Preview: Red Raiders travel to No. 7 TCU

LUBBOCK, Texas – The Red Raiders are back on the road this Saturday, traveling to face their sixth ranked opponent this season in No. 7 TCU. Kickoff is slated for 11 a.m. at Amon G. Carter Stadium.

The game will receive top-billing with a national broadcast on FOX, as well as Big Noon Kickoff, which will air from 10-11 a.m. from TCU's campus during pregame. This will be Texas Tech's first Big Noon Kickoff appearance since the show debuted in 2019.

Gus Johnson will have the call, alongside Joel Klatt providing the analysis while Jenny Taft will be on the sideline. Fans can also 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 and sideline reporter Chris Level. The radio broadcast can also be heard on SiriusXM channel 158 or 200, as well as on the Varsity app.

BATTLE FOR SADDLE TROPHY SATURDAY

Texas Tech and TCU renewed their battle for the Saddle Trophy in 2017. The two schools previously played for the Saddle Trophy from 1961-70 before it suddenly disappeared. A replica trophy was created for the 2017 meeting following discussions between both schools. It includes both programs' logos and results from the 60-plus year rivalry.
Texas Tech will look for its third win over a ranked opponent this season when the Red Raiders travel to Fort Worth for the annual Battle for the Saddle game with No. 7 TCU. The Red Raiders have departed the metroplex with the Saddle in hand in two of its last three visits following victories during the 2016 and 2018 seasons.

WELCOME HOME TO THE METROPLEX

The Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex is home to Texas Tech's largest alumni base in the United States outside of Lubbock as approximately 40,000 graduates currently reside in the area. Texas Tech has enjoyed great fan support in the DFW area due to its large alumni base as Texas Tech previously hosted Baylor at AT&T Stadium in Arlington annually from 2009-18 as well as spring football games at The Star in Frisco in recent years. The Red Raider basketball program, meanwhile, turned a neutral site NCAA first and second round location in Dallas into United Supermarkets Arena with capacity crowds in 2018.
The return to the metroplex will be a homecoming of sorts for many members of the Red Raider roster as Texas Tech boasts 36 players on its roster that call the DFW area home. That list includes several notable starters such as running back SaRodorick Thompson Jr., wide receivers Myles Price, Jerand Bradley, Trey Cleveland III and Brady Boyd, offensive lineman Caleb Rogers, defensive lineman Jaylon Hutchings and linebackers Kosi Eldridge and Dimitri Moore.
The Texas Tech coaching staff features four members who were previously high school head coaches in the DFW area, none more notably than Joey McGuire, who led Cedar Hill to three state titles during a memorable 14 seasons. In addition, the Texas Tech staff also features longtime DFW head coach Kenny Perry, former Dallas Lincoln head coach Zarnell Fitch and South Oak Cliff legendary head coach Emmett Jones.

RED RAIDERS HEAD TO DFW FOR 65TH ALL-TIME MEETING WITH TCU

Texas Tech and TCU will meet for the 65th time in history Saturday as the Red Raiders lead the all-time series with a 32-29-3 advantage. This will be the 10th meeting between the two former Southwest Conference foes since the Horned Frogs joined the Big 12 prior to the 2012 season.
The two schools previously experienced a five-year run where the visiting team prevailed from 2015-19 with the Red Raiders winning twice in Fort Worth during the 2016 and 2018 seasons. TCU ended that streak in 2020 with a 34-18 victory and then added a 52-31 win a year ago in Lubbock.
Texas Tech's current three-game losing streak to the Horned Frogs is its longest since the 1958-60 seasons under then head coach Dewitt Weaver. The final loss for the Red Raiders in that stretch came in 1960, the first year as Southwest Conference members for both Texas Tech and TCU. The Red Raiders have not lost four straight to the Horned Frogs since the two schools first began their series in 1926 with TCU winning the first five meetings (1926-30).
Texas Tech and TCU were previously members of the Southwest Conference from 1960-95 where the Red Raiders held a 21-12-3 advantage in those games. The two schools met twice as non-conference foes in 2004 and 2006 prior to TCU joining the Big 12 in 2012. The two schools split those two games with the Red Raiders delivering a 70-35 rout in 2004 followed by a 12-3 victory by the Horned Frogs two years later.

TEXAS TECH, TCU CONNECTIONS

This weekend's matchup will put the Red Raiders against a fellow Texas Tech graduate in TCU head coach Sonny Dykes. Dykes, the son of legendary Red Raider head coach Spike Dykes, received his bachelor's degree in history from the university in 1993 and was a member of the Texas Tech baseball program for two seasons. He previously spent seven seasons as an assistant coach for his alma mater, serving as receivers coach from 2000-04 before adding the title of co-offensive coordinator from 2005-06. Dykes will become the fourth Texas Tech graduate to face his alma mater as an opposing head coach, joining Tom Wilson (Texas A&M 1978-81), Art Briles (Baylor 2008-15) and Lincoln Riley (Oklahoma 2017-21).
Dykes isn't the only Texas Tech graduate on the TCU staff as his offensive coordinator Garrett Riley earned his degree in general business from the university in 2012. Garrett Riley, a West Texas native from Muleshoe, is the younger brother of Lincoln Riley.
Texas Tech, meanwhile, has a TCU graduate on its staff in defensive line coach Zarnell Fitch, who earned his degree in communications and a minor in social work in 2006. Fitch was a two-year letterman for the Horned Frogs from 2004-05 where he made three starts as a senior, notably making a pair of interceptions that season from his spot on the interior. He arrived at Texas Tech following six seasons serving in a similar capacity for his alma mater under former head coach Gary Patterson.
Fitch isn't the only former TCU assistant now on the Texas Tech staff as associate head coach and special teams coordinator Kenny Perry received his first college position with the Horned Frogs. Perry, a DFW native, served as TCU's director of high school relations in 2013 before being promoted to cornerbacks coach the following year. Additionally, he also previously worked under TCU head coach Sonny Dykes as he was a special teams quality control analyst at SMU in 2020 and then the special teams coordinator for the Mustangs in 2021.

NEWS & NOTES HEADING INTO TCU

Following a stretch of five ranked opponents in the first six games, Texas Tech will look to win at least two of its final four games to become bowl eligible for the second-consecutive season and the 40th time in school history. Texas Tech is looking to return to a bowl in back-to-back seasons for the first time since the 2012-13 campaigns.
Texas Tech heads to the month of November at 4-4 overall for the first time since 2017 and the sixth time during the Big 12 era. In the previous five occurrences, the Red Raiders have won at least two games in November to reach bowl eligibility four times (1997, 1999, 2010, 2017) with the lone exception coming in 2016.
Texas Tech has only totaled 401 penalty yards on 49 flags, markings its second-lowest totals through eight games since the start of the 2000 season. The Red Raiders were previously penalized 40 times for 341 yards at the same point this past season.
The Baylor loss snapped Texas Tech's previously perfect 4-0 record at home this season. A victory over either Kansas or Oklahoma over the month of November would mark the Red Raiders' most home victories in a season since Texas Tech finished 6-1 inside the friendly confines of Jones AT&T Stadium in 2019.
The loss to Oklahoma State snapped a streak of six-consecutive wins for the Red Raiders when scoring at least 30 points that dated back to early in the 2021 season. Texas Tech is 3-1 in such games this season after its victory over West Virginia.

RED RAIDERS LOOKING FOR TOP-10 WIN

With a win this weekend, the Red Raiders would secure their first victory over a top-10 team on the road since shocking top-ranked Oklahoma, 41-38, in Norman during the 2011 season. TCU represents Texas Tech's sixth ranked opponent already this season as the Red Raiders are 2-3 in those games with wins over then-No. 25 Houston and No. 22 Texas.
Most importantly, a win would push the Red Raiders one step closer to a bowl appearance in the first season under Joey McGuire as Texas Tech closes its season with three unranked opponents currently towards the bottom of the Big 12 standings in Kansas, Iowa State and Oklahoma.

BIG 12'S TOP TWO OFFENSES ON DISPLAY

Saturday's contest will feature the Big 12's top two offenses as TCU leads the league averaging 44.2 points per game and 518.6 yards, while the Red Raiders lead the league in passing yards per game (338.0) and rank second in total offense, averaging 475.9 yards per game.
While Texas Tech continues to boast one of the nation's top offenses, its defense ranks in the top half of the Big 12 for total defense as the Red Raiders are only giving up 365.8 yards per game. That average would currently place Texas Tech's defensive performance as its best in relation to total defense since 2009.

-TECH-

Preview: Red Raiders travel to No. 7 TCU

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