Red Raider Football Begins 81st Season
September 05, 2005 | Football
Sept. 5, 2005
#21/21 Texas Tech (0-0) vs. Florida International (0-1)
Saturday, September 10, 2005
6:00 p.m. (CT)
Jones SBC Stadium (52,882)
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The 2005 season marks the 81st year of Texas Tech Football on the South Plains. Over that span, the program has 465 wins, 375 losses and 32 ties. During those previous 80 years, the Red Raider football team has opened the regular season at home 45 times and boasts a 36-8-1 record in those games, including wins in the last six and eight of the last nine. Overall, the Red Raiders are 59-18-3 in home openers and 293-149-13 in all home games.
Texas Tech opens the 2005 season at home for the fourth time in head coach Mike Leach's six seasons on the South Plains. The Red Raiders host Division I newcomer Florida International at 6 p.m. Sat., Sept. 10, at Jones SBC Stadium. The game is the first of the season for the Red Raiders and second of the year for FIU, who faced Kansas State in Manhattan last weekend.
TEXAS TECH BRINGS RADIO RIGHTS IN-HOUSE
The Texas Tech Sports Network, in its first season, will carry the live broadcast of every football game throughout the state of Texas on its 30-station network, including flagship station KKAM 1340. Play-by-play man Brian Jensen calls the action with longtime Lubbock broadcasting fixture John Harris as the color analyst. Mark Finkner provides the sideline coverage, while Tim Chambers serves as statistician. Engineer Steve Pitts is in his 16th season.
TEXAS TECH ON OPENING DAY
Texas Tech is 51-26-3 all-time on opening day, including last year's 27-13 win at SMU in Dallas. After dropping three-straight openers in the mid-90s, Tech has won five of seven, including four of the last five. Over 80 years, Tech has opened the season in the state of Texas 65 times.
LATE START
Saturday's kickoff against Florida International will mark the third time in the last six years that the Red Raiders have not played in the month of August. Prior to the 1996 season, no Tech team had ever played in August. The Red Raiders logged their first August date in the Big 12 Conference inaugural kickoff at Kansas State on Aug. 31, 1996. The Sept. 10 kickoff this year is the latest since opening the 1984 season on Sept. 15 against Texas-Arlington in Lubbock. Tech also is one of the last 13 Division I-A schools nationally to kickoff the 2005 season.
LEACH ENTERING SIXTH SEASON
Aside from Spike Dykes' 13 seasons between 1987-99, the last Texas Tech coach to spend more than six seasons in Lubbock was JT King, who was at the helm of the program from 1961-69. Leach has seen continual improvement in each of his first five years, highlighted by last season.s 45-31 win over California in the Pacific Life Holiday Bowl. Leach has posted a 39-25 record and 21-19 record in Big 12 play, including last season.s 5-3 league record and Big 12 thirdplace finish, the highest finish for Tech in the league standings. He is the first coach in school history to lead each of his first five teams to bowl games and also to win three-straight post-season games. His Tech teams have combined for over 150 team and individual records. Additionally, the Red Raider offense has led the nation in passing the past three years and total offense the last two.
ABOUT FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL
Florida International is in its fourth season of football and first in Division I-A. The Sun Belt Conference member is 0-1 on the season following a 35-21 loss at Kansas State last weekend. Although the team posted a 3-7 record a year ago, nine veteran starters return on offense, while eight defensive starters also return. Sophomore RB Ben West is the team.s leading returning rusher with 137 yards on the ground last season and 6.2 yards per carry. Josh Padrick returns for his junior season as a three-year starter at quarterback. Padrick threw for 2,269 yards and 12 touchdowns last season. Senior WR Cory McKinney and junior WR Chandler Williams both return and were two of Padrick.s go-to guys last season. McKinney posted 675 yards on 58 receptions and four touchdowns, while Williams had three touchdowns on 46 catches and 525 yards. Defensively, senior LB Lance Preston was second on the team last season with 82 tackles, while senior DB Nick Turnbull logged 74 stops.
FORMER DOLPHIN GREAT HEADS FIU PROGRAM
Former Miami Dolphins quarterback Don Strock is in his fourth season at the four-year-old program and has led the Panthers to a 10-23 mark and Division I-A status. The team begins play in the Sun Belt Conference this season. Strock was a fifth-round pick of the Miami Dolphins and played for the franchise from 1973-87. He also spent single seasons with the Cleveland Browns (1988) and Indianapolis Colts (1989) before retiring. The former Virginia Tech All-American began his coaching career with the Miami Hooters of the Arena Football League in 1993 and took the same position with the Massachusetts Marauders in 1994. Strock spent the 1995 season as an assistant coach with the Rhein Fire of the World League, followed by a three-year stint as the Baltimore Ravens quarterbacks coach from 1996-98. Stock still holds Virginia Tech records in career (6,009), season (3,243) and single-game (527) passing yards.
FLORIDA-RICH LINEUP
The entire Florida International roster is made up of players from the state of Florida, save one, freshman DL Jonas Murrell from Kentucky. Miami leads the way with 30 players on the squad.
PANTHERS NOT INTIMIDATED IN DIVISION I-A DEBUT
Florida International entered its first game as a member of Division I-A as a 34-point underdog, but no one told the Panthers. FIU gave Kansas State fits last weekend in a 35-21 loss, as the Wildcats scored the lone touchdown of the fourth quarter to hold off the Panthers. Leading 13-7 at halftime, Kansas State scored twice in the first minute and a half of the third quarter to extend its lead to 28-7. FIU countered with two scores in the frame on a three-yard run by Adam Gorman and a Nick Turnbull 17-yard blocked punt return to cut KSU.s lead to 28-21. FIU managed only 236 yards of total offense, but the defense kept the Panthers in the game. The Panthers forced four KSU fumbles, recovering three, and had an interception.
MORE ON LEACH
The Sporting News acknowledged Mike Leach in its preseason Big 12 issue as the second-best coach in the Big 12 Conference. In a league littered with outstanding coaches, only OU coach Bob Stoops ranked higher than Leach. Texas' Mack Brown, Kansas State's Bill Snyder and Colorado's Gary Barnett ranked third through fifth.
DEGREES IN HAND
Four current Red Raiders have already completed their degrees and are working in postgraduate areas. Senior quarterback Cody Hodges and offensive lineman Bryan Kegans are both working on post-baccalaureate teaching certifications. Senior defensive back SirDon Lewis is pursing a second degree in psychology and Spanish, while place kicker Keith Toogood began graduate work this fall.
TECH HOLDS TWO TOUCHDOWN ADVANTAGE IN OPENERS
In five years under head coach Mike Leach, the Red Raiders have averaged 34.4 points per game in season openers. Opponents have picked up 20.2 points per game, including a 45-point effort by Ohio State in 2002. Take away that game and the Tech D is yielding only 14 points per game.
SCORING STREAK
Texas Tech begins the season in the middle of a 92-game scoring streak, the second-longest in school history, and fourth among Big 12 schools. The run began with a 16-13 win over Texas A&M on Oct. 25, 1997, a week after dropping a 29-0 decision to second-ranked Nebraska. During its current run, the Red Raiders have scored 10+ in all but four games.
Longest Scoring Streaks in School History
106 games - Began 10/17/87 with a 59-7 win over Rice in Lubbock; ended 12/29/96 with a 27-0 loss to Iowa in the Alamo Bowl
92 games - Began 10/25/97 with a 16-13 win over Texas A&M in Lubbock (current streak)
STRONG IN NON-CONFERENCE GAMES
In five seasons under head coach Mike Leach, the Red Raiders are 18-6 in non-conference games, including postseason bowl games. Tech finished last season's non-conference slate with a 3-1 mark.
RED RAIDERS STRONG WHEN SCORING 30+
Texas Tech is 12-1 when scoring 30 or more points against non-conference opponents in the Mike Leach era. Tech's lone loss was a 51-48 overtime loss against N.C. State in Lubbock during the 2002 season.
CAPTAINS
In a vote by their teammates, five Red Raiders were named captains following last Sunday evening's workout. QB Cody Hodges, OT E.J. Whitley, DE Kayunta Dawson, CB Khalid Naziruddin and FS Dwayne Slay were chosen by their teammates.
GRAD RATES AMONG NATION'S BEST
Texas Tech.s football program boasted a 79 percent graduation rate for the 1999-00 freshman class, which was recognized by the American Football Coaches Association in the spring. For the fifth-straight year, Texas Tech.s graduation rate was higher than 70 percent. Tech was one of 30 schools recognized by the AFCA.
RED RAIDERS WINNING WAYS AMONG NATION'S BEST
Texas Tech is one of nine schools nationally that currently has 10 or more consecutive seasons with a winning record. The Red Raiders are tied with Miami (Ohio) with 10, while Florida State tops the list with 28-straight winning campaigns.
TECH HAS TIES IN NEW HARRIS POLL
Former Texas Tech All-American E.J. Holub and former Red Raider head coach Spike Dykes are among 114 panelists that will have a vote in the new Harris Interactive College Football Poll this season. The poll is one of three components in the Bowl Championship Series Standings Formula used to determine the two teams that play in the BCS National Championship game and those that qualify for at-large selections.
ALONE AT THE TOP
Texas Tech is the only program of the 12 member institutions to boast an overall winning record each season since 1996. Others have finished at .500, but none have posted winning marks each of the last nine seasons. Additionally, Tech is the only program to be bowl eligible each season of the league's existence.
HISTORIC JONES SBC STADIUM
The 2004 season marks the 58th season of Texas Tech football in Jones SBC Stadium. The stadium was opened during the 1947 season and named for then-Tech president Clifford Jones and his wife, Audrey. The name was altered prior to the 2000 season with the addition of 'SBC' to the title, due in part to the $20 million donation given to the school for renovations from Southwestern Bell Communications.
BOWLED OVER
Texas Tech made its 28th bowl appearance last season and its first to the Pacific Life Holiday Bowl. Leach is the only coach in school history to guide each of his teams to bowl appearances. Under Leach, the Red Raiders are 3-2 in bowl appearances, including last season.s 45-31 win over California. Tech advanced to the 2000 Galleryfurniture.com Bowl and fell to East Carolina (40-27) and appeared in the 2001 Alamo Bowl, losing 19-16 to Iowa. The Red Raiders defeated Navy (38-14) in the Houston Bowl in 2003, giving the program its first backto-back bowl wins in consecutive years in school history. Tech routed Clemson (55-15) in 2002 at the Tangerine Bowl in Orlando.
RAIDERS POST TOP OVERALL LEAGUE FINISH
Texas Tech.s 5-3 record in 2004 tied the Red Raiders with Texas A&M in third place in the overall conference standings, marking the highest finish for a Tech team since the inception of the league in 1996. Oklahoma finished the conference season undefeated at 8-0 followed by Texas at 7-1.
CRAZY EIGHTS
With an 8-4 record last season, the Red Raiders won at least eight games in three-consecutive seasons for the first time in school history. The Red Raiders finished the 2002 season 9-5 and had an 8-5 mark in 2003.
TECH AGAINST THE SUN BELT CONFERENCE
Texas Tech is 10-4 all-time against current teams of the Sun Belt Conference. The Red Raiders. last game against an SBC foe was in 2001, when Tech defeated North Texas, 42-14, at Texas Stadium in Irving.
OPPONENTS IN BOWLS
Four of Tech's 11 opponents this season participated in bowls a year ago. Texas defeated Michigan in the Rose Bowl, while Texas A&M (Cotton), Oklahoma State (Alamo) and Oklahoma (Orange) each dropped their respective bowl games. Sam Houston State advanced to the semifinals of the Division I-AA playoffs.
PILING THEM IN
Texas Tech finished the 2004 season ranked sixth among Big 12 schools in average attendance and fourth in capacity percentage. Over the course of Tech's five home games last season, Jones SBC Stadium was filled at a 99.9% capacity (22nd nationally). In the Big 12, only Nebraska, Oklahoma and Texas filled their stadiums to a greater capacity percentage throughout the season. The attendance of 51,717 against Oklahoma State in the season finale gave Tech a season average and new school record of 52,823. The season average surpassed the 2003 record of 49,608 and marked the third year under Mike Leach that Tech set a season attendance record.
TECH DOMINANT WITH HALFTIME LEAD
Texas Tech has had a tremendous amount of success when entering the locker room with a halftime lead. Tech is 29-1 when leading at the half under head coach Mike Leach. The only blemish came at Texas A&M last season after the Aggies overcame a 7-6 deficit to Tech at the break to win in overtime.
TECH DEFENSE SHOWS DRAMATIC IMPROVEMENT IN YEAR'S TIME
To say that the Texas Tech defense improved last year might be the biggest understatement of them all. At the end of the 2003 season, Texas Tech ranked 110 out of 117 Division I teams in total defense. The following is a breakdown of the improvement of Lyle Setencich's defense last season:
MORE ON THE TECH D
Although the improvement in NCAA rankings is impressive, the difference in the actual numbers better reflect the turnaround the unit made in 2004.
SECONDARY MUCH IMPROVED IN 2004; THREE STARTERS RETURN
Tech received a pleasant surprise when CB Khalid Naziruddin transferred from Howard Payne College in January 2004. Naziruddin, hoping to earn a roster spot, quickly moved up the depth during spring drills and found himself one of the starters at corner last season. He thanked the coaching staff by tying for the team lead with 83 tackles. He also posted 2.5 tackles for loss, a sack and a half and four pass breakups. Additionally, CB Antonio Huffman logged 59 tackles, grabbed an interception and broke up eight passes, while returning SS Vincent Meeks picked two passes and made 61 stops. Meeks. interception total over three years is nine, which is tied eighth on the Tech career list. Senior FS Dwayne Slay is penciled in as the starter at free safety after backing up the position last season. Slay grabbed two interceptions a year ago.
TECH DEFENSIVE ENDS CONTINUE TRADITION
Tech's string of fielding talented defensive ends didn.t end last year with the graduation of Adell Duckett (2001-04). First, there was Montae Reagor (95-98), then current Tech sack record holder Aaron Hunt (99-02). The three aforementioned ends all rank one, two and three on the Tech career sacks list. Enter junior ends Keyunta Dawson and Seth Nitschmann. Despite spending last season as a backup to Duckett at rush end, Dawson still led the team in sacks (6.5) and tackles for loss (9), while Nitschmann posted 44 tackles and 4.5 tackles for loss from his end position. Dawson's sack total also tied for fifth in the Big 12. Dawson has 11 career sacks and needs 23 to tie the school record of 34 set by Hunt.
QUARTERBACK POSITION AT TECH EARNS RESPECT
Almost a month before senior Cody Hodges was named the starting quarterback at Texas Tech, the committee that selects the Maxwell Award listed the fifth-year senior among its 50 preseason players on its watch list. The Maxwell Award is given annually to college football's top player.
TEXAS TECH SCORING UNDER LEACH
Texas Tech has scored 30 or more points in 37 games during the Leach era and has won 31 of those games. Additionally, the Red Raiders are 12-3 under Leach when scoring 40+ and 10-0 when scoring over 50. On the flip side, Tech is 8-18 when scoring 29 points or less.
HICKS AMONG NATION'S TOP RETURNING RECEIVERS
Junior WR Jarrett Hicks turned in one of the best single seasons in Tech history for a receiver a year ago when he hauled in a school record 13 touchdown receptions and 1,177 yards. Hicks ranks fifth among the nation's top returning receivers from a year ago and is the Big 12 Conference's top returning receiver after leading the league in touchdowns and receiving yards last season. He also was selected as the No. 6 receiver in the country by The Sporting News.
HENDERSON EIGHTH AMONG RETURNING BACKS
Senior RB Taurean Henderson, a candidate for the 2005 Doak Walker Award, is living proof that Texas Tech has a running game. The versatile back has 2,369 career rushing yards and ranks eighth among this year's returning rushers. He trails only Missouri QB Brad Smith among the Big 12's returning rushing leaders. Henderson's career total ranks seventh on the Tech career rushing list.
HENDERSON, HICKS RANK AMONG TOP 30 BIG 12 PLAYERS
CollegeFootballNews.com announced its top 30 Big 12 players earlier in the summer and Tech RB Taurean Henderson and WR Jarrett Hicks were listed 10th and 12th, respectively. Henderson was the No. 2 running back on the list, behind Oklahoma's Adrian Peterson, while Hicks was listed as the league's top receiver. Henderson rushed for a career-high 840 yards last season and caught 12 passes for 286 yards. Hicks set the school's single-season touchdown receptions record with 13 and amassed a career-high 1,177 yards.
HENDERSON AMONG NATIONAL TOUCHDOWN LEADERS
Henderson ranks first in the NCAA among all active players with 47 career touchdowns. He leads New Mexico's DonTrell Moore by five touchdowns.
MORE ON HENDERSON
- Henderson has 282 points in his career, 47 rushing and receiving touchdowns and is in second place on both lists at Texas Tech. He trails career leader James Gray in both categories (312 points and 52 touchdowns).
- Henderson is among an elite list of collegiate football players with 1,000 rushing and 1,000 receiving yards during his career. Henderson joins former Tech All-American Donny Anderson (1963-65) on the list of 33 collegiate athletes throughout history who have done so. Henderson is one of three active players on the list.
- Henderson is the only player in history among current Big 12 schools to rush for 2,000 yards and receive for 1,500 yards during a career. Henderson has 2,369 rushing yards and 1,530 receiving yards in three seasons.
- Henderson is one of only four players in school history to record 200 catches during a career. The junior has 236 receptions to date and is 23 shy of tying the record of 259, set by former Tech receiver and current Miami Dolphin Wes Welker (2000-03).
- Henderson's 236 career receptions ranks second in NCAA history among running backs. He trails former Long Beach State back Mark Templeton, who caught 262 passes from 1984-87.
THE SPORTING NEWS RECOGNIZES TECH PLAYERS
In addition to Hicks and Henderson being listed among the country's best at their positions by The Sporting News, the publication also recognized junior OG Manny Ramirez as the No. 15 offensive guard; junior Antonio Huffman as the No. 17 cornerback; senior Vincent Meeks as the No. 9 strong safety; and sophomore Danny Amendola as the No. 12 return man in the country. Tech's wide receiver corps also was selected as the best in the Big 12 Conference.
THREE NAMED TO DALLAS MORNING NEWS PRESEASON ALL-BIG 12 TEAM
Texas Tech placed three players on the Dallas Morning News All-Big 12 Preseason Team, the second-most of all league schools. RB Taurean Henderson, WR Jarrett Hicks and OG Manny Ramirez were selected. Texas led the way with four representatives.
WOODS NOTICED FOR POTENTIAL
Redshirt freshman RB Shannon Woods hasn't played a game for the Red Raiders yet, but was named to CollegeFootballNews.com's Redshirt Freshman All-America Second Team. Woods, a native of McKinney, Texas, moved into the backup slot behind Taurean Henderson during spring workouts and has established himself as a quality, reliable backup, and possibly future starter.
2004 HIGHLIGHTS
- The Red Raiders capped the season with one of the biggest wins in school history . a 45-31 victory over fourth-ranked California in the 2004 Pacific Life Holiday Bowl.
- The bowl win marked the first time in school history that Tech has won bowl games in three-consecutive seasons.
- Texas Tech set a school record with its 12th-straight winning season in 2004. The streak is the longest of any of the Big 12 schools, and Tech is the only school in the Big 12 to post a winning season in each year since the league's inception in 1996. Additionally, Tech is the only school to be bowl eligible each season of the league's existence.
- The Red Raiders finished the conference season tied third overall (north and south), the highest finish for Tech since the inception of the Big 12 Conference in 1996.
- Tech finished the season with its first national ranking since 1995.
- Tech won the NCAA passing title for the third-straight season.
- The win over fourth-ranked California was the first for the Red Raiders against a top five team away from Lubbock.
- Tech's four losses in 2004 were the fewest in a season since the three-loss season in 1995.
- The Red Raiders scored 70 points in back-to-back home games (TCU and Nebraska), handing Nebraska its worst loss in the program's 114-year history.
- Texas Tech averaged 52,823 in home attendance, marking the first time in school history that the average mark was above 50,000. Under head coach Mike Leach, the season average attendance record has fallen three times.
- The Red Raiders rushed for 23 touchdowns in 2004, the most since the 1996 squad ran for 27.
- Tech's top 20 pass defense allowed a 51.2 completion percentage, the lowest since 1998 and the fourth lowest over the last 10 seasons.
- Tech set 12 individual and team bowl records and tied four others in the Holiday Bowl.
- IR Trey Haverty earned All-America status when he was named to the Associated Press's third team. Haverty finished the season with 77 receptions for 1,019 yards and six touchdowns. He is the first postseason All-American at Tech since FS Kevin Curtis, LB Lawrence Flugence and DE Aaron Hunt in 2001.
- QB Sonny Cumbie recorded 4,742 passing yards to finish with the third-best single-season total in school history and the sixth best in NCAA annals.
