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LUBBOCK, Texas – Texas Tech will face in-state rival Texas for one final time as Big 12 Conference members on Friday evening at 6:30 p.m. when the two meet for the 73rd time in history and 64th-consecutive year at Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin. The Red Raiders will be looking to close this chapter of its rivalry against the Longhorns with back-to-back wins following a thrilling 37-34 overtime victory a year ago.
Television coverage will be provided by ABC with Dave Pasch behind the mic providing the play-by-play and Dusty Dvoracek alongside in the booth providing analysis. The broadcast can be accessed from any desktop or laptop computer, a personal cellular device and television streaming services using the ESPN app.
RED RAIDERS BOWL ELIGIBLE ONCE AGAIN
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The Red Raiders head to Austin with bowl eligibility already secured for the 41st time in program history and the third-consecutive season after downing UCF this past weekend.
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The win made Joey McGuire only the second head coach in program history to lead the Red Raiders to a bowl in each of his first two seasons as Texas Tech will be looking to cap a perfect month of November with a win over the Longhorns.
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The Red Raiders are 6-1 in November under McGuire with six-consecutive victories, the longest such run since the 1992-94 campaigns.
BROOKS IN ELITE CLASS OF FBS RUSHERS
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Tahj Brooks continues to rise up the national rankings after another career night leading the Red Raiders where he totaled 182 rushing yards – a career-high – and a touchdown in Texas Tech’s win over UCF.
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The performance marked his eighth 100-yard game in the past nine contests as Brooks is now third in the FBS with 1,348 rushing yards this season.
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According to Pro Football Focus, Brooks recorded an astounding 151 yards after contact against UCF as he was the website’s highest-graded FBS rusher for Week 12.
NUMBERS TO KNOW
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5: Behren Morton has now won all five games he has started and finished this season as the sophomore is completing 70.6 percent of his passes in those games with nine touchdowns to only three interceptions.
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7: The blocked extra point by E’Maurion Banks late in the win over UCF marked the seventh blocked kick in just 24 games for the Red Raiders under Joey McGuire and special teams coordinator Kenny Perry.
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86: Tahj Brooks has forced 86 missed tackles, according to PFF, which easily leads the FBS and is 23 more than any other power-five rusher. The website ranks him second in the FBS with 855 yards after contact.
WHAT A WIN WOULD MEAN FRIDAY…
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A victory would improve the Red Raiders to 6-3 in Big 12 play, marking its most conference wins in a season since 2008 when Texas Tech was 7-1 overall under the old eight-game format. The Red Raiders have won six Big 12 games only one other time, which came in 2005 (6-2). Prior to joining the Big 12 in 1996, the Red Raiders won six or more conference games just twice in the Southwest Conference era – in 1973 (6-1) under head coach Jim Carlen and again in 1976 (7-1) under Steve Sloan.
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With a victory Friday, Texas Tech would have won nine of its last 12 conference games dating back to the end of the 2022 season when the Red Raiders closed the regular season with wins over Kansas, Iowa State and Oklahoma.
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Texas Tech will be searching for its fourth-consecutive victory in Big 12 play Friday, which would mark its longest streak since the Red Raiders started the 2013 season at 4-0 against league opponents in their debut under Kliff Kingsbury.
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A victory over the Longhorns would help the Red Raiders close the regular season with four-consecutive victories for the first time since the 1993 campaign when Texas Tech started 1-5 overall, only to win its next five games to eventually play in the John Hancock Bowl.
 INSIDE THE TEXAS SERIES
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Texas Tech and Texas will meet for the 73rd time in history and the 64th-consecutive year on Friday evening in Austin. The Longhorns control a 54-18 all-time advantage in the series, which includes a 32-7 mark in games played in the state capital. This is the final meeting schedule between the two in-state rivals for now with Texas’ departure to the Southeastern Conference beginning in 2024.
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The Red Raiders are looking to close this chapter of the series with back-to-back wins after a 37-34 overtime victory a year ago in Lubbock. Texas Tech has not won consecutive games in the series since early in the Big 12 era when the Red Raiders used a stout defensive performance for a 24-10 victory in Austin followed by a high-scoring 42-35 win the next year in Lubbock.
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Six of the past eight meetings between the two schools have been decided by at least one possession with the two exceptions being Texas Tech’s last two trips to Austin as the Longhorns secured a 49-24 victory in 2019 and a 70-35 win in 2021. Prior to that, Texas Tech won the 2015 road game via a 48-45 victory and again in 2017 with a close 27-23 win that came down to the wire. Texas Tech will be searching for its third win in its last five visits this week.
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Texas Tech used some late-game heroics in both of those wins as Jakeem Grant hid behind the offensive line before scampering 40 yards around the left side to the end zone to give Texas Tech a 48-38 lead with 2:41 remaining in the 2015 victory. Justus Parker, meanwhile, picked off a Sam Ehlinger pass with just over two minutes remaining in 2017, setting up a Cameron Batson touchdown from Nic Shimonek that was followed by a Douglas Coleman III interception to seal the victory. Shimonek, Texas Tech’s starter for all 12 games up to the point, came off the bench late to lead a Kliff Kingsbury-led team to a victory.
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As a reminder, Texas Tech and Texas have played annually since 1996 for the Chancellor’s Spurs, a pair of sterling silver boot spurs. The tradition began when both universities, for the first time, included a chancellor position with Texas Tech naming John T. Montford to the role. The Spurs are currently in possession of Texas Tech Chancellor Tedd L Mitchell.
TEXAS TECH-TEXAS CONNECTIONS
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This weekend’s matchup will pit Texas Tech tight ends coach Josh Cochran against his alma mater. Cochran, who was a student assistant coach for the Longhorns under Charlie Strong in 2014, was a three-year letterwinner for Texas from 2011-13, making 23 starts on the offensive line where he was a Freshman All-American in 2011.
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Texas Tech passing game coordinator Marcel Yates will recognize several faces on the Texas sideline this weekend dating back to his time as an assistant at Boise State. Yates, who spent nine years as an assistant with the Broncos (2003-11) and two more as defensive coordinator (2014-15), worked alongside Texas defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski as position coaches from 2006-09 before Kwiatkowski became defensive coordinator in 2010. Yates ultimately replaced Kwiatkowski as Boise State’s defensive coordinator in 2014 following two seasons (2011-12) as the co-defensive coordinator at Texas A&M.
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Texas Tech assistant head coach Justin Johnson and Texas safeties coach Blake Gideon were both on the same Houston staff in 2019. Gideon was Houston’s special teams coordinator and nicklebacks coach that season, while Johnson served as his alma mater’s running backs coach.
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Texas Tech defensive coordinator Tim DeRuyter and Yates both worked alongside Texas Director of Football Performance Torre Becton during their respective tenures at California. DeRuyter was Cal’s defensive coordinator from 2017-20, the same time period Becton was the Golden Bears’ head strength and conditioning coach. Yates joined the Cal staff in 2020 as defensive backs coach.
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Texas Tech has six players who hail from the Austin area. That list includes senior running back Tahj Brooks (Manor), freshman defensive lineman Jayden Cofield (Austin), redshirt freshman tight end Jack Esparza (Austin), freshman outside linebacker Ansel Nedore (Round Rock), sophomore running back Cam’Ron Valdez (Rockdale), and junior tight end Jayden York (Austin).
THIS-N-THAT
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Texas Tech finished its home slate with a 4-2 record inside Jones AT&T Stadium this season, improving the Red Raiders to 10-3 overall under Joey McGuire. The Red Raiders are 7-2 at home against Big 12 foes during McGuire’s tenure.
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The win over UCF guaranteed Texas Tech its second-consecutive season with a winning conference record. The Red Raiders had not finished above .500 over consecutive seasons previously since the 2008-09 campaigns.
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Additionally, the win Joey McGuire is only the second head coach in program history to notch an above-.500 conference record in each of his first two seasons. McGuire led the Red Raiders to a 5-4 mark in league play a year ago en route to joining Steve Sloan, who pushed the Red Raiders to a 4-3 mark in the Southwest Conference in 1975 followed by a 7-1 record and conference title a year later.
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Each of the Red Raiders’ six wins this season has come with Texas Tech either leading or tied at the half. The Red Raiders are 11-2 under Joey McGuire when heading to the locker room with the lead at the half versus a 2-8 mark when trailing. The UCF game marked the first time under McGuire that Texas Tech was tied at the half.
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Texas Tech is hoping to finish a perfect 5-0 this season against schools from the Lone Star State after already topping the likes of Tarleton State, Houston, Baylor and TCU.
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