Texas Tech University Athletics
Gameday: Texas Tech Faces Kansas in Big 12 Opener
September 30, 2011 | Football
October 1, 2011
by Britton Drown
Texas Tech Athletics Communications
After an eventful non-conference slate to begin the season, the Texas Tech football team is now set to begin Big 12 play on Saturday morning with a nationally televised match up against Kansas.
Kickoff is set for 11:00 a.m. inside Memorial Stadium, and Fox Sports Net will provide the broadcast.
"It [Kansas] will be the best team we've played," head coach Tommy Tuberville said. "So we want to make sure we give ourselves a chance, and keep improving on offense, keep improving on defense, special teams and we just take it one week at a time now."
The Red Raiders are coming off their most exciting game of the season, as Seth Doege guided a game-winning drive to seal the 35-34 victory over Nevada with just 44 seconds remaining in the contest last week. The junior quarterback connected with receiver Eric Ward in the corner of the end zone on a fourth-and-goal play to push the Red Raiders past the Wolf Pack.
Texas Tech overcame a 14-point during their comeback to secure an unblemished 3-0 record heading into Saturday's Big 12 opener in Lawrence.
 | "It's going to be exciting. We just have to worry about us and go through our routine. We have been through it." |
Now it's time for Tuberville and his team to shift their focus to nine consecutive weeks of conference play, something that he alluded to earlier in the year as a steep challenge for his team. The Red Raiders' lone bye week came following their first game of the year, a 50-10 win over Texas State on Sept 3.
"Every Big 12 game is a big game," Doege said. "It's going to be exciting. We just have to worry about us and go through our routine. We have been through it--we went through it in New Mexico and the young guys know what to do. So we just have to worry about us and go play."
Texas Tech leads the overall series against Kansas 11-1 with their only loss coming at home in 2001. The Red Raiders have won four consecutive meetings with the Jayhawks heading into Saturday's contest.
Kansas enters the game on the heels of their bye week, which came following a lopsided 66-24 loss at Georgia Tech on Sept. 17. The Jayhawks gave up 768 yards of total offense to the Yellow Jackets, 604 of which came on the ground. The 604 rushing yards set a program record for Georgia Tech.
However, the staggering offensive numbers Georgia Tech put up against Kansas two weeks ago have not been something Tuberville or the Red Raiders have paid much attention to when preparing for their meeting with the Jayhawks.
"Their last game, you can throw that out," Tuberville said.
Tuberville said the triple-option offense that Georgia Tech ran against Kansas is not comparable to the spread offense Texas Tech runs, and his team needs to focus on continuing to produce in their own way.
Perhaps more than anything, Tuberville will look for his team to get off to a faster start than they did during non-conference play. Texas Tech has trailed entering halftime twice this season.
And to do so, the Red Raiders will be looking for Eric Stephens to have yet another big day. The junior running back rushed for a career high 134 yards against Nevada last week, and has rushed for over 90 yards in each of the last four games dating back to last season.
"I think a lot of it has to do with us having the entire [offensive] line back," Stephens said. "For us to have everyone back, it helped us get off to a quicker start than what we did last year and the previous years."
The Kansas defense is giving up an average of 282 yards of offense on the ground through three games this season.
Stephens and the Red Raiders will be looking to capture a win Saturday in their Big 12 opener and improve to a perfect 4-0 to start the season.
"We are sold on what we want to do," Tuberville said. "And the players are too."
