Game Preview: The Red Raiders travel to No. 16 NC State

Lubbock, Texas – Texas Tech’s first road test of the 2022 season awaits this Saturday when it hosts the No. 16 NC State Red Raiders at Carter-Finley Stadium (56,919). The game will begin at 7pm Central, with both teams tied 2-0 going into the contest.

Anish Shroff will call the game on the ESPN2 site with analyst Brock Osweiler and sideline reporter Taylor McGregor. By using the ESPN app, the broadcast can be accessed from any desktop or laptop computer, personal cellular device, and television streaming services. Subscription to the subscription service can be found at ESPNPlus.com.

The Texas Tech Sports Network will also broadcast the game on 46 affiliates in Texas and the state of New Mexico as Brian Jensen calls the call with analyst John Harris and sideline reporter Chris Rank. The radio broadcast can also be heard on SiriusXM channel 108 or 199, as well as on the Varsity App.

Another week, another top-25 foe

• Texas Tech won the award as the first top-25 head coach Joey McGuire The Red Raiders take on No. 12 North Carolina State this Saturday at Carter-Finley Stadium with another ranked foe. Tech is coming off a 33-30 double overtime win over No. 25 Houston last weekend.
• After taking down No. 1 Texas and No. 8 Oklahoma State at the end of the 2008 season, the Red Raiders are looking for a chance to make it back-to-back wins in consecutive weeks. Since the inception of the Associated Press Poll in 1936, Tech has not defeated multiple non-conference foes in the regular season in program history.

A great start to the Joey McGuire Era

• Texas Tech fans couldn’t have had a better start Joey McGuire The Red Raiders beat Murray State 33-30 at Houston before picking up their first key win under their new head coach. McGuire became just the second head coach in program history to top a top-25 team in his first game against a foe.
• With a win at NC State this weekend, McGuire would become the fourth head coach in program history to start his career with a 3-0 record, joining the likes of Dale Morgan (1941), Mike Leach (2000) and Kliff Kingsbury (). 2013)

Red Raiders, NC State for sixth all-time meet

• The trip to Raleigh will be the sixth all-time meeting between Texas Tech and North Carolina State and the first since the two schools completed a home-and-home series in 2003. The Red Raiders are 1-4 all-time against the Wolfpack. The only win came in a 54-7 blowout over NC State in Lubbock to close out the 1952 season.
• This is the third time the Red Raiders have qualified for NC State, following the Wolfpack in 1992 and 2002, when they were ranked No. 17. Texas Tech nearly finished off the Wolfpack in overtime. In the year In the 2002 meeting before TA McLendon rushed for five rushing touchdowns to go along with future NFL great Philip Rivers’ 301 passing yards.
• Two of the last three meetings between the two schools have gone down to the wire, with NC State scoring a game-winning touchdown in 1993 to record a 36-34 victory in Lubbock before an overtime victory a decade later in 2002. In the year A loss in 1993 marred a strong offensive performance by the Red Raiders as Bam Morris totaled 141 rushing yards and two touchdowns, while Robert Hall completed 29-of-40 passes for 348 yards and one touchdown.
• Texas Tech will have to wait a few years before NC State makes its return trip to Jones AT&T Stadium as part of the home-and-home deal the two schools signed in 2016. Lubbock on September 18, 2027

Random TIDBITS to the first road trip of the year

• Texas Tech improved to 8-7 in overtime games with a win over No. 25 Houston last weekend. The win followed a three-game losing streak in overtime contests, as the Red Raiders’ last overtime win came in 2016 at TCU, 27-24. such as Donovan Smith Last weekend, Texas Tech also capitalized on the quarterback competition when Patrick Mahomes II found the end zone from 15 yards out in the first overtime, leading to a 37-yard field goal by Cloton Hatfield to win the game. .
• Texas Tech is previously 2-3 in overtime games against No. 23 Texas A&M 48-47, a memorable win in 2002 and No. 21 TCU 56-53 in 2012. The Raiders have gone to overtime in two of the past three seasons, falling to No. 22 Baylor and No. 8 Texas in 2020.
• The win over Houston marked the fifth in a row and the 10th in the last 11 meetings between the two future members of the Big 12 Conference. That five-game winning streak is tied for the longest of the entire streak.
• Texas Tech is 10-17 all-time against members of the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Red Raiders are also 1-4 against Florida State and Miami, as Texas Tech’s five previous meetings with NC State have always been against ACC opponents. In their history, the Red Raiders have faced Boston College (2-1), Clemson (1-0), Georgia Tech (0-2), North Carolina (1-2), Virginia (1-0) and Wake Forest. (2-0)
• Texas Tech’s 96 points in the first two weeks of the season were its most since scoring 104 points during the same 2018 campaign, which included a 47-27 loss to Ole Miss and a 77-0 loss to Lamar.

The challenging program continues

• Start to Joey McGuire It hasn’t been an easy season for the Red Raiders between three-straight ranked opponents. Texas Tech started that stretch with a win over No. 25 Houston, followed by a 16/12 NC State and No. 21/20 Texas (AP/AFCA polls) tournament to follow.
• Texas Tech is one of four Power-Five conference schools projected to face at least two conference opponents in the preseason Associated Press Top 25. That list includes Pac-12 programs Oregon and Stanford along with SEC Arkansas.
• Only one Power-Five program, Mississippi State, had more preseason 25 teams on its schedule than Texas Tech’s six. The Red Raiders’ preseason schedule pits them against five AP top-25 ranked opponents and they are one of 10 Power Five teams for the 2022 schedule (Georgia Tech, Louisville, North Carolina, Syracuse, Stanford, Arkansas, Auburn, South Carolina and Vanderbilt). .
• As both Houston and NC State were ranked in the top-25 prior to facing the Red Raiders, this marks the first time since 2002 that Texas Tech has faced multiple non-conference opponents in one season. The Red Raiders opened the 2002 campaign early against No. 12 Ohio State before traveling to face No. 16 NC State in week four. This will be just the sixth time in program history that the Red Raiders have faced multiple ranked non-conference opponents in the regular season since joining the Southwest Conference in 1960. Texas Tech faced multiple ranked non-conference teams in 1994 (No. 1). Nebraska, No. 21 Oklahoma), 1992 (No. 15 Oklahoma, No. 25 NC State), 1990 (No. 18 Ohio State, No. 8 Miami) and 1975 (No. 15 Oklahoma State, No. 13 Arizona).
• In addition to both Houston and NC State, the Red Raiders open Big 12 play against Texas, ranked 20th in the AFCA Coaches Poll and No. 21 in the AP Poll. Texas Tech follows the contests at Kansas State, which receives votes in both polls, and then at No. 8/7 at Oklahoma State.
• In its history, Texas Tech has started just one season in which it has won three of its first four games in the rankings, a feat the Red Raiders last did in 1978 against the likes of No. 9 Southern Cal, No. 6 Texas and No. 7. Texas A&M Tech dropped all three games, falling 17-9 to Southern Cal, then 24-7 at home to Texas and 38-9 in College Station to the Aggies. As part of a 7-4 season under Rex Dockery, the Red Raiders recovered to win their next six games.

Chain group

• Offensively, the Red Raiders smothered the lineup, but on defense, they got plenty of breaks. The Red Raider offense has committed the eighth-most first downs in the FBS so far (64), while the defense is limiting opponents to the 13th-fewest first downs in the FBS (26).
• The Red Raiders are averaging 32.0 first downs through two games under the first-year offensive coordinator. Zach Keightley, ranked T-2nd best in the FBS. Defensive coordinator in his first year Tim DeRuyterOpponents average 13.0 first downs per game, 13th nationally in the FBS.
• Texas Tech didn’t allow a single first down from Murray State in the second half and allowed just five first downs against Houston in the second half, including just one allowed to the Cougars in the fourth quarter. Texas Tech held Houston to 13 first downs.
• The Red Raiders are ranked at least T-4th in the FBS and have surrendered just six first downs to the opponent’s running game.

Man for the theater

• Donovan Smith Jones is 3-2 as a starting quarterback and 2-1 in games played at AT&T Stadium. In both victories, each of them came in spectacular fashion, which sent classmates into a frenzy, running on the field in celebration. The first came on a 62-yard field goal in 2021 against Iowa State, and the last came last weekend when Smith escaped a punt and went nine yards in the second overtime to win the game. The Cougars converted the field goal in the second half of overtime.
• Smith set career highs across the board in Texas Tech’s win over Houston, setting career highs in completions (36), attempts (58) and passing yards (351), as well as a career-long run (27) in the win. It was Smith’s second career 300-yard game since beating Iowa State a year ago when Texas Tech went 2-0 in those games.
• The ball was often in Smith’s hands against the Cougars as he totaled 79 offensive attempts with 58 passing attempts and 21 rushing. In the year In 2000, he set the record for the Red Raider’s total offensive plays, trailing only Patrick Mahomes II’s 100 attempts in 2016 against Oklahoma.
• While Texas Tech’s quarterbacks have built a reputation for passing yards, it was Smith’s legs that made the impact against Houston as he escaped late in regulation for a 27-yard run that went on to win the game in double overtime. His 21 rushing attempts were the most by a Red Raider quarterback since ZB Letridge was Tech’s first Big 12 member to have the same total against Kansas State in the 1996 season opener.

The right fit

• Known for his versatility throughout his career at Texas Tech, the sixth-year senior Eldridge Harvest He earned a spot as the first “wheel” linebacker (weak side linebacker) on the Red Raiders defense. Eldridge was used at multiple linebacker positions in his third season with the Red Raiders and in a mixed defensive back role in 2020 and as a defensive back in 2021, but was moved to weakside linebacker in fall camp and earned the start. Work.
• Eldridge recorded 1.0 TFL in each of the first two games at his new position to start the 2022 season. He logged 1.5 TFLs in his Tech career this year, 1.0 in 2020 and 0.5 in 2021.
• Eldridge posted a career-high seven tackles against Houston, making him a top-four finisher.
• No touchdown may have been more important than the first sack of 2020 on 3rd-and-4 against TTU15 that set Houston back 15 yards and forced a missed 47-yard field goal on 4th-and-19 late in the third quarter.

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