The Texas Tech football team has lost two games in-a-row to Iowa State with neither being particularly close. But the history between these two programs suggests that Tech could be primed to reassert their dominance over the Cyclones.
There was a time not long ago when Texas Tech football fans would see the Iowa State game as a guaranteed win just slightly more difficult to obtain than a win over Kansas. But the arrival of head coach Matt Campbell in Ames has signaled a shift in a series that has historically been dominated by the Red Raiders.
Texas Tech and Iowa State have met 16 times with the Red Raiders holding an 11-5 advantage. That is the Red Raiders’ best mark against any Big 12 opponent other than Kansas.
But in the past two seasons, Iowa State has bullied Texas Tech all over the field. Last year, the Cyclones flustered Nic Shimonek and the Red Raiders to the tune of a 31-13 win in Lubbock. The previous year, ISU handed Tech one of Kliff Kingsbury’s most humiliating defeats, 66-10, on a blustery day in Iowa that was the worst performance of Pat Mahomes’ collegiate career.
The current two-game winning streak marks only the second time in the series history that Iowa State has managed consecutive wins against Texas Tech. The other instance came in 2010-2011 in the first two years of the Tommy Tuberville era.
The only other time Texas Tech has lost to Iowa State was in 2002, thanks to one of the most remarkable individual plays in Big 12 history. That game will forever be defined by what has become known in ISU circles as “the run”.
Cyclone quarterback Senaca Wallace scored on an eleven-yard touchdown run on a scramble that saw him retreat all the way back to the 30-yard-line as he dodged a number of hapless defenders on the way to the end zone. Certainly, that play has been the defining moment in a series that has been defined by blowouts.
Thirteen of the sixteen games between these two schools have been decided by at least ten points. Of that number, seven have had margins of at least 20 points.
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The biggest blowout Texas Tech has recorded was a 52-0 beating that came in the first game of the series back in 1967. Tech would win the next three games in the series (1974, 1998, 1999), the last two being the first two meetings in Big 12 play.
Following the 2002 ISU win, Tech would roll to three-straight wins (2003, 2006, 2007) by an average score of 45.3 – 21.3. The Red Raiders’ bested that by winning four-in-a-row from 2012-2015.
The 34-31 20014 Red Raider win in Ames was significant because it was the first career win and third collegiate start for Pat Mahomes. That day, he completed 23 of 35 passes for 328 yards and four touchdowns including a 44-yard game-winning TD pass to Kenny Williams in the 4th quarter.
As a program, Iowa State has been playing football since 1892. During that time, the Cyclones have an overall record of 527-647-46 (a winning percentage of .451). By comparison, Texas Tech has an overall record of 567-445-32 (.558 winning percentage) since 1925.
Amazingly, ISU has played in only 13 bowl games in its long history, 25 fewer than has Texas Tech. And with a win this week, Texas Tech would qualify for bowl game No. 39 but do to so, it must find a way to get back on the winning side of a series that it has traditionally dominated.