Texas Tech University Athletics
Game Day: Texas Tech Set For Season Opener
September 02, 2011 | Football
The Red Raiders open their 2011 campaign Saturday night at 6 p.m.
September 2, 2011
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by Britton Drown
Texas Tech Athletics
It wasn't a moment from practice that head coach Tommy Tuberville chose to talk about Tuesday afternoon at the conclusion of practice. As the grind of training camp weaved its way through the brutal days of August and into September, the second-year head coach had already spent countless days in the past month discussing the anecdotes and noteworthy aspects of practices with the media.
This was an ordinary day, perhaps an ordinary practice, and on his mind was a meeting from the night before, and he felt compelled to discuss it with the media. It was important to him, evidently just as significant as anything that could have happened during the preceding practice.
Monday evening, Tuberville hosted his 20-member senior class inside his home for a pre-season dinner. As he told it, it was there, sitting beside his leaders on the first night of game week, that Tuberville felt a rush of confidence.
Separated from the football field, with no deafening whistles blowing and no pressure of fighting for a job, it was a unfamiliar setting for his players, but it spawned a sense of assurance inside Tuberville about his 2011 team.
 | "As a quarterback, you need to take a vocal leadership toward the offense. That's something I challenge myself with every day. In my mind I'm thinking I need to be vocal today. I need to make sure these guys are ready to go and excited to play." |
"They are very excited about the season opener," Tuberville said of his senior class. "Which makes me feel good about our leadership."
Leadership. Above anything else, it seems the paramount quality of any football team heading into the first game of the season. It's a collective confidence in those who have been there before. Those who can be looked to for guidance inside the sea of chaos that gameday can bring.
Saturday will certainly have that feel in the first-ever meeting between Texas Tech and Texas State. It marks the season-opener, and simultaneously signals perhaps the most unpredictable game of the season.
"The first game of the year always scares me," Tuberville said. "I don't care who you play, whether it's a conference game or the No. 1 team in the country."
But he has his leaders, and for a team that has a roster littered with newcomers and first-year starters, including junior quarterback Seth Doege , Tuberville will lean on those select leaders to guide his Red Raiders into Jones AT&T Stadium and kickoff the 2011 season.
Texas Tech enters the 2011 campaign with just one senior starting on the defensive side of the ball, nose tackle Donald Langley, in a system that is in its first year with a new defensive coordinator in Chad Glasgow. Meanwhile, the offense will be guided by a new quarterback in Doege, but will at the same time feature a receiving core that is extremely deep with talent.
A total of 12 newcomers are listed on the season-opening depth chart, nine of which are true freshman. Despite the swarm of newcomers though, Tuberville said he is excited for the potential this squad brings.
"I'm excited about watching the younger guys play for the first time," Tuberville said. "I think [they] will be household names for the next four years here at Texas Tech on both offense and defense"
If history shows anything though, the Red Raiders should have ample confidence on Saturday. Texas Tech has won eight consecutive season openers dating back to the 2003 campaign. Meanwhile, the Red Raiders are just one of two Big 12 teams to enter the season on a wining streak, as they have won three consecutive games dating back to last season.
In season openers at home, Texas Tech is 65-18-3.
As one of the new faces in the Texas Tech starting lineup, Doege has challenged himself to transform into one of Tuberville's leaders on this young, but very talented squad.
On Saturday night , he will get that chance.
"As a quarterback, you need to take a vocal leadership toward the offense," Doege said. "That's something I challenge myself with every day. In my mind I'm thinking I need to be vocal today. I need to make sure these guys are ready to go and excited to play."
