No. 10 Texas Tech hosts Arizona State for Homecoming

No. 10 Texas Tech hosts Arizona State for Homecoming

• Texas Tech alumni from around the world will return to Lubbock this weekend for Homecoming festivities on campus. The Red Raiders have a combined 58-35-3 record in Homecoming games, which includes a 21-9 mark during the Big 12 era and a 2-2 record under Joey McGuire.
• Texas Tech will look to win consecutive Homecoming games for the first time since a four-year run from 2012-15. The Red Raiders, who routed Kansas, 42-17, a year ago, were a combined 21-3 in Homecoming games from 1992-2015. Since then, the Red Raiders are only 4-6 following last season’s victory over the Jayhawks.

• Texas Tech announced Saturday’s game against Arizona State was a sellout on Sept. 28, marking a sellout for each of its first four games this season.
• Three home games remain for Texas Tech after its contest versus Arizona State and limited inventory remains for each contest: Oct. 31 vs. Arizona, Nov. 7 vs. West Virginia and Nov. 26 vs. TCU. Remaining single-game tickets can be purchased online at TexasTech.com or by contacting a ticket sales representative at 806-742-TECH.
• On May 11, Texas Tech Athletics announced it had sold out its season ticket allotment for the 2026 football season, marking the fourth consecutive year Red Raider football season tickets have sold out. Due to significant demand following the program’s continued rise, Texas Tech increased its season ticket allotment for 2026. Red Raider fans purchased more than 33,400 season tickets en route to another sellout, while the season-ticket renewal rate reached 95 percent, creating only limited availability for the wait list.
• Fans are encouraged to download their digital tickets to their smartphone’s mobile wallet before arriving at the stadium. For assistance, visit texastech.com/feature/digital-ticketing.

• Texas Tech will enter its Homecoming game with Arizona State ranked in the top 10 after the Red Raiders stayed at No. 9 in the U.S. LBM coaches poll this week and moved up one spot to No. 10 in the Associated Press poll. This is the first time this season the Red Raiders have appeared in the top 10 of both polls
• This is the 24th consecutive week the Red Raiders have appeared in the Associated Press poll, the longest run in program history. The Red Raiders previously appeared in the Associated Press poll over 20 straight weeks during the course of the 2004-06 seasons. Texas Tech rose to as high as No. 10 during that stretch.

• Texas Tech is off to a 5-0 start for a second consecutive season following its 29-7 victory at Colorado. It marks the first time the Red Raiders have started consecutive seasons with a 5-0 record in school history. With a win over the Sun Devils, it will mark the eighth time in program history the Red Raiders have started a season with a 6-0 record and the sixth time since joining the Big 12 in 1996.
• νThe Red Raiders are one of four teams to start 5-0 in each of the past two seasons, joining BYU, Indiana and Miami (Fla). Of that group, Miami lost its sixth game a year ago, meaning a Texas Tech win over Arizona State would cut the list down to possibly three schools with consecutive 6-0 starts. The Red Raiders started the 2025 campaign 6-0 before falling on the road to Arizona State in their lone regular-season loss.
• Texas Tech’s win at Colorado made Joey McGuire only the second head coach in school history to record multiple 5-0 starts in a tenure, joining Mike Leach (2005, 2008).

• Texas Tech’s road win at Colorado marked its seventh consecutive regular-season win over Big 12 opponents, matching the longest conference winning streak in school history. The Red Raiders previously won seven consecutive conference games twice, first in the Southwest Conference from 1973-74 under Jim Carlen and then again as a Big 12 member from 2007-08 under Mike Leach.
• Texas Tech’s current conference winning streak moves to eight games when adding in the victory over BYU in last season’s Edward Jones Big 12 Championship. Over the course of those eight games, Texas Tech has dominated Big 12 opponents, winning by an average of 28.3 points per contest with only one one-possession game, which came in this season’s conference opener versus Houston.

• The Red Raiders have flipped the switch from last year as Texas Tech has been more dominant in the second half this season as opposed to the opening quarter.
• The Red Raiders, who are only plus-7 in the first quarter but an impressive plus-72 in the second half, have been in a one-possession game at halftime in four of their five wins thus far, with three of those ending up as double-digit victories.
• The Red Raiders currently lead all Big 12 teams and are third nationally with a plus-72 point differential in the second half this season.

• Texas Tech has continued to embrace its “take three” mantra in back-to-back wins, picking off three passes against Sam Houston and four at Colorado, giving the Red Raiders 10 takeaways now for the season.
• Fueled by Joey McGuire’s “take three” mantra, the Red Raiders have now created 100 takeaways during his tenure, which ranks fifth among FBS programs since his 2022 debut season.
• The defensive mindset has worked as Texas Tech is a combined 33-3 during his tenure when either leading or finishing tied in the turnover margin.

• Texas Tech and Arizona State will meet for the seventh time Saturday and for the third time as Big 12 members in a series that is split 3-3 overall. This will be the third consecutive season Texas Tech and Arizona State have faced each other as the home team has defended its own turf in each of those previous matchups. This will be the last matchup between the two schools as part of the Big 12’s four-year scheduling matrix that runs through the 2027 season.
• Ironically, the losing team has gone on to win the Big 12 Championship in each of the past two seasons as Arizona State bounced back from a 30-22 loss in Lubbock to win eight of its next nine games in 2024 to advance to the College Football Playoff. The Sun Devils handed the Red Raiders their lone regular-season loss a year ago, topping Texas Tech, 26-22, in Tempe. The loss stopped a 6-0 start by the Red Raiders, who rebounded by winning their next five regular-season games by an average of 35.0 points.
• The two schools first met to kick off the 1999 season, the final year for the Red Raiders under legendary head coach Spike Dykes. The Sun Devils limited Texas Tech to only 246 yards of total offense in a 31-13 loss as the Red Raiders were unable to follow a Shaud Williams touchdown on their opening drive with much offense the rest of the night.
• Texas Tech and Arizona State did not meet again after that 1999 encounter until the 2013 Holiday Bowl, where the Red Raiders knocked off the 16th-ranked Sun Devils, 37-23, in San Diego. Davis Webb threw for 403 yards and four touchdowns in the victory, which improved the Red Raiders to an 8-5 finish under first-year head coach Kliff Kingsbury.

• Arizona State defeated No. 7 Texas Tech, 26-22, in Tempe last season, handing a 6-0 Red Raiders team their first loss of the season.
• The Red Raiders trailed by as many as 12 points in the fourth quarter at 19-7 before scoring two touchdowns in the final five minutes to take a 22-19 lead with 2:00 remaining. However, ASU mounted the final rally, driving 75 yards on 10 plays in 1 minute, 26 seconds to regain the lead, 26-22, with 0:34 left in the game.
• Will Hammond led the two late scoring drives in place of injured starting quarterback Behren Morton, scoring on a 1-yard run before throwing a 12-yard touchdown pass to Reggie Virgil. The Red Raiders also successfully converted a 2-point conversion to take their 22-19 lead.
• Raleek Brown scored the go-ahead touchdown on a 1-yard run with 34 seconds remaining, capping a drive aided by 61 passing yards from Sam Leavitt and a pass interference penalty.
• The Red Raiders reached Arizona State’s 28-yard line on its final drive, but Hammond’s Hail Mary heave as time expired was swatted down.
• Jesus Gomez added four field goals to help secure the victory for the Sun Devils as the team struggled to finish drives against a stout Red Raiders’ defense.

Release provided by MATT BURKHOLDER Texas Tech Athletics