Texas Tech has a bye week this week heading into a match-up against Texas on Thanksgiving day, Thursday, November 26. Here's what you need to know about the showdown in Austin.

Texas, in the middle of the season, seemed to get it all together. They put it on OU. They beat Kansas State by 14 points. UT was trending up, while Tech was giving up rushing yards by the dozen. This game on Thanksgiving, which preseason seemed winnable, all of a sudden seemed daunting.

UT then got shut out by Iowa State and lost to West Virginia by 18 and came back down to earth.

In the midst of the Longhorns' struggles, it's now widely speculated that Charlie Strong is being heavily pursued by the University of Miami for their vacancy at head coach. The rumor mill was so strong this week that Strong called a special press conference just to say he was not leaving. Anyone remember the press conference given by Nick Saban at LSU before he bolted to the Miami team in the NFL?

Regardless of the state of the Longhorns team on the field (and off the field for that matter), Texas Tech just has a hard time winning games in Austin.

I can't get through an article without mentioning the last time Tech beat UT: a 2008 matchup between top 10 teams that Michael Crabtree iced with his sideline heroics. Tech won in 2002 in Lubbock with a senior QB named Kliff Kingsbury and a beast on defense named Lawrence Flugence. The last time the team won in Austin was 1997 when Texas finished that season with a 4-7 record.

Texas is 4-6 right now in the midst of their own bye week. With a bowl berth dimming in the distance, they face a must-win game against Texas Tech on Thanksgiving.

The matchup on paper skews to the offenses: The power running game of Texas against the porous Texas Tech run defense vs. Texas Tech's high-powered, score-against-anyone offense.

I will get into more of the in-depth game preview next week, but for now I think Tech has a great opportunity to get some rest and build on the defensive momentum of last week against Kansas State to outscore a down UT team.

This is a great opportunity to capitalize on a weak opponent and to finish a season strong for the first time since the Sword singing era.

Another plus would be ending the Longhorns' chance at a bowl game. That's always a positive way to end a season for Lubbock's team.

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