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Back to Their Winning Ways, Texas Tech Red Raiders Welcome TCU to Town Saturday

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Texas Tech will look to build on its win at West Virginia last weekend when the Red Raiders welcome TCU Saturday night inside Jones AT&T Stadium. Kickoff for the Homecoming contest is slated for 6 p.m. with television coverage provided on ESPN.

Mark Jones will call the game for a national broadcast on ESPN alongside analyst Robert Griffin III and sideline analyst Quint Kessenich.

INSIDE THE SERIES

  • Texas Tech and TCU will meet for the 64th time in history Saturday as the Red Raiders lead the all-time series with a 32-28-3 advantage. This will be the ninth meeting between the two former Southwest Conference foes since the Horned Frogs joined the Big 12 prior to the 2012 season.
  • TCU snapped a five-year run where the visiting team prevailed in 2020 as the Horned Frogs topped the Red Raiders, 34-18, in Fort Worth. Texas Tech had previously gone on the road to defeat the Horned Frogs in its previous two trips, using a Clayton Hatfield game-winning field goal from 37 yards out in 2016 and then a steady defense for a 17-14 victory in 2018.
  • The Red Raiders will be looking to snap a three-game home losing streak to the Horned Frogs as Texas Tech's last win inside Jones AT&T Stadium over TCU was a 20-10 victory to start league play in 2013. Since then, TCU has won the last three meetings, including a pair of close outcomes such as a 55-52 victory in the closing seconds of the 2015 meeting and a 33-31 win in its last visit to Lubbock in 2019.
  • Texas Tech is hoping to avoid its first three-game losing streak to the Horned Frogs 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.
  • 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.

TEXAS TECH-TCU CONNECTIONS

  • The ties between the two head coaches this weekend date back to the mid-90s when Matt Wells was a quarterback at Utah State and TCU head coach Gary Patterson was the secondary coach for the Aggies. Patterson spent three seasons in Logan, Utah, as his tenure began during Wells' true freshman season in 1992. The Aggies claimed the Big West Conference title in 1993 on their way to a win in the Las Vegas Bowl II. It marked the first bowl win in Utah State history.
  • In addition to Wells, Patterson previously worked with Texas Tech associate head coach and special teams coordinator Mark Tommerdahl as the two were both on staff at New Mexico in 1997. Patterson was the Lobos' defensive coordinator and safeties coach, while Tommerdahl was the special teams and tight ends coach. The two would later work together at TCU from 1998-00 as Tommerdahl held the same responsibilities as he had in New Mexico. Patterson, meanwhile, was TCU's defensive coordinator the first two seasons before being promoted to head coach in 2000. TCU offensive line coach Jarrett Anderson was also a graduate assistant for the Horned Frogs those three seasons.
  • Texas Tech offensive coordinator Sonny Cumbie returned to his alma mater this offseason following seven seasons on Patterson's staff at TCU. Cumbie oversaw the quarterback position throughout his TCU tenure as he was hired as co-offensive coordinator for his first three seasons before being tabbed the sole offensive coordinator his final four years. TCU boasted the Big 12's second-best conference record (38-25) and its third-best overall mark (58-30) over his seven seasons, which coincided with six bowl appearances.
  • Cumbie recruited and later coached TCU quarterbacks coach Kenny Hill during his tenure with the Horned Frogs. Hill joined the Horned Frogs in 2015 as a Texas A&M transfer and ended his playing career three years later among the top quarterbacks in TCU history. Following his playing career, Hill tutored under Cumbie first as a student assistant coach and then graduate assistant and analyst.
  • TCU defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Chad Glasgow spent one season in Lubbock as he served as defensive coordinator for the 2011 campaign under then head coach Tommy Tuberville. He returned to TCU following that season, first as the Horned Frogs' safeties coach (2012-14) before being promoted to co-defensive coordinator (2015) and then defensive coordinator (2016-present).
  • On the field, Texas Tech senior offensive lineman T.J. Storment arrived in Lubbock this past spring as a graduate transfer from TCU. Storment garnered All-Big 12 second team honors by the Associated Press following the 2020 season as he started the final seven games at left tackle.

RED RAIDERS ALL-TIME IN BIG 12 HOME OPENERS

  • Texas Tech enters this weekend with a 15-10 record all-time in Big 12 home openers despite dropping eight of its last 12, including a 63-56 overtime loss a year ago to in-state rival Texas. TCU has served as Texas Tech's conference home opener twice previously as the Red Raiders welcomed the Horned Frogs to the Big 12 with a 20-10 victory in 2013 before falling 55-52 two years later in 2015.
  • TCU is the first unranked opponent to serve as Texas Tech's conference home opener since the Red Raiders hosted Kansas in a Thursday night battle in 2016. The Red Raiders have opened their Big 12 home slate with a ranked opponent in nine of the past 11 years. Texas Tech is 12-2 all-time against unranked foes in Big 12 home openers.

HOMECOMING IN RAIDERLAND

  • Texas Tech is 56-32-3 all-time on Homecoming with wins in 10 of its last 14 games dating back to the 2007 season. The Red Raiders have won two of their last three Homecoming games after topping West Virginia, 34-27, a year ago and then Kansas, 48-16, in 2018.
  • The Red Raiders are 19-6 in Homecoming games during the Big 12 era and are 23-6 since 1992 alone with losses against Kansas (2001), Missouri (2006), Kansas State (2011), West Virginia (2016) and Iowa State (2017, 2019).
  • This will be the first time TCU has served as Texas Tech's Homecoming opponent since 1991 when the two schools were both members of the Southwest Conference. The Red Raiders are 5-2-2 all-time in Homecoming games against the Horned Frogs.
  • Texas Tech's first-ever Homecoming game came in 1930 when the Red Raiders fell to Hardin-Simmons, 20-6, in the final game of the season. That marked only Tech's sixth season fielding a collegiate football program.

RANDOM TIDBITS HEADING INTO TCU GAME

  • Texas Tech received four points in this week's Associated Press top-25 poll and two points in the AFCA Coaches poll. It is the second time the Red Raiders have received votes in the AP poll this season and the first time in the coaches poll.
  • A victory over TCU would improve the Red Raiders to 5-1, marking their best start to a season since 2013 when the Red Raiders opened the Kliff Kingsbury era with seven-consecutive wins.
  • Texas Tech was missing eight members of its preseason depth chart in the win over West Virginia, a list that included two of its three All-Big 12 preseason selections in wide receiver Erik Ezukanma and center Dawson Deaton. The Red Raiders were also without quarterback Tyler Shough (broken collarbone), defensive backs Marquis Waters (out for season), DaMarcus Fields and Malik Dunlap, wide receiver J.J. Sparkman and running back Tahj Brooks.
  • The win over West Virginia improved Matt Wells to 8-1 over his career in the week immediately after suffering a loss by 30 or more points. That includes a 2-1 mark while at Texas Tech as the Red Raiders previously overcame an early loss at No. 6 Oklahoma to defeat No. 21 Oklahoma State at home just a week later in 2019.
  • The 6 p.m. start time against TCU gives the Red Raiders three-consecutive night starts to open a home slate for the first time since 2016. Dating back to the 2002 season, Texas Tech is 43-16 in night games inside Jones AT&T Stadium, an impressive 72.8 winning percentage during that span.
  • TCU represents the sixth-consecutive unranked opponent to start the season for the Red Raiders. Texas Tech had not previously opened a season with six-straight unranked foes since 2008 when the Red Raiders opened with seven opponents outside the top-25, going a perfect 7-0 in those contests. Matt Wells is 52-37 over his career against unranked opponents.
  • Texas Tech committed only two penalties in its win over West Virginia, marking its fewest in a game since the Red Raiders were called for the same amount in their 2017 win at Kansas. The Red Raiders were penalized for only 20 yards against West Virginia, which was the third time already under Matt Wells where Texas Tech had 20 or less penalty yards (2020 at West Virginia and 2020 at Texas). Under Wells, Texas Tech is averaging 5.9 penalties and 53.2 penalty yards per game, a drastic improvement from the 7.8 penalties and 69.4 penalty yards per game the Red Raiders averaged from 2000-18.

CLOSE WINS TURNING FOR RED RAIDERS

  • After struggling to finish out tight games in Matt Wells' debut season in 2019, the Red Raiders have turned the tide in one-possession games as the West Virginia victory marked Texas Tech's sixth win since the start of the 2020 season in games determined by eight points or less. The Red Raiders are 6-2 in one-possession games during that span, which includes four Big 12 wins over West Virginia (twice), Baylor and Kansas.
  • Since TCU joined the Big 12 prior to the 2012 season, the winner between the Red Raiders and Horned Frogs has been determined by one possession or less (eight points) five times with Texas Tech going 3-2 in those games.