Oklahoma @ Texas Tech preview

Last Meeting ( Oct 26, 2013 ) Texas Tech 30, Oklahoma 38

It's an uneasy time around the Oklahoma football program these days after the Sooners suffered their third loss in five games with an ugly 48-14 setback to Baylor last weekend. It marked the first time this year Bob Stoops' club was held below 30 points, and it nearly knocked the No. 24 Sooners out of the national rankings. Oklahoma is hoping a trip to Lubbock this weekend to face struggling Texas Tech will help turn things around.

Texas Tech has had trouble stopping teams from scoring, giving up as many as 82 points to TCU three weeks ago and allowing 41.6 per contest. Still, with Davis Webb (2,539 passing yards, 24 touchdowns) under center - he's expected to return after missing a game with an ankle injury - the Red Raiders are a threat to explode offensively at any time. A big question for this game is the status of Sooners quarterback Trevor Knight, who was knocked out of the loss to the Bears but still is considered a possibility to play against Texas Tech.

TV: 3:30 p.m. ET. ESPN. LINE: N/A

ABOUT OKLAHOMA (6-3, 3-3 Big 12): A season that started with some picking the Sooners to play in the first College Football Playoff suddenly has Oklahoma looking for motivation for the last three regular-season games. Playing in one of the smaller bowl games might not be what the team had in mind heading into 2014, but it's trying to embrace the challenge of finishing on a high note. “You have to win,” defensive end Chuka Ndulue told the Norman Transcript. “That's the mentality. Because your goals are out the window now, it doesn't mean you have to go out there and give up on everything.”

ABOUT TEXAS TECH (3-6, 1-5): It's now do-or-die time for the Red Raiders in their drive to make it to a postseason bowl game. One slip-up in the next three games will clinch a sub-.500 record for Texas Tech and end any chances of a bowl berth, which would snap a six-year run of postseason appearances. “We know what's at stake,” Raiders running back DeAndre Washington told the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. “We either win out or we lose one game and get ready for a long offseason.”

EXTRA POINTS

1. The Sooners rank third in the Big 12 with 225 rushing yards per game and face a Texas Tech run defense that is last in the conference (246.6 ypg).

2. Texas Tech LB Sam Eguavoen is set to return to action after missing two games with compartment syndrome in his right calf.

3. Oklahoma holds the edge in the all-time series 15-6, but the Red Raiders have won three of the last seven meetings.

PREDICTION: Oklahoma 42, Texas Tech 20