Abilene Christian at Texas Tech, Saturday, 7:30 p.m. ET (ESPN+)

BetMGM College Football Odds: No line.

Series record: Abilene Christian leads 6-3.

WHAT’S AT STAKE?

Texas Tech opens coach Joey McGuire’s third season with its first game against Abilene Christian since 1949. That’s an FCS program just about 170 miles from Lubbock. The Red Raiders lost in double overtime at Wyoming last season and will look to avoid back-to-back season openers for the first time in 25 years. Former Texas Tech defensive coordinator Keith Patterson enters his third season as ACU’s head coach with a 12-10 record.

KEY GAME

Red Raiders running back Tahj Brooks ran for 1,538 yards last season, including eight 100-yard games. He also rushed for at least 95 yards in three other games. Abilene Christian allowed 210 rushing yards per game last season. Brooks was 1,167 yards short of Byron Hanspard’s school record of 4,219 rushing yards set in 1994-96.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Abilene Christian: Maverick McIvor is entering his third season as the Wildcats’ starting quarterback. Before that, he played three seasons at Texas Tech but never played in a game for the Red Raiders. McIvor threw for 1,972 yards with 17 TDs and five interceptions last year.

Texas Tech: Junior quarterback Behren Morton started eight games for the Red Raiders last season, and of the seven games he finished, they won six. Morton took over for the injured Tyler Shough and then continued playing despite his own shoulder problems. Morton was a full participant in preseason practice after T I kept him out of the last part of the spring exercises after he was declared the starter.

Facts & Figures

The Red Raiders have signed three offensive linemen through the transfer portal who have a combined 81 career games. … Texas Tech is entering its 100th football season. The seventh game in program history was a 10-7 win at Abilene Christian on Nov. 11, 1925. … Texas Tech’s Drae McCray led the Big 12 in kickoff returns last season with a 27.6-yard average. He had three returns of at least 50 yards, including a 100-yard touchdown.

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