Texas Tech, TCU set for Thursday night clash in Lubbock

LUBBOCK, Texas – Texas Tech will host TCU for a rare Thursday matchup at 6 p.m. and look to take back the Saddle Trophy in what will be the 66th all-time meeting between the two in-state rivals inside Jones AT&T Stadium. The Red Raiders seek to snap the Horned Frog’s four-game win streak in the series as Tech’s last win coincidentally came the last time the Red Raiders played on a Thursday night in 2018. Both teams are coming off their respective open dates.

Television coverage will be provided by FS1. Jeff Levering will be behind the mic for play-by-play duties and will be joined by analyst Mark Helfrich. Fans can access the game from their mobile or streaming device by using the FOX Sports app.

Texas Tech Sports Network will also broadcast the game over 46 affiliates throughout the state of Texas and New Mexico as Brian Jensen will have the call alongside analyst John Harris and sideline reporter Chris Level. The radio broadcast can also be heard on SiriusXM channel 135 or 199, as well as on the Varsity app.

FANS ENCOURAGED TO “WEAR BLACK”

• Texas Tech is encouraging fans to wear black for Thursday night’s contest versus TCU. The “wear black” initiative has traditionally signaled an upcoming big game as well as a sold-out crowd. Case, in point, tickets sold out the last time it did so, and a near-capacity crowd is expected for this Thursday’s game.
• Texas Tech announced a ticket two-pack to ensure entry into the final two home games starting as low as $65 for admission to both the TCU (11/2) and UCF (11/18) games.

NAVIGATING CONSTRUCTION

• With the ongoing $230 million south end zone and Womble Football Center construction project, Texas Tech highly encourages fans to arrive at Jones AT&T Stadium early each gameday as capacity crowds are expected for each home game. Additionally, fans are asked to please enter the stadium as early as possible to avoid longer entry lines closer to kickoff.
• One of the most notable changes around Jones AT&T Stadium will be the closing of Sixth Street each gameday, namely the area between the ongoing south end zone construction site and the Sports Performance Center. This area will be closed to pedestrian traffic on gameday due to the construction project and to ensure both teams can safely reach their locker room in a timely manner.
• Fans with seats on the east side of Jones AT&T Stadium are encouraged to enter through Gate 3 this season and use the north inner concourse to reach their section.
• Students should continue to utilize Gate 6.
• Once inside, fans are reminded that the only way to move from the east or west side of Jones AT&T Stadium to the other is via the north inner concourse behind the north end zone building. There will not be a concourse area in the south portion of the stadium this season due to construction.

BROOKS NEARING CAREER TOP 10 IN RUSHING

• Tahj Brooks could potentially break into the top 10 for career rushing yards against TCU as the senior needs exactly 100 yards to match Baron Batch for 10th all-time in program history.
• Brooks, who has compiled 2,401 career yards on the ground, has rushed for at least 100 yards in five of Texas Tech’s last six games as he enters this week ranked seventh in the FBS for rushing yards per game (110.9).
• Brooks needs 113 yards against the Horned Frogs to become only the second Red Raider to rush for 1,000 yards in a season since 2000.

NOVEMBER WAS NICE TO TECH IN 2022

• If the Red Raiders are to play in a bowl game for a third-consecutive season and the 41st time in history, they’ll need a strong month of November similar to a year ago when Texas Tech closed the regular season with three-consecutive victories.
• That winning streak actually started following a loss at TCU as the Red Raiders won their final three games of the regular season for the first time since 1995.
• In addition to TCU, the Red Raiders will host UCF and have road games at Kansas and Texas over the final month of the season.

NUMBERS TO KNOW

• 1: Texas Tech is the only FBS school in the country to utilize three different starting quarterbacks each of the last two seasons. In total, Joey McGuire has had four different starters under center in his 21 career games.
• 2: Tahj Brooks is one of only two FBS rushers and the lone back from the Big 12 Conference to have two or more games with at least 30 rushing attempts this season, joining Minnesota freshman Darius Taylor.
• 7: Texas Tech has surrendered seven points or less in the second half of three of its five Big 12 games thus far as the Red Raiders are giving up 8.4 points per game over the final 30 minutes to league foes this season.

TEXAS TECH-TCU CONNECTIONS

• This week’s matchup will place the Red Raiders against a fellow Texas Tech graduate in TCU head coach Sonny Dykes. Dykes, the son of legendary Red Raider head coach Spike Dykes, received his bachelor’s degree in history from the university in 1993 and was a member of the Texas Tech baseball program for two seasons. He previously spent seven seasons as an assistant coach for his alma mater, serving as receivers coach from 2000-04 before adding the title of co-offensive coordinator from 2005-06 under Mike Leach. Dykes is the fourth Texas Tech graduate in recent years to face his alma mater as an opposing head coach, joining Tom Wilson (Texas A&M 1978-81), Art Briles (Baylor 2008-15) and Lincoln Riley (Oklahoma 2017-21).
• Texas Tech, meanwhile, has a TCU graduate on its staff in defensive line coach Zarnell Fitch, who earned his degree in communications with a minor in social work in 2006. Fitch was a two-year letterman for the Horned Frogs from 2004-05 where he made three starts as a senior. He arrived at Texas Tech following six seasons serving in a similar capacity for his alma mater under former head coach Gary Patterson.
• Fitch isn’t the only former TCU assistant now on the Texas Tech staff as associate head coach and special teams coordinator Kenny Perry received his first collegiate position with the Horned Frogs. Perry, a DFW native, served as TCU’s director of high school relations in 2013 before being promoted to cornerbacks coach the following year. Additionally, he also previously worked under TCU head coach Sonny Dykes as a special teams quality control analyst at SMU in 2020 and then the special teams coordinator for the Mustangs in 2021.
• TCU, likewise, has several former Texas Tech assistants on its staff including special teams coordinator Mark Tommerdahl, who was previously the special teams coordinator for the Red Raiders under Matt Wells (2019-21). During his tenure, Tommerdahl helped mentor current Red Raider punter Austin McNamara into a Freshman All-American in 2019 and placekicker Trey Wolff to All-Big 12 honorable mention accolades that same season.
• The DFW metroplex is annually a hotbed for the state’s top talent as Texas Tech boasts 35 players from the area as well as numerous coaches.

INSIDE THE TCU SERIES

• Texas Tech and TCU will meet for the 66th time in history on Saturday as the Red Raiders lead the all-time series with a 32-30-3 advantage. This will be the 11th meeting between the two former Southwest Conference foes since the Horned Frogs joined the Big 12 prior to the 2012 season.
• Texas Tech and TCU were previously members of the Southwest Conference from 1960-95 where the Red Raiders controlled a 21-12-3 advantage. The two schools met twice as non-conference foes in 2004 and 2006 prior to TCU joining the Big 12 in 2012. The two schools split those two games with the Red Raiders delivering a 70-35 rout in 2004 followed by a 12-3 victory by the Horned Frogs two years later.
• The Red Raiders will be looking to snap a four-game losing streak to the Horned Frogs, their longest since the very start of the series when TCU won the first five contests from 1926-30. It is the longest winning streak for either team in the series since the Red Raiders rolled off six-consecutive wins from 1985-90 during their stay in the Southwest Conference.
• The Horned Frogs have also won each of the past four meetings in Lubbock, their longest road-winning streak all-time in the series. Texas Tech’s last win at home against the Horned Frogs came in 2013 behind a 20-10 victory, which was also on a Thursday night.

THIS-N-THAT

• Texas Tech will need to win three of its final four games this season to play in the postseason for a third-consecutive season and the 41st time in history. The Red Raiders won three of their final four games on the schedule a year ago in the debut season under Joey McGuire. Texas Tech has won at least three games in the month of November five times previously since joining the Big 12 Conference in 1996 (2001, 2002, 2008, 2010, 2022).
• Turnovers have plagued the Red Raiders the past two games, especially, on the scoreboard as Kansas State and BYU combined for 27 points following takeaways. Prior to that, the Red Raiders had only allowed 17 points off turnovers in the previous six games combined.
• The loss at BYU dropped the Red Raiders to 8-3 under Joey McGuire when allowing 29 or fewer points in a game. Texas Tech also fell at West Virginia in a similar low-scoring affair earlier this season.
• Texas Tech was 6-1 in home games under Joey McGuire a year ago but has started 2-2 inside Jones AT&T Stadium this season. The Red Raiders still have two home dates remaining with TCU followed by UCF on Nov. 18. With a victory in each of those two games, the Red Raiders would finish 4-2 at home, which would mark the first time Texas Tech compiled an above-.500 record at home in consecutive seasons since the 2012-13 campaigns. Prior to McGuire’s debut in 2022, Texas Tech had finished with a winning record (above .500) at home only once (2020) over its previous six seasons.
• Each of the Red Raiders’ three wins this season have come with Texas Tech leading at the half. The Red Raiders are 9-2 under Joey McGuire when heading to the locker room with the lead at the half versus a 2-8 mark when trailing.
• Texas Tech’s three scoring drives versus Kansas State were all the result of long drives of 75, 89 and 99 yards. It was the complete opposite of the previous week when the Red Raiders had three touchdown drives of 65 yards or shorter as well as one other resulting in a field goal that was part of a seven-yard drive.  The Red Raiders’ 99-yard scoring drive versus the Wildcats was their longest since going the same distance against Texas State on Sept. 8, 2012.

— Tech —

Release provided by Matt Burkholder Texas Tech Athletics