Texas Tech University Athletics
Red Raiders Prepare For Battle With Iowa State
October 08, 2003 | Football
Oct. 8, 2003
TEXAS TECH vs. IOWA STATE
Saturday, October 15, 2003 - 6 p.m.
Jones SBC Stadium, Lubbock, Texas
Texas Tech Notes In Printable Format
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Iowa State Game Notes In Printable Format
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THE GAME
Texas Tech hosts Iowa State Sat., Oct. 11, at 6 p.m. at Jones SBC Stadium (53,702) in Lubbock. Saturday's game marks the 74th homecoming game in school history.
RED RAIDERS YIELD FIRST SERIES WIN TO IOWA STATE IN 2002
Texas Tech won the first four games in the series, including the initial contest 42-0 in Lubbock in 1967, and holds a 4-1 advantage overall. The teams played for the second time in 1974 in Lubbock and the game went to Ames for the first time in 1998, when both teams met for the first time as members of the Big 12 Conference. In last season's game, the Red Raiders traveled to Ames and faced a redhot Cyclone team that entered the game with a No. 11 national ranking. The Cyclones won the game and their first in the series.
TELEVISION
There is no television for Saturday's game.
RADIO
The All Sports Radio Network, with its flagship station KKAM 1340-AM, carries the live broadcast of every football game throughout the state of Texas on its 26-station network. Play-by-play man Brian Jensen calls the action with longtime Lubbock broadcasting fixture John Harris as the color analyst. Mark Finkner provides the sideline coverage, while Tim Chambers serves as statistician.
THE COACH: Mike Leach
Texas Tech head coach Mike Leach is 27-17 at Texas Tech and is in his fourth season at the helm of the Red Raider program. In his first three seasons, Leach won 23 games, was the first coach in Tech history to lead his first three teams to bowl appearances, and helped Red Raider players set 125 school records. He also produced NCAA record-setting QB Kliff Kingsbury, who set 17 NCAA marks and tied four others during his three seasons as the starter. Leach's three-year record of 23 wins ties former Red Raider head coach Steve Sloan with the most over a three-year span.
PLAYER NOTES (OFFENSE) DE JEVU: SYMONS GARNERS PLAYER OF THE WEEK HONORS, AGAIN
Texas Tech senior QB B.J. Symons earned SBC Big 12 Conference Player of the Week honors for the second week in a row after completing a Big 12 record eight touchdown passes in Tech's 59-28 win over Texas A&M Saturday. Symons completed 34-of-46 passes for 505 yards before leaving the game early in the fourth quarter. He also set a school record with eight touchdowns responsible for while eclipsing the 500-yard passing mark for the third-straight game. Two weeks ago, Symons lit up the Ole Miss defense for 661 yards and six touchdown passes en route to his player of the week honor.
SYMONS CONTINUES OFFENSIVE DOMINANCE
Since passing for 297 yards in the season opener against SMU, first-year starter and senior QB B.J. Symons has exploded, passing for an average of 542.5 yards per game during that stretch. Included in the total is the third-best NCAA single-game passing total of 661 yards at Mississippi. Saturday night against Texas A&M, Symons eclipsed the 500-yard mark for the third-straight game and completed a school and Big 12 record eight touchdown passes.
Symons Leads the NCAA in 2003:
Passing Yardage: 2,467
Passing Yards/Game: 493.4
Pass Completions: 177
Pass Attempts: 265
Touchdown Passes: 24
Total Offense Yardage: 2,537
Total Offense Yards/Game: 507.4
 B.J. Symons continues to make his mark not only on the Texas Tech record book but in the NCAA as well. | |
SYMONS' ASSAULT ON THE RECORD BOOKS
Symons added another notch to his record-belt with a school and Big 12 record eight touchdown passes in Tech's 59-28 win over Texas A&M last weekend. Symons also broke the school and Big 12 record for touchdowns responsible for with the eight passes.
Symons' Mark on the Record Books:
8 TD passes vs. Texas A&M: School and Big 12 Record
8 TDs responsible for vs. A&M: School and Big 12 Record
661 passing yards at Mississippi: Third-Best All-Time NCAA Single-Game Passing/School and Big 12 Record
586 yards at N.C. State: 14th-Best All-Time NCAA Single-Game Passing/Second-Best School and Big 12 Passing Game
681 yards at Mississippi: Third-Best All-Time NCAA Single-Game Total Offense/School and Big 12 Record
618 yards at N.C. State: Seventh-Best All-Time NCAA Single-Game Total Offense/Second-Best School and Big 12 Total Offense Game
IS EIGHT ENOUGH?
Symons accounted for all eight of Texas Tech's touchdowns against Texas A&M, which sets the school and Big 12 record for touchdowns responsible for. A week earlier, Symons set the school record when he was responsible for seven scores at Mississippi. He has accounted for 15 touchdowns over the last two games and leads the nation in points responsible for per game with 32.0 points per game. Symons leads the second-ranked player by 8.0 points per game.
OTHERS EXPERIENCING SUCCESS AS WELL
Texas Tech receivers Carlos Francis, Wes Welker, Mickey Peters and Nehemiah Glover, along with RB Johnnie Mack, each have at least one 100-yard receiving game on the season. Glover, Welker, Peters and Francis each have two 100-yard receiving games. Peters and Glover posted the first of the season against New Mexico, followed by Mack and Glover at New Mexico. Tech became the only school in the country this season to have three players catch for 100 yards in a game when Francis, Welker and Peters did so at Mississippi.
100-yard receiving games
New Mexico: Glover (116) and Peters (121)
N.C. State: Mack (107) and Glover (106)
Mississippi: Francis (184), Welker (131) and Peters (114)
Texas A&M: Welker (114) and Francis (110)
RB Taurean Henderson narrowly missed becoming the fourth at Mississippi with 97 yards on the night, while Glover totaled 97 against Texas A&M.
CUMBIE SOLID IN BACKUP ROLE
Junior QB Sonny Cumbie played much of the second half against the Aggies, completing 9-of-13 passes, including each of his first four attempts, and finishing the game with 100 yards. Over the course of his career, Cumbie has completed 14-of-19 for 134 yards in three appearances.
VERITABLE CORNUCOPIA OF TARGETS
It's become commonplace that Texas Tech doesn't have to rely on one receiver to carry the Red Raider pass attack. Fifteen different Red Raiders have caught a pass this season, with seven registering 10 or more receptions.
WHO'S ON THE RECEIVING END OF ALL OF THOSE YARDS?
Four Red Raiders have over 400 yards receiving this season, led by senior WR Carlos Francis. Francis is having a stellar senior season and leads the team with 522 yards and 17.4 yards per catch. He also is the first Red Raider to average over 100 receiving yards per game under Mike Leach at Texas Tech. Francis ranks third in the Big 12 and ninth nationally with 104.4 yards per game. He also has three touchdown receptions and 30 receptions overall. Additionally, senior WR Wes Welker leads the team with 32 catches and has 428 yards and three touchdowns. Senior TE Mickey Peters is tied with Francis with 30 receptions and has 420 yards and a team-leading five touchdowns. WR Nehemiah Glover is tied with Peters with five scoring catches and has 28 catches for 412 yards. The quartet accounts for 63.5 percent of Tech's receptions this season and 66.7 percent of the receiving corps touchdowns.
EXPERIENCED O-LINE
In addition to returning four starters from last season's offensive line, Tech also welcomes a wealth of experience on the depth chart. Rimington Trophy candidate and senior starting C Toby Cecil is the veteran along the offensive line with 42 starts to his credit over his career, including 11 as a redshirt freshman in 2000. His total number of starts ranks him second among the nation's offensive linemen.
WELKER SETS CAREER RECEPTIONS RECORD AGAINST TEXAS A&M
Senior WR Wes Welker needed two receptions against Texas A&M to become Texas Tech's all-time receptions leader. He finished the game with six catches, propelling his career receptions total to 194, allowing him to surpass Lloyd Hill's record of 189, set during the 1990-93 seasons. Additionally, Welker's 2,398 receiving yards ranks him second all-time at Tech behind Hill (3,059). Welker and Hill, along with Donnie Hart, represent the only players in school history with 2,000+ receiving yards. Welker's 1,054 receiving yards last season marked only the second time in school history a player recorded more than 1,000 receiving yards in a season (1,261 by Lloyd Hill in 1992).
 Runningback Taurean Henderson and the Red Raiders are off to their best start since 2000 | |
RECORDS THREATENED BY WELKER
It wouldn't seem right, based on the last three seasons, not to have some record in the Texas Tech or Big 12 record books in jeopardy. Enter Wes Welker. The diminutive all-purpose back set the Tech career punt return yardage record on his first return against New Mexico. Against SMU, Welker returned his seventh-career punt return for a touchdown and is tied with David Allen (Kansas State), Johnny Rodgers (Nebraska) and Jack Mitchell (Oklahoma) for the NCAA career record. He also is tied with Allen for the Big 12 career mark. With his first punt return against N.C. State, Welker broke the Big 12 record, then set the school record with his second return. He has 133 returns in his career. He also is tied second nationally with 39-straight games with a reception and is fifth on the active receptions leaders list.
PLAYER NOTES (DEFENSE) SILENT ASSASSIN
True freshman LB Brock Stratton has quietly led the Red Raiders in tackles this season. The defensive quarterback in the middle leads the team with 38 tackles, including two and a half for loss, and a quarterback hurry. He also has a fumble recovery.
DEFENSE STANDS TALL AGAINST A&M
Texas Tech's defense rose to the occasion against Texas A&M, holding the Aggies to 28 points after yielding 49 and 45 to N.C. State and Mississippi, respectively, in the previous two games. Tech held A&M to two three-and-outs, forced a fumble and forced A&M to turn the ball over on downs three times.
RED RAIDERS HALFWAY TO LAST YEAR'S TOTAL
Texas Tech already has eight interceptions in five games this season and is halfway to last year's total of 16. The Red Raiders have seven more regular-season games to play to surpass last season's count. Senior SS Ryan Aycock leads the team with four picks, followed by FS Vincent Meeks' two.
MAKING THEM COUNT
True freshman DE Keyunta Dawson has four tackles on the season, but two are sacks. His sack total trails leader DE Adell Ducket (4) and LB Mike Smith (3).
DUCKETT MOVING UP SACKS LIST
Junior DE Adell Duckett registered his 14th-career sack against Texas A&M and is in a sixth-place tie with former Tech All-American Gabe Rivera (1979-82).
AYCOCK AMONG THE NATION'S TOP FIVE IN INTERCEPTIONS
Senior SS Ryan Aycock's matched his best season for interceptions when he grabbed his fourth at Mississippi. Aycock picked four passes in 2001 and now has nine in his career. He is tied in seventh place on the Texas Tech career interceptions list ranks fifth nationally with 0.8 interceptions per game.
