Texas Tech opens its 2024 season against Abilene Christian, an FCS opponent two hours away on Highway 84 that hasn’t played the Red Raiders in Lubbock since 1949.

The Wildcats, led by former Tech defensive coordinator Keith Patterson, bring plenty of familiarity with six former Red Raiders on offense, including starting quarterback Maverick McIvor.

McIvor will return to Jones AT&T Stadium, which now looks completely different, along with Trey Cleveland and Nehemiah Martinez, who played for head coach Joey McGuire in his first season as Tech’s head coach.

“I can’t wait to have 60,000 of my closest friends here celebrating the opening of the south end zone, the new sound system and everything that will be part of our new game day,” McGuire said.

“I always say, never miss the first time something happens. And I know we have less than 500 tickets to sell out. I’m just telling you, it’s worth the price of admission any time you see the south end zone, especially at night.”

It’s a new era of sorts in Lubbock, as McGuire enters his third year as head coach, hot on the heels of a $250 million stadium renovation and a historic apparel partnership between Adidas and Tech with the help of Patrick Mahomes.

After a stellar start to his tenure with back-to-back bowl victories, it will be up to McGuire to lead the Red Raiders to new heights in 2024, and he is determined to repeat that this season.

“When I look at the success of the season, it’s still a long way off, but we played important games in November, and important games in November, to me, don’t mean bowl qualification,” McGuire said.

“I think that should be the bottom line of this program, that you’re bowl eligible every year. It should be that you’re playing meaningful games, which means you’re in the running for the Big 12 championship, and I think that’s really important.”

The roster that McGuire takes into the 2024 season is extremely versatile on both sides of the football.

With star running back Tahj Brooks and former four-star quarterback Behren Morton, the Red Raiders have plenty of options on offense, most notably a newly formed receiver team and a great tight end team.

“The strength of this football team is starting to become apparent,” McGuire said.

“If you look at the tight end team, we have three guys that have NFL grades that we’re very happy with. If you look at the wide receiver team, we’ve never had this many players. … When you get to year three, you should be able to have that depth.”

The depth and talent on Tech’s roster allows for a more dynamic attack that is more balanced than the one the Red Raiders had to have in 2023 when they had to rely on Brooks on offense.

“We want to set up a run. I think that will set up our play-action pass,” McGuire said. “We’re better as receivers. We have more vertical threats than receivers. And so anytime you can set up a run and set up a play-action pass, you’re going to get shots down the field. That’s something Behren is really good at.”

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