The 100th season of Texas Tech football will kick off Saturday night at Jones AT&T Stadium. Fortunately, this year should get off to a better start than the 2023 season did.
Instead of playing a dangerous Group of 5 program on the road at night to begin the season, Joey McGuire's team should have what amounts to a glorified scrimmage against FCS opponent Abilene Christian.
Though no game against a team from the lower level of the sport is going to get fans completely jacked up, it is nice to get this annual "tradition" out of the way in the opener. That's because there is always plenty of excitement for the first game, regardless of who the opponent may be meaning that the atmosphere in Lubbock should be special even though the opposing team isn't.
Tech hasn't lost to an FCS (or Division I-AA)opponent since falling to North Texas during the early portion of the Spike Dykes era. What's more, only a couple of the games against FCS opponents since then have been close calls.
This weekend's game isn't supposed to be too stressful for Texas Tech fans either. However, we will all be tuning in to see the debut of the 2024 Red Raiders. Therefore, let's look at the broadcast information and other nuggets that fans need to know.
Texas Tech vs. ACU broadcast info
Kickoff: 6:30 PM
TV: ESPN+
Play-by-Play: Ted Emrich
Analyst: Dave Steckel
RADIO: TEXAS TECH SPORTS NETWORK
Play-by-Play: Brian Jensen
Analyst: John Harris
Sideline Reporter: Chris Level
SiriusXM (local): Channel 146 or 205
Mobile App: Varsity Network (Texas Tech)
Texas Tech vs. ACU forecast
High: 85
Low: 65
Mostly Cloudy with A.M. showers
Sunset: 8:13 PM
Texas Tech vs. ACU game notes
All game notes courtesy of TexasTech.com.
- Texas Tech and Abilene Christian will meet for only the 10th time in program history on Saturday and the first time since 1949. Abilene Christian moved to the NCAA Division II level shortly after the last meeting between the two schools. The Wildcats transitioned to the FCS level prior to the 2014 campaign. This is the first of a two-game contract with the Wildcats, who will also serve as the Red Raiders’ season opener in 2026.
- Texas Tech is 68-28-3 all-time over its 99 season openers after opening 19 of the past 21 years with a victory. The two losses during that stretch came in 2018 when the Red Raiders
fell to Ole Miss, 47-27, at the Texas Kickoff in Houston and then a year ago when Texas Tech dropped a 35-33 double-overtime decision at Wyoming.
- Texas Tech will be looking to avoid dropping consecutive season openers for the first time since the 1995-97 campaigns when the Red Raiders fell at Penn State (1995), Kansas State
(1996) and Tennessee (1997).
- Texas Tech is opening its season against an FCS opponent for the second time under Joey McGuire as the Red Raiders previously routed Murray State, 63-10, in his 2022 debut.
- The Red Raiders have been dominant in home openers during their history as Texas Tech is 77-19-3 all-time after winning each of its last 23 of its last 24 openers inside Jones AT&T Stadium. Texas Tech had not dropped a home opener since 1999 until a year ago when No. 13 Oregon rallied to top the Red Raiders, 38-30, in the second game of the season.
- Since 1980, Texas Tech is 39-5 in home openers with three of those losses coming to ranked opponents (1992 vs. No. 15 Oklahoma, 1990 vs. No. 18 Houston, 2023 vs. No. 13 Oregon).
- Texas Tech has compiled a 27-1 all-time record against FCS opponents since the NCAA divided its Division I schools into two divisions in 1978. Texas Tech enters this weekend having won each of its last 21 consecutive games against FCS opponents dating back to the 1988 season.