The Matt Wells era at Texas Tech is off to a 2-0 start after the Red Raiders opened the season with a pair of convincing 35-point home victories over inferior opponents. Tech crushed FCS program Montana State 45-10 in the opener on Aug. 31 then routed UTEP, a program which had won just once in the previous two seasons, 38-3 last weekend.
The Red Raiders handled their business and did not suffer any major injuries along the way. Mission accomplished. That’s good, because the competition is about to ramp up considerably as Tech will finish the regular season against 10 power five opponents, with six of those matchups taking place on the road.
The gauntlet opens with a road contest–the Red Raiders first time competing away from the friendly confines of Jones AT&T Stadium–at Arizona, which should serve as a decent barometer for this team heading into Big 12 play. The team will then have its first bye to regroup before beginning conference play.
For Texas Tech’s sake, they better be ready for Big 12 competition because it begins with an extremely difficult stretch. The Red Raiders travel to Norman to take on perennial power Oklahoma then host Oklahoma State, travel to Baylor for the first time in a dozen years and then host Iowa State which has had Tech’s number since Matt Campbell took over the program in Ames. Tech then gets a bit of a break from the grind with a road matchup with Kansas followed by the second bye of the season.
The Red Raiders open November with a trip to Morgantown, where they haven’t won since 2013, to take on West Virginia followed by a pair of home games against TCU and Kansas State before finishing up the day after Thanksgiving against Texas, where Tech has won the last two meetings.
Read on for more on what lies ahead of the Red Raiders this season and details each matchup. Inside the Red Raiders will update this story throughout the season.
UPDATE: Arizona def. Texas Tech, 28-21
Location: Arizona Stadium (Tucson, AZ)
Time: 9:30 p.m. (CT)
TV: ESPN
History: Texas Tech leads all-time series 26-4-2
Last Meeting: Tech def. Arizona 24-14 in Lubbock in 1989
Note: This is the first of Texas Tech and Arizona’s home-home series. The Red Raiders will host the Wildcats in Lubbock next season. This will be the second-latest local kickoff time in Tech’s history, trailing only the 1988 Coke-Cola Classic against Oklahoma State that began in the middle of the night from Japan.
Sept. 28 | at Oklahoma
Texas Tech (2-1) at Oklahoma (3-0)
Location: Gaylord Family Memorial Stadium (Norman, OK)
Time: TBA
TV: TBA
History: Oklahoma leads all-time series 20-6
Last Meeting: Oklahoma def. Texas Tech 51-46 in Lubbock in 2018
Note: Oklahoma has won the last seven meetings by an average of 15.3 points. Texas Tech’s last victory over Oklahoma came in 2011 in Norman with Tommy Tuberville head coach of the Red Raiders.
Texas Tech (2-1) vs. Oklahoma State (3-0)
Location: Jones AT&T Stadium (Lubbock, TX)
Time: TBA
TV: TBA
History: Texas Tech leads all-time series 23-22-3
Last Meeting: Tech def. Oklahoma State 41-17 in Stillwater in 2018
Note: The Red Raiders snapped a nine-game losing streak to the Cowboys last season, plus won in Stillwater for the first time since 2001. Tech’s last victory over OSU in Lubbock came in 2008.
Oct. 12 | at Baylor
Texas Tech (2-1) at Baylor (3-0)
Location: McLane Stadium (Waco, TX)
Time: TBA
TV: TBA
History: The series is tied 38-38-1
Last Meeting: Baylor def. Texas Tech 35-24 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington in 2018
Note: Texas Tech and Baylor will be playing at their home stadiums the next two seasons starting in Waco this year, followed by in Lubbock the next, for the first time in a decade. The Red Raiders won the last time the two teams played in Waco, 38-7, in 2007.
Oct. 19 | vs. Iowa State
Texas Tech (2-1) vs. Iowa State (1-1)
Location: Jones AT&T Stadium (Lubbock, TX)
Time: TBA
TV: TBA
History: Texas Tech leads the all-time series 11-6
Last Meeting: Iowa State def. Texas Tech 40-31 in Ames in 2018.
Note: The Red Raiders hold a sizable all-time series lead but the Cyclones are 3-0 under current head coach Matt Campbell with an average margin of victory of 27.7 points.
Texas Tech (2-1) at Kansas (2-1)
Location: David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium (Lawrence, KS)
Time: TBA
TV: TBA
History: Texas Tech leads the all-time series 19-1
Last Meeting: Tech def. Kansas 48-16 in Lubbock in 2018
Note: The Red Raiders have defeated the Jayhawks 12 times in a row by an average of 22.5 points. The last three seasons Tech has won by an average margin of 41.3 points. Kansas’ lone victory against Tech came back in 2001 in Lubbock, 34-31.
Nov. 9 | at West Virginia
Texas Tech (2-1) at West Virginia (2-1)
Location: Mountaineer Field at Milan Puskar Stadium (Morgantown, WV)
Time: TBA
TV: TBA
History: West Virginia leads the all-time series 6-2
Last Meeting: West Virginia def. Texas Tech 42-34 in Lubbock in 2018
Note: The Mountaineers have won five consecutive games against Texas Tech by an average of 11.6 points. The Red Raiders’ lone victory in Morgantown came in 2013. West Virginia head coach Neal Brown served as Texas Tech’s offensive coordinator from 2010-12.
Nov. 16 | vs. TCU
Texas Tech (2-1) vs. TCU (2-0)
Location: Jones AT&T Stadium (Lubbock, TX)
Time: TBA
TV: TBA
History: Texas Tech leads the all-time series 32-26-3
Last Meeting: Tech def. TCU 17-14 in Fort Worth in 2018
Note: The Red Raiders are 4-3 against the Horned Frogs since TCU joined the Big 12 in 2012 yet have only beaten the Frogs at home once over that time–a Thursday night game back in 2013 known as the “Fox Game”.
Texas Tech (2-1) vs. Kansas State (3-0)
Location: Jones AT&T Stadium (Lubbock, TX)
Time: TBA
TV: TBA
History: Kansas State leads the all-time series 10-9
Last Meeting: K-State def. Tech 21-6 in Manhattan, Kansas in 2018
Note: The Wildcats have beaten the Red Raiders three times in a row by an average of 9.3 points. Kansas State is 0-4 against Texas Tech without Bill Snyder as head coach.
Nov. 29 | at Texas
Texas Tech (2-1) at Texas (2-1)
Location: Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium
Time: 11 a.m.
TV: TBA
History: Texas leads the all-time series 51-17
Last Meeting: Texas def. Texas Tech 41-34 in Austin in 2018
Note: Despite Texas’ dominance of this series–especially at home–the Red Raiders have won the past two meetings in Austin.