TECH HOSTS SECOND-STRAIGHT TOP 10 OPPONENT
The slate doesn't get any easier for Texas Tech and the No. 2/3 Red Raiders host the No. 8/8 Oklahoma State Cowboys on Saturday at Jones AT&T Stadium. Texas Tech is 9-0, 5-0 on the season and is coming off a 39-33 win over then-No. 1 Texas in Lubbock. Oklahoma State is 8-1, 4-1 after dismantling Iowa State, 59-17, in Stillwater on Saturday. The Cowboys' lone blemish was a 28-24 setback at Texas two weeks ago.
SATURDAY'S GAME ON NATIONAL TELEVISION
ABC will carry the game at 7 p.m. CT from Jones AT&T Stadium with Brent Musburger (play-by-play), Kirk Herbstreit (analyst) and Lisa Salters (sideline) calling the action. The game will be the seventh of the year on television for Texas Tech and the third on ABC. Saturday's game also is part of a split national broadcast for the network as USC-California will air at the same time in various parts of the country.
TECH RIDING NATION'S LONGEST WIN STREAK
Texas Tech enters the week with the nation's longest win streaks at 11 games, dating back to last season. Texas Tech's last loss was a 59-43 setback at Texas late last season. Coincidentally, the streak also is the longest in school history, surpassing a 10-game stretch accomplished three times - 1938, 1953-54 and 1973-74.
TEXAS TECH-OKLAHOMA STATE SERIES
Texas Tech holds a 20-12-3 advantage over Oklahoma State in a series that dates back to 1935. The Red Raiders have won 11 straight in Lubbock and last dropped a home-field decision to the Cowboys in 1944. OSU won last year's meeting in Stillwater in a shootout, 49-45, in a game that came down to the final drive. Tech has won eight of the 11 meetings overall.
TECH RECEIVES HIGHEST RANKINGS IN HISTORY
Texas Tech enters the week with its highest rankings in school history, following Saturday's 39-33 win over then-No. 1 Texas. The Red Raiders are No. 2 and No. 3 in the Associated Press and USA Today Coaches polls, respectively, and are second in the BCS standings. Texas Tech's highest ranking previously was last week's No. 5 showing in the coaches poll and a three-week run at No. 5 in the AP poll in 1976.
500TH WIN A MEMORABLE ONE
All wins are memorable, but the last-second heroics will make Texas Tech's 500th win a conversation item for years to come. Beginning with the first win against Montezuma on Oct. 17, 1925, to the Red Raiders' 39-33 win over Texas last weekend, the program has accumulated 500 wins to 387 losses and 32 ties.
Other Milestone Wins
100 - at Oklahoma A&M (16-6) - Oct. 3, 1941
200 - West Texas State (38-14) - Sept. 17, 1960
300 - at Baylor (17-7) - Sept. 10, 1977
400 - Air Force (55-41) - Dec. 27, 1995
500 - Texas (39-33) - Nov. 1, 2008
TEXAS TECH LOOKING FOR 10
Now that the team is 9-0 for the first time in 70 years, the Red Raiders are looking for its first 10-0 start since that same season. The 1938 squad went 10-0 in the regular season, before dropping a 20-13 decision to St. Mary's in Tech's first Cotton Bowl appearance.
TEXAS TECH QUICK NOTES
Texas Tech's 9-0 start is the best for the program since 1938 ... in the 84-year history of the program, Texas Tech has been 9-0 only one other time - the 1938 team opened the season 10-0.
Texas Tech's top 10 rankings each of the last seven weeks in the Associated Press and USA Today Coaches polls are the longest a Tech team has been ranked among the top 10 in consecutive weeks ... it also is only the second year since the installation of the coaches poll in 1989 that Texas Tech has been ranked among the top 10 in both.
Texas Tech has the Big 12 Conference's longest winning streak at 11 games, dating back to last season.
Texas Tech has scored 30 or more points in 75 games during the Leach era and has won 64 of those games. The Red Raiders are 32-5 under Leach when scoring 40+ and 22-0 when scoring over 50. On the flip side, Tech is 10-26 when scoring 29 points or less.
Texas Tech quarterbacks have thrown for 43,177 yards during the Mike Leach tenure - or 24.5 miles. The offense has also accounted for 340 passing scores since 2000 as compared to the 232 thrown the previous 20 seasons.
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.
Texas Tech is 9-4 all-time in Big 12 Conference openers, including its 58-28 win at Kansas State on Oct. 4 ... 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 21-18 in games against the conference's North division ... the Red Raiders are 16-11 in head coach Mike Leach's nine seasons, but have won 13 of the last 18 ... had perfect seasons against the North in 2004, 2005 and 2008.
Red Raiders turned into "Road Warriors" after the month of October ... Tech played 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) made up three-quarters of the month's slate.
Texas Tech boasts a 31-5 record at Jones AT&T Stadium since the start of the 2003 season ... Tech's .861 success rate is tied for 9th during the span with Virginia Tech and is third in the Big 12 to Oklahoma and Texas.
The Red Raiders have scored 30 or more points in 25 of the last 27 games, including the last 13 straight, which leads the country.
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 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.
Texas Tech extended its season-opening win streak to six after the 49-24 win over Eastern Washington. The Red Raiders are 55-26-3 all-time in season openers. The Red Raiders opened the season at home for the 56th time and have an overall mark of 43-11-2 in those games, including the last nine. The last time Tech lost in a season opener at home was against Oklahoma in 1992.
The Red Raiders improved to 63-18-3 all-time in home openers against Eastern Washington, including the last nine straight. The last Tech loss in a home opener came against North Texas in 1999.
The game against Eastern Washington marked the sixth time Texas Tech opened the season in the month of August and the fourth time under Mike Leach. The Red Raiders are 3-3 in those games.
For the first time in the program's 84-year history, Texas Tech has sold out of season tickets. The department announced August 20 that 41,773 season tickets were sold for the upcoming season. The number surpasses the previous high of 40,436 sold in 2005.
Eighty-four of the 105 players that reported to preseason camp hail from the state of Texas. Of those, 37 are among the offensive and defensive two-deep. All 11 offensive starters and eight on the defensive side are Texans.
Of the 21 players on the 105 that hail from outside the state of Texas, nine of those jumped the border from Oklahoma. Texas Tech's reach extends across the continental U.S. from Georgia (2) and South Carolina (1) to California (2) and points in between - Arizona, New Mexico, Tennessee, Louisiana, Kansas and Arkansas are represented with a player each. Additionally, Hawaii has a player on the Texas Tech roster.
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