No. 23 Texas Tech welcomes Kent State

KENT STATE at #23 TEXAS TECH
Lubbock, Texas | Jones AT&T Stadium
Sept. 6, 2025
TNT SPORTS | 11 a.m. CT

GAME LINKS

LUBBOCK, Texas – Texas Tech (1-0) continues its three-game homestand on Saturday, to start the 2025 season, when hosting Kent State (1-0) at 11 a.m. inside Jones AT&T Stadium. It will be the first all-time meeting between the Red Raiders and the Golden Flashes and only the second contest in history for Texas Tech versus an opponent from the Mid-American Conference (MAC).

Broadcast coverage will be provided by TNT Sports, with an online stream available via HBO Max. In the booth on Saturday will be J.B. Long providing the play-by-play alongside Michael Golic Jr. as the analyst, with Allie LaForce reporting from the sideline. The 2025 season marks the beginning of the Big 12's new media package that continues its partnerships with ESPN and FOX while adding TNT Sports to its football portfolio, giving a new exclusive slate of Big 12 football games this fall following an agreement between Warner Bros. Discovery and ESPN last November.

Texas Tech Sports Network will also broadcast the game over 46 affiliates throughout the state of Texas and New Mexico, as Brian Jensen will have the call alongside analyst John Harris and sideline reporter Chris Level. The radio broadcast can also be heard on SiriusXM channel 106/198, as well as on the Varsity app.

RED RAIDERS ON PACE TO SELL OUT JONES AT&T STADIUM BACK-TO-BACK WEEKS TO START SEASON

As of Sunday, Aug. 31, fewer than 500 single-game tickets remained available for this Saturday's contest versus Kent State; the Texas Tech Athletics Department announced its Aug. 30 home opener versus Arkansas-Pine Bluff was a sellout at Noon on Thursday, Aug. 28.
Tickets can be purchased online at TexasTech.com or by speaking to a ticket sales representative at 806-742-TECH.
Reminder for ticket holders: in advance of gameday, add your tickets to your mobile wallet. Also, by having your tickets already in your wallet, you can avoid slow or weak wi-fi/cellular signals at the stadium
Texas Tech sold out of season tickets for the third consecutive season in early May as Red Raider fans purchased more than 33,000 season passes for the 2025 campaign.
In addition to the season opener, the primary ticket inventory for the Oct. 25 showdown with Oklahoma State was the first Texas Tech football game to sell out this season, which was on June 26.
Fans are encouraged to visit SeatGeek for tickets for games that the Texas Tech Athletics Ticket Office has previously announced a sellout for. The contest versus the Cowboys, which will also serve as the Parents and Family Weekend game, attracts large crowds to the Texas Tech campus annually. Select single-game tickets remain available to each of Tech's other contests this season.

RED RAIDERS DOMINATE IN OPENER

The Red Raiders had no shortage of bright spots coming out of their season-opening win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff as the Red Raiders racked up 608 yards in total offense, while allowing only 175 yards defensively.
Texas Tech's 67 points marked the 10th-most in program history, and the third time in its past four games, dating back to last season, the Red Raiders had scored at least 50 points.
The 60-point margin of victory, meanwhile, was its largest since the Red Raiders routed Lamar, 77-0, in their 2018 home opener.

GROUND GAME NOT A CONCERN

Cameron Dickey and J'Koby Williams helped ease the concerns of Red Raider fans following the preseason injury to Quinten Joyner as Texas Tech combined to rush for 294 yards in the opener, its third-highest total since moving to a spread offense in 2000.
The duo, as well as the vast majority of Texas Tech's offense, was pulled at halftime of the rain-delayed victory as the Red Raiders led 47-0 at the break.
Adam Hill and Will Hammond continued the ground attack after the break, combining for 142 yards in the second half alone.

RED RAIDERS IN THE POLLS

Texas Tech entered the 2025 season ranked inside the top 25 of both major polls for the first time since 2008 as the Red Raiders were No. 23 in the Associated Press poll and No. 24 in the AFCA coaches poll. Texas Tech was previously ranked No. 24 in the 2023 AFCA preseason poll before falling out after a season-opening loss at Wyoming. Both polls will be updated following Week 1 action on Tuesday.
It was the first time the Red Raiders had appeared in the Associated Press poll since Sept. 23, 2018, when Texas Tech was No. 24 nationally after starting its season 3-1 overall with wins over Lamar, Houston, and at No. 15 Oklahoma State and the lone loss coming in the opener to Ole Miss.
Texas Tech will potentially face five teams this year who were ranked or receiving votes in either of the two preseason polls, a list headlined by No. 11 Arizona State and No. 17 Kansas State. Texas Tech's schedule also features BYU - ranked No. 23 in the AFCA poll - and the likes of Utah and Kansas, which were both receiving votes in at least one poll.

NUMBERS TO KNOW

0: It was a quiet night for punter Jack Burgess in the opener as he was only called on for his holder duties as Texas Tech scored on all 11 possessions and did not punt a single time.
1: Texas Tech was tabbed having the No. 1-ranked transfer portal class by On3sports and the No. 2-ranked portal class by 247Sports.com.
3: Texas Tech had four players rush for 50 yards in a game for only the third time since 1995 as the Red Raiders previously did so against Louisiana in 1997 and Kansas in 2022.
5: Behren Morton has thrown for multiple touchdown passes in each of his last five games, which is tied for the longest active streak in the FBS.
35: Texas Tech's 67 points in the season opener marked the 35th time in program history the Red Raiders have hit the 60-point mark and the third time to do so under Joey McGuire.
50: Tech has scored at least 50 points in each of Behren Morton's last three starts dating back to the end of the 2024 regular season against Oklahoma State and West Virginia.

INSIDE THE SERIES

This will be the first all-time meeting between Texas Tech and Kent State, marking the second consecutive week the Red Raiders have faced a first-time opponent. The Red Raiders opened the season against Arkansas-Pine Bluff, delivering a 67-7 rout in their first-ever meeting with the Golden Lions. Arkansas-Pine Bluff is scheduled to return to Lubbock as Texas Tech's 2027 season opener as well.
The Red Raiders have only faced one other member of the Mid-American Conference (MAC) in their history, which came in the 1948 Sun Bowl against Miami of Ohio. In what was only its fourth bowl appearance in school history at the time, Texas Tech fell, 13-12, to the RedHawks to conclude a 7-3 season under head coach Dell Morgan.

TEXAS TECH-KENT STATE CONNECTIONS

Texas Tech has two players from the state of Ohio on its roster this season in offensive linemen Will Jados and Vinny Sciury. Jados, a native of Wasterville, previously attended Miami (Ohio), making 39 starts on the offensive line before joining the Red Raiders this past January. Sciury, meanwhile, hails from Massillon, roughly 35 miles from the Kent State campus. Sciury, like Jados, transferred to Texas Tech from a fellow MAC school in Toledo, joining the Red Raiders before the 2024 season.
Kent State administrator Greg Glaus is one member of the Golden Flashes staff who has experience in Lubbock, as he was previously the Senior Associate Athletics Director for academic services at Texas Tech from 2017-21. Glaus returned to his alma mater following his Texas Tech tenure as Executive Deputy Athletics Director, where he serves as the sport administrator for the Golden Flashes.

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Players Mentioned

Jack Burgess

Cameron Dickey

Will Hammond

Adam Hill

Will Jados

Quinten Joyner

Behren Morton

Vinny Sciury

J'Koby Williams