Texas Tech football: Red Raiders to play Houston at NRG in 2021

Next season’s game between the Texas Tech football team and the Houston Cougars will be played at NRG Stadium, home of the Houston Texans and that’s good news for the Red Raiders.

The Texas Tech football program might have caught a break when it comes to next year’s schedule. That’s because the 2021 game between the Red Raiders and the Houston Cougars will take place at Houston’s NRG Stadium, home of the Houston Texans, rather than on the U of H campus.

This decision, announced on Twitter by Mark Berman of Fox 26, essentially eliminates any home-field advantage that the Cougars may have had. Now that the game will be played at a massive NFL stadium, there will be plenty of seats to be had meaning that Tech fans will certainly show up in droves given how many Red Raiders call the Houston area home.

The benefit for the Cougars is reportedly a $2.4 million paycheck for participating in the Texas Kickoff, which will certainly aid their bottom line. But they might have had a better shot at winning this game had it been played at their home stadium. That’s because Tech has found life rather treacherous on the U of H campus in recent seasons.

.@UHouston Board of Regents approved @UHCougarFB moving its 2021 home game against @TexasTechFB from TDECU Stadium to NRG Stadium where the 2 teams will play in the @TexasKickoff. Date is to be determined. About a $2.4 million payday for UH.
— Mark Berman (@MarkBerman_) August 20, 2020

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All-time, Houston leads this series 18-13-1. But since 1991, Tech is 8-1 against the Cougars.

Still, it hasn’t been easy for the Red Raiders to emerge from Space City with a win. The last time these teams met on the Houston campus, Tech came away with just a 27-24 win. This was a tight affair throughout with Tech sealing the game late and Houston scoring a garbage-time TD to market he score look a bit closer than it was. Still, it was a hard-fought game played on a mercilessly humid afternoon.

Prior to that, the last time the Red Raiders played in Houston was in 2009. That infamous 29-28 Houston victory is memorable because of a number of questionable decisions by head coach Mike Leach and for a postgame locker room tirade by All-American offensive lineman Brandon Carter which resulted in a one-game suspension.

Before that, Tech had not played in the city of Houston since 1995 during the old Southwest Conference days. Overall, Tech is 4-10-1 against the Cougars in Houston but the bulk of those losses came during the 1980s when U of H was one of the top programs in the nation thanks to a high-flying offense that was ahead of its time.

Of course, Tech has not been great in NRG Stadium in recent years as well. In fact, the Red Raiders have lost their last two contests in that venue. In 2018, Tech was humbled by Ole Miss in the season opener 47-27 and in 2015, the Red Raiders dropped the Texas Bowl to LSU 56-27.

Still, this is a development that can only help the Red Raiders because playing at a neutral site, one that happens to be climate controlled, is far better than playing at the home of the Houston Cougars, which can be a tough place to play, especially when the crowd is amped to see a possible upset of a Big 12 foe.

Regardless of where this game would have been played, there would have been tons of Red Raider fans in attendance. But by deciding to move it to NRG Stadium, the home team has essentially given up any semblance of a home-field advantage.