Red Raiders Open 2004 Season At SMU

Aug. 30, 2004

Texas Tech at SMU
Saturday, Sept. 4, 2004; 7 p.m. (CT)
Gerald Ford Stadium, Dallas, Texas Are You A Member Of The College Sports Pass?
If you are the ultimate Texas Tech football fan then you need to be a member of the College Sports Pass. The College Sports Pass is a video and audio service at www.texastech.com that takes you right to the action of Red Raider football. The CSP is just $6.95 per month while quarterly and yearly subcriptions are available. Check out the latest on the College Sports Pass. 2004 Texas Tech Football Radio Affiliates

Complete Texas Tech Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader

Complete SMU Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader

THE SEASON
The 2004 season marks the 80th year of Texas Tech Football on the South Plains. Over that span, the program has 457 wins, 371 losses and 32 ties. THE GAME
Texas Tech opens the 2004 season on the road for the second time in head coach Mike Leach's five seasons on the South Plains. The Red Raiders travel to Dallas to face former Southwest Conference rival SMU at 7 p.m. CT on Sat., Sept. 4, at Gerald J. Ford Stadium on the SMU campus. 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. TELEVISION
The game will not be televised. Texas Tech next scheduled appearance will be on FSN against TCU on Sat., Sept. 18, at 11:30 a.m. from Jones SBC Stadium.

Head Coach Mike Leach begins his fifth season at the helm.

THE COACHES - Texas Tech Head Coach Mike Leach
Red Raiders head coach Mike Leach is 31-21 at Texas Tech and is in his fifth season at the helm of the Red Raider program and is 2-0 against SMU. During the 2002 and 2003 seasons, Leach led Tech to a 24-14 win in Dallas and a 58-10 victory in Lubbock last season. In his first four seasons at Tech, Leach won 31 games, became the only coach in Tech history to lead his first four teams to bowl appearances, and helped Red Raider players set 149 school records. THE COACHES - SMU Head Coach Phil Bennett
Third-year Mustang head coach Phil Bennett is 3-21 in two seasons, including an 0-2 mark against Texas Tech. THE TEXAS TECH-SMU SERIES
Texas Tech holds a 27-16 advantage over SMU in a series that dates back to 1932, when the Red Raiders won the initial matchup, 6-0, in Lubbock. The teams met five times before Tech entered Southwest Conference play in 1960. During that stretch, the Red Raiders and the Mustangs played every year through 1995, the final year of the SWC. During that run, Tech won 22 games over SMU, while dropping 12. The teams have squared off each of the last two seasons, with the 2002 season hosting the first matchup since both teams were in the SWC. The Red Raiders won last year's game, 58-10, in Lubbock and held off the Mustangs, 24-14, in Dallas in 2002.
SERIES INFORMATION
Overall; Tech leads 27-16
In Lubbock; Tech leads 13-9
In Dallas; Tech leads 14-7
Last Meeting; Tech 58, SMU 10 (2003)\ TEXAS TECH IN DALLAS
Texas Tech has played in 51 games in the Dallas/Fort Worth area and is 27-24 all-time in the MetroPlex. Tech holds a 13-7 advantage over SMU in Dallas, while trailing TCU 15-11 in the series in Fort Worth. The Red Raiders are 3-0 all-time in neutral games at Texas Stadium (two against North Texas and one against Oklahoma State). Tech also is 0-2 in Cotton Bowl appearances. RED RAIDERS AGAINST THE WAC
Texas Tech holds a 75-55-2 advantage over current members of the Western Athletic Conference, including a 27-16 series lead over SMU. Other than SMU, the last time Tech played a member of the WAC was against UTEP and Fresno State in 1998, both Red Raider wins. Tech leads all but two series with WAC schools, trailing San Jose State and Tulsa by one game. TEXAS TECH ON OPENING DAY
Texas Tech is 50-26-3 all-time on opening day, including last year's 58-10 win over SMU in Lubbock. Saturday's game is the third against the Mustangs to open the season for the Red Raiders. The first was a 14-0 loss to SMU at the onset of the 1933 campaign. After dropping three-straight openers in the mid-90s, Tech has won four of six, including three of the last four. Over 79 years, Tech has opened the season in the state of Texas 64 times, both on the road and at home. LATE START
Saturday's kickoff at SMU will mark only the second time in the last five years that the Red Raiders have not played in the month of August. Previously, the Red Raiders opened the 2001 season September 8 against New Mexico in Lubbock. Prior to the 1996 season, no Tech team had ever played in August. The Red Raiders logged their first August date in the Big 12 Conference inaugural kickoff at Kansas State on Aug. 31, 1996. DUCKETT, LOPER NAMED TO PRESEASON LOMBARDI AWARD WATCH LIST
Texas Tech senior DE Adell Duckett and senior OT Daniel Loper are among 114 players across the country named to the Lombardi Award Preseason Watch List. A preseason first-team All-Big 12 pick, Duckett led the league in sacks (14) and tackles for loss (23.5) last season, setting school records in both. He also set a school mark with 116 tackles for loss yards. Duckett enters the 2004 campaign third on the career sacks list with 24, and is one-and-a-half sacks behind former Tech All-American Montae Reagor in second place. A legitimate candidate for national honors from his left tackle position this season, Loper has 31-career starts to his credit. Loper's tremendous 6-foot-7, 329-pound frame and outstanding work ethic have enabled him to become of the most dominating linemen in school history. Eligibility for the Rotary Lombardi Award is limited to down linemen and those defensive players who line up within five yards of the ball. HENDERSON JOINS ANDERSON ON ELITE LIST OF 1,000-1,000 CLUB MEMBERS
In just two seasons as a Red Raider, junior running back Taurean Henderson has joined an elite list of collegiate football players with 1,000 rushing and 1,000 receiving yards during his career. Henderson joins former Tech All-American Donny Anderson (1963-65) on the list of 31 collegiate athletes throughout history who have done so. Henderson is the only active player on the list. NEW SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS
Three former Red Raider walk-ons were placed on scholarship during preseason drills. Senior IR Joey Hawkins and redshirt freshman LB Chad Hill were awarded scholarships early in preseason practice, while junior DB Khalid Naziruddin gained a scholarship last week. Naziruddin transferred from Howard Payne University last season and worked out with the scout team. After starting fall camp down the depth chart at corner, Naziruddin has worked his way up into a starting position on the left side. LINE ANCHORED BY SEASONED VETERANS
Senior OT Daniel Loper has emerged as one of the top offensive linemen in the Big 12 Conference and possibly the country. Standing at 6-foot-7 and 329 pounds, Loper has 31 career starts and is the old vet among the offensive line. He enters the season as a legitimate postseason honors candidate after helping lead the Red Raiders to their second-straight NCAA passing title and first NCAA total offense title a year ago. Loper and the rest of last season's offensive line unit saw a dramatic decrease in the number of sacks allowed from 2002. Tech gave up 46 sacks in 2002, but allowed only 26 last season - one in every 30 pass attempts. Senior OG Cody Campbell and senior C Dylan Gandy also have been mainstays in the offensive line rotation. Campbell, who allowed only 1.5 sacks last season, has been consistent at right guard, while Gandy backed up at center and guard each of the last two seasons - mostly playing guard. Junior OT E.J. Whitley was dominant last season and his 6-foot-6 frame gives Tech two of the largest bookends (Loper) in college football. Sophomore LG Manuel Ramirez is likely to become one of the most dominant linemen in school history after starting 10 games and allowing only 1.5 sacks as a redshirt freshman last season.

Nehemiah Glover will help lead the Red Raider offensive attack.

BIG SHOES TO FILL
How do you replace a guy like Wes Welker, holder of three NCAA punt return records and Tech's all-time all-purpose yardage leader? Replace experience with experience. Senior and former WR Nehemiah Glover made the transition in the off-season from his wideout position to H-Back (inside receiver), giving the Red Raiders a seasoned veteran to fill the void. Glover's credentials in three seasons at wide receiver are impressive with 2,065 yards on 161 receptions. His 20 touchdowns is two short of the career TD receptions record. Glover also will step in as the team's punt returner, picking up where he left off as a freshman when he returned five punts. DUCKETT GAINING RESPECT
A legitimate All-America candidate, senior DE Adell Duckett returns as the Big 12 Conference's top defensive end, although the postseason all-conference teams last season didn't reflect the season he had. Duckett led the league with 14 sacks and 24.5 tackles for loss in 2003 and also set Tech single-season records in each category. His quickness off the snap and speed into the backfield have given opposing quarterbacks headaches the last two seasons. Duckett, who was named to several all-conference first teams this year, enters this season with 24 career sacks and trails all-time leader Aaron Hunt by 10. He needs two sacks to pass former Tech All-American and current Indianapolis Colt Montae Reagor in second place. FROM WALK-ON TO STARTER, CUMBIE TAKES THE REINS OF TECH'S OFFENSE
Patience has paid off for fifth-year senior Sonny Cumbie. Sitting patiently behind Kliff Kingsbury and B.J. Symons the last four seasons has prepped the former walk-on for the moment he's been waiting for - leading the Tech offense. Cumbie's situation is not unlike that of Kingsbury's; neither had many offers coming out of high school, yet both earned head coach Mike Leach's approval to run one of the nation's most powerful offensive impressive showing in spring drills, Naziruddin entered preseason camp third on the depth at corner. He quickly moved up the chart and was moved to the starting position on the right side after a strong performance in Tech's lone preseason scrimmage.

Texas Tech University Athletics

Related News

Players Mentioned

Taurean Henderson

Chad Hill

Khalid Naziruddin

Manuel Ramirez

E.J. Whitley

Related Videos