TEXAS TECH BEGINS BIG 12 PLAY
Following its first open date since the 2004 season, Texas Tech (4-0, 0-0) kicks off the Big 12 Conference portion of its schedule at Kansas State (3-1, 0-0) on Saturday. The game is scheduled to kick at 2:30 p.m. CT at Bill Snyder Family Stadium (50,000) and will be televised regionally on ABC. Ron Franklin (play-by-play), Ed Cunningham (analyst) and Jack Arute (sideline) will call the game from Manhattan, Kan. Before the open week Texas Tech defeated Massachusetts (56-14) in Lubbock. The Wildcats knocked off Louisiana-Lafayette in Manhattan, 45-37, last weekend.
TEXAS TECH-KANSAS STATE SERIES
Texas Tech and Kansas State will meet for the 10th time Saturday in a series the Red Raiders lead 6-3. Texas Tech has won the last three meetings, including a 35-25 win in Manhattan in 2004. The series began in 1933 with Texas Tech taking the initial game 6-0 in Lubbock, followed by wins in 1963 (51-13) and 1986 (41-7), also in Lubbock. The two teams met in the inaugural Big 12 Conference game in 1996, which began a run of three-straight wins for the Wildcats over the Red Raiders. K-State won in 1996 (21-14), 1997 (13-2) and 2000 (28-23).
PREVIEWING KANSAS STATE
Kansas State is 3-1 on the season after wrapping up non-conference play against Louisiana with a 45-37 win Saturday. The Wildcats are averaging 441.2 yards of total offense per game, including 298.8 on the ground. Quarterback Josh Freeman is leading the team with 276.2 passing yards per game and has thrown 11 touchdowns in the Wildcat's balanced scoring numbers this season. Freeman also has accounted for six of the team's 10 rushing scores. Lamark Brown leads seven players averaging double figures in rushing with 31.2 yards per game. Brandon Banks is one of the top receivers in the league with 115.8 yards per game and has six scoring receptions. He has 22 receptions for 463 yards, while Freeman's second-favorite target, Aubrey Quarles, has 17 receptions, 199 yards and a touchdown. Defensively, KSU is allowing 370.5 yards per game of total offense and 206.0 yards per game on the ground. Opponents are averaging 22.8 points per game to Kansas State's 47.0. The Wildcats have been hot out of the chute with 59 and 49 points in the first and second quarters, respectively. Ulla Pomele leads the team with 25 tackles, while Brandon Harold has been dominant up front with three sacks and 8.5 tackles for loss. The team has two interceptions on the season.
RED RAIDERS EARN HIGHEST RANKING SINCE 1976
Texas Tech's No. 7 ranking in this week's Associated Press poll is the highest for the Red Raiders in any poll since sitting at No. 5 three-straight weeks during the 1976 season. Additionally, the Red Raiders enter this weekend's game at No. 8 in the coaches poll.
Texas Tech has appeared in nine final AP polls throughout the program's 83-year history.
Texas Tech spent 22-straight weeks in the AP top 25 from 2004-06, a program best; the previous high was 20 weeks during the 1976-77 seasons.
The Red Raiders spent three-straight weeks in the AP at No. 5 in 1976, Tech's highest-ever ranking.
The Red Raiders spent eight weeks in the top 10 in 1976.
Texas Tech is currently in a five-year streak of being ranked in the AP poll, the longest streak in school history.
TEXAS TECH QUICK NOTES
Texas Tech is 4-0 on the season after defeating Eastern Washington (49-24), Nevada (35-19), SMU (43-7) and Massachusetts (56-14) in non-conference play.
Texas Tech is sixth nationally with 11-straight non-conference wins, including bowl games ... the Red Raiders last lost a non-conference game at TCU (12-3) in 2006.
The Red Raiders' 4-0 start is the best since the 2005 season, when Texas Tech began 6-0.
Texas Tech's top 10 rankings each of the last two weeks in the Associated Press and USA Today Coaches polls is the first time since Oct. 16, 2005, that the team has been ranked among the top 10 in both ... it also is only the second since the installation of the coaches poll in 1989 that Texas Tech has been ranked among the 10 in both.
Texas Tech is 8-4 all-time in Big 12 Conference openers ... last year's league-opening loss at Oklahoma State snapped a string of five-straight conference-opening game wins.
Since the inception of the Big 12 Conference in 1996, Texas Tech is 18-18 in games against the conference's North division ... the Red Raiders are 13-11 in head coach Mike Leach's eight previous seasons, but have won 10 of the last 15 ... had perfect seasons against the North in 2004 and 2005.
Red Raiders may turn into "Road Warriors" after the month of October is complete ... Tech plays at home only once (Oct. 11 vs. Nebraska) during the month ... games at Kansas State (Oct. 4), Texas A&M (Oct. 18) and Kansas (Oct. 25) make up three-quarters of the month's slate.
The Red Raider defense allowed a late touchdown to Massachusetts, its only offensive score of the game.
Texas Tech boasts a 29-5 record at Jones AT&T Stadium since the start of the 2003 season ... Tech's .853 success rate is tied 11th during the span with Georgia and Florida and is third in the Big 12 to Oklahoma and Texas.
The Red Raiders have scored 30 or more points in 20 of the last 22 games, including the last eight straight, which leads the country ... Texas, with seven-straight 30-point games, is second among the national leaders in consecutive 30-point games.
Since Mike Leach's arrival in 2000, the Red Raiders boast a 19-1 non-conference record at Jones AT&T Stadium ... overall, Texas Tech is 32-8 in non-conference matchups, including five bowl wins ... the program is 7-4 on the road and 6-3 at neutral sites.
Texas Tech has the Big 12 Conference's longest winning streak at six games, dating back to last season.
Texas Tech ranks fifth nationally with 13-straight winning seasons. Florida State leads with 30, while Michigan (22), Florida (19), Virginia Tech (14) and Tech comprise the top five.
Texas Tech has scored 30 or more points in 70 games during the Leach era and has won 59 of those games. The Red Raiders are 29-5 under Leach when scoring 40+ and 20-0 when scoring over 50. On the flip side, Tech is 10-26 when scoring 29 points or less.
Texas Tech quarterbacks have thrown for 41,061 yards during the Mike Leach tenure - or 23.3 miles. The offense has also accounted for 321 passing scores since 2000 as compared to the 232 thrown the previous 20 seasons.
Texas Tech ranks third among Big 12 members with consecutive eight-win seasons. Texas leads the group with nine, while Oklahoma has done it in the last seven seasons. Texas Tech has recorded at least eight wins each of the last six seasons.
LAST GAME AGAINST THE WILDCATS
Cody Hodges threw for 643 yards and five touchdowns as Texas Tech capitalized on three Kansas State turnovers in a 59-20 win in Lubbock on Oct. 15, 2005. Joel Filani reeled in 10 receptions for a school-record 255 yards and a touchdown. Four Red Raider receivers eclipsed the 100-yard mark, including running back Taurean Henderson, who caught 10 passes for 118 yards and two touchdowns. The Red Raiders held a narrow 17-13 lead at halftime, but exploded for 28 third-quarter points and 14 in the fourth, while limiting the Wildcats to a touchdown in the second half. Henderson was the star of the day as he added three rushing scores to his two through the air. The five touchdowns tied a school record. Safety Dwayne Slay delivered two bone-jolting hits that resulted in a pair of Kansas State turnovers, each leading to Red Raider scores. Slay finished with a game-high 10 tackles, while safety Vincent Meeks followed with six tackles and accounted for Tech's other takeaway with an interception. The Red Raiders rolled up 684 yards of total offense, while holding the Wildcats to 306 yards.
TEXAS TECH-STATE OF KANSAS CONNECTIONS
Defensive end Daniel Howard is playing in his home state of Kansas for the first time since signing with the Red Raiders in 2007. Howard prepped at Bishop Carroll in Wichita and played a season at Butler County Community College in El Dorado, Kan, before joining the Red Raiders.
Texas Tech Director of Football Operations Tommy McVay was an assistant coach at Kansas State from 1983-85.
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