Texas Tech University Athletics
Red Raiders Prepare For Huge Road Game At Oklahoma
November 06, 2006 | Football
Nov. 6, 2006
Texas Tech at Oklahoma
Saturday, November 11, 2006
Oklahoma Memorial Stadium - 6 p.m. (FSN)
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THIS WEEK'S GAME
Texas Tech (6-4, 3-3 Big 12) faces South Division rival and 17th-ranked Oklahoma (7-2, 4-1 Big 12) on Saturday at Memorial Stadium in Norman, Okla. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. and the game will be broadcast nationally on FSN. Joel Meyers (play-by-play), Dave Lapham (analyst) and Jim Knox (sideline) will call the action from Norman. Texas Tech won its last outing against Baylor, 55-21, while Oklahoma edged out Texas A&M, 17-16, in College Station.
TECH SEEKS FIRST WIN IN NORMAN IN 10 YEARS
Texas Tech got one monkey off its back last year by defeating Oklahoma in Lubbock for the first time since 1999. This year the Red Raiders are looking for their first win in Norman since season one of the Big 12 Conference in 1996. Oklahoma leads the series 10-3, including a 7-3 mark in Big 12 play. Tech posted wins in 2005, 1999 and 1996. Despite their close proximity, the two teams met for the first time in 1992 and have played each year since, except in 1995. The 1993 matchup came in the John Hancock Bowl in El Paso.
WRAPPING IT UP AT HOME
Next week's regular-season finale against Oklahoma State marks the fourth-straight season that the Red Raiders have concluded their schedule at home. Since the inception of the Big 12 Conference, Texas Tech has closed the regular season at home in seven of 11 seasons. Six of those came against either Oklahoma or Oklahoma State.
RED RAIDERS AGAINST THE BIG 12 CONFERENCE
Texas Tech holds a series lead over four Big 12 members, including Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State and Oklahoma State. Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas and Texas A&M all hold series advantages over the Red Raiders, while the series with Baylor and Colorado are tied.
BOWLED OVER AGAIN
The Red Raiders qualified for postseason play for the 14th-straight season with their win over Baylor last weekend. Texas Tech is the only program of the 12 member institutions to boast an overall winning record each season since 1996. Others have finished at .500, but none have posted winning marks each of the last 11 seasons.
LEACH ONE WIN SHY OF THIRD-PLACE TIE
Seventh-year head coach Mike Leach has 54 wins in his career at Texas Tech and needs one more to tie former Red Raider coaching great Dell Morgan on the school's all-time wins list. Morgan totaled 55 wins from 1941-50. Spike Dykes (1986-99) leads with 82 wins, while Pete Cawthon (1930-40) recorded 76.
SEEING TRIPLE
Joel Filani's three-touchdown performance against Baylor marked the third time the senior wide receiver has caught three scores in a game. He did it at Iowa State three weeks ago and in Tech's last-minute win at Nebraska last season. Filani has 22 career touchdowns and is tied on the career charts with Mickey Peters (2000-03) in second place. He is one score shy of tying the single-season mark of 13, set by current Red Raider Jarrett Hicks in 2004.
WOODS' TOUCHDOWNS FIRST IN LEAGUE PLAY
When Shannon Woods crossed the goal line in the second quarter on a 34-yard run against Baylor, the rushing touchdown was the first for the Red Raiders in Big 12 play this season. Woods made up for lost time. The sophomore running back scored twice more on the ground on runs of one and six yards. He finished with 125 yards on 10 carries.
QUARTERBACK PLAYING UNDER SOLID PROTECTION
The Texas Tech offensive line is having its best season under Mike Leach as far as sacks allowed are concerned. The unit has yielded only 14 sacks on the season or 1.4 sacks per game. Last season's group allowed 3.0 sacks per game, while the 2004 unit gave up 2.3. The previous low was 2.0 sacks per game in 2003 when QB B.J. Symons set the NCAA single-season passing yardage mark. The 2002 group allowed a record 46 sacks (3.3 per game) and the 2000 and 2001 o-lines yielded 2.3 per game each.
HARRELL JOINS EXCLUSIVE CLUB WITH RECENT PLAY
Before Saturday's game against Baylor, only three players in school history had thrown for 1,000 total yards in back-to-back games. With his 483 yards in the win over the Bears last weekend and 519 yards against Texas, Harrell has 1,002 passing yards in the last two weekends. Additionally, he has thrown eight touchdown passes over that span.
Top Two-Game Totals in School History
1,247 yards - B.J. Symons vs. N.C. State and Mississippi (2003)
1,039 yards - B.J. Symons vs. Oklahoma State and Iowa State (2003)
1,011 yards - Cody Hodges vs. Nebraska and Kansas State (2005)
1,002 yards - Graham Harrell vs. Texas and Baylor (2006)
TECH QUARTERBACKS BOAST MINOR BOWL DISTINCTION
When Texas Tech takes the field in this year's bowl game, the Red Raiders will start a different quarterback for the fifth year in a row. Texas Tech will become the only school in bowl history to start a different quarterback in five bowl games in consecutive years.
FIRST HALF SCORING
The Red Raiders have a penchant for coming out of the gates early, having scored 208 of its 324 points this season in the first half. The second quarter has been the most productive as the team has produced 125 points (12.5) in the frame. Entering the Iowa State game three weeks ago, Tech was averaging 5.9 points in the first quarter on the season, but tacked on 14 within the first eight minutes of the game, and added another 21 in the first quarter against Texas. On the flipside, Tech has scored 56 in the third and 57 in the fourth this season.
HARRELL FIFTH AMONG SINGLE-SEASON PASSING LEADERS
Graham Harrell eclipsed the 3,000-yard mark on the season against Texas and moved into the top five on the Tech single-season yardage list with 3,507 after throwing for 483 against Baylor. He trails Cody Hodges in fourth place by 731 yards. Additionally, Harrell's 32 touchdown passes tie Sonny Cumbie (2004) on the single-season list in third place, while his 35 career scoring passes ranks sixth, trailing Billy Joe Tolliver (1985-88) by three.
PASSING YARDAGE AMONG SINGLE-GAME BESTS
Harrell blistered the Texas secondary for 519 yards, the second-most ever allowed by a Longhorn defense, in Saturday's 35-31 loss. With three touchdowns and 364 passing yards by halftime, Harrell already had numbers most QBs would like to have in a single game. The total ranks as the sixth-best game in Tech history and only the eighth in school history. The number also set a sophomore passing yardage record and total offense record, breaking marks set by Kliff Kingsbury (456 vs. Utah State in 2000) and Robert Hall (481 vs. Houston in 1991), respectively. Additionally, it also marks only the third 500-yard passing game nationally this season and ranks second in yardage. His 483 yards against Baylor ranks as the 11th-best single game.
PASS DEFENSE RANKS AMONG TOP 20; BEST IN 12 YEARS
Texas Tech has continued last year's success as the nation's No. 15 pass defense and currently ranks 17th this season. Tech also is second in the Big 12 Conference. The Red Raiders are suffocating opponents to the tune of 163.5 passing yards per game and have allowed 13 passing scores, while grabbing five of the team's eight interceptions this season. Tech held two opponents below 100 yards. The pass defense number is the best since the 1994 season, when the Red Raiders held opponents to 147.6 yards per game.
WASTING LITTLE TIME
Texas Tech leads the country with 20 touchdown drives under two minutes in length. Louisville follows with 18. The Red Raiders had four touchdown drives against Baylor under two minutes.
TIME MANAGEMENT
With 1:52 to play in the second quarter, Texas Tech took over at its on five-yard line and engineered a 95-yard touchdown drive in less than a minute and a half to take a 28-14 halftime lead. Graham Harrell hit Joel Filani on a 32-yard scoring strike in a drive that took only 1:21 to orchestrate. The distance was the most covered by the Red Raiders this season in as little time.
