ABILENE CHRISTIAN at TEXAS TECH

Lubbock, Texas | Jones AT&T Stadium
31 August 2024
6:30 p.m. CT

GAME LINKS

LUBBOCK, Texas – Texas Tech opens its 100th football season on Saturday when the Red Raiders welcome Abilene Christian to Jones AT&T Stadium at 6:30 p.m. It will be the 10th meeting between Texas Tech and ACU, but the first since 1949, even though the two schools are only 170 miles apart.

The broadcast will be via ESPN+. Ted Emrich will take the call, with Dave Steckel providing analysis. The broadcast can be accessed from any desktop or laptop computer, any personal mobile device and TV streaming services via the ESPN app. Registration for the subscription service is available at ESPNPlus.com.

Texas Tech Sports Network will also broadcast the game across 46 affiliate stations across the state of Texas and New Mexico, with Brian Jensen on the call alongside analyst John Harris and sideline reporter Chris Level. The radio broadcast can also be heard on SiriusXM channel 146 or 205, as well as on the Varsity app.

SOUTH END ZONE BUILDING READY TO DEBUT

• In addition to the season opening game, Texas Tech will officially open the South End Zone Building at Jones AT&T Stadium, a $242 million project that began after the 2022 season finale on November 26, 2022.
• When completed this fall (expected in October), it will be the largest contiguous football facility in the country, connecting the South End Zone Building with the Dustin R. Womble Football Center and the Sports Performance Center.
• The new facility will provide a new entrance for the Red Raiders, as Texas Tech will now enter the field behind the Masked Rider from the south end zone goal post.

INDIVIDUAL TICKETS FOR ALL SEVEN HOME GAMES STILL ON PRE-SALE

• Fans still have time to secure their seats for all seven Saturdays this season at Jones AT&T Stadium, as single-game tickets are still available through the Athletic Ticket Office.
• As of Monday, August 26, fewer than 500 individual tickets are available for this Saturday’s season opener against Abilene Christian.
• Tickets can be purchased online at TexasTech.com or by speaking with a ticket sales representative at 806-742-TECH.

TAHJ TIME BACK AGAIN

• Tahj Brooks will begin his attempt to break Byron Hanspard’s career rushing record against Abilene Christian, as the senior running back is one of the best returners in all of college football.
• With his return, Brooks has his sights firmly set on the top spot on Texas Tech’s career rushing charts, as he needs 1,167 yards to reach Hanspard’s record. Brooks moved into seventh place in program history with 3,052 career rushing yards following his successful 2023 season in which he posted 1,538 yards on the ground, the fourth-highest total in program history.
• His progress this season can be followed on TahjTime.com.

NUMBERS YOU SHOULD KNOW

• 1: Tahj Brooks’ His first rushing touchdown will put the senior in the top 10 in Texas Tech history, as he reached the end zone from the ground 28 times throughout his career, including in eight of the final nine games last season.
• 25: It has been 25 years since Texas Tech lost two consecutive season openers, while the Red Raiders have an overall record of 68-28-3 entering the season after winning 19 of their last 21 season openers.
• 81: The Red Raiders have nine players from Division I teams on their 2024 roster who have made a total of 184 starts over the course of their respective careers. Three of them are offensive linemen, making 81 of the 184 starts.

FIVE RED RAIDERS APPOINTED TEAM CAPTAINS

• Joey McGuire announced in January the appointment of five team captains for the 2024 season in the senior running back Tahj Brooksexperienced offensive player Caleb RogersJunior Quarterback Behren MortonJunior Linebacker Jacob Rodriguez and Senior Linebacker Bryce Ramirez.
• The five captains, all former members of McGuire’s leadership committee during the 2023 season, have been tasked with identifying and developing new leaders for the football program during spring practice and enhancing Texas Tech’s player-focused culture.
• This is the first time during McGuire’s tenure that he has appointed permanent captains, having previously relied on a leadership committee made up of seniors from each position group.

Season tickets sold out again

• Texas Tech stopped selling season tickets for the second consecutive year in early May, as Red Raiders fans purchased more than 32,000 season tickets for the 2024 season. That total also does not include seats reserved for the Texas Tech student body. Texas Tech also sold out its entire inventory of premium seating in all areas of Jones AT&T Stadium, including the new south end zone expansion.
• In his three seasons as head coach, Texas Tech has added more than 13,000 season tickets since McGuire was hired in November 2021. Texas Tech had previously sold 28,000 season tickets for McGuire’s debut season in 2022, which, like this year’s total, ranks among the top 10 highest season ticket numbers in program history.

RED RAIDERS AND ACU READY FOR THE 10TH MEETING

• Texas Tech and Abilene Christian will meet on Saturday for just the 10th time in program history and the first time since 1949. Abilene Christian moved to NCAA Division II shortly after the last meeting between the two schools. The Wildcats moved to the FCS level before the 2014 season. This is the first of two games of a contract with the Wildcats that will also serve as the Red Raiders’ season opener in 2026.
• The Red Raiders, entering their 100th football season on campus, faced Abilene Christian in just their seventh game as a college football program. They made the short trip south in 1925 to beat the Wildcats 10-7 under head coach E.Y. Freeland. The two schools met in each of Texas Tech’s first seven seasons as a college football program, but only twice after that despite being less than 170 miles apart.

TEXAS TECH-ACU CONNECTIONS

• This weekend’s opening game marks the return to Jones AT&T Stadium for Abilene Christian head coach Keith Patterson, who previously served as Texas Tech’s defensive coordinator from 2019-2021 under Matt Wells. He accepted the position at ACU following the 2021 season and now has a 12-10 record in his two seasons in Abilene. Patterson, who was named WAC Coach of the Year after his 2022 debut, led the Red Raiders for one game as acting head coach during his tenure, leading Texas Tech to a 16-13 victory over Kansas in the final game of the 2020 regular season. ν The ACU staff also includes two other former Red Raiders employees: linebackers coach Conor Dubin and associate head coach and defensive line coach Nick Holt. Dubin served as a defensive quality control assistant on Texas Tech’s staff during all three seasons of Patterson’s tenure from 2019-2021, while Holt was the lead offensive analyst for the Red Raiders during the 2021 season.
• Abilene Christian quarterback Maverick McIvor began his career as a backup for the Red Raiders and served as a backup during the 2019–21 seasons after signing with Texas Tech out of San Angelo Central High School. He is one of seven former Red Raiders from ACU, joining wide receivers Hut Graham, Trey Cleveland and Nehemiah Martinez, as well as punter Grant Nickel, offensive lineman Tay Yanta and tight end Jed Castles.
• On the Texas Tech staff, Offensive Coordinator Zach Kittley is the son of Wes Kittley, the director of track and field and cross country at Texas Tech, who previously served in the same capacity at ACU from 1985-1999, where he won an unprecedented 29 national track and field championships, the most in Division I and II combined. Kittley added two more national championships to his career tally in Lubbock by leading the Red Raiders to the 2019 NCAA outdoor crown last season and then to the 2024 NCAA indoor title. He is the longest-tenured head coach in Texas Tech history, as the 2024-25 academic year will be his 26th year leading both the men’s and women’s track and field programs.
• The Red Raiders have an Abilene Christian transfer on their roster, a junior defensive back Luke Dillinghamwho played in 10 games for the Wildcats during the 2021-22 season. He joined the Red Raiders ahead of the 2023 season.

– TECHNOLOGY –