Football To Open Season At Jones Stadium
February 04, 2000 | Football
Feb. 4, 2000
LUBBOCK, Texas - The Mike Leach era of Texas Tech football will officially open at Jones Stadium instead of on the road at Auburn, Texas Tech athletic director Gerald Myers announced today.
The Red Raiders will open the 2000 season with a home game against Utah State Sept. 2 as part of a four-team deal that also sends Wyoming to Auburn to begin the season. Texas Tech and Auburn were originally scheduled to open the season at Auburn, while Wyoming and Utah State were scheduled to meet that same day at Wyoming.
"We believe this has worked out well for all four teams, but especially for us because we get a seventh home game," Myers said. "We believed strongly that we needed to open the Mike Leach era at home and also give our fans an extra home game."
"Excitement about Texas Tech football is as high as it's been in some time and we wanted to capitalize on that momentum by starting the season at Jones Stadium," Myers said. "We appreciate Auburn's willingness to help work something out."
Myers said there was no buyout involved in the schedule change, noting that "if there were then we would be playing at Jordan-Hare Stadium instead of at Jones Stadium come Sept. 2. We had no intention of buying out of anything."
The game with Utah State, who finished 4-7 and 3-3 in the Big West Conference last year, will mark the beginning of a three-game homestand to open the season for Texas Tech. The Red Raiders will play five of their first six games in 2000 at home.
"I'm glad we were able to get this worked out," Leach said. "It's important for us to play at home, but it's also important for our program that if we go and play a team like Auburn that they should also come to Lubbock, Texas and play."
Home games with Texas, Nebraska, Baylor and Oklahoma State highlight the 2000 schedule. The Red Raiders travel to Texas A&M, Kansas State, Kansas and Oklahoma.
Following is the 2000 football schedule for Texas Tech:
| Date | Opponent |
| Sept. 2 | Utah State |
| Sept. 9 | North Texas |
| Sept. 16 | Louisiana-Lafayette |
| Sept. 30 | at Texas A&M |
| Oct. 7 | Baylor |
| Oct. 14 | Nebraska |
| Oct. 21 | at Kansas State |
| Oct. 28 | at Kansas |
| Nov. 4 | Texas |
| Nov. 11 | Oklahoma State |
| Nov. 18 | at Oklahoma |