Saturday brings a new slate of college football action as Week 5 kicks off in full force. The Texas Tech Red Raiders have narrowly escaped a couple of close games so far this year and remain unbeaten heading into a Big 12 meeting with the Colorado Buffaloes, who have underwhelmed fans after dropping back-to-back outings. This could be a fun one in Boulder with kickoff set for 7:30 p.m. ET.
Here’s a preview, prediction and pick for Texas Tech vs. Colorado in Week 5 of the 2026 college football season.
Texas Tech vs. Colorado prediction, preview
The Red Raiders are still a perfect 4-0 on the campaign, but it’s becoming clear that this isn’t last year’s team. The stats look good overall with 36.2 PPG for and 18.5 PPG against, but they barely beat Oregon State and Houston in matchups that went down to the final minutes of the fourth quarter. This program lost a lot of last season’s talent to the NFL Draft, including a pair of top-10 picks – perhaps this kind of regression should’ve been predictable. Still, there are some things to like. J’Koby Williams has been a real bright spot with a team-high 396 scrimmage yards and three total touchdowns, averaging 6.4 yards per touch. Cameron Dickey joins him in a nice backfield with 227 yards and four scores. Kenny Johnson (16 REC, 290 YDS, 1TD) and Coy Eakin (15 REC, 182 YDS, 2 TD) lead the team in receiving, though Will Hammond has provided a mixed bag under center. He has a 69.0% completion rate and 968 passing yards, but he’s thrown five interceptions to four touchdowns and doesn’t have the same rushing upside as last year. The defense has also regressed, to an extent. The Red Raiders are allowing 348.3 YPG and have just 10 sacks, but they have picked off five passes and forced three fumbles.
Even with Texas Tech’s flaws, the outlook appears much shakier for Colorado. The program won just three games last season and doesn’t look particularly good this year – the record reads 2-2 after a one-point win over Georgia Tech and an FCS victory, plus a blowout loss to Northwestern and another loss to Baylor last week. What could be a very respectable offense has managed just 24.5 PPG, 114th among the 138 FBS programs. Julian Lewis has threw for 733 yards, six touchdowns and two interceptions under center, but he hadn’t taken over games. That got him benched in favor of Isaac Wilson, the Utah transfer who has gone 14-for-27 with 153 yards and a touchdown this season. Top target Joseph Williams is a bright spot with 22 receptions for 361 yards and four scores, and DeAndre Moore Jr. has 15 grabs for 200 yards and a tuddy as well. There’s only one other 100-yard receiver, though. While Micah Welch (42 ATT, 213 YDS, 2 TD) and JaQuail Smith (34 ATT, 185 YDS) are both averaging over 5.0 YPC, the team’s average sits at 3.9. The Buffaloes are also surrendering over 80 YPG via offensive penalties, too. Their defense is average at best, allowing 24.5 PPG and 355.0 YPG to opponents. They have eight sacks with two interceptions and three forced fumbles, but aren’t getting scoring support from the offense.
Texas Tech vs. Colorado pick, best bet
On DraftKings Sportsbook, Texas Tech enters as a 13.5-point favorite with -535 odds on the Moneyline; Colorado is a +400 underdog to win outright. The game total sits at 50.5 combined points between these teams.
The Red Raiders have a clear upper hand in this contest. After a couple of scares, they got back on the right foot last week with a 35-point win over Sam Houston even despite Hammond throwing three interceptions in the first half alone. Perhaps that’ll provide a much-needed boost to their morale after nearly getting upset in the prior two games. What Texas Tech has beyond momentum, too, is more stable play as a whole. As ugly as it’s been at times, this program has been able to move the ball and score this year; Colorado has managed just two touchdowns across the last two games against FBS opponents and has only four on the year against such competition. Even with Tech’s secondary looking a little bit suspect, the defense should be too much for the Buffaloes to handle.
Best Bet: Texas Tech -13.5 (-105)
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