Preview: Primetime bout with No. 9 Oklahoma State awaits

LUBBOCK, Texas – Texas Tech is preparing to play its final home game of the 2021 season against No. 9 Oklahoma State this Saturday under the lights of Jones AT&T Stadium. Kick off is set for 7 p.m., and a special pregame ceremony will begin at approximately 6:30 p.m. to honor the senior class.

Television coverage will be provided by FOX with Tim Brando behind the mic alongside his longtime analyst Spencer Tillman. Fans can access the game from their mobile or streaming device by using the FOX Sports app.

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 134 or via the TuneIn app.

INSIDE THE SERIES

This will be the 49th all-time meeting between Texas Tech and Oklahoma State as the Red Raiders control a 23-22-3 advantage in the series that dates back to 1935. Tech enters this weekend having won two of the last three meetings with a 41-17 victory in Stillwater in 2018 and a 45-35 win in Oklahoma State's last visit to Lubbock in 2019.
The victory over Oklahoma State in 2019 marked Texas Tech's first at home against the Cowboys since the 2008 season as the Red Raiders created five takeaways and totaled seven sacks, their most in a game since 2009.
The Red Raiders snapped a nine-game losing streak to Oklahoma State in their 2018 visit to Stillwater following a 41-17 victory in 2018. It marked the first time Texas Tech had topped Oklahoma State away from home since the 2001 season.
This is the 14th consecutive season and the 20th time overall the Red Raiders have faced a ranked Oklahoma State team. Texas Tech has five wins in its history over a ranked Cowboys team after securing a 27-3 victory in 1997, a 31-15 win in 2004, a 56-20 rout in 2008, a 41-17 win in 2018 and then its 45-35 victory a year ago.
The Red Raiders are 11-14 against the Cowboys during the Big 12 era despite winning seven of the first nine meetings after the league formed prior to the 1996 season.
Texas Tech and Oklahoma State have produced several high-scoring shootouts in recent years as the two schools have combined for at least 75 points in eight of the past nine meetings. The two schools have combined for 50 or more points in each of the past 11 seasons and in 19 of the past 22 contests overall.

CAREER NOTABLES VERSUS THE COWBOYS

The Texas Tech coaching staff has three staff members who are native Oklahomans as defensive coordinator Keith Patterson hails from Marlow, while inside receivers and tight ends coach Luke Wells is from Sallisaw and offensive line coach Steve Farmer grew up in Coweta, just outside of Tulsa.
Texas Tech boasts four Oklahoma natives on its roster in junior linebacker Patrick Curley (Wagoner), true freshman Isaac Smith (Wagoner), junior defensive back Dadrion Taylor-Demerson (Oklahoma City) and junior defensive back Cameron Watts (Tulsa). Watts attended Northeast Oklahoma A&M prior to transferring to Texas Tech in 2020.
On the Oklahoma State staff, cornerbacks coach Tim Duffie earned his degree in exercise and sports science from Texas Tech in 1999 following a four-year career for the Red Raiders. Duffie was a two-year starter for head coach Spike Dykes where he recorded 202 tackles, including six for a loss, to go along with three pass breakups and a pair of interceptions. This is his seventh season on the Oklahoma State coaching staff.
Texas Tech associate head coach and co-defensive coordinator Derek Jones and Oklahoma State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles are more than familiar with each other after spending eight years together on staff at Duke. Jones began his tenure at Duke in 2008, working with the defensive backs, while Knowles arrived in 2010 as the Blue Devils' assistant head coach and defensive coordinator. Knowles departed Duke in 2018 to accept the same position at Oklahoma State, while Jones is in his first season with the Red Raiders.
Oklahoma State Director of Athletics Chad Weiberg was previously on staff at Texas Tech as he served as Deputy A.D. from 2015-17. Weiberg departed Kirby Hocutt's staff to accept the same position at Oklahoma State, which ultimately led to his promotion this past summer to the Athletics Director chair.

Dadrion Taylor-Demerson, Colin Schooler, Pump Jack

WE'RE GOING BOWLING

The Red Raiders secured their postseason fate this past Saturday as Texas Tech captured its sixth win of the year with a 41-38 victory over Iowa State. The win helped the Red Raiders avoid their first four-year bowl absence since staying home from postseason play over eight consecutive seasons from 1978-85. Texas Tech's most-recent bowl absence (2017-20) was the longest the Red Raiders had gone without a bowl trip since missing the postseason from 1990-92.
Texas Tech entered this season ranked tied for 21st all-time with 38 career bowl appearances, matching the totals of fellow Big 12 member West Virginia as well as Ole Miss, BYU and Notre Dame. The Red Raiders are tied for third among current Big 12 members for bowl appearances, trailing only Texas (57) and Oklahoma (54).
Many Red Raider fans will be keeping up with possible bowl scenarios over the upcoming weeks. The projections to this point have Texas Tech heading to Arizona for the Guaranteed Rate Bowl as Jerry Palm (CBS Sports), Kyle Bonagura (ESPN) and Mark Schlabach (ESPN) and Steven Lassan (Athlon Sports) all have the Red Raiders visiting the Phoenix area currently.

CUMBIE COLLECTS FIRST CAREER WIN AS HEAD COACH

Sonny Cumbie earned his first career win as a head coach against Iowa State as the Texas Tech alumnus led the Red Raiders to a dominating first half versus the Cyclones, building a 17-point lead before eventually winning the game on a 62-yard field goal from Jonathan Garibay as time expired. The victory pushed the Red Raiders to bowl eligibility for the 39th time in school history, giving Cumbie another opportunity to lead his alma mater.
Since taking over the head coaching role, Cumbie has encouraged the Red Raiders to have a "pump jack mentality," a reference to the major West Texas oil industry. The Red Raiders have awarded a special "pump jack chain" following practice each day over the past week and have a replica pump jack on the sidelines now to celebrate following each big play.
Texas Tech Director of Athletics Kirby Hocutt announced Oct. 25 a change in leadership for the Red Raider football program after head coach Matt Wells was relieved of his duties, effective immediately. Hocutt tabbed Cumbie to serve as interim head coach for the remainder of the season. He will continue in his role as offensive coordinator during this transition.
Over its now 96 seasons of football, Cumbie is only the third interim head coach in program history, joining both Ruffin McNeil and Chris Thomsen. McNeil and Thomsen both led the Red Raiders to a victory in their only games as head coach, which came at the 2009 Alamo Bowl as well as the 2012 Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas. Cumbie was an assistant on the Tech staff in both of those seasons and was the Red Raiders' play-caller for its win over Minnesota in 2012. Cumbie is the first head coach in the history of the program who took over in the middle of the season.

RANDOM TIDBITS HEADING INTO OKLAHOMA STATE GAME

Texas Tech is 16-9 during the Big 12 era in home finales, which includes a 3-1 mark against Oklahoma State. The only other time outside the Big 12 that the Cowboys served as Tech's home finale was in 1946, a 14-7 victory for the Red Raiders over then Oklahoma A&M.
The victory over Iowa State followed Texas Tech's only open weekend on the 2021 season as the Red Raiders are now 18-13 during the Big 12 era in the week following an open date. The Red Raiders have now won three of their last five games following an open date after topping West Virginia during both the 2019 and 2020 seasons. Tech also had losses to No. 8 Texas and No. 23 Oklahoma State last season during that span.
With a win over either Oklahoma State or Baylor (or in a bowl game), Texas Tech will clinch its first winning season since 2015 when the Red Raiders finished 7-6 overall after a loss in the Texas Bowl. The Red Raiders advanced to a bowl in 2017, finishing 6-6 in the regular season before a loss to South Florida in the Birmingham Bowl.
Texas Tech opened the month of November with a victory for the second time in the last three seasons as the Red Raiders previously went on the road to top West Virginia, 38-17, in 2019. Prior to that win, Tech had not previously started the final month of the regular season with a win since a 27-17 victory over No. 14 Missouri in 2010. The Red Raiders will now look to secure back-to-back wins to start November for the first time since 2008 when Tech topped No. 1 Texas and No. 8 Oklahoma State in consecutive weeks.
The month of November hasn't been overly kind to the Red Raiders in recent years as Texas Tech has finished with multiple wins just twice since the start of the 2011 campaign. During that span, the Red Raiders were able to notch a pair of wins during the 2015 and 2017 seasons. Prior to that, the Red Raiders had won at least two games during the final month of the regular season in 12-consecutive years, beginning in 1999 and running up until 2010. Of note, Tech did close the 2020 season with wins in two of its last three games, but the final contest against Kansas did not come until Dec. 5 as part of an altered schedule due to COVID-19.
Texas Tech owns three wins away from home this season after victories already at a neutral site against Houston and then at West Virginia and Kansas. If the Red Raiders are able to close the regular season with a win at Baylor, it would mark the most victories on the road or a neutral site since 2017 when the Red Raiders headed home with victories over Houston, Kansas, Baylor (AT&T Stadium - Arlington) and Texas.
Texas Tech's first two conference wins this season came on the road as the Red Raiders won at West Virginia and Kansas. It marked the first time Tech has secured back-to-back Big 12 road wins since 2018 when the Red Raiders opened their league slate with a 41-17 rout of No. 15 Oklahoma State and then followed with a 17-14 victory at TCU.

Texas Tech University Athletics

Preview: Primetime bout with No. 9 Oklahoma State awaits

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