Here are the top 7 home openers in Texas Tech football history
People who follow Texas Tech football have been looking forward to Saturday for quite some time. Oregon, No. 13 in both major polls, is the highest-ranked non-conference opponent to visit Jones Stadium since No. 1 Nebraska in 1994 and the Red Raiders' highest-ranked foe for a home opener since No. 1 Southern California in 1979.
Here are the top seven home openers in Tech history. The assessments were made based on quality of opponent, how the Red Raiders finished in a particular season or other reasons that made the game highly anticipated.
(Games marked with an asterisk were season openers.)
1936: Texas Tech 7, TCU 0
Sammy Baugh led TCU to victories in the Sugar Bowl after the 1935 season and the inaugural Cotton Bowl after the 1936 season. Texas Tech got a touchdown from Jim Neill and blanked the mighty Horned Frogs, no small feat.
TCU came into Lubbock 14-1 in its previous 15 games. Only 10 months before, in a battle of unbeatens, SMU had beaten TCU 20-14 in what sportswriters such as Grantland Rice dubbed "The Game of the Century." SMU went to the Rose Bowl, losing to Stanford, TCU to the Sugar Bowl, beating LSU.
1970: Texas Tech 21, Tulane 14*
So much was new. Texas Tech had a new head coach in Jim Carlen, a new triple-option offense, new white helmets — a first for the program — and a new playing surface with a new logo at midfield. AstroTurf was a novelty, used by only 26 other college teams and seven pro teams.
The June 1970 Coaches All-America Game was the first with Jones Stadium's new AstroTurf, and the Tulane game was the Red Raiders' first on it.
Tech came from behind late on Ken Perkins' interception-return touchdown and a Charles Napper TD. Tulane ended the season 8-4 with a Liberty Bowl victory and ranked No. 17.
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1976: Texas Tech 24, Colorado 7*
The 1976 Red Raiders started 8-0, reached No. 5 in The Associated Press poll and ended 10-2. The Buffs had finished at least four games above .500 in seven of the previous 11 seasons, going 8-4 in 1975. More than a dozen future NFL players dotted their roster.
The Red Raiders intercepted five passes. Linebacker Thomas Howard started an all-America season with 17 tackles and two INTs, prompting coach Steve Sloan to say, "I can't remember one player ever playing that well."
1979: No. 1 Southern California 21, Texas Tech 7*
In a story three years ago, The Athletic made the case for the 1979 USC team as the most talented in college football history. It had four future members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame — offensive linemen Anthony Munoz and Bruce Matthews, running back Marcus Allen and safety Ronnie Lott — seven others who played in the Pro Bowl and two Heisman Trophy winners in Allen and running back Charles White.
Members of John Robinson's team went on to earn 64 Pro Bowl selections, 30 by offensive linemen. The Red Raiders, 3-6-2 in '79, somehow stayed within two touchdowns of the Trojans' juggernaut, the national champions in the coaches poll the year before. White got hurt in the first half, and Allen ran 20 times for 105 yards and a touchdown.
USC beat Tech 17-9 in the 1978 opener at the L.A. Coliseum, going 23-1-1 over the two seasons with back-to-back Rose Bowl victories.
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1989: Texas Tech 24, No. 20 Arizona 14*
Picked sixth in the Southwest Conference, the Red Raiders ended 9-3 and No. 19 in The Associated Press poll. They're the only Tech football team to beat four Top 20 opponents. The first came on opening night when the Red Raiders dispatched a Dick Tomey-coached Arizona squad that finished 8-4 in '89.
James Gray rushed for 224 yards and two touchdowns.
"James is a big horse, and we're going to ride him," said offensive coordinator Dick Winder, foreshadowing his I-back's second-team All-America season.
1990: No. 18 Houston 51, Texas Tech 35
David Klingler, successor to 1989 Heisman Trophy winner Andre Ware, threw for 435 yards and five touchdowns. In the heyday of their run-and-shoot passing attack, the Cougars finished 9-3 and 9-2 the two previous years with Jack Pardee as head coach and 10-1 under John Jenkins in 1990, finishing No. 10 in the AP poll.
"With the run-and-shoot, it's hard to understand what's going on out there," Tech linebacker Charles Rowe said. "It's mass confusion."
2002: Texas Tech 42, Mississippi 28
Texas Tech beat Eli Manning-led teams in 2002 at Jones Stadium and in 2003 at Ole Miss. The 2002 game was one of the Red Raiders' best performances in a 9-5 season.
Kliff Kingsbury broke the Big 12 career passing record and had a hand in three touchdowns. Tech also scored on a Wes Welker punt return and an Adell Duckett interception return.
College football
Who: Texas Tech vs. Oregon
When: 6 p.m. Saturday
Where: Jones AT&T Stadium
TV: FOX
Records: Oregon 1-0, Texas Tech 0-1
Rankings (AP/USA TODAY Coaches Poll): Oregon 13/13; Texas Tech receiving votes/receiving votes
Last game: Oregon 81, Portland State 7; Wyoming 35, Texas Tech 33 (2OT)
Last meeting: Oregon 16, Texas Tech 13 in 1992 at Eugene, Oregon
Line: Oregon by 6 1/2. Over-under: 67 1/2 points
Game guarantee: Texas Tech to pay Oregon $400,000 by March 1. Contract signed in June 2016.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Here are the top 7 home openers in Texas Tech football history
