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Texas Tech football: Red Raiders complete 2020 schedule

By Matthew Conner

LUBBOCK, TX - OCTOBER 22: General view of fireworks during the National Anthem before the game between the Texas Tech Red Raiders and the Oklahoma Sooners on October 22, 2016 at AT
LUBBOCK, TX - OCTOBER 22: General view of fireworks during the National Anthem before the game between the Texas Tech Red Raiders and the Oklahoma Sooners on October 22, 2016 at AT /
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The Texas Tech football team has completed it’s 2020 football schedule by adding their yearly FCS punching bag.

It’s an unfortunate and frustrating aspect of the modern era but the practice of FBS schools scheduling FCS opponents isn’t going to stop anytime soon.  Thus, we can’t blame the Texas Tech football program from taking advantage of the yearly opportunity to fatten up on a team from the lower level of the sport.

This week, Tech announced that it’s FCS opponent next year will be Alabama State, thus completing the 2020 schedule.  Previously, the September 12th date was open after it was believed at one time to have been filled by Lamar but the Cardinals have been replaced by the Hornets, perhaps because they did not want to come back to Lubbock just two years after suffering a 77-0 loss at Jones Stadium in the second week of the 2018 season.

Like that game, this will be the Red Raiders’ home-opener.  Next fall, the second year of the Matt Wells era will begin with a road game at UTEP before Alabama State comes to Lubbock to pick up their check…I mean…take on the Red Raiders.

Last fall, Tech took out its frustrations on Lamar a week after an embarrassing 20-point loss to Ole Miss in Houston on national television.  If Tech is coming off a loss next year when the Hornets come calling, the sky will be falling in Lubbock given how bad UTEP has been in recent years.

This year, Tech handed the Miners a 38-3 loss in the season’s second week.  Since then, Tech has managed to go just 1-5 with its lone win coming over Oklahoma State on October 5th.

Also set to come to Lubbock next fall are Arizona, West Virginia, Baylor, Texas, Kansas, and Oklahoma.  That’s certainly a much more intriguing home slate than the 2019 set of games, which remains one of the worst in the history of Tech football.

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No fan looks forward to seeing their team bring a non-competitive FCS team to town.  After all, it is a no-win situation given that no victory, regardless of size, will be considered impressive while a loss or even a close win will bring tons of criticism from the fans and the media.

The only reason anyone shows up for these annual bloodlettings is that it’s always the first game of the year at The Jones.  Given that the majority of the Red Raider season-ticket holders travel over 100 miles to attend each game, were these FCS snoozefests not our first in-person look at the football team, few people would show up.

But since 2011, Tech has brought an FCS team to Lubbock for the year’s first home game.  The last time that was not the case was in 2010 when SMU came to the Jones for the first game of the Tommy Tuberville era.  Given the fact that that game was played on a sweltering 100-degree day and the stadium ran out of bottled water, we should have been able to see what hell was awaiting Red Raider football over the next three years.

Fortunately, the FCS upset bug had not struck the Red Raiders as it has programs like Florida, Arkansas, Michigan, and Iowa State just to name a few.  The closest an FCS team has come to taking down the Red Raiders was in 2014 when Arkansas State fell 42-35 in Lubbock.

That shouldn’t be in store next season.  The Hornets are currently just 4-4 overall and 3-2 in the Southwest Athletic Conference (known as the SWAC).

Why fans should have hope in Matt Wells. dark. Next

This is not an opponent that is going to bring people out of the woodworks.  However, given the number of great games on next year’s home schedule, we can put up with one game that lacks any intrigue.

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