Sorry to reopen old wounds, Buckeye fans, but sometimes, you have to revisit the pain to appreciate the rise. Seven weeks and two days before the national championship in 2024, Ryan Day watched Michigan try to pitch their flag on The Shoe’s midfield like salt in an open wound. Fans roared, “F— Ryan Day,” while Wolverines players rejoiced after they got a 13–10 victory. But here’s the thing about rock bottom. That’s where comebacks are built. By season’s end, the Buckeyes stormed through the inaugural 12-team playoffs, outscoring opponents 145-75, and capped it off by taking down Notre Dame 34-23 for a ninth national title. That’s how you turn pain into power. And apparently, Joey McGuire wants a piece of that formula.

Texas Tech’s $26.6 million man, McGuire, found himself in the middle of his own storm after a meltdown in Tempe. But he wasn’t wallowing. In an X post on October 21, the Red Raiders HC revealed that his team had interviewed a “young lady”, a former Ohio State staff member, for their fifth open trainer position. Curious about how the Buckeyes rebounded from adversity, he asked her how the team responded after last year’s Michigan loss.

“Everybody in that building was pissed off,” she told him. Not mad at the coaches or other players. “They’re pissed off at themselves by taking ownership for that loss,” he pointed out. Following the same principle, McGuire said, “Now I ask everybody else in this building to do the same thing and be pissed off this week.” You can tell a lot about a coach by what lesson he takes from losing.

In their last game, Texas Tech blew a fourth-quarter lead in the closing minutes, surrendering to Arizona State 26–22 after Sun Devils QB Sam Leavitt scored a game winning touchdown. “That quarterback changes everything. He’s a difference maker,” Joey McGuire admitted, still processing how his team went from comfortable to collapsed in a heartbeat.

Without QB Behren Morton (knee injury), the Red Raiders’ high-octane offense sputtered to 276 total yards after averaging nearly 560 per game. The defense, missing tackle Skyler Gill-Howard, was gashed for 394. When tight end Terrance Carter Jr. was carted off with a leg injury, the mood turned grim. Texas Tech joined Miami, Mississippi, and LSU as the four top-10 team losses this week. “We’re fixin’ to find out how we face a loss,” Joey McGuire added. “That’s the adversity you’ve got to find out.” And he’s already taking accountability.

Now, as the Buckeyes sit atop the rankings once again, there’s a quiet confidence in Columbus. The noise from last November? Faded. The scars? Still there, but they serve as a reminder of what resilience really looks like. It’s no wonder coaches like Joey McGuire are taking notes.

Joey McGuire is learning the hard way

“The biggest thing is I feel like I let them down,” Joey McGuire admitted postgame. “You just gotta come back and look at the routine and what you’ve done. You’ve gotta look at the film tomorrow, and it’s not going to be fun to watch.” He’s not wrong. That film showed a defense missing tackles, a QB room scrambling, and an offense that forgot how to close. But it also showed what the HC wants to build. A team that owns its failures instead of explaining them away.

“I wanted to be 7-0,” he said. “But your goal is still to get to AT&T Stadium and get in the playoffs. If you let this one game be your season, then you’ve missed the mark.” Now, with a matchup against the Big 12’s bottom-dwelling Oklahoma State up next, Texas Tech isn’t looking at standings or narratives. They’re looking at themselves the way Ohio State once did.

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Because when a team’s angry for the right reasons, that’s when the turnaround begins. This is the main focus for Joey McGuire and Texas Tech right now.