiar with Arkansas quarterback and former Texas Prep standout Taylen Green.

“They have a really good quarterback and I’ve known him since he was in high school,” McGuire said. “He’s doing a phenomenal job, he’s a dual threat. They do a great job using him on third-and-short and fourth-and-short.”

While Arkansas defensive lineman Landon Jackson opted out of the bowl, the Razorbacks will have linebacker Xavian Storey (89 tackles), defensive back Doneiko Slaughter (74 tackles) and linebacker Stephen Dix (63 tackles).

“Defensively, they were a really good football team this year,” McGuire said. “We saw a lot of their similar structures, the weird stack and they have a lot of their guys in this game, including their top three tacklers.

“So we know it’s going to be a really tough game, but it’s fun — an SEC opponent and a team like Arkansas with a history that they have with Texas Tech.”

Photo courtesy of Texas Tech

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