Texas Tech University Athletics
Texas Tech Hosts TCU In Home Opener
September 14, 2004 | Football
Sept. 14, 2004
Texas Tech vs. TCU
Saturday, Sept. 18, 2004
Jones SBC Stadium, Lubbock, Texas; 11:30 a.m.
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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 458 wins, 372 losses and 32 ties.
THE GAME
Texas Tech opens the home schedule with a matchup against an old familiar face. The Red Raiders and the TCU Horned Frogs have not faced each other in football since the final season of the Southwest Conference in 1995. The only other former SWC member Tech has faced (excluding current Big 12 members) is SMU. Kickoff is set for 11:40 a.m. at Jones SBC Stadium.
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-TCU game will be broadcast nationally on FSN at 11:40 a.m. Joel Meyers (play-by-play), Dave Lapham (color analyst) and Jim Knox (sideline) will call the action from Jones SBC Stadium. The game is the first of two-straight slated for FSN national telecast (2:30 p.m. at Kansas next week).
THE COACHES - Texas Tech Head Coach Mike Leach
Red Raiders head coach Mike Leach is 32-22 at Texas Tech and is in his fifth season at the helm of the Red Raider program. Saturday's game is the first for Leach against TCU.
THE COACHES - TCU Head Coach Gary Patterson
TCU head coach Gary Patterson is in his fourth season at TCU and has transformed Horned Frog football. He is 29-11 during his career at TCU, including last season's 11-2 mark. The 1983 Kansas State grad has never faced the Red Raiders as the Horned Frogs head coach.
THE TEXAS TECH-TCU SERIES
Texas Tech leads 27-22-3, including a 16-7-3 advantage in Lubbock. The Red Raiders have won 19 of the last 23 meetings since the 1973 season, a year in which Tech snapped TCU's last two-game win streak in the series. Tech won the final Southwest Conference meeting against the Horned Frogs in 1995, a 27-6 win in Lubbock. TCU's last win was a 24-21 victory in the regular-season finale in 1994 in Fort Worth. The series dates back to the 1926 season, Tech's second year of football. TCU won the first five meetings, before the Red Raiders collected a win. During the SWC years, the Red Raiders went 21-12-3 against TCU.
SERIES INFORMATION
Overall: Tech leads 27-22-3
In Lubbock:Tech leads 16-7-3
In Fort Worth: TCU leads 15-11-0
Last Meeting: Tech 27, TCU 6 (1995)
TECH IN HOME OPENERS
The Red Raiders have won 58 of 79 home openers throughout the course of the program's history. Tech has won 10 of the last 11 home openers with the only blemish coming to North Texas in 1999. Tech's record in home openers is 58-18-3.
LATE START
Saturday's date marks the latest the Red Raiders have opened the home schedule, since the 1999 season when Tech hosted North Texas on Sept. 18. The latest home start for the Red Raiders came during the 1931 season, when Tech hosted Colorado Mines on Oct. 23.
FORMER TECH COACH TO BE HONORED THIS WEEKEND
John Conley is being honored this weekend for his quarter of century of service to Texas Tech by a number of Red Raiders from the 1960s and 1970s. Conley served as an assistant coach under JT King and Jim Carlen from 1961-74; as assistant athletics director from 1974-80; and athletics director from 1980-85. He was inducted into the Texas Tech Athletic Hall of Honor in 1995 and is an honorary member of the Double T Association. In conjunction with the Conley Reunion, Texas Tech will honor his first bowl team (1964) on its 40th anniversary and his last bowl team (1974) on its 30th anniversary in a pre-game ceremony. Among those planning on attending are Billy Taylor and Danny Hardaway, the first African-American to receive a football scholarship at Tech.
HICKS'S PLAY CONSISTENT OVER FIRST TWO GAMES
Sophomore WR Jarrett Hicks's numbers in the first two games of the season have made him one of the team's most consistent receivers. Hicks opened the season with eight catches for 150 yards and followed that performance with nine catches for 150 yards against New Mexico. He is the first receiver in school history to post back-to-back 100-yard games in the first two games of the season. Hicks is averaging 150.0 receiving yards per game, which leads the Big 12 Conference and ranks third nationally.
HAVERTY STEPS UP IN GLOVER'S ABSENCE
When senior IR Nehemiah Glover left the New Mexico with an undisclosed injury, senior IR Trey Haverty stepped in and contributed immediately. Haverty, who didn't record a reception in the first game, caught eight passes for a career-high 117 yards.
SOPHOMORE PUNTER NAMED TO RAY GUY WATCH LIST
Sophomore P Alex Reyes, who was named to the Ray Guy Award Watch List last week, is averaging 48.6 yards per punt on the season after averaging 51.0 per punt in the opener at SMU and 47.0 yards per punt at New Mexico. He recorded his season-long punt of 62 yards at UNM. Reyes' average ranks second in the Big 12, but doesn't rank nationally due to the required minimum of 3.6 punts per game. If included nationally, his average would rank third.
RED RAIDER DEFENSE CONTINUES TO IMPROVE
The Texas Tech defense continues to show improvement in this young 2004 season as the squad has dropped its average total offense allowed per game by 114 yards. In two games this season, Texas Tech is allowing 318.5 yards per game of total offense compared to 432 last season in the first two games (also against SMU and New Mexico). The Red Raider defense is currently ranked 44th in the nation in total defense (sixth in the Big 12) and has also seen dramatic improvement in its passing defense. The Tech pass defense is allowing 167.5 yards per-game compared to 272 after the first two games in 2003 and is ranked 30th nationally (third in the Big 12). The rush defense has also dropped its average by nine yards as Tech is allowing 151 yards on the ground compared to 160 at this time last year.
TECH SECONDARY TURNING HEADS
The Red Raider secondary anchored by free safety Vincent Meeks has been one of the strongest units on either side of the ball in the first two games. Meeks leads the squad with a total of 14.5 tackles in two games and has paced the team in both the SMU (four solo tackles, eight assisted) and New Mexico (five solo tackles, three assisted) games. The red hot play of cornerback Antonio Huffman has helped Tech jump into fifth place in the national standings in total fumble recoveries. Huffman has two of Tech's four fumble recoveries this season while right corner Khalid Naziruddin and defensive tackle Ken Scott are responsible for the two others. The Tech secondary is allowing 167 yards passing per game and that ranks 30th nationally and third in the Big 12.
RED RAIDERS HOLD MOORE
The Texas Tech rush defense held New Mexico star tailback DonTrell Moore to under 100 yards in Saturday's game while holding the entire UNM rushing attack to 142 yards (down from 160 yards allowed on the ground last week against SMU). Moore, a 2003 All-America selection by various publications, rushed for 83 yards on 20 attempts for an average of 3.8 yards per carry. The sub 100-yard rushing output was just his fifth in the last 15 games. Last week against Washington State, he ran for 167 yards and scored one touchdown.
BRIEFLY (DEFENSE)
- The Tech defensive unit had a stellar first quarter as the Red Raiders held New Mexico to three-and-out on four of five possessions. Punt return specialist Nehemiah Glover fumbled a punt (on the Tech 16) after Tech held New Mexico on their first possession and that led to a touchdown two plays later by quarterback Kole McKamey.
- WILL linebacker Mike Smith made his 35th career start Saturday night and is the most seasoned player on the Tech defensive unit. Senior defensive end Adell Duckett has played in 40 career games and made his 27th start against New Mexico.
- Senior defensive end Adell Duckett registered three tackles for loss against New Mexico for a total loss of six yards.
- Last season Texas Tech allowed an average of 6.2 yards per play compared to the 4.5 average in 2004.
THE BIG ISLAND
Four seasons away from game action didn't seem to have an effect on junior TE Bristol Olomua. Since last playing for BYU in 1999, the Hawaii native served two years on a Mormon mission in 2000 and 2001, sat out as a redshirt in 2002 and transferred to Tech during last season. In his first game back, the largest of the Tech receiving corps caught seven passes for 100 yards and two touchdowns, out-muscling and out-positioning SMU defenders for the ball. He caught three passes for 22 yards against New Mexico. Olomua, who stands at 6-foot-6 and 260 pounds, is the biggest receiver as a whole to play under Leach at Texas Tech.
