Game Preview: Tech Set for First Road Test at KSU

LUBBOCK, Texas - Texas Tech hits the road for the first time this season Saturday when the Red Raiders travel to face Kansas State in a 2:30 p.m. kickoff from Bill Snyder Family Stadium in Manhattan.

The game will be broadcast nationally on FS1 and available on any mobile or streaming device by using the FOX Sports 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 XM channel 199, Sirius channel 121 or via the TuneIn app.

INSIDE THE SERIES
Texas Tech and Kansas State will meet for the 21st time Saturday in a back-and-forth series that currently has the Wildcats at a 11-9 all-time advantage. The Wildcats enter this weekend having won eight of the past nine meetings, including a 30-27 victory last season in Lubbock. The Red Raiders had won five-consecutive games against Kansas State before Kansas State's string of success began in 2011.

The Red Raiders' lone win during that eight-year stretch came in 2015 when DeAndre Washington rushed for a career-high 248 yards and three touchdowns in a 59-44 victory in Lubbock.
Texas Tech's last visit to the Little Apple turned into a rare low-scoring affair as as the Wildcats overcame frigid temperatures for a 21-6 victory.
Outside of that game, the two schools have combined for at least 50 points in each of the 14 other contests dating back to 2000.
Over the course of its current four-game losing streak against the Wildcats, Texas Tech has dropped three of those games by only one possession.

NOTABLE STATS VS K-STATE

Adrian Frye has recorded two of his six career interceptions against the Wildcats and Kansas State quarterback Skyler Thompson.
Riko Jeffers notched 11 tackles against Kansas State in 2018 to match a career high. He also matched his career high with 2.0 tackles for a loss in last year's meeting, which included his fifth career sack.
SaRodorick Thompson carried 21 times for 84 yards and a touchdown a year ago versus Kansas State, while also adding a career-high seven receptions for 28 yards in the close loss.
T.J. Vasher has 11 catches for 127 yards and a touchdown over his career against Kansas State, all of which were from the 2017-18 meetings.
Since moving to a wide-open passing offense in 2000, Texas Tech has thrown for at least 300 yards in 14 of the 15 meetings against Kansas State with the lone exception coming in 2018.

RECEIVING TRIO OFF TO STRONG STARTS
Texas Tech is once again among the top passing teams in the country early this season as the Red Raiders are averaging 380.5 yards per game through the air thanks in part to the play of T.J. Vasher, KeSean Carter and Erik Ezukanma. The trio has accounted for 62.2 percent of Tech's receiving yards thus far and all of its seven receiving touchdowns.

Vasher and Carter both hauled in a pair of receiving touchdowns versus Texas, while Ezukanma added one other.
Quarterback Alan Bowman threw for five touchdowns for only the second time in his career.
For Ezukanma, it marked the fifth-straight game with a touchdown grab dating back to 2019.

THOMPSON POWERING RUNNING GAME
Sophomore running back SaRodorick Thompson leads the Red Raiders with 222 yards and four touchdowns on the ground off 38 carries through two games. Thompson has eclipsed the 100-yard mark in each of Texas Tech's two games this season as he totaled 118 yards and two touchdowns versus Houston Baptist before finishing with 104 yards and an additional two touchdowns against Texas.

Thompson is the first Red Raider running back to rush for at least 100 yards in each of the first two games of a season since Ricky Williams in 1998.
Thompson, who now has seven multi-touchdown games in his career, is the first Red Raider to rush for at least two touchdowns in each of the first two games since Shannon Woods in 2008.
Thompson ranks among the national leaders in rushing touchdowns (T-8th), rushing yards per game (10th), total touchdowns (T-4th), scoring per game (14th), rushing yards (18th) and rushing yards per carry (26th).
He shares the Big 12 lead in rushing touchdowns, scoring and total touchdowns.

NEWS & NOTES FROM FIRST TWO WEEKS
Texas Tech opened its season with a win for the 17th time in the past 18 years after topping Houston Baptist, 35-33, on Sept. 12. It also marked the 21-consecutive season where the Red Raiders have won their home opener. The Red Raiders followed with a 63-56 setback against No. 8 Texas this past weekend where Texas Tech scored its most points all-time in the series with the Longhorns. The two teams combined for 119 points, the most since Tech and Oklahoma scored a combined 125 in 2015, which remains a program record.

Texas Tech is averaging 45.5 points per game through two games, which ranks ninth nationally and third in the Big 12.
Texas Tech has not allowed a sack through its first two games this season despite 104 pass attempts, the eighth-highest total currently in the country.
The Red Raiders have converted 18 of their 31 third-down conversions thus far (58 percent), which leads the Big 12 and ranks sixth nationally.
Defensively, Texas Tech has stopped 19 of 31 third down attempts, namely five of the 16 the Red Raiders faced against Texas alone.
Ja'Lynn Polk caught five passes for 56 yards versus Houston Baptist, marking the first time a true freshman has recorded five or more receptions in a season opener since two-time Biletnikoff Award winner Michael Crabtree in 2007.
KeSean Carter picked up where he left off from the 2019 season as the junior currently leads the Big 12 in receptions per game (6.5) and also ranks fifth nationally and tied for second in the conference in receiving touchdowns.

Playmaker ??

And now he's in the Top 10 for career receiving TDs. @VashForSiXX | #WreckEm pic.twitter.com/O4DjXaiGKQ
— Texas Tech Football (@TexasTechFB) September 28, 2020

Game Preview: Tech Set for First Road Test at KSU

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Alan Bowman

KeSean Carter

Erik Ezukanma

Adrian Frye

Riko Jeffers

Ja'Lynn Polk

SaRodorick Thompson Jr.

T.J. Vasher

Game Preview: Tech Set for First Road Test at KSU

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Alan Bowman

KeSean Carter

Erik Ezukanma

Adrian Frye

Riko Jeffers

Ja'Lynn Polk

SaRodorick Thompson Jr.

T.J. Vasher

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