By Cord Rankin
TEXAS TECH GAME NOTES
CINCINNATI BEARCATS GAME NOTES
CINCINNATI at TEXAS TECH
Lubbock, Texas | Jones AT&T Stadium
Sept. 28, 2024
ESPN2 | 7:00 p.m. CT
LUBBOCK, Texas – Texas Tech will look to wrap its three-game homestand a perfect 3-0 on Saturday when welcoming Cincinnati for a night contest under the lights at Jones AT&T Stadium. Fans are encouraged to wear black for the sellout, which was previously announced on Sept. 10, for what will be the second all-time meeting, and first since 1968, between the Red Raiders and Bearcats. Tech enters Saturday night riding a five-game winning streak at home, dating back to the 2023 season, and a 13-3 record at Jones AT&T Stadium under Joey McGuire.
Television coverage will be provided by ESPN2 with Brian Custer behind the mic providing the play-by-play. He will be joined by Rod Gilmore in the booth providing analysis while Lauren Sisler will be reporting from the sideline. The broadcast can be accessed from any desktop or laptop computer, a personal cellular device and television streaming services using the ESPN 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 161 or 199, as well as on the Varsity app.
DEFENSE CONTINUES TO MAKE STRIDES
- Texas Tech has made a steady jump defensively since its season-opening win over Abilene Christian as the Red Raiders are surrendering only 26.7 points and 381.7 yards of total offense over the past three games.
- Texas Tech limited Arizona State to only 99 rushing yards last weekend against a Red Raider defense that will face another tough test Saturday against a Cincinnati offense that is averaging 467.5 yards of total offense and 197.5 rushing yards per game.
- Arizona State came into the Big 12 opener averaging 229.3 yards per game on the ground.
BROOKS POSTS ANOTHER 100-YARD GAME
- Tahj Brooks moved into the top five all-time in Texas Tech history against Arizona State as the senior reached the 100-yard mark for the 15th time in his career and the 11th time in his last 14 games.
- Brooks, who has rushed for at least 95 yards over that entire 14-game stretch, enters this weekend ranked second in the Big 12 and sixth in the FBS as he is averaging 126.3 yards per game.
- He totaled 117 rushing yards last weekend against an Arizona State defense that was allowing only 65.3 yards per game on the ground.
NUMBERS TO KNOW
- 3: Johncarlos Miller II is the only tight end in the country to have a receiving touchdown in each of his last three games. He is the first Red Raider tight end to do so since Mickey Peters during the 2002 season.
- 8: E’Maurion Banks’ blocked extra point against Arizona State marked the eighth blocked kick already for Texas Tech under Joey McGuire and third-year special teams coordinator Kenny Perry.
- 124: Number of yards Tahj Brooks needs to tie 1993 Doak Walker Award winner Byron “Bam” Morris for fourth all-time in Texas Tech history. Brooks has totaled 3,431 career rushing yards entering this weekend.
RED RAIDERS LOOKING FOR 2-0 START
- Texas Tech will be searching for its first 2-0 start to Big 12 play since 2013 on Saturday against the Bearcats. The Red Raiders have kicked off their Big 12 slate with a 2-0 record six times previously with five of those seasons resulting in a bowl appearance. The lone exception was 1997 when the Red Raiders withdrew from postseason bowl eligibility due to NCAA violations within the program.
- Texas Tech has finished with at least eight wins the last four times it started 2-0 in conference play. The Red Raiders have also been at least .500 overall in league play in all but one of those years as well (2013).
INSIDE THE CINCINNATI SERIES
- Texas Tech and Cincinnati will meet on the gridiron for only the second time in history as the two schools previously ended in a 10-10 tie to start the 1968 season.
- Texas Tech led for the duration of that game thanks to a two-yard touchdown run from quarterback Joe Mautlich early in the first quarter.
- Cincinnati tied the game, however, in the closing minutes on a 53-yard touchdown pass from Greg Cook to Jim O’Brien.
- The Red Raiders had previously led 10-3 to that point after a Kenny Vinyard 23-yard field goal in the second quarter.
TEXAS TECH-CINCINNATI CONNECTIONS
- Texas Tech has three staff members with roots near the Cincinnati campus in assistant defensive backs coach Ryan Conry (native of Shaker Heights, Ohio), associate strength and conditioning coach Brandon Lee (New Albany, Indiana) and senior strength and conditioning coach Aaron Hall (XXX).
- Texas Tech has one Ohio native on its roster as well in senior offensive lineman Vinny Sciury, a Massillon native roughly 225 miles from the Cincinnati campus. Sciury started the first two games at left guard before suffering a season-ending injury at Washington State.
- On the Cincinnati staff, the trip to West Texas won’t be a first for running backs coach Sean Dawkins, who was the running backs coach for one season in 2009 at West Texas A&M University in Canyon.
- The two schools do share one former head coach in their history in Tommy Tuberville, who departed Texas Tech following the 2012 season for Cincinnati. Tuberville was 20-17 in his three seasons leading the Red Raiders and then was 29-22 over his four seasons with the Bearcats.
SOUTH END ZONE BUILDING MAKES GRAND DEBUT
- Texas Tech officially opened the South End Zone Building to Jones AT&T Stadium, a $242 million project that began following the 2022 season finale on Nov. 26, 2022.
- The $242 million project will mark the largest contiguous football facility in the country, as the south end zone building will connect, via a sky-bridge, to the Womble Football Center and the Sports Performance Center, which opened in 2017 as Texas Tech’s indoor football practice facility and indoor track and field venue. Which in total will feature more than 340,000 combined square feet of space.
- The Red Raiders now enter Jones AT&T Stadium each gameday through the Gary Petersen Field Club, a 12,000-square-foot premium space that is among the first of its kind in college football. It is one of several new premium areas as Texas Tech has added 17 new luxury suites, on the 3rd floor of the South End Zone building, to go along with 500 club and loge box seats and two spacious party decks on the concourse. Texas Tech now boasts 102 premium suites throughout Jones AT&T Stadium to go along with more than 2,500 club and loge box seat options.
- Joey McGuire and his staff moved into their new coaches’ offices on the second floor of the south end zone building in July, giving them a stunning view overlooking Cody Campbell Field at Jones AT&T Stadium. The office location places McGuire and his staff steps from each position room and the sky bridge connected to the Womble Football Center where offensive and defensive breakout rooms will be located as well as a team meeting space and a state-of-the-art walkthrough area on the second level.
- Texas Tech is slated to open the Womble Football Center side of the project this fall as the two-story building will maintain its football strength and conditioning, sports medicine and equipment areas on the main level as part of the new layout. The Red Raiders’ main locker room will be located in the Womble Football Center, which includes space for 120-plus athletes and modern primary designs from Hollman that are fully ventilated and contain USB charging ports and DreamSeat technology for every player.
COURTESY TEXAS TECH ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS
