LUBBOCK -- If you asked Joey McGuire, he'd tell you there hasn't been a first half of football yet this season where his Texas Tech Red Raiders played "clean".

But he's happy about his team being 4-0 as Big 12 play resumes this weekend.

Texas Tech sits No. 12 in the latest AP Top-25 poll and travels to Boulder to face Colorado next Saturday night. The Red Raiders are coming off a tight win over Houston in the conference opener and a 49-14 win over Sam Houston this past weekend.

The biggest "frustrating" area of Week 4's game McGuire pointed to was how his team starts games on the offensive end. On Monday's media availability, he provided insight into how that is translated to the team ahead of a new week of practice.

READ MORE: Texas Tech LB Austin Romaine Turns 'Less Thinking' Into Historic Sequence

"Our message this week is take practice to the game," McGuire said. "What I mean by that is, when you have a play that you've repped four, five, six times - it's gonna be a home run play - ... and all of a sudden in the game you don't do that, it doesn't make any sense."

Texas Tech committed three consecutive interceptions in the first half of the game against the Bearkats. Had it not been for Austin Romaine's back-to-back pick-sixes, the Red Raiders would be down on the scoreboard going into halftime.

"What we do in practice, let's go do in a game over and over again and see how we start the first half versus having to come in and get in a situation where we have to respond. Let's respond as soon as we get off the bus on Saturday.

Red Raiders players mentioned postgame how McGuire was fired up in the halftime message, which prompted Texas Tech to score 28 unanswered points and run away with the game.

"Coach McGuire just brought us in, told us to take a deep breath, and just go out there and do our job," center Sheridan Wilson said. "And that's exactly what happened."

McGuire said every coach at one point or another speaks about wanting to "start fast" or be an exciting team to watch from the opening kickoff. He's focused on channeling a mindset of execution, making routine plays look comfortable and not putting the ball in harms way in practice, which he hopes leads to a smoother beginning of the game.

The Red Raiders got a boost to start the second half against Sam Houston with running back J'Koby Williams' long kickoff return, which set up a touchdown. Williams only got nine touches out of the backfield elsewhere, despite McGuire saying he is one of the most dynamic players in college football.

"He's playing really well," McGuire said. Williams accounted for 36 yards on six carries and 24 yards off of three receptions. Cam Dickey carried much of the load out of the backfield with 91 yards rushing on 12 attempts.

READ MORE:Texas Tech's Offense Struggles, But Survives vs. Sam Houston

"He's one of those guys that's got a lot of fire and wants to perform," the coach added about Williams, who he admitted got the chance to return kickoffs because it was a creative opportunity to get him the football.

Williams' integration into special teams - along with his unique spots in the offensive scheme - will help Tech be a versatile threat as conference play ramps up.

"I just think we have to execute. It's one of the big things, we've got to go out and gotta execute at a higher level," McGuire said.

He added that the turnovers created by Texas Tech last week (three against Sam Houston), should also carry over to this week's mentality, which helps in finding success early in a hostile road environment.

Source: Yahoo Sports