Texas Tech's week-one opponent, Abilene Christian, boasts plenty of ex Red Raiders

In the modern world of college football, is is no longer unusual for an opponent to feature some familiar faces on its roster. However, when an FBS program hosts an FCS program, as Texas Tech will when it takes on Abilene Christian on Saturday night, there usually aren't a ton of connections between the two teams. That won't be the case with the Red Raiders and the Wildcats though.

Perhaps it is fitting that these two teams, which are separated by just 164 miles, have plenty of ties. Those start with ACU head coach Keith Patterson.

Patterson, who is now 60 years old, was the defensive coordinator at Texas Tech from 2019-21 under former Red Raider head coach Matt Wells. During that time, he helped steady the Red Raiders on that side of the football, something that was needed following the Kliff Kingsbury era.

Though Patterson's defenses were never elite, they improved each year of his tenure. After struggling as the No. 127 program in the nation in yards allowed per game in 2019, Tech improved to No. 99 in 2020 and then jumped up to No. 86 in 2021, Patterson's final season in Lubbock.

Another former Red Raider representing Abilene Christian this year is QB Maverick McIvor. The San Angelo native was part of the Texas Tech 2019 recruiting class but never cracked the Red Raider QB two-deep partially due to a knee injury.

He has now been at Abilene Christian since 2022. He's appeared in 21 games (20 starts) and last year he started all 11 games for ACU completing 56% of his passes (164-294) for 1972 yards, with 17 touchdowns against 5 interceptions.

One of McIvor's top targets in the passing game is expected to be former Red Raider Trey Cleveland. From 2019-22, he appeared in 39 games at Tech making 41 catches for 566 yards and two TDs. Last season, Cleveland played for North Texas catching 27 balls for 415 yards and three scores.

McIvor will also be throwing passes to former Red Raider Nehemiah Martinez. The Lubbock native played for his hometown school from 2021-23 catching 34 passes for 426 yards and two touchdowns.

Yet another pass catcher for ACU who once called Texas Tech home is Jed Castles. He spent only one season in Lubbock (2021) when he redshirted.

Last season, the Wichita Falls native earned second-team all-conference honors with 25 catches for 241 yards and 3 touchdowns. The year prior, he had 9 catches for 67 yards and 1 touchdown for the Wildcats.

Other former Red Raiders on the ACU roster include wide receiver Hut Graham, offensive lineman Tay Yanta, and punter Grant Nickel. While we wish all of these ex-Texas Tech football program members the best, we hope they have a rather rough return to the 806 on Saturday night.