Texas Tech University Athletics
Red Raiders Host Nebraska In 2004 Homecoming Game
October 05, 2004 | Football
Oct. 5, 2004
TEXAS TECH vs. NEBRASKA
Saturday, Oct. 9, 2004; 6:00 p.m. (TBS)
Jones SBC Stadium, Lubbock, Texas
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THE SEASON
The 2004 season marks the 80th year of Texas Tech Football on the South Plains. Over that span, the program has 460 wins, 373 losses and 32 ties.
THE GAME
The Red Raiders return home for their first Big 12 game of the season at Jones SBC Stadium. Texas Tech and Nebraska kickoff at 6:10 p.m. Saturday. The game will be nationally televised on TBS (Lubbock Cox Cable Channel 17).
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-Nebraska game will be broadcast nationally on TBS at 6:10 p.m. Ron Thulin (play-by-play) and Charles Davis (color analyst) will call the action from Jones SBC Stadium. The game is the fourth consecutive for the Red Raiders on television this season. Each of the last three games were carried by FSN.
THE COACHES
Texas Tech Head Coach Mike Leach - Red Raiders head coach Mike Leach is 34-23 at Texas Tech and is in his fifth season at the helm of the Red Raider program.
Nebraska Head Coach Bill Callahan - Bill Callahan is in his first season as head coach at Nebraska and is 3-1 overall and 1-0 in Big 12 play on the year. Callahan previously served as head coach of the Oakland Raiders.
RED RAIDERS LOOKING FOR FIRST SERIES WIN AGAINST THE HUSKERS
Texas Tech and Nebraska have met seven times and each time the Huskers have come away victorious. Nebraska holds a 7-0 advantage over Tech in the series, which began with a 27-24 Husker win in the 1976 Bluebonnet Bowl in Houston. The next two games came as part of a two-game series in 1993 and 1994, before both teams became members of the Big 12 Conference in 1996. In their last meeting, Tech narrowly missed its first win against Nebraska, falling 41-31 in Lincoln in 2001.
SERIES INFORMATION
Overall: NU leads 7-0
In Lubbock: NU leads 3-0
In Lincoln: NU leads 3-0
At Neutral Sites: NU leads 1-0
Last Meeting: NU 41, Tech 31 (2001)
GOOD TO BE HOME
Texas Tech opened Big 12 Conference play with back-to-back road games for only the second time since the formation of the league in 1996. Tech faced Texas A&M and Iowa State on the road to open the 2002 league schedule and Kansas and Oklahoma this season.
RED RAIDERS STRONG AT HOME IN CONFERENCE PLAY
Texas Tech holds a 7-1 advantage over its foes in Big 12 Conference home openers. The lone blemish was a 34-31 overtime setback to Kansas in 2001. Overall, the Red Raiders are 21-9 in Big 12 play at Jones SBC Stadium.
HOMECOMING BRINGS OUT THE BEST IN TECH
Texas Tech boasts an all-time record of 44-27-3 in homecoming games, including 11 wins in the last 12 games. The last loss was against Kansas in 2001.
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 a 17-17 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 29-4, while Baylor falls in at 2-31.
HENDERSON AMONG TECH ELITE
Junior RB Taurean Henderson is one of only three players in school history to record 200 receptions, after catching four passes at Oklahoma last weekend. Henderson's total of 200 ranks third and trails all-time receptions leader Wes Welker (259) and Carlos Francis (216). He set the NCAA freshman record for receptions with 98 in 2002.
TRLICA SETTLING IN
Redshirt freshman placekicker Alex Trlica has found a niche as Tech's starting placekicker. Trlica entered the season second on the depth chart on PAT and field goal duties, but assumed the duties following an injury to Keith Toogood in the opener against SMU. Trlica has connected on 19-of-19 extra point attempts and is 4-of-6 on field goals this season, including two against Oklahoma for his first multi-FG game of the season. Toogood has returned and is handling the team's kickoff responsibilities.
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 second in the Big 12 and 16th nationally with 39.9 net yards per punt. Sophomore P Alex Reyes is among the top punters in the country, averaging 42.5 yards per punt. Reyes has punted 15 times this season with two touchbacks and three 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, K Keith Toogood has six touchbacks in 15 kickoffs, while freshman K Alex Trlica is 19-of-19 on extra points and 4-of-6 on field goals, including two against Oklahoma for his first multi-FG game of his career.
LEACH PASSING GAME PRODUCES TOP FIVE RECEIVERS IN SCHOOL HISTORY
Since Mike Leach's arrival prior to the 2000 season, the Texas Tech record books have seen continuous changes; especially in the passing and receiving categories. With nine receptions against Oklahoma, senior IR Nehemiah Glover moved into fifth place on the Tech all-time receptions list with 190, making him the fifth player under Leach among the top five. Additionally, four of the top five receiving yardage leaders and career touchdown receptions leaders are Leach players.
CUMBIE RUNS IT UP ON SOONER DEFENSE
Senior QB Sonny Cumbie threw for 369 yards against the vaunted Sooner defense, recording the second-highest total allowed by the defensive unit in the Bob Stoops era (since 1999). By comparison, Cumbie's predecessors, Kliff Kingsbury and B.J. Symons, threw for 187 and 230 yards, respectively, against the Sooners during their senior seasons. Kingsbury also threw for 259, 295 and 234 yards during his freshman, sophomore and junior starts against Oklahoma.
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, already has 23 receptions for 374 yards and a touchdown this season, including leading the Red Raiders with 98 receiving yards against Oklahoma. 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.
Tech Defense Tests Oklahoma
The Texas Tech defense gave the potent Oklahoma offense a major test last Saturday as the Red Raiders held the high-scoring Sooners to just 28 points. The 28 points was the fewest scored by Oklahoma against Texas Tech since the 2000 season when Tech fell to OU by the same score of 28-13. The 28 points was also a season low for the Sooners who came into the game averaging 44.7. The Tech defense held the Sooners to just 372 yards of total offense (down from their average of 502.0) which was their lowest output of the season. Additionally, the 28 points is the fewest the Sooners have scored at home since a 27-11 win over Colorado in 2002.
DEFENSIVE NOTEBOOK
- Despite giving up its first touchdown of the season in the third quarter on Saturday against Oklahoma, the Tech defense continued its solid play in the period. The Red Raiders allowed just 60 yards of total offense in the third quarter including 32 yards on the ground and 28 through the air. The Oklahoma touchdown snapped a three-game streak in which Tech had held its opponent scoreless in the third.
- For the second week in a row, linebacker Mike Smith led the defensive effort as he finished with a game-high 11 tackles. He was responsible for one tackle for loss and a quarterback hurry. Despite playing a different position the last two games (WILL linebacker), Smith has recorded a team-high 17.5 tackles. He has played at the WILL position as an injury has limited the action of Brock Stratton.
- The game against Oklahoma marked the first time this season that the Texas Tech defense has not produced a turnover. It also snapped a nine-game streak in which the Red Raider defense had produced at least one turnover.
- The Texas Tech defense ranks 47th in total defense this week according to the most recent NCAA rankings. Tech is allowing 332.0 yards-per-game and that puts the Red Raiders in ninth place among Big 12 schools.
- The pass defense is allowing 180.2 yards-per-game and that puts the Tech secondary 37th nationally and fifth in the Big 12.
THIRD QUARTER BIG FOR TECH OFFENSE
The Red Raiders have dominated the third quarter this season, out-scoring opponents 61-10 in the frame. The only points Tech has allowed in the third quarter was a field goal to SMU and a touchdown to Oklahoma.
Third Quarter Numbers
at SMU 14 points: 144 yards, 22 plays, 6.5 yards per play
at New Mexico: 3 points 103 yards, 21 plays, 4.9 yards per play
TCU: 28 points 185 yards, 23 plays, 8.0 yards per play
at Kansas: 13 points 143 yards, 14 plays, 10.2 yards per play
at Oklahoma: 3 points 137 yards, 18 plays, 7.6 yards per play
Third Quarter Averages: 12.2 points 712 yards, 98 plays, 7.3 yards per play
Other Three Quarters Combined: 20.8 points 1,869 yards, 399 plays, 4.7 yards per play
HENDERSON COMES UP BIG IN THE CLUTCH
Junior RB Taurean Henderson showed how effective Tech's running game can be when he broke free on a 70-yard, game-winning touchdown run in the closing minutes against Kansas to put the Red Raiders ahead 31-30. The jaunt was the longest of Henderson's career and the longest under head coach Mike Leach. Henderson also finished the game with a career-high tying 17 rushes and a career-high 169 yards on the ground. He also scored twice, bringing his career rushing touchdown total to 23, six short of sixth place. Henderson has 35 career touchdowns and needs three more to pass Byron Morris and take over fourth place.
TOP RUSHING GAMES UNDER LEACH
Texas Tech's 182-yard rushing day against Kansas marked the fifth-best rushing performance for the Red Raiders since the start of the 2000 season. Tech's 240-yard effort in last season's win over Iowa State is one of two 200-yard rushing games in the last five seasons.
Top 5 Rushing Performances Since 2000
240 vs. Iowa State (2003)
207 vs. N.C. State (2002)
194 vs. Baylor (2001)
189 vs. Iowa State (2002)
182 vs. Kansas (2004)
HICKS MAKING EARLY STATEMENT
Sophomore WR Jarrett Hicks has emerged as the nation's leading receivers following five games. Hicks, who was the first player in school history with four-straight 100+ receiving yardage games, is averaging a national-leading 143.2 receiving yards per game. Hicks also ranks fifth with 7.8 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, while his 144.6 all-purpose yards per game ranks 21st nationally. Additionally, he was named the Dallas Morning News Player of the Week (Sept. 20).
SCORING STREAK
Texas Tech is in the middle of an 85-game scoring streak, the second longest in school history. The run began with a 16-13 win over Texas A&M on Oct. 25, 1997, a week after dropping a 29-0 decision to second-ranked Nebraska. The longest streak of 98 games ran from Oct. 17, 1987, to Dec. 29, 1996, when Iowa handed Tech a 27-0 loss in the Alamo Bowl. During its current run, the Red Raiders have scored 10+ in all but four games.
