Game Preview: Tech Opens Big 12 Play at Oklahoma

LUBBOCK, Texas - Fresh off its first open week, Texas Tech returns to the road Saturday when the Red Raiders travel to face No. 6 Oklahoma in the Big 12 opener for both teams. Kickoff from Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Okla., is set for 11 a.m.

The game will air nationally on FOX with Gus Johnson on the call alongside analyst Joel Klatt with Jenny Taft reporting from the sidelines. Fans can also find the game on any streaming device by using the FOX Sports Go 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 XM channel 203, Sirius channel 113 or via the TuneIn app.

SERIES HISTORY

This will be the 27th all-time meeting between Texas Tech and Oklahoma as the Red Raiders will be looking to snap a seven-game losing streak against the Sooners. Oklahoma controls the overall series between the two schools with a 20-6 all-time record versus the Red Raiders.
The Red Raiders will be looking for their third all-time victory in Norman as Texas Tech is 2-11 at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. The two victories came via a 22-12 win in 1996 and 41-38 upset in 2011 when the Sooners were the top-ranked team in the USA Today coaches' poll.
This is the 10th-consecutive season the Red Raiders have faced a ranked Sooners team. Texas Tech is 3-17 all-time against ranked Oklahoma teams.

TEXAS TECH IN BIG 12 OPENERS

Texas Tech enters this weekend with a 14-9 record in Big 12 openers. The Red Raiders have won five of their last eight Big 12 openers thanks to victories over TCU (2013), Iowa State (2012), Kansas (2011, 2016) and Oklahoma State (2018).
Texas Tech is opening league play in the state of Oklahoma for a second-consecutive season after delivering a 41-17 rout to then No. 15 Oklahoma State a year ago. This will be the first time in program history the Red Raiders have faced Oklahoma in their first conference game.
The Red Raiders will be facing a ranked opponent to open Big 12 play for the sixth time in the past seven years. Texas Tech is 2-3 in those games with a 20-10 victory over No. 24 TCU in 2013 and its victory over No. 15 Oklahoma State in 2018. The Red Raiders came close to topping the Horned Frogs again in 2015 before a final-minute touchdown helped TCU escape Lubbock with a 55-52 victory.

TEXAS TECH-OKLAHOMA CONNECTIONS

Texas Tech has numerous ties to the state of Oklahoma on its coaching staff, beginning with head coach Matt Wells and his brother, inside receivers and tight ends coach Luke Wells, who are both natives of Sallisaw. Luke Wells attended the University of Oklahoma, earning his degree in secondary education in 2002 after serving as a student assistant for the Sooners from 1999-01. In addition, defensive coordinator Keith Patterson is originally from Marlow, which is located roughly 65 miles southwest of Norman, while offensive line coach Steve Farmer is a native of Coweta located just outside of Tulsa.
Safeties coach Kerry Cooks arrived at Texas Tech this past spring following four seasons on the Oklahoma staff. Cooks joined the Sooners in 2014 as the defensive backs coach before adding an assistant defensive coordinator title the following season.
Several other Red Raiders coaches have worked in the state of Oklahoma, namely at Tulsa. Matt Wells was the Golden Hurricanes' tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator from 2002-06 where he worked alongside Patterson, who was Tulsa's linebackers coach from 2003-05 and its co-defensive coordinator for 2006-10. Patterson was previously a head coach at the high school level in Oklahoma with stops at Edmond Sante Fe in 1994 and Ardmore from 1997-99.
Defensive line coach Paul Randolph, meanwhile, arrived at Tulsa in 2007, beginning a stretch of four seasons where he was the executive senior associate head coach and co-defensive coordinator on top of his defensive line duties.
Texas Tech boasts three Oklahoma natives on its roster in redshirt freshman linebacker Patrick Curley (Wagoner), junior defensive lineman Noah Jones (Moore) and freshman defensive back Dadrion Taylor (Oklahoma City).
On the Oklahoma side, Sooner head coach Lincoln Riley graduated from Texas Tech in 2006 and was a member of the Red Raiders' coaching staff from 2006-09. Riley is only the third Texas Tech graduate to face his alma mater as an opposing head coach, joining Tom Wilson (Texas A&M 1978-81) and Art Briles (Baylor 2008-15).
Oklahoma assistant head coach/outside linebackers coach Ruffin McNeill was a fan favorite during his 10 seasons as an assistant at Texas Tech from 2000-09. McNeill coached linebackers (2000-02) and special teams (2003-06) early in his Tech career before being promoted to interim defensive coordinator during the 2007 season. McNeill remained Tech's defensive coordinator for two more years before serving as interim head coach at the 2009 Alamo Bowl where the Red Raiders defeated Michigan State, 41-31.
In addition to McNeill, three other members of Oklahoma's staff - Bill Bedenbaugh (offensive line), Dennis Simmons (outside receivers) and Bennie Wylie (Director of Sports Performance) - previously worked on Texas Tech's staff. Bedenbaugh was a graduate assistant at Tech from 2000-02 before earning a full-time position as the running backs coach from 2003-04 and then the offensive line coach from 2005-06. Simmons was an Assistant Athletic Director in charge of quality control from 2000-04 and then as the football program's Chief of Staff from 2005-07. He moved to a coaching role as the Red Raiders' wide receivers coach from 2008-09. Wylie, finally, was Tech's head football strength and conditioning coach from 2003-09.

ON THIS DAY IN TECH HISTORY

Texas Tech will be playing on Sept. 28 for the first time since 1996 when, ironically, head coach Matt Wells was on the opposing sideline as a senior quarterback and defensive back for Utah State. The Red Raiders topped the Aggies, 58-20, at Jones AT&T Stadium that evening as Wells recorded a tackle against a Tech offense that was powered by 224 rushing yards and three touchdowns from eventual Doak Walker Award winner Byron Hanspard.
Overall, Texas Tech is 4-4 all-time on Sept. 28, which includes a pair of top-10 wins over a Texas program that was ranked No. 6 nationally in both 1968 and 1974. The Red Raiders' lone other victory came in 1946 in a 6-0 shutout of Texas A&M.
As a head coach, this will be the first time a Matt Wells led team will play on Sept. 28.

TEXAS TECH VERSUS RANKED FOES

The Red Raiders will be looking to knock off a ranked opponent for a second-consecutive season Saturday after topping then-No. 15 Oklahoma State, 41-17, a year ago in Stillwater. It marked Texas Tech's first victory over a top-25 foe since shocking No. 16 Arizona State, 37-23, in the 2013 Holiday Bowl.
Texas Tech will be looking for its first win over a top-10 team since routing West Virginia at home, 49-14, on Oct. 13, 2012. The Mountaineers came into that game ranked No. 4 nationally before Tech delivered its largest margin of victory over a top-five team in school history.
The Red Raiders have not defeated a top-10 opponent on the road since 2011 when Texas Tech rolled into Norman to surprise the No. 1/3 Sooners, 41-38, snapping Oklahoma's 39-game home winning streak in the process. It was Tech's first-ever road victory over a top-ranked team in either the Associated Press or USA Today Coaches' polls.
Matt Wells is looking to become the first Texas Tech head coach to knock off a top-10 team in his debut season since Rex Dockery led the Red Raiders to a 22-21 upset over No. 5 Houston in 1978. Wells recorded three wins over ranked opponents during his Utah State tenure, defeating No. 24 in the 2013 SDCCU Poinsettia Bowl, No. 18 BYU in 2014 and No. 21 Boise State in 2015.

That's a badddd man.

??#WreckEm?? pic.twitter.com/JJtAYIDl24
— Texas Tech Football (@TexasTechFB) September 15, 2019

NOTABLES...

Matt Wells is a perfect 7-0 over his career in weeks following a bye, which includes one ranked win at No. 18 BYU in 2014.
Texas Tech's loss to Arizona was rare in the fact that the Red Raiders have won over 81 percent (66-15) of its regular-season contests against non-conference foes since joining the Big 12 Conference in 1996. Since then, Tech has overcome a non-conference loss by later playing in a bowl game seven times with two of the five exceptions being as a result of a self-imposed postseason ban (1997) or the resignation of then head coach Spike Dykes (1999).
Texas Tech's victory over Montana State to start the season made Matt Wells the fourth-consecutive head coach to win his debut leading the Red Raiders. Even more impressive, the Red Raiders won in commanding fashion as only DeWitt Weaver secured a larger margin of victory in his coaching debut. Weaver, the fifth head coach in program history, led the Red Raiders to a 46-7 victory over West Texas State in 1951, the first of his 10 seasons roaming the Tech sideline.
Texas Tech opened the year with a pair of 35-point victories, marking the first time since 2012 the Red Raiders have begun a season with back-to-back wins by at least 30 points.
Texas Tech has only been flagged 15 times in each of the first three games, the second-fewest for the Red Raiders to open a season since 2000 and the fewest since 2011. Tech enters this weekend ranked 21st in the FBS for fewest penalties per game after closing the 2018 season at 110th in the national rankings. The Red Raiders also rank 33rd in the FBS for fewest penalty yards per game (46.3).
A total of 29 student-athletes have already made their debut for Texas Tech this season, including eight true freshmen in Tony Bradford Jr., Tyrique Matthews, Austin McNamara, Chux Nwabuko, Landon Peterson, Luke Rizzo, Trevor Roberson and Dadrion Taylor.

Game Preview: Tech Opens Big 12 Play at Oklahoma

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Players Mentioned

Tony Bradford Jr.

Patrick Curley

Noah Jones

Tyrique Matthews

Austin McNamara

Landon Peterson

Luke Rizzo

Trevor Roberson

Dadrion Taylor-Demerson

Texas Tech University Athletics

Game Preview: Tech Opens Big 12 Play at Oklahoma

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Tony Bradford Jr.

Patrick Curley

Noah Jones

Tyrique Matthews

Austin McNamara

Landon Peterson

Luke Rizzo

Trevor Roberson

Dadrion Taylor-Demerson

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