Game Preview: West Virginia

LUBBOCK, Texas – Texas Tech returns to Jones AT&T Stadium this Saturday for a top-25 showdown between the No. 25 Red Raiders and No. 12 West Virginia. Kickoff is slated for 11 a.m. and tickets are still on sale online or by contacting the Texas Tech Ticket Office at 806-742-TECH.

The game will air live nationally on ESPN2 with Anish Shroff calling the action alongside analyst Ahmad Brooks and field analyst Roddy Jones. Fans can also find the game on any streaming device by using the ESPN+ app.

The Texas Tech Sports Network will also broadcast the game over 46 affiliates throughout the state of Texas and New Mexico as Brian Jensen will have the call alongside analyst John Harris, sideline reporter Chris Level and engineer Steve Pitts. The radio broadcast can also be heard on Sirius channel 106, XM channel 200 or via the TuneIn app.

SERIES HISTORY

Texas Tech and West Virginia will be meeting for the eighth time Saturday as the Mountaineers lead the overall series with a 5-2 advantage. This will be the seventh time the two schools have met since West Virginia joined the Big 12 prior to the 2012 season.
The Red Raiders are 1-2 all-time against the Mountaineers at Jones AT&T Stadium as Texas Tech topped West Virginia, 49-14, in its first ever visit to Lubbock in 2012. The Mountaineers have claimed road wins in each of their last two visits to the Hub City, edging Tech, 37-34, in 2014 and 48-17 in 2016.
The only other meeting between the two schools outside the Big 12 era came in the 1938 Sun Bowl where West Virginia edged the Red Raiders, 7-6, in front of 12,000 fans in El Paso. It was the first of 38 bowl appearances for the Red Raiders, which ranks 20th nationally among college football programs.
Texas Tech head coach Kliff Kingsbury is 1-4 against West Virginia head coach Dana Holgorsen, who spent eight seasons on Mike Leach's staff from 2000-07, including the three seasons (2000-02) when Kingsbury was leading the Red Raider offense as quarterback.

COACHING TIES BETWEEN TEXAS TECH AND WEST VIRGINIA

Kliff Kingsbury will meet West Virginia head coach Dana Holgorsen for the sixth time Saturday as the two have deep ties that go back to Kingsbury's time as quarterback of the Red Raiders. Holgorsen spent seven seasons as a charter member of Mike Leach's staff at Texas Tech from 2000-07 before he departed to take the offensive coordinator position at the University of Houston.
Holgorsen helped hire Kingsbury for his first coaching position in 2008 after Holgorsen left Texas Tech to take the offensive coordinator position at Houston. Kingsbury joined Holgorsen in Houston as an offensive quality control assistant in 2008 and then was promoted to quarterbacks coach two years later when Holgorsen left for the same position at Oklahoma State.
In addition to Kingsbury, co-offensive coordinator Clay McGuire (2000-04), offensive line coach Brandon Jones (2003-06) and Director of Player Development Manny Ramirez (2003-06) were student-athletes at Tech during Holgorsen's seven seasons on staff.
Texas Tech linebackers coach Zac Spavital will also see a familiar face on the opposing sideline in his younger brother, West Virginia offensive coordinator Jake Spavital. This will be the third time the two brothers have met on the field following last season's close game in Morgantown. The other occurrence came in 2008 when Zac Spavital was in his first year as the defensive backs coach at Houston while Jake Spavital was a quality control assistant at Tulsa. The Cougars got the best of the Golden Hurricane that day with a 70-30 victory.

FEAR THE BEARD
By now, many have likely recognized a new trend involving Kliff Kingsbury, who has been sporting a beard during Texas Tech's three-game winning streak. Kingsbury reiterated following the Red Raiders' victory at Oklahoma State that the beard would remain untouched heading into this weekend's West Virginia game.

ANOTHER WEEK, ANOTHER TOP-25 FOE

After going on the road to top then-No. 15 Oklahoma State, Texas Tech will get another opportunity to knock off a top-25 foe this Saturday in No. 12 West Virginia. The Red Raiders, themselves, entered the national rankings this week as Tech checked in at No. 25 in the Associated Press poll.
The Red Raiders are looking for wins over top-15 opponents in consecutive weeks for the first time since 2008 when Tech topped No. 1 Texas (39-33) and No. 8 Oklahoma State (56-20) at home. Tech has not defeated ranked foes in back-to-back weeks since 2012 when the Red Raiders downed No. 4 West Virginia (49-14) and No. 21 TCU (56-53).

NEWS & NOTES

Texas Tech being ranked No. 1 in passing offense (435.8 yards per game) and total offense (623.5 yards per game) shouldn't come as much of a surprise to many as the Red Raiders have ranked among the nation's top attacks for over a decade. What might surprise some, however, is the Red Raiders currently rank No. 1 among power-five teams and fifth overall nationally in time of possession.
Through four games, Texas Tech is controlling the clock to an average of exactly 36:00 minutes. The Red Raiders have not finished higher than 48th nationally in time of possession since the NCAA started tracking the stat in 2005.
Through the first four games (three starts) of his collegiate career, Alan Bowman sure hasn't looked like a true freshman. He has thrown for 1,557 yards and 10 touchdowns with only two interceptions on 179 attempts as he leads the country in passing yards per game (389.2) and ranks third in total offense per game (387.3).
The Red Raiders have protected Alan Bowman despite facing two of the pass rushing teams in the country the past two weeks in Oklahoma State and Houston. The Cowboys lead the country in team sacks, while Houston boasts the nation's top defensive lineman in Ed Oliver. Tech has allowed four sacks thus far, which ranks tied for 21st nationally.
Through four weeks, Antoine Wesley has hauled in 30 passes for 511 yards and four touchdowns, all team highs. He currently ranks tied for second nationally in receiving yards (511) and receiving yards per game (127.8), ninth for receptions per game (7.5) and 13th for receiving touchdowns (4). He is the Big 12 leader in the first three of those categories.
After finishing tied for sixth at plus-11 in the turnover margin a year ago, the Red Raiders are currently plus-3 this season, which ranks 16th nationally through four games.

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Players Mentioned

Alan Bowman

Antoine Wesley