Preview: Red Raiders Stay on the Road, Face No. 7 OSU

LUBBOCK, Texas – Texas Tech gets another chance this weekend to take a road win over a Top 25 team, which will face No. 7 Oklahoma State at Boone Pickens Stadium on Saturday. The Cowboys represent the fifth consecutive ranked opponent for the Red Raiders (3-2, 1-1 Big 12) and the fifth ranked opponent in the first six games, merging Tech with three other programs dating back to 1980 that have a similar start. to meet. in the first six games of a season. Kick-off is scheduled for 14.30

Television coverage is provided by FS1 with Eric Collins behind the microphone. He will be joined by former Michigan quarterback Devin Gardner who serves as a broadcast analyst. Fans can access the game from their mobile or streaming device using the FOX Sports app.

Texas Tech Sports Network will also broadcast the game through 46 affiliates in the state of Texas and New Mexico, as Brian Jensen will have the call along with analyst John Harris and sideline reporter Chris Level. The radio broadcast can also be heard on SiriusXM channel 135 or 199, as well as on the Varsity app.

RED RAIDERS WATCH TO CURE AWAY WOES

• Texas Tech will get another shot at its first road win of the season this weekend when the Red Raiders head to No. 7 Oklahoma State on Saturday afternoon. The Red Raiders are looking for their first road win under Joey McGuire and their first since winning both West Virginia and Kansas early last season.
• With a win, the Red Raiders would take their first win over a top-10 team on the road since knocking out Oklahoma’s top league, 41-38, in Normandy. Oklahoma State represents Texas Tech’s last-ranked road win as the Cowboys were 15th nationally when the Red Raiders led the Cowboys in 2018.

TOP-25 TESTS BECOME THE NORM

• The debut season under Joey McGuire has arguably delivered the toughest first half of the program as No. 7 Oklahoma State represents the fifth consecutive ranked opponent for the Red Raiders. That streak matches the Texas Tech school record set earlier midway through the 2012 campaign.
• According to STATS, Inc. Texas Tech is only the fourth team since 1980 to open a season with five ranked opponents in the first six games, alongside Michigan State (1987), Tennessee (1991) and Ohio State (1995). However, none of those other three schools had a freshman head coach.

TEXAS TECH, STATE OKLAHOMA PUT FOR 50TH MEETING

• Saturday will be the 50th meeting between Texas Tech and Oklahoma State in a series tied at 23-23-3 this weekend. The two schools have split the previous four games, with the Red Raiders claiming a 41-17 win at Stillwater in 2018 and a 45-35 win at Lubbock early in the 2019 campaign. Oklahoma State followed with a 50-44 win in Texas Tech’s last visit to Boone Pickens Stadium in 2020, adding a 23-0 shutout a year ago.
• This is the 15th consecutive season and 21st overall, the Red Raiders have faced a ranked team from the state of Oklahoma. Texas Tech has five wins in its history over a ranked Cowboys team after taking a 27-3 win in 1997, a 31-15 win in 2004, a 56-20 loss in 2008, a 41-17 win in 2018 and then his 45-35 win in 2019.
• The Red Raiders are 11-15 against the Cowboys during the Big 12 era, despite winning seven of the first nine games after the league formed prior to the 1996 season.
• The Red Raiders lost nine games to Oklahoma State during their 2018 visit to Stillwater after a 41-17 win in 2018. It marked the first time since the 2001 season that Texas Tech surpassed Oklahoma State far from home.
• The 2019 win over Oklahoma State was Texas Tech’s first home game against the Cowboys since the 2008 season when the Red Raiders created five takeaways and shot a total of seven sacks, the most in a game since 2009.
• Texas Tech and Oklahoma State have produced several high-scoring shootouts in recent years, as the two schools have scored at least 75 points in eight of the past 10 meetings combined. The two schools have combined 50 or more points in 11 of the past 12 seasons and 19 of the past 23 games overall.
• The only exception to the high score between the two schools was last season’s 23-0 win by the Cowboys. The shutout marked the first time the Red Raiders had been eliminated since falling to No. 2 Nebraska, 29-0, on October 18, 1997, breaking a run of 302 consecutive games by points. Texas Tech was knocked out at home for the first time since a 31-0 loss to Arkansas on October 10, 1987.

TEXAS TECH, OKLAHOMA STATE CONNECTIONS

• Texas Tech has five Oklahoma natives on its roster in senior linebacker Patrick Curley (Wagoner), true freshman defensive defender Maurion Horn (Broken Arrow), redshirt freshman Isaac Smith (Wagoner), senior defensive back Dadrion Taylor-Demerson (Oklahoma City) and senior defending defender Cameron Watts (Tulsa). Watts attended Northeast Oklahoma A&M before transferring to Texas Tech in 2020.
• On the Oklahoma State staff, cornerbacks coach Tim Duffie earned his degree in exercise and sports science from Texas Tech in 1999 after a four-year career for the Red Raiders. Duffie was a two-year starter for head coach Spike Dykes, where he recorded 202 tackles, including six for a loss, to go along with three pass breakups and a couple of interceptions. This is his eighth season with the Oklahoma State coaching staff.
• Texas Tech super senior linebacker Dimitri Moore will recognize an Oklahoma state member in defensive coordinator Derek Mason, who was the head coach at Vanderbilt during Moore’s first four collegiate seasons (2017-20). Mason recruited Moore from the last Cedar Hill team coached by Texas Tech head coach Joey McGuire prior to his move to the collegiate level at Baylor.
• Oklahoma State starting center Preston Wilson is the older brother of Texas Tech, true freshman offensive lineman Sheridan Wilson. The two brothers come from an athletic family, as their father, Jon Wilson, was a four-year starter at Auburn from 1988-92.
• Texas Tech added two transfers from Oklahoma State shortly after Joey McGuire was hired to the Red Raiders in sophomore offensive lineman Monroe Mills and red shirt freshman wide receiver Haydon Wiginton. Mills has started all five games this season with a right tackle, while Wiginton has received seven yards in one appearance this season.
• Chad Weiberg, Oklahoma State Director of Athletics, previously served at Texas Tech as an AD deputy from 2015-17. Weiberg left Kirby Hocutt’s staff to take the same position at Oklahoma State, ultimately leading to his promotion in 2021 to the chairman of the athletic director’s office.

WILSON STAYS HAVOC

• Tyree Wilson continues to prove why he is one of the most dominant edge rushers in college football this season, as he totaled 2.0 sacks last weekend at Kansas State, now giving him 5.0 for the season. It is the second-highest sack total by a Red Raider in five games since 2000 and the highest since Pete Robertson had the same total in 2014.
• His sack total is part of 8.0 tackles for loss this season to Wilson, the third-highest total by a Red Raider in five games since 2000. Wilson comes in seventh in the FBS this weekend for sacks per game. (1.0) and 11th in tackles for loss per game (1.6).

UP FOR THE CHALLENGE

• Donovan Smith is 3-1 as a starting quarterback in games played at Jones AT&T Stadium, and 1-0 in a neutral field game, but continues to look for his first road win after last week’s loss to No. 25 Kansas State. He is 0-3 in road races, each against ranked opponents. NC State was No. 16 earlier this season during week three and last season in Baylor, the Bears entered the game at No. 8 (L, 27-24).
• Smith currently ranks fourth nationally in completions per game (28.4), 15th in total passing yards and 17th in passing yards per game (295.0) in the Oklahoma State game.
• Smith has thrown at least 300 yards in three of his four starts this season after finishing with 350 yards against Houston, 331 yards against Texas and then a career high of 359 yards against Kansas State. He also set career highs for tries (58) against Houston and broke his career mark for completions (38) against Texas. Texas Tech is now 3-1 in games where Smith has thrown for at least 300 yards with the only loss coming at number 25 Kansas State last weekend.
• The ball was often in Smith’s hands against the Cougars as he made a total of 79 offensive attempts with 58 passes and 21 rushes. It was the second most total offensive game by a Red Raider dating back to 2000, with just 100 attempts made by Patrick Mahomes II on a record night against Oklahoma in 2016.
• On the ground, Smith has found the end zone with his legs in each of the last four games as he has had a team-leading 67 rush attempts this season, easily the most for a Red Raider quarterback to five games dating back to 2000. weekend as the only FBS quarterback to have thrown for 1,000 yards this season and also rushing for four touchdowns. He joins Mahomes as the only Red Raider quarterbacks since 2000 to do so, as the standout Chiefs did so in each of his last two seasons in 2015 and 2016.

GREAT EXCITEMENT FOR MCGUIRE ERA

• The excitement over Joey McGuire’s appointment has been palpable at Texas Tech Athletics since last November, when the athletics division saw a significant surge in ticket sales heading into the season opener. Texas Tech has more than 7,000 new season ticket holders this year, bringing the total to more than 28,000, which is in the all-time top 10 in school history.
• The hype is real: Game one of the Joey McGuire era marked the biggest home opening crowd (58,823) since 2016 when Texas Tech hosted Stephen F. Austin (60,097). The attendance against Murray State was just outside the all-time top 10 in Jones At&T Stadium history.
• Texas Tech announced a sellout for its win over Texas as 60,975 fans enjoyed the Red Raiders’ win over their in-state rival. That attendance was the fourth highest in Jones AT&T Stadium history and the highest ever in the series against Texas. It was Texas Tech’s first sell-off since it happened in consecutive weeks against Oklahoma and Texas late in the 2018 season.
• During three home games, Texas Tech has reached 97.1 percent of its capacity, ranking 21st in the country and third in the Big 12 Conference. The Red Raiders average 58,690 fans per game, which is also the third highest total currently in the Big 12.

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