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Texas Tech Looks To Build Some Momentum With A Visit To Big 12 Foe West Virginia

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Football

Texas Tech, coming off its first win of the season, will look to extend a four-game winning streak over West Virginia on Saturday when the Red Raiders and Mountaineers open Big 12 play at Milan Puskar Stadium in Morgantown at 2:30 p.m. CT/3:30 p.m. ET.

This will be the 13th meeting all-time between the two schools and the first ever to open league action as Texas Tech has won each of the last four contests, including a 48-10 rout a year ago in Lubbock.

Broadcast coverage will be provided by Big 12 Now on ESPN+. Drew Carter will have the call, alongside Dustin Fox providing the analysis while Tori Petry will be on the sideline. The broadcast can be accessed from any desktop or laptop computer, any personal cellular device and television streaming services using the ESPN app. Registration for the subscription service can be found at ESPNPlus.com.

BROOKS TIME PAYING OFF ON THE GROUND

  • Tahj Brooks is coming off one of his best performances as a Red Raider as the senior rushed for a career-high 158 yards against Tarleton State.
  • It was the fifth 100-yard performance of Brooks' career and his first since facing the Mountaineers a year ago.
  • Brooks, who enters this weekend ranked 11th in the FBS and second in the Big 12 with a 7.24 yards per carry average, was part of a Texas Tech rushing attack that totaled 221 yards on the ground versus Tarleton State.
  • The Red Raiders are now 4-0 under Joey McGuire when rushing for at least 200 yards. 

TAKE THREE DEFENSE IMPRESSES

  • The Red Raiders put together their best defensive outing of the season against Tarleton State as Texas Tech created three takeaways and limited the Texans to only a field goal, which came late in the fourth quarter after many starters had already departed.
  • The performance marked the first time Texas Tech did not allow an offensive touchdown in a game since defeating UTEP early in the 2019 season.
  • Texas Tech's three takeaways also improved the Red Raiders to 3-0 under Joey McGuire when hitting his "take three" goal. 

RED RAIDERS IN BIG 12 OPENERS

  • Texas Tech improved to 15-12 all-time in Big 12 openers a year ago after downing No. 19 Texas, 37-34, in overtime. The victory snapped a three-game losing streak in Big 12 openers for the Red Raiders, who will be facing West Virginia to kick off conference play for the first time.  
  • Texas Tech has grown accustomed to starting Big 12 play on the road historically as this will be the 18th time in the league's history that the Red Raiders have opened league action away from home. Texas Tech is 9-8 in those games with its last win coming in 2018 when the Red Raiders surprised No. 15 Oklahoma State, 41-17, in Stillwater. 
  • Texas Tech will face an unranked opponent to open Big 12 play for only the second time in the past seven years and just the ninth time in the past 11 seasons. The Red Raiders are 10-3 when opening Big 12 play against an unranked opponent, which includes a 7-3 mark in road games. 
  • Texas Tech will be looking to open Big 12 play with a win in back-to-back seasons for the first time since doing so over three-consecutive seasons from 2011-13. The Red Raiders won two of those games on the road during that stretch with victories at Kansas (2011) and Iowa State (2012). 

TEXAS TECH-WVU CONNECTIONS

  • Texas Tech and West Virginia have several staff members with connections to the other university, none possibly more notable than Mountaineers head coach Neal Brown, who was the Red Raiders' offensive coordinator for all three seasons (2010-12) of Tommy Tuberville's tenure. The Red Raiders won two bowl games during Brown's tenure at the 2010 TicketCity Bowl and the 2012 Meineke Car Care Texas Bowl before he departed for a similar position at Kentucky. 
  • Brown has three other members of his staff who previously worked at Texas Tech as assistant head coach and offensive line coach Matt Moore served as the Red Raiders' offensive line coach from 2007-11, crossing over for two seasons of Brown's tenure, while offensive coordinator Chad Scott was the running backs coach from 2010-12. Additionally, West Virginia passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach Sean Reagan was a graduate assistant on the Texas Tech staff in 2010 where he assisted Brown with the quarterbacks. 
  • Moore's counterpart on the Texas Tech sideline this weekend will be a former pupil of his in Red Raider offensive line coach Stephen Hamby. Moore arrived at Texas Tech for the final two seasons of Hamby's eligibility (2007-08) where he starred at center. Texas Tech was a combined 20-6 overall during those two seasons, which included an 11-2 mark their senior year in 2008. 
  • West Virginia has a Lubbock native on its roster in bandit linebacker Tyrin Bradley, who is a 2021 graduate of Monterey High School, the same alma mater of Texas Tech super senior wide receiver Xavier White. Bradley has made three tackles, including a sack, thus far this season after transferring this offseason from Abilene Christian. He was a freshman at Monterey when White was a senior in 2018, leading the Plainsman to the Class 5A Division I regional semifinals after catching 60 passes for 1,009 yards that season. 

INSIDE THE WEST VIRGINIA SERIES

  • Texas Tech and West Virginia will meet for the 13th time Saturday and the 12th time as Big 12 Conference members as the series is now tied at 6-6 thanks to four-consecutive wins by the Red Raiders. Texas Tech controls a 6-5 advantage over the Mountaineers since West Virginia joined the Big 12 prior to the 2012 season. 
  • The Red Raiders enter the matchup with wins in each of their last four meetings against the Mountaineers, including a 48-10 rout a year ago in Lubbock. It is the longest winning streak for the Red Raiders all-time in the series. A win this weekend would match the longest winning streak for either team in the series. 
  • Texas Tech has won in each of its last two trips to Morgantown with a 38-17 victory in 2019 and then a 23-20 win in 2021, which was sealed by a Jonathan Garibay field goal with only 18 seconds remaining in regulation. Texas Tech has not won three-consecutive games on the road against the same Big 12 opponent since defeating Kansas over eight-straight meetings in Lawrence from the start of the conference in 1996 up until losing in 2019. 
  • Since the Mountaineers joined the Big 12 in 2012, Texas Tech and West Virginia have traditionally played several close games with six of those 11 decisions determined by one possession and one more by only 11 points. The two teams are 3-3 against each other in games determined by seven or fewer points entering this weekend with the Red Raiders winning each of the last two such games. 
  • 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 now 40 bowl appearances for the Red Raiders, who rank among the top 25 teams all-time in postseason trips.