Game Preview: Ole Miss

LUBBOCK, Texas – Texas Tech opens its 94th season of football Saturday morning when the Red Raiders head to Houston to take on Ole Miss at 11 a.m. at NRG Stadium. The game will air live nationally on ESPN, as well as the Texas Tech Sports Network.

Mark Jones (play-by-play) and Dusty Dvoracek (analyst) will call Saturday's game, while Molly McGrath will report from the sidelines. The contest can also be streamed live on the ESPN app and on WatchESPN.com.

SATURDAY STORYLINES

Texas Tech travels back to the city of Houston for the third time in the last four years this weekend as the Red Raiders previously took part in the 2015 AdvoCare Texas Bowl and then defeated the University of Houston in 2017.
Texas Tech is taking part in the AdvoCare Texas Kickoff for the first time in program history. In fact, this is the first time Tech has opened with a neutral-site game since 1959 when the Red Raiders faced Texas A&M in Dallas. Tech also met the Aggies in Dallas to start the 1958 season and prior to that traveled to Oklahoma City to battle then Oklahoma A&M (now Oklahoma State).
Texas Tech enters the AdvoCare Texas Kickoff riding a 15-game winning streak in season openers, which ranks as the third-longest active run among teams nationally. That streak is the longest in the Big 12 Conference and trails only Ohio State (17) and Alabama (16) nationally.
Texas Tech is out-scoring its opponents by an average of 28.7 points in season openers since 2000, which ranks third nationally during that span only behind Florida (30.1) and Texas (29.0).
Since converting to the spread offense in 2000, Texas Tech has averaged 44.2 points per game over the course of 18 season openers.
The Red Raiders are opening the season against an SEC foe for the first time since traveling to face No. 5 Tennessee to start the 1997 campaign. It is the first time Texas Tech has met a power-five opponent to begin its season since the Red Raiders fell at No. 12 Ohio State in 2002.
Texas Tech and Ole Miss will be meeting for the sixth time in history at the AdvoCare Texas Kickoff. The Red Raiders and Rebels have previously faced each other three times in bowl games. In addition, the two schools also played a home-and-home series during the 2002-03 seasons.
Texas Tech will honor the memory of the Red Raider great Gabe Rivera throughout the 2018 season. Rivera, one of five members of the prestigious Texas Tech Ring of Honor, passed away in his hometown of San Antonio on July 16. Known by fans as "Señor Sack" throughout his career, Rivera compiled 321 career tackles, including 34 that went for a loss, over his four-year career from 1979-82. He was inducted into the National Football Foundation's College Football Hall of Fame in 2012 and the Texas Tech Ring of Honor in 2014.

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