Head coach of old Texas A&M football rival takes aim at Elko with direct challenge

Texas Tech Red Raiders head coach Joey McGuire has issued a direct challenge to Texas A&M and Mike Elko for the Aggies to meet his squad on the gridiron.

The Aggies have a long rivalry with the Red Raiders, dating all the way back to the days of the Southwest Conference. There is certainly no love lost between these two teams— while it's not a rivalry as heated as that between the Aggies and the Longhorns or A&M and LSU, there's certainly plenty of animosity to go around when it comes to these two teams.

Texas A&M and Texas Tech have not met on the field since the Aggies' final season in the Big 12, all the way back in 2011. There have been some times where it seemed possible for the two to meet in bowl games, but they are one of the Big 12 teams that the Ags have not seen any of since their move to the SEC— the Aggies have played OU, West Virginia, Kansas State, and Oklahoma State since that point, but not Tech.

Joey McGuire says he'd "love" to play Texas A&M, issues challenge to head man: "if Elko is out there listening"

Texas Tech is off to a red-hot start this year in the Big 12, boasting a 3-0 record and top-25 ranking. They've shellacked the (admittedly subpar) teams they've played so far in the Big 12, but have a ranked showdown with Utah tomorrow for Fox's Big Noon Saturday matchup.

Tech is hoping to make a breakthrough as a major player in collegiate athletics over the next couple of years thanks to super booster Cody Campbell. Due in no small part to his influence, as well as the upgrade in recruiting staff in Lubbock, the Red Raiders have landed a commitment from top 2027 recruit LaDamian Guyton and are in the mix for a lot of others.

Recent interactions with the Tech program for A&M fans have had a lot to do with former five-star recruit Micah Hudson, who transferred from Lubbock to College Station and then back over a period of a few months. Flare-ups of trash talk like this are all the rivalry has really come to over the last decade or so, but if the game was once again played, you can bet that the old feelings would all come rushing back.

We'll see if this is a game the Aggies pursue in the future. It would certainly behoove the Red Raiders more from a strength of schedule perspective as the SEC is set to move to nine conference games, and the Aggies already have a tenth Power Four opponent set up for at least the next four years.