Texas Tech's Monroe Mills expecting raucous environment in return to Oklahoma State
Monroe Mills knows just how raucous the crowd at Boone Pickens Stadium can be. Saturday, he'll experience it for the first time from the opposite sideline.
The Texas Tech right tackle will head back to Oklahoma State, where he spent the first two years of his collegiate career before transferring in the offseason. As much as he downplayed his personal return, Mills acknowledged there will be a different feel. But he expects the environment to be just the same.
"It's an intense crowd," Mills said. "They love their Cowboys. They do paddlers, all that, (have) tight sidelines. We just have to stay focused, though. I think that's the key to everything. They're going to be jeering at us. They're going to be cussing at us, everything.
"I think you've just got to embrace it."
Mills, a 6-foot-6, 315-pound sophomore, has taken quite well to Lubbock. The Columbia, Missouri, native earned a starting spot in the spring and has remained a consistent piece on the line. Mills played in one game apiece the past two seasons at OSU, a total of 19 offensive snaps.
As Mills explored his options in the transfer portal, Tech coach Joey McGuire caught his attention. Since arriving in January, Mills has found everything he'd heard to be true.
"Every single person I knew had nothing but good things to say about Coach McGuire," Mills said. "He cares about you. He loves you. I know he loves me. … I love him. It's what it is."
Mills has even embraced one of McGuire's weekly ideals, making it his focus above the side plot of his return.
"We're trying to become 1-0 this week," Mills said. "Coach McGuire says that all week. That's all we're trying to do. We're trying to win this week. We're just going to bring fire and give it everything we've got."
Mills said since the initial learning curve of the new terminology and system, he's become comfortable in his role. He admitted the offensive line has had "ups and downs" — Tech is tied for 125th out of 131 FBS teams with 19 sacks allowed — but said the group is improving.
The same five have started together all but one game, when Jacoby Jackson stepped in for an injured Weston Wright at left guard at North Carolina State.
"The way that we communicate has gotten a lot better," Mills said. "It used to be choppy, and we used to not always get it down correctly. But I think lately we've been really kind of coming together. We've been able to focus and really listen to each other a lot better than we had been."
Communication will be key at Boone Pickens, where Mills will line up against familiar foes. He noted the experience of the Cowboys' defensive line, which includes three redshirt seniors.
Mills said he expects some trash talk — like the jabs he's gotten from former Oklahoma State offensive line teammates — but will look to remain even-keeled.
"I already know I'm going to hear some crap from them," he said. "But I'm just going to do my thing. That's really all you can do. … I think it's just a huge opportunity for us to really show that we can really be beat and compete with anybody in the conference and in the nation. So I think this is a super important game to the team and also me, of course."
College football
Who: Texas Tech at Oklahoma State
When: 2:30 p.m. Saturday
Where: Boone Pickens Stadium, Stillwater, Okla.
Records: Texas Tech 3-2, 1-1 in the Big 12; Oklahoma State 4-0, 1-0
Rankings (AP/coaches poll): Texas Tech unranked/unranked; Oklahoma State 7/7
Last game: Kansas State 37, Texas Tech 28; Oklahoma State 36, Baylor 25
Last meeting: Oklahoma State 23, Texas Tech 0 last year in Lubbock
TV: Fox Sports 1
Line: Oklahoma State by 9½
Fast fact: The last time Texas Tech beat a ranked team on the road was in 2018 at Oklahoma State.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Texas Tech's Monroe Mills ready for return to Oklahoma State
