Urban Meyer, after an illustrious college football career, boasting 3 national championships, sits comfortably in the CFB Hall of Fame. But despite Meyer hanging up his coaching boots, CFB coaches still find his advice as valuable as it was when he was racking up those trophies. Dan Lanning recently did that before he went out against Penn State. And now, a prolific Big 12 head coach who is unbeaten so far has turned to the former OSU head coach before a crucial conference matchup.

Dan Lanning talked about how Urban Meyer’s advice before the Penn State game helped his team in navigating Beaver Stadium’s intimidating atmosphere. So, the Oregon head coach took that advice to the letter and simulated a similar atmosphere through blaring speakers before the game. “I talked to Urban Meyer before, and he talked about how there are really hot spots in the game. It’s going to be third down. It’s going to be when you’re down by their student section…,” explained Lanning. Now, Joey McGuire is taking Meyer’s advice seriously before the ASU game.

The Texas Tech head coach appeared on a recent episode of ‘Wake up Barstool ‘ and provided a cunning way he is motivating his players. “I cut some stuff out. Coach Meyer told me this summer, his teams played best when p—d off, and sometimes he made some stuff up, and sometimes he manipulated some video and everything. So, I did the same whenever y’all said I just cut out that we weren’t going to cover against Houston. I also used some of the other stuff,” said McGuire.

McGuire’s Texas Tech has performed exceptionally so far in the 2025 season. Right from getting a comfortable 34-40 win against Utah to decimating Houston 35-11. The team has finally put their newly injected NIL money to good use and is also showing that McGuire’s 6-year $26.6 million contract is worth it. Owing to that quality in the roster, the Red Raiders are 3rd nationally in passing offense and 7th in rushing offense. The defense, too, is performing exceedingly well.

The quality of the Red Raiders’ defensive lineup has taken them to 1st nationally in rushing defense, 72 spots up from last year. Players like Jocob Rodriguez (47 tackles) and John Curry (34 tackles) stand like a wall in the D line. Whereas, David Bailey and Romello Height are a nightmare for QBs, notching up 13 sacks together. Now, with Urban Meyer’s advice, the whole team, including the D line, should play with a chip on their shoulders. That alone looks to be scary for ASU in Week 8, which could open up another possibility.

Can Texas Tech become a dark horse Natty contender after Urban Meyer’s advice?

Arizona State, Utah, BYU, and Texas Tech are the Big 12 contenders still battling for the road to AT&T Stadium in Arlington. Among them, BYU and Texas Tech remain undefeated and look solid. Despite that record, though, the Athletic’s Austin Mock’s CFP model places the Red Raiders at a 79 percent chance for a playoff spot. Whereas BYU, which also has a 6-0 record like Texas Tech, is at just 13%. Why?

That has a lot to do with how both teams have won their games. While Texas Tech has utterly dominated its every game, BYU is scrapping through narrow losses. For instance, in Week 7, the Cougars avoided an overtime loss against Arizona and dodged defeat against WVU in Week 6, winning 38-24. That dynamic and a favorable schedule ahead make the Red Raiders a dark-horse natty contender. With that dynamic, then, ASU will be a walk in the park, right?

ASU is coming off a gut-wrenching 10-42 defeat against Utah in Week 7, owing to Sam Leavitt’s injury. Now, going into the Week 8 game against Texas Tech at home, despite a home advantage, Leavitt will miss the game. That essentially puts Texas Tech in a very favorable spot at a 7-0 record. Moreover, the next games, except for BYU, look to be easily navigable. The ultimate frontier? A deep run in the playoffs? Or maybe a Natty after all?