GAME INFORMATION
Texas Tech will close out its regular-season at the new Cowboys Stadium in Arlington as the Red Raiders face the Baylor Bears on Saturday in the 2009 Texas Farm Bureau Shootout. Reserved tickets for Saturday's game are sold out but standing room tickets were made available beginning on Sunday afternoon through ticketmaster.com. Kickoff is set for 5 p.m. RANKINGS
Neither team is ranked in this week's Associated Press or USA Today/Coaches Top 25 polls. The Red Raiders, however, are receiving votes in both polls (11 votes in the AP and 12 in the coaches). TELEVISION
Saturday's game between Texas Tech and Baylor will be televised nationally on FSN. Dan McLaughlin (play-by-play), Gary Reasons (analyst) and Emily Jones (sidelines) will call the action for FSN. The game will mark Tech's fourth FSN appearance of the 2009 season. TEXAS TECH SPORTS NETWORK
Texas Tech fans across the state and the region can tune into the Texas Tech Sports Network coverage of Saturday's game. Brian Jensen (play-by-play), John Harris (color) and Toby Cecil (sidelines) will call the action. The flagship station for the Red Raiders in Lubbock is Double T 104.3FM. For more information, log on to www.texastech.com. THE SERIES
Texas Tech will renew its oldest rivalry in school history on Saturday afternoon in Arlington as the Red Raiders meet the Baylor Bears in what will be the 68th all-time meeting. Texas Tech has won 13-straight in the series against Baylor and are 34-32-1 all-time against the Bears. Tech's last loss to Baylor was a 9-7 setback on Sept. 30, 1995, in Waco.
- Saturday's game at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington will mark the first time in the 67-year history of the rivalry that the two teams have met on a neutral field.
- In the Mike Leach era, Texas Tech has defeated Baylor by an average score of 32.8 points per-game. The largest margin of victory was 51 back in 2002 when Tech defeated the Bears 62-11. The closest game was last season (Baylor's first year under Art Briles) as Tech held on for a 35-28 win at Jones AT&T Stadium. The win over Baylor last season cliched a share of the Big 12 South for the Red Raiders.
- Texas Tech and Baylor first met on the gridiron back in 1929 in Waco and the result was a 34-0 win by the Bears. Texas Tech notched its first win of the series in 1932 with a 14-2 victory in Lubbock.
A QUICK LOOK AT BAYLOR
The Baylor Bears will play their final game of the season on Saturday afternoon when they meet the Red Raiders in Arlington. Baylor's hopes of attaining their first bowl bid in 15 years came up short last week at Texas A&M (38-3). The Bears stand at 4-7 overall and 1-6 in Big 12 Conference play. Baylor is led by Art Briles who is in his second season as head coach.
- Baylor had high preseason hopes but a season-ending injury to QB Robert Griffin had a devastating impact on the Bear's season. Despite the loss at QB, freshman Nick Florence has filled in nicely for the Bears as he has thrown for 1,786 yards along with six touchdowns.
- Kendall Wright is the Bear's top receiver with 60 catches for 690 yards and is averaging 62.7 yards-per-game.
- Defensively, the Bears are led by All-Big 12 linebacker Joe Pawelek. Pawelek owns 97 total tackles on the season along with 2.5 sacks and one interception.
- Baylor is 2-3 away from Floyd Casey Stadium this season with wins over Wake Forest and Missouri.
CAPTAINS SELECTED FOR BAYLOR
Texas Tech head coach Mike Leach has adopted a new policy of electing game captains each week with an emphasis being placed on performance. Serving as game captains this week will be Austin Burns (special teams), Alex Torres and Baron Batch (offense) and Bront Bird and Jamar Wall (defense). LEACH TAKES OVER AS WINNINGEST COACH
Texas Tech head coach Mike Leach became the school's all-time winningest head coach last week thanks to a commanding 41-13 win over Oklahoma. He surpassed Spike Dykes who compiled 82 wins between 1986-99. Leach's journey to becoming the school's winningest coach was a shorter one than his predecessor as he accomplished the feat in just 10 seasons. His all-time record now stands at 83-43 and 46-33 in the Big 12 Conference.
- Former head coach Spike Dykes was in the locker room after the game to offer his congratulations to Leach on the record and gaining bowl eligibility. His message to the team "keep on keeping on."
THIRD WINNINGEST PROGRAM OF THE DECADE
With 46 league wins since 2000, Texas Tech is the third winningest program in the Big 12 Conference this decade. The Red Raiders trail Texas who leads the way with 67 and Oklahoma which comes in second with 66. RED RAIDERS GOING BOWLING
Texas Tech's Big 12 record just got longer. For the 16th-straight season, the Red Raiders are bowl eligible thanks to a 41-13 win over Oklahoma. Texas Tech's streak of bowl eligibility is the longest in the Big 12 Conference and the Red Raiders will await their postseason destination on Bowl Selection Sunday which is set for Sunday, Dec. 6. Representatives from the Holiday, Alamo and Sun Bowl were on site for Saturday's game against the Sooners. BACK TO DALLAS
Saturday's game at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington will mark Tech's first-ever game in the new home of the Dallas Cowboys. The Red Raiders and Bears are playing the first of two games slated for the DFW Metroplex as the two teams will meet next season during the state fair at the Cotton Bowl on Oct. 9.
- The Red Raiders will be playing in the DFW Metroplex for the sixth consecutive year on Saturday. Since 2004, Tech has played two games at SMU, one at TCU and made two appearances in the AT&T Cotton Bowl.
- Texas Tech will be playing at an NFL venue for the first time since defeating Navy 38-14 in the EV1.net Houston Bowl at Reliant Stadium in Houston.
- Saturday's game will mark the second Big 12 Conference game that Tech has played at the home of the Dallas Cowboys. The Red Raiders defeated Oklahoma State 31-3 back in 1996 at Texas Stadium.
ENDING ON A HIGH NOTE
Texas Tech will be in search of its sixth consecutive win in a regular-season finale when the Red Raiders meet Baylor on Saturday afternoon. Tech's last loss in a regular-season finale was a 56-25 setback at home against Oklahoma in 2003. A win over Baylor would also give the Red Raiders back-to-back wins to end a regular-season for the first time since 1997. EXPOSURE
Texas Tech's national exposure just seems to grow by the week as the Red Raiders will be televised for the ninth time this season when they take on Baylor. Saturday's game on FSN will be shown in front of a national television audience and it will mark the fourth time this year that one of Tech's TV games was available to the entire country. Texas Tech Football has been popular on the television networks over the last four years as Tech has posted at least eight TV appearances in each of those seasons. Texas Tech's upcoming bowl game will give the Red Raiders a new school record for television appearances in a season as that game will mark the 10th. SELLOUT CROWD IN ARLINGTON
Saturday's game at Cowboys Stadium will attract a crowd of over 65,000 as all reserved seats for the game have been sold. Officials announced on Sunday the addition of standing room only tickets that were put on sale through ticketmaster.com. The game in Arlington will mark the largest crowd to ever watch a Tech-Baylor game, surpassing the record that was set last season in Jones AT&T Stadium (53,470). McSACK ATTACK
The Ronald McDonald House couldn't be happier. Defensive Coordinator Ruffin McNeil, who has long been a champion for the local Ronald McDonald House, has his team raking in big money for his favorite charity. Each time the Red Raiders sack a quarterback, a donation is made to the Lubbock Ronald McDonald House to help a sick child and their family. With 36 sacks on the season, the Red Raiders are not only wreaking havoc on opposing offenses but generating money for a great cause.
- With 36 sacks in 11 games, Tech has surpassed its entire total from last season. In 2008, the Red Raiders recorded 33 sacks in 13 games but lost its top two sack leaders in Brandon Williams and McKinner Dixon.
- Tech leads the Big 12 Conference in sacks and is second nationally behind Pittsburgh (41.0).
- DE Brandon Sharpe, the team leader with 12 sacks, ranks second in the Big 12 and second nationally.
DEFENSIVE NOTES/RANKINGS
- Junior linebacker Brian Duncan leads the squad with 75 total tackles, including six tackles for a loss.
- Tech's total defense is ranked seventh in the Big 12 and 49th in the nation at 349.4 yards-per-game.
- Tech's rush defense is seventh in the Big 12 and 40th nationally at 126.9 yards-per-game.
- The Red Raiders rank 31st nationally with an average 6.64 tackles for loss per-game.
EFFECTIVE IN THE RED-ZONE
Texas Tech has been very effective in the red-zone this season as Tech has scored on 42 of 48 trips (88%). Over the last eight games, Tech is 31-of-34 in the red-zone and has scored 30 touchdowns. HOLY COW!
Texas Tech has long been known for its ability to score quickly and 2009 is no exception. The Red Raider offense has scored 11 times this season in under a minute and 21 times in less than two minutes. SENIORS GO OUT WITH A BANG
Texas Tech's senior class said goodbye to Jones AT&T Stadium in fashion as the Red Raiders handed Oklahoma a 41-13 defeat. The 28 point margin marked the largest win over Oklahoma in the all-time series.
- A total of 19 seniors comprise this year's class: Jamar Wall, Ryan Hale, De'Shon Sanders, Trent Nickerson, Ed Britton, Brent Nickerson, Marlon Williams, Nate Stone, Sandy Riley, Austin Burns, Shawn Byrnes, Victor Hunter, Daniel Howard, Chris Wallace, Marlon Winn, Brandon Carter, Ra'Jon Henley, Brandon Sharpe and Richard Jones.
- The Texas Tech offense armed with seniors Brandon Carter, Marlon Winn and Ed Britton scored a touchdown on the final drive of the game and in their final moment on the playing field at Jones AT&T. After the game, Winn descibed the moment in the postgame press conference: "It was Amazing. Just perfect."
- Over the last four years, this class has helped compile 35 wins, achieve a school record national ranking of No. 2 last season and been a part of three consecutive bowl games (two bowl wins).
- Texas Tech has now won six consecutive home regular-season finales with three of those wins coming against Oklahoma.
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