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Texas Tech football: Important storylines ahead of UT game

By Matthew Conner

AUSTIN, TX - NOVEMBER 29: Brennan Eagles #13 of the Texas Longhorns gives a stiff arm to Adam Beck #24 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders after a reception in the second half at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium on November 29, 2019 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images)
AUSTIN, TX - NOVEMBER 29: Brennan Eagles #13 of the Texas Longhorns gives a stiff arm to Adam Beck #24 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders after a reception in the second half at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium on November 29, 2019 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images) /
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Students and fans occupy the stands during the first half of the college football game between the Texas Tech Red Raiders the Houston Baptist Huskies on September 12, 2020 at Jones AT&T Stadium in Lubbock, Texas. (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images)
Students and fans occupy the stands during the first half of the college football game between the Texas Tech Red Raiders the Houston Baptist Huskies on September 12, 2020 at Jones AT&T Stadium in Lubbock, Texas. (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images) /

Is there any home-field advantage?

Typically, when the Burnt Orange comes to the Hub City, it’s the most electric weekend on the calendar.  But, of course, 2020 has changed all of that.

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Now, instead of the Horns having to deal with 60,000 fans inside The Jones, they will only have to overcome around 16,000.  That’s going to make it much more difficult for Wells’ team to manufacture any type of home-field advantage on Saturday.

Thus, the head coach has to find a way to get his team to create its own energy.  That shouldn’t be too difficult given the opportunity to shock the nation by taking down the No. 8 team in the country.  But we also thought playing with energy would be a given for the Red Raiders in the season opener and that assumption proved to be misguided.

The reality is that this is another opportunity for Tech to start to reclaim Jones Stadium.  What was once the most feared venue in the Big 12 has now become just another road trip for opposing teams and that simply can’t continue to be the case.

In each of the last two seasons, Tech has won only one Big 12 game at home, against Oklahoma State in 2019 and Kansas in 2018.  What’s more, in 2017, the Red Raiders were winless at The Jones in league play.

Over the last ten seasons, the Red Raiders have won a total of eleven Big 12 games at home.  That’s a stat that spans three different coaching regimes.

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It’s also a stat that has to change before we can ever start to think about this program returning to national relevance.  So despite the fact that The Jones will only be at 25% capacity on Saturday, Tech needs to find some way to awaken the dormant magic that we all hope still resides somewhere within the confines of the stadium that at one time was a house of horrors for opposing teams.

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