Texas Tech University Athletics
Red Raiders Look To Rebound Against Kansas State
October 25, 2004 | Football
Oct. 25, 2004
Texas Tech at Kansas State
Saturday - 6 p.m. - Fox Sports Net
KSU Stadium, Manhattan, Kansas
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THE GAME
Texas Tech and Kansas State meet for the eighth time in the series when the Red Raiders travel to Manhattan, Kan., to face the Wildcats. The game is scheduled for a 6 p.m. start Sat., Oct. 30, at KSU Stadium. The Red Raiders enter the game with a 4-3 overall mark and 2-2 record in Big 12 Conference play, while the Wildcats are 3-4 overall and 1-3 in the Big 12, after snapping a three-game losing streak with a 45-21 win over Nebraska last weekend.
THE SEASON
The 2004 season marks the 80th year of Texas Tech Football on the South Plains. Over that span, the program has 461 wins, 374 losses and 32 ties.
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 30-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. Engineer Steve Pitts is in his 15th season.
TELEVISION
The Texas Tech-Kansas State game will be broadcast nationally on FSN at 6 p.m. Bill Land (play-by-play), Gary Reasons (color analyst) and John Rhadigan (sideline) will call the action from KSU Stadium. The game is the sixth consecutive for the Red Raiders on television this season. The first three games were carried by FSN, while TBS aired the Nebraska and Texas games.
RED RAIDERS STRONG AT HOME IN CONFERENCE PLAY
Texas Tech holds a 22-10 advantage over its Big 12 opponents at Jones SBC Stadium. The Red Raiders also have an 8-1 advantage over its foes in Big 12 Conference home openers, including the 70-10 win over Nebraska two weeks ago.
LEACH AGAINST THE BIG 12 CONFERENCE
Since the beginning of the 2000 season, head coach Mike Leach's first on the South Plains, Texas Tech has an 18-18 record in Big 12 play. The mark ranks sixth among all league schools during that stretch and is the third-best in the Big 12 South, behind Oklahoma and Texas. Oklahoma has the best record at 31-4, while Baylor falls in at 2-33.
GLOVER SETS PERSONAL BEST AGAINST TEXAS
Senior IR Nehemiah Glover was a blur for the Texas defense as he grabbed 11 receptions for a career-high 166 yards (previous high was 132 against Baylor in 2003). His total is the third highest of the season, behind 211- and 184-yard performances by WR Jarrett Hicks. Additionally, Glover leapfrogged RB Taurean Henderson on the Tech career receptions list and has 213 to Henderson's 209. He is currently three receptions from tying former Tech standout receiver Carlos Francis in second place. Glover leads the team with 52 receptions and is averaging 81 receiving yards per game. He also needs two touchdown receptions to become Tech's all-time leader in that category.
SPECIAL TEAMS EXCELLING FOR RED RAIDERS
Ruffin McNeill, in his second season as assistant head coach and special teams coordinator, has put together a solid group of special teams units for the 2004 season. The most notable is the punting team, which ranks sixth in the Big 12 and 24th nationally with 38.5 net yards per punt. Sophomore P Alex Reyes is among the top punters in the country, averaging 40.7 yards per punt. Reyes has punted 23 times this season with three touchbacks and six placed inside the 20. He also has the second-longest punt of the season among Big 12 teams with a 62 yarder against New Mexico. Additionally, sophomore K Keith Toogood has 14 touchbacks in 28 kickoffs, while freshman K Alex Trlica is 32-of-32 on extra points and 4-of-6 on field goals, including two against Oklahoma for his first multi-FG game of his career.
THE COACHES
Texas Tech Head Coach Mike Leach - Red Raiders head coach Mike Leach is 35-24 at Texas Tech and is in his fifth season at the helm of the Red Raider program.
Kansas State Head Coach Bill Snyder - Wildcats head coach Bill Snyder is 130-59-1 in 16 seasons as a collegiate head coach, all coming at Kansas State.
RAIDERS LOOK FOR SECOND-STRAIGHT WIN IN SERIES WITH KANSAS STATE
Texas Tech, who leads the series 4-3, led the series with Kansas State 3-0 before both teams joined the Big 12 Conference in 1996. The Wildcats won the first three Big 12 meetings with the Red Raiders, picking up their first league win against KSU in the fourth game with a 38-19 win during the 2001 season. The series began in 1933 with a 6-0 Tech win, followed by wins in 1963 and 1986. The two teams played the inaugural Big 12 game Aug. 31, 1996, in Manhattan, Kan., with K-State winning 21-14. The Wildcats also posted wins in 1997 (13-2) and 2000 (28-23), before Tech's win in 2001. Kansas State leads the series 2-0 in Manhattan, while Tech holds a 4-1 advantage in Lubbock.
SERIES INFORMATION
Overall: Tech leads 4-3
In Lubbock: Tech leads 4-1
In Manhattan: KSU leads 2-0
Last Meeting: Tech 38, KSU 19 (2001)
RED RAIDERS AGAINST THE BIG 12 CONFERENCE
Texas Tech holds a series lead over five Big 12 members, including Colorado, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State and Oklahoma State. Baylor, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas and Texas A&M all hold series advantages over the Red Raiders. The schedule changed for Tech this season, as two-year series with Colorado, Iowa State and Missouri came to an end last season. In addition to its five opponents from the Big 12 South, Tech faces Kansas, Kansas State and Nebraska from the Big 12 North this season. Since 1996 the Red Raiders are 27-15 against teams from the North Division.
CHART CLIMBERS
Junior RB Taurean Henderson passed former Tech back and Doak Walker Award winner Byron Hanspard on the career scoring and career touchdowns list with his rushing score against Texas. Henderson has 234 points in his career and 39 rushing and receiving touchdowns. He trails former back Ricky Williams on both lists by 18 points and three touchdowns. Others Movin' On Up
WR Jarrett Hicks - moved passed Donnie Hart on single-season receiving yardage list in eighth place
QB Sonny Cumbie - moved passed Robert Hall and Billy Joe Tolliver on single-season passing yardage list and is currently in fifth place ... also passed Tolliver on the single-season total offensive yardage list and is in sixth place
INJURY ASIDE, STRATTON RETURNS TO FORM
Sophomore LB Brock Stratton, who had been battling a minor injury, bounced back with a 13-tackle performance against Texas last weekend. In addition to posting nine solo tackles, Stratton also had a pass breakup in the game. Stratton missed the Oklahoma game three weeks ago and eased back into action against Nebraska before the week off.
HICKS CONTINUING DOMINANCE
Sophomore WR Jarrett Hicks has emerged as the nation's leading receiver this season. Hicks, who was the first player in school history with four-straight 100+ receiving yardage games, is averaging a national-leading 127.7 receiving yards per game. Hicks also ranks 15th with 6.9 receptions per game and is one of eight players nationally with a 200-yard receiving game Hicks's 211-yard performance against TCU ranks as the sixth-best single-game total in school history. He leads the Big 12 with 18.6 yards per reception and has the longest reception of the season at 80 yards in the league. Additionally, he was named the Dallas Morning News Player of the Week (Sept. 20).
SMITH LEADING IN THE MIDDLE
Senior LB Mike Smith leads the team with 50 tackles, surpassing his total of 42 for the entire 2003 season. Smith, plagued by injuries much of last season, spent the off-season working through an aggressive training schedule to prepare himself for his final year. Smith logged 85 tackles as a freshman and 104 during his sophomore season. He has started in 40 of the 45 games he has played in his career, dating back to his freshman season.
HENDERSON, GLOVER AMONG TECH ELITE
Junior RB Taurean Henderson and senior IR Nehemiah Glover are two of only four players in school history to record 200 receptions in their careers. Henderson's total of 208 ranks fourth and trails all-time receptions leader Wes Welker (259), Carlos Francis (216) and current teammate Nehemiah Glover (213). Glover eclipsed the 200-catch mark with his career-high 12-reception day against Nebraska and passed Henderson with 11 catches against Texas.
SECONDARY HAVING SOLID SEASON
Junior college transfer FS Dwayne Slay has quickly adjusted to the Red Raider defense midway through the 2004 season. The junior, who has two interceptions on the season, leads a defensive unit that has nine picks this year. Seven other Red Raiders have combined for the remaining interceptions. Former walk-on junior CB Khalid Naziruddin and junior FS Vincent Meeks are ranked second on the team with 43 and 41 tackles, respectively, while Meeks and junior CB Antonio Huffman are tied with five pass breakups.
HAVERTY MAKING MOST OF SENIOR SEASON
After spending three seasons behind one of the country's top receiving corps, IR Trey Haverty is not wasting one down of his senior season. Haverty, who entered the season with 33 career receptions, 307 yards and one touchdown, has 38 receptions for 536 yards and two touchdowns this season. Haverty began the season as the backup to Nehemiah Glover at H receiver, but has since moved into the starting lineup at Y receiver. When Glover left the UNM game with an injury in the first half, Haverty stepped and grabbed eight receptions for 117 yards, both career highs at the time. A week later, Haverty found himself in the starting lineup at Y. Against Kansas, Haverty sparked Tech's run of 26 unanswered points with a 32-yard touchdown reception in the closing seconds of the first half. He finished the game as Tech's leading receiver with eight catches and a career-high 143 yards. Against Texas last weekend, Haverty grabbed eight receptions for 98 yards.
