Football Kicks Off 1998 Season against UTEP
June 21, 1999 | Football
Aug. 31, 1998
Texas Tech (0-0, 0-0 in the Big 12) opens the 1998 season at home for the first time since 1994 when it faces the University of Texas at El Paso (0-0, 0-0 in the WAC) Saturday, September 5 at 6 p.m. in Jones Stadium (capacity 50,500). The game will serve as the season-opener for both teams.
Promotions scheduled for the game include: Rally With The Raiders at 4 p.m. in Dan Law Field; Buddy Holly's famous band, The Crickets, performing at Raider Alley, which will begin three-hours prior to gametime; Tailgaters West, a tailgate parking area near KTXT Radio on the West side of campus; the debut of Raider Vision, a 21'x27' giant video screen erected at the North end of the stadium.
Texas Tech (0-0, 0-0) vs. Texas-El Paso (0-0, 0-0) Saturday, Sept. 5, 1998 Jones Stadium * Lubbock, Texas * 6 p.m.1998 Schedule Date Opponent W/L Score/Time S. 5 TEXAS-EL PASO 6:00 S. 12 at North Texas 6:30 S. 19 FRESNO STATE 6:00 S. 26 *at Iowa State 1:00 O. 3 *BAYLOR 6:00 O. 10 *OKLAHOMA ST. 6:00 O. 17 *at Colorado tba O. 24 *at Texas A&M 1:00 O. 31 *MISSOURI+ 1:00 N. 14 *TEXAS 1:00 N. 21 *at Oklahoma 1:00 *Big 12 Game; All Times Central; Homecoming; + Family Day 1998 Big 12 Standings SOUTH DIVISION Conf. Games All Games Team W-L PF PA W-L PF PA Baylor 0-0 0 0 0-0 0 0 Oklahoma 0-0 0 0 0-0 0 0 Oklahoma State 0-0 0 0 0-0 0 0 Texas 0-0 0 0 0-0 0 0 Texas A&M 0-0 0 0 0-0 0 0 Texas Tech 0-0 0 0 0-0 0 0
NORTH DIVISION Conf. Games All Games Team W-L PF PA W-L PF PA Nebraska 0-0 0 0 1-0 56 27 Colorado 0-0 0 0 0-0 0 0 Iowa State 0-0 0 0 0-0 0 0 Kansas 0-0 0 0 0-0 0 0 Kansas State 0-0 0 0 0-0 0 0 Missouri 0-0 0 0 0-0 0 0
Last Week's Results A. 29 - Nebraska 56, Louisiana Tech 27 A. 31 - Texas A&M vs. Florida State
This Week's Schedule TCU at Iowa State, 11:30 a.m. (Fox Sports Net) Alabama-Birmingham at Nebraska, 12:30 p.m. *Oklahoma State at Kansas, 2:30 p.m. (ABC-TV) North Texas at Oklahoma, 6 p.m. New Mexico State at Texas, 6 p.m. Texas-El Paso at Texas Tech, 6 p.m. Indiana State at Kansas State, 6:10 p.m. Bowling Green at Missouri, 6:30 p.m. Colorado at Colorado State (Denver), 7 p.m. (ESPN) All Times Central
Red Raiders in Openers
The Red Raiders have won their last five home openers, but have a current three-game losing streak in season-openers. Texas Tech opened the 1980 season with a convincing 35-7 win over the Miners in Lubbock. Texas Tech owns an all-time record of 53-17-3 in home openers and a 46-24-3 mark in season-openers since beginning football in 1925. Spike Dykes is 8-3 in home openers and 4-7 in season openers. The last three seasons have seen Texas Tech open on the road against #4 Penn State in 1995, #21 Kansas State in 1996 and #5 Tennessee last season.
Spike Dykes
Spike Dykes is entering a record-setting season in 1998. Having completed 11 seasons as the head football at Texas Tech, Dykes is currently tied with Pete Cawthon for the longest tenure at that position. With a record of 69-57-1, Dykes signed a contract extension following the 1997 season that ensures that he will remain the coach of the Red Raiders through the year 2000.
Recognized as the first-ever Big 12 Coach of the Year in 1996, he has led the Red Raiders to seven-straight seasons of no lower than second-place conference or division finishes. A 1959 graduate of Stephen F. Austin, Dykes has coached 10 All-Americas and 69 all-conference selections and his offensive squads have set over 77 individual or team school records. His philosophy of coaching... "I think you coach because you love kids. If you do that, every day is rewarding."
Radio / Television Coverage
The UTEP contest will be broadcast live on Texas Tech's network of 29 radio stations throughout the state of Texas and Eastern New Mexico. Veteran play-by-play announcer Jack Dale returns for his 47th-straight year as the voice of the Red Raiders. John Harris will handle the color commentary and Mark Finkner will provide sideline reports.
The game will also be available on the Internet through Broadast.com. A link to the site is provided on the Texas Tech athletic website at www.texastech.com. In addition, for the first time ever, all Texas Tech football games will be broadcast in Spanish on KTXQ FM/AM in Lubbock. Longtime Dallas Cowboys announcer Mario Montez will handle the play-by-play duties.
Texas-El Paso
The Miners finished the 1997 season with a 4-7 overall record and 3-5 mark in the Mountain Division of the Western Athletic Conference. UTEP returns 17 starters (nine offensive, six defensive, two specialists) and 45 letterwinners from last year's team that upset 25th-ranked BYU 14-3.
Head coach Charlie Bailey owns a 23-58-2 overall record and an 11-38-1 mark in his five seasons at UTEP. Prior to his current post, Bailey was the Miners' defensive coordinator and spent time in the World League and as the head coach at Memphis. He also spent time at Rice, Kentucky and Pittsburgh.
UTEP quarterback John Rayborn is currently 11th on the school's passing and total offensive charts. Jimmy Carpenter is on pace to become one of the school's top receivers and two UTEP running backs rank among the school's top-12 rushers.
Texas Tech vs. Texas-El Paso: The Series
Texas Tech owns an 11-6-1 series edge over Texas-El Paso with most of the games taking place when both schools were members of the Border Conference. In the last meeting between the two schools in 1980, the Red Raiders earned a 35-7 season-opening win behind a 233-yard total offensive performance by quarterback Ron Reeves. Wes Hightower led the Red Raiders with 103 yards rushing, while Reeves accounted for series-record 193-yards passing. Anthony Hutchison led the Red Raiders with three catches for 73 yards, including a 65-yard TD reception. The two teams have battled to a 2-2-1 record over the last five contests.
Texas Tech's Ricky Williams is Doak Walker Nominee
Texas Tech sophomore tailback Ricky Williams (Duncanville, Texas) set a Red Raider freshman rushing record last season with 894 yards on 201 carries for a 4.4 average per rush. A preseason candidate for the Dr Pepper Doak Walker Award, Williams ended the season with 133 yards more than 1996 Doak Walker Award winner Byron Hanspard compiled during his rookie season in 1994. He also recorded 380 more yards than 1993 Doak Walker Award winner Byron Morris amassed during his freshman season in 1991. Williams was named a second-team Freshman All-America by The Sporting News.
Williams should not be confused with talented University of Texas senior running back Ricky Williams. In the only head-to-head matchup between the two players, Texas Tech's Ricky outrushed his Longhorn counterpart 131-80 last season in Austin. Both Rickys will be harder to recognize than in 1997 after changing jersey numbers. Texas Tech's Ricky now wears No. 2 after wearing No. 35 last season. UT's Ricky is switching from No. 11 to No. 34 this season.
Reagor Named One of Nation's Best
Senior Montae Reagor (Waxahachie, Texas) enters the 1998 season needing just one sack to become the school's most prolific quarterback sacker. He is also needs just seven tackles for losses to surpass All-Americans Zach Thomas and Gabe Rivera as the school leader in that category. After earning second-team All-America honors by The Sporting News last season.
This year, Reagor has been named a first-team All-America by virtually every preseason magazine and was named the top pass rusher in the nation by TSN. Several publications have listed Reagor as a preseason defensive player of the year in the Big 12. He is a preseason candidate for the Rotary Lombardi Award and the Bronko Nagurski Award.
Hart Candidate for Biletnikoff Award
This season senior receiver Donnie Hart (Wolfforth, Texas) will be looking to become one of the elite receivers ever at Texas Tech - and that includes a pretty select group of players. A first-team all-Big 12 selection in 1997 despite playing in only seven games, Hart enters the season seventh on the Texas Tech list for career receiving yards with 1,340.
He is just 667 yards from second-place Wayne Walker (2,007). However, it will be difficult for Hart to catch All-America Lloyd Hill (3,059). Hart is also tied for fifth on the Texas Tech list for career receiving TDs with 10. He is just 10 from first-place Hill and only four from second-place Rodney Blackshear and Walker. Hart was named as one of the top five receivers in the nation by The Sporting News and the best receiver in the Big 12 by several publications.
Red Raiders Possess Several Honors Candidates
Besides Reagor, Hart and WIlliams, a quick look at the the Red Raider preseason depth chart reveals several potential candidates for post-season honors this season, including: senior cornerback Darwin Brown (Tyler, Texas), who Texas Football named as the best cornerback in the Big 12 South after he led the league in pass breakups in 1997; sophomore offensive tackle Jonathan Gray (Lubbock, Texas), who was the Big 12's largest player in 1997; junior tight end Kyle Allamon (Lubbock, Texas), who missed the 1997 season to work on academics; junior defensive end Taurus Rucker, who is the team's second-leading returning tackler; senior kicker Jaret Greaser (Amarillo, Texas), who was one of the nation's top kickers before suffering a broken leg at Nebraska last season; senior linebacker Kevin McCullar (Irving, Texas), who has been bitten by the injury bug throughout his career but is as talented as any linebacker in the Big 12.
It's All Academic
The Red Raiders have several players worthy of consideration for Academic All-America honors this season. Junior quarterback Rob Peters (Katy, Texas) enters the season with a cumulative grade point average of over a 3.9 in his accounting major. Junior raider Keith Cockrum (Goldthwaite, Texas) has a perfect 4.0 g.p.a in his finance major. Junior raider Reagan Bownds (Eldorado, Texas) has over a 3.6 g.p.a. in his agribusiness major. Eight Red Raiders earned a perfect 4.0 in at least one semester during 1997-98. Texas Tech was second in the Big 12 in academic all-Big 12 selections in 1997 with 15.
Red Raiders Defense Stingy in Big 12 Contests in 1997
Against Big 12 Conference teams last season, the Red Raiders allowed a league-low 121 total points and recorded a plus-16 in turnover margin. Texas Tech lost just two fumbles and threw three interceptions in conference games for just five offensive turnovers. The Red Raiders forced a league-game-high four turnovers against Kansas State and Texas and forced three against Texas A&M and Oklahoma State. The Red Raiders finished with a 3-1 record in those four games.
Tech Among National Turnover Margin Leaders
According to research conducted by Pete Tredwell of ESPN, Texas Tech is the top team in the nation in turnover margin over the last five seasons. The Red Raiders have a plus-52 margin in turnovers, including a plus-12 last season. Penn State is the second with a plus-40 margin. In 1997, the Red Raiders finished 11th in the nation in turnover margin with plus-1.00 per game.
Red Raiders Third-Best in Big 12 Games
Since the formation of the Big 12 Conference prior to the 1996 season, Texas Tech is tied with Colorado and A&M for the third-best conference record of any team in the league. Nebraska leads the pack with a perfect 16-0 conference mark. Kansas State is second with an 13-3 mark while Texas Tech, Colorado and A&M are third with a 10-6 record. Tech is one of only three teams to post at least five conference wins in each of its first two seasons in the Big 12.
Red Raider Road Warriors
Texas Tech ended its second season of the Big 12 Conference having fashioned an impressive 6-2 conference road record since the league began in 1996. The only two teams the Red Raiders have not beaten on the road are nationally-ranked Nebraska and Kansas State over the past two seasons. Texas Tech will trade Nebraska, Kansas and Kansas State for Colorado, Iowa State and Missouri for the next two seasons. Colorado and Iowa State are scheduled for on the road in 1998.
Red Raider Punters "Feel" Good Inside 15-Yard-Line
Texas Tech utilized two punters throughout last season in a rotation that Spike Dykes determines by "feel." This season both punters are again vying for the starting posisiton. Junior Brian Roberson (Richardson, Texas) and senior Jeremy Hernandez (Midland, Texas) combined to average 39.9 yards per kick and finished fourth in the Big 12 in net punting with an average of 37.5 yards per punt. The duo were deadly in placing the ball inside the 15-yard-line. Against Texas A&M and Kansas State, they placed two punts inside the 15 and put 13 punts inside the 15-yard-line last season. Red Raider Ground Defense
Under defensive coordinator John Goodner, the Red Raider defense enjoyed ground success against Big 12 opponents this season, limiting seven of eight opponents to less than their final rushing average. Ranked 22nd in the nation in total defense, Texas Tech limited its opponents to an average of almost 80 fewer yards per game on the ground than their final averages.
One of the Nation's Heaviest
Last season Texas Tech owned the third-largest starting offensive line in the nation, averaging 320.6 across the line. This season, the projected starting lineup for the five offensive line positions totals 1,614-pounds, which averages a whopping 322.8 pounds per man. The heavest player on the line is sophomore tackles Jonathan Gray (Lubbock, Texas). Nicknamed "The House," Gray was the Big 12's largest player in 1997. The other four: Steve McFadden (Houston, Texas), RT, 328; Curtis Lowery (Stephenville, Texas), LG, 327; Erik Carruth (Rockport, Texas), RG, 311; Robert Haddon (Euless, Texas), C, 291.
Red Raider 300 Pounders Jonathan Gray OT 6-5 357 Nick Lee OT 6-7 309 Curtis Lowery OG 6-4 320 Dan Martin OG 6-4 318 Steve McFadden OT 6-4 328 Matt Heider OG 6-5 306 Shane Roberts OG 6-4 302 Lance Williams OG 6-2 316 Kyle Sanders C 6-2 305 Erik Carruth OG 6-4 311 Justin Collingsworth OT 6-6 316 Jason Jones DT 6-2 337
Youth Brigade
This season's Red Raider football team has only 18 seniors on the 105-man preseason roster and just 14 of those are listed on the preseason depth chart. The class breakdown for the current roster is: 39 freshmen (21 redshirt, 18 true), 30 sophomores, 18 juniors and 18 seniors.
With only 15 seniors on the squad last season, Texas Tech had one of the youngest teams in the Big 12 Conference. The 18 seniors this season includes Darwin Brown, who lost a media redshirt application to the NCAA, Dan Martin, who will apply for a sixth year of eligibility and Kevin McCullar, who lost his freshman year as a partial qualifier.
Among the accomplishments of the Red Raiders seniors are: three-straight bowl appearances; never finishing lower than second in the conference or division; and advancing to the first Cotton Bowl since 1939. They have also defeated Texas A&M three-straight seasons and swept the in-state league rivals (Baylor, Texas, Texas A&M) in 1997.
Class Breakdown
Freshmen 39
Redshirt 21
True 18
Sophomores 30
Juniors 18
Seniors 18
*105-man preseason roster
Tech Among Tops in Big 12 History
One overlooked aspect of Texas Tech's football program is its long history of success. Despite being the youngest school in the Big 12 (74th year of football this season), Texas Tech has been to 22 bowl games, which is among the top 20 in the nation, and has the fourth-best average wins per season in the league.
Entering 1997, Texas leads the list at 6.8 wins per season, while Nebraska and Oklahoma are second and third, respectively with a 6.7 and 6.6 average. Texas Tech is tied with Texas A&M for fourth with 5.7, while Colorado rounds out the top half of the league with an average of 5.6 and 5.5 wins per season, respectively. Five teams in the South Division of the Big 12 are among the top seven schools in wins per season in their histories.
Red Raiders Making the Grade
Last academic year Texas Tech athletes posted record-setting efforts in the classroom in both the fall and spring semesters. The overall grade-point average for Red Raiders student-athletes for the spring semester was a 2.801, which went up from the 2.784 during the fall semester. Both marks were the best since at least 1990. Over 87 percent of Texas Tech student-athletes during the spring '98 semester earned a 2.00 g.p.a. or above. Over 85 percent of the football players recorded a 2.00 g.p.a. or better. The average g.p.a. for the football team was a 2.62 during the spring and 30 players earned either president's or dean's list honors for either semester.
Notes of Interest
* Junior Reagan Bownds (Eldorado, Texas) was named to Successful Farming Magazine's All-America Farm Team. He was one of five Big 12 players on the team, which recognizes outstanding college football players who hail from farming backgrounds. Bownds was a world-champion goat roaper in 1996.
* Position changes for 1998 include Jamaal Crisp (Dallas, Texas) moving from quarterback to raider; Michael Wilborn (Olton, Texas) who signed-on as a linebacker and entered fall drills as a fullback; Shannon Bennett (Grand Prairie, Texas) experimented at quarterback when he reported August 10 but moved to defensive back; Anthony Malbrough, who served as a backup tailback in 1997 but moved to cornerback last spring; Detwill Williams moved from defensive end to defensive tackle; Mark Washington moved from receiver to free safety last spring; Ric Fielder moved from offensive to defensive line last spring.
* Backup receiver King Scovell (Dallas, Texas) is the brother of former Red Raider receiver Field Scovell and the son of former Texas Tech quarterback John Scovell. He is also the grandson of Field Scovell, "Mr. Cotton Bowl."... Three brothers from Sterling City, Texas are members of the Red Raider squad. Brad, Bryan and Brandon McDaniel are all walk-ons to the Red Raider football team. Brad served as one of the 105 players invited to participate in fall two-a-day drills...
Despite the proximity to the state, Matt Heider (Roswell, N.M.) is the only Red Raider to hail from New Mexico... Freshman Zeno McCoy (Plainview, Texas) spent the last three years as an E-4 communications specialist in the U.S. Army. He signed with Texas A&M originally before joining the Army in 1995...
* Senior offensive guard Erik Carruth (Rockport, Texas) spent the summer repossessing furniture for a local company... Senior defensive tackle Cody Patton(Electra, Texas) lost 23 pounds since last season. He has suffered from various leg and ankle ailments during his career and the shedded weight should help alleviate some of those problems. His primary method of losing the weight was a daily four-mile run during the summer... Senior punter Jeremy Hernandez (Midland, Texas) missed a day of practice during two-a-day drills to gake the MCAT exam as part of his application to medical school.
He was excused by coach Dykes for missing practice... Redshirt freshman receiver David Simmonds (New Braunfels, Texas) suffered a spinal cord contusion during two-a-day drills and spent two days in the hospital. He will miss at least six weeks and his long-term status remains unclear. Simmonds was in a scrimmage drill near the end of practice when he made limited contace with a defensive player and went to the ground. He had no feeling in his lower body for several hours...
* Junior offensive guard Curtis Lowery (Stephenville, Texas) is finally receiving a chance to enter a season at 100 percent. A highly-sought recruit, Lowery suffered severe burns in a cooking grease fire in 1996 and missed all that season. He returned to the field in 1997 and earned a starting spot last spring at left guard... While Jonathan Gray is known as "The House," sophomore left tackle Steve McFadden (Houston, Texas) is known as "The Shack."
Other interesting nicknames on the team include T-Ruck (Taurus Rucker, Denison, Texas) and Mad Dog (Robert Wyatt, Duncanville, Texas). Perhaps the most interesting given name is Zeno McCoy (Plainview, Texas). The most interesting unit nickname is the moniker for the Red Raider defense: "SWARM." ...
* A good example of the Red Raider defensive depth this season: At the final full-squad scrimmage of the preseason, there were no less than 15 players wearing the first-team black jersey... Among the walk-ons on this year's squad are no less than 11 players listed on the preseason depth chart...
* Stoney Garland (Plains, Texas) will serve as an honorary team captain this season. He suffered critical nick and back injuries last November in an automobile accident and is paralyzed from the chest down. Team captains for the 1998 season are Rob Peters (Katy, Texas) and Donnie Hart (Wollforth, Texas) from the offense
* Texas Tech's receiving corps have received a great deal of attention, despite a lack of experience with seven freshmen or sophomores among the top nine players. The Sporting News magazine has named the unit as the best in the Big 12 Conference. Former Texas Tech and Oklahoma offensive coordinator Dick Winder returned to the Red Raider program last spring and is serving as the receivers coach.
Athletics Announces Sports Medicine Initiative
The Texas Tech athletic department and Texas Tech Medical Center have entered into a multi-year agreement that provides for expanding the sports medicine resources for Red Raider student-athletes.
Under the new initiative, current team physician Dr. Robert King will serve as the senior associate athletic director for sports medicine and head team physician. One of the few females in the nation serving in the capacity, Natalie Steadman will continue her role as head athletic trainer under the assistant athletic director for sports health.
In addition to current team physicians Drs. James Burke, Rebecca Raedeke and Michael Robertson, the sports medicine physician program will add two doctors from the Medical Center. Dr. Harry Galanty will serve as the director of the sports medicine program and Dr. James Slauterbeck will serve as a team physician.
"We feel that our student-athletes have always received the best in the area of care and prevention of athletic-related injuries," said athletic director Gerald Myers. "With the addition of the staff of the Texas Tech Medical Center on our team, we will be able to expand our resources and bring some exciting assets into the department."
Galanty, a former baseball player at Duke University, is a former team physician for the Pittsburgh Steelers and the University of California, Los Angeles. He has been involved with the sports medicine efforts for various U.S. Olympic Training Teams and, most recently, was involved with the USA vs. Germany international decathlon competition held at Texas Tech. Slauterbeck served as the team physician for the USA women's soccer team in 1996 and was a team physician at UCLA. He played football at Arizona State as an undergraduate.
"For years, Texas Tech has had a great reputation for the quality of care provided to its student-athletes," said Medical Center dean Dr. Joel Kupersmith. "This commitment to excellence has been a result of the work of Dr. King and others. We have begun developing an expanded sports medicine program at the Texas Tech Medical Center and we are very excited about joining this fine team and becoming a part of Texas Tech athletics."