Texas Tech welcomes Oklahoma for Senior Night

HAPPY THANKSGIVING FROM LUBBOCK

• Texas Tech will spend Thanksgiving weekend at home for the first time since 2008 Saturday night when the Red Raiders host Oklahoma under the Jones AT&T Stadium lights. It will be Senior Night as Texas Tech will honor 20-plus members of its senior class prior to kickoff.
• The Red Raiders will have the opportunity to notch one of their most-successful seasons in recent memory with a victory over the Sooners. In fact, a win versus the Sooners would push the Red Raiders to their first winning Big 12 record since 2009. A victory would also mark Texas Tech’s sixth at home this season, marking its most since that same 2009 season.

TECH GOING BOWLING FOR 40TH TIME

• Texas Tech guaranteed its spot in a bowl game for the 40th time in program history this past weekend with its 14-10 victory at Iowa State. The Red Raiders entered this season tied for 21st in FBS history for all-time bowl appearances and will move into sole possession of third place on the Big 12 chart as West Virginia is no longer postseason-eligible.
• For Joey McGuire, he becomes the eighth first-year head coach to lead the Red Raiders to a bowl game in his debut season, building on the positive momentum since his hire a year ago. Texas Tech will head to a bowl game in consecutive seasons for the first time since the 2012-13 campaigns.

RED RAIDERS LOOK TO END STREAK AGAINST SOONERS

• This will be the 30th all-time meeting between Texas Tech and Oklahoma as the Red Raiders will be looking to snap a 10-game losing streak against the Sooners. Oklahoma controls the overall series between the two schools with a 23-6 all-time record versus the Red Raiders, which includes a 9-4 mark at Jones AT&T Stadium.
• The Red Raiders will be looking for their first win in the series since Texas Tech shocked the top-ranked Sooners, 41-38, in 2011. Oklahoma, which was No. 1 in the coaches’ poll at the time, has rolled off 10-consecutive wins since that loss, marking the longest winning streak by either team all-time in the series.
• This weekend’s matchup snaps an 11-year streak where the Red Raiders will face a ranked Oklahoma team. Texas Tech is 3-3 all-time against unranked Oklahoma teams with wins in 1996, 1999 and 2009.
• With a win this weekend over the Sooners, it would mark the first time in program history Texas Tech has defeated both Oklahoma and Texas in the same season. The Red Raiders previously topped the Longhorns, 37-34, in overtime, to open Big 12 play.

TEXAS TECH-OKLAHOMA CONNECTIONS

• Texas Tech outside linebackers coach C.J. Ah You will face his alma mater for the first time in his coaching career as he previously starred for the Sooners from 2005-06. Ah You was a two-year starter for the Sooners, garnering Big 12 Defensive Newcomer of the Year accolades in 2005 and then All-Big 12 first team honors as a senior a year later. He began his coaching career as a defensive quality control assistant at Oklahoma in 2014 following a six-year stint in the NFL.
• Texas Tech boasts five Oklahoma natives on its roster in senior linebacker Patrick Curley (Wagoner), true freshman defensive back Maurion Horn (Broken Arrow), redshirt freshman Isaac Smith (Wagoner), senior defensive back Dadrion Taylor-Demerson (Oklahoma City) and senior defensive back Cameron Watts (Tulsa). Watts attended Northeast Oklahoma A&M prior to transferring to Texas Tech in 2020.
• On the opposite sideline, Oklahoma has two staff members with ties to Texas Tech in offensive line coach Bill Bedenbaugh as well as advisor to the head coach and offensive analyst Matt Wells. Wells returns to Jones AT&T Stadium for the first time after serving as Texas Tech’s 16th head football coach, finishing 13-17 overall over the course of the 2019-21 seasons. Bedenbaugh, meanwhile, was a graduate assistant at Tech from 2000-02 before earning a full-time position as the running backs coach from 2003-04 and then the offensive line coach from 2005-06.
• Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables is a former college teammate of Texas Tech Director of Athletics Kirby Hocutt at Kansas State. The two played under legendary Kansas State head coach Bill Snyder for two seasons (1991-92) when Venables was an upperclassman, while Hocutt was beginning his Wildcat career. Venables was an honorable mention All-Big Eight selection in 1992 after registering 124 tackles as a junior. Hocutt followed the next season by leading the Big Eight to earn all-conference accolades of his own.

NEWS & NOTES HEADING INTO OKLAHOMA

• Texas Tech currently stands at 4-4 in Big 12 play entering the final game of the regular season. With a win over Oklahoma, the Red Raiders would guarantee their first winning conference record since 2009 when Texas Tech was 5-3 in league play as part of the former eight-game model.
• A victory over the Sooners would allow the Red Raiders to close the regular season with three-consecutive victories for the first time since 1995, Texas Tech’s final season in the Southwest Conference. Texas Tech wrapped that season with a home win over TCU before going on the road to top both SMU and Houston as part of a 9-3 season that was capped by a victory over Air Force in the Copper Bowl.
• In addition, a victory over Oklahoma this weekend would mark Texas Tech’s third-consecutive win in Big 12 play, its longest streak since opening the 2013 conference slate with four-straight wins.
• Texas Tech could potentially finish as high as tied for third in the Big 12 standings with a win and a victory by Baylor over Texas on Friday. The Red Raiders, who can finish no worse than fourth place with a victory over Oklahoma, have not ended the regular season in fourth or better of the league standings since the Big 12 moved to a division-less format at 10 teams beginning in 2011.
• The victory over Kansas improved the Red Raiders to 5-1 at home this season, marking their most wins at Jones AT&T Stadium since Texas Tech was 6-1 overall in front of its fans in 2009. The Red Raiders have won six or more home games in a season 10 times in their history, including four times as Big 12 Conference members (2000, 2005, 2008, 2009).
• Winning the turnover margin has been a key message for Joey McGuire since his hiring as part of his pull to “take three” each game. The Red Raiders are a perfect 3-0 this season when winning the turnover margin after victories over Texas (+2), West Virginia (+4) and Kansas (+2).

IT WAS AN ALL-AMERICAN YEAR FOR TYREE WILSON

Wilson announced his intention to enter the NFL Draft on Nov. 20 and begin the recovery process for a foot injury suffered during the second half on Nov. 12 versus Kansas, officially ending his run being one of the most impactful players to ever wear the scarlet and black.

WILSON’S 10-GAME RESUME

(statistics of as Nov. 13 following last game played; exited early in Nov. 12 contest with two tackles, 0.0 TFLs)

• Tyree Wilson led the power five with 50 pressures and ranked second in the FBS according to Pro Football Focus.
• He ranked tied for third in the power five for tackles for loss (14.0) and tied for ninth in the FBS.
• He led the FBS with 8.5 tackles for loss against opponents that were ranked in the Nov. 13 AP Top 25 poll. He also led the power five with 9.0 TFLs in true road games and ranked fourth in the FBS for the category.
• Wilson ranked tied for 25th in the FBS for total sacks (7.0) despite often facing double teams on passing downs. He led the FBS with 5.0 sacks against opponents that were ranked in the top 25 of the Nov. 13 AP poll.
• Wilson, not just a pass rusher, though, as he was third on the team with 61 tackles after 10 games this season, easily the most in his career. Wilson was currently one of only two power five players and one of seven players in the FBS to record 60 tackles through games played on Nov. 12, at least 10.0 TFLs and at least 6.0 sacks.

-TECH-