The 2020 Texas Tech Red Raiders football team represented Texas Tech University in the 2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team was led by Matt Wells in his second season as the program's 16th head coach. The Red Raiders played their home games on the university's campus in Lubbock, Texas at Jones AT&T Stadium, and competed as members of the Big 12 Conference. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the stadium's capacity was reduced to 25%.
On December 14, just over a week after the team's game against Kansas, offensive coordinator David Yost was fired. The Red Raiders finished the season with the 60th ranked offense in FBS, averaging 29.1 points per game.
Preseason
Recruiting class References:
Award watch lists Listed in the order that they were released Butkus AwardRiko JeffersLBSRDavey O'Brien AwardAlan BowmanQBSODoak Walker AwardSaRodorick ThompsonRBSOWuerffel TrophyZech McPhearsonDBSR
Big 12 media days The Big 12 media days were held on July 21–22, 2020 in a virtual format due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Big 12 media poll Big 12 media poll 1 Oklahoma 888 (80) 2 Oklahoma State 742 (6) 3 Texas 727 (4) 4 Iowa State 607 5 Baylor 489 6 TCU 477 7 Kansas State 366 8 West Virginia 287 9 Texas Tech 267 10 Kansas 100
Preseason All-Big 12 teams
Schedule Texas Tech had games scheduled against Alabama State, Arizona, and UTEP, but were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Schedule source:
Personnel
Game summaries
Houston Baptist
Statistics HBUTTU First downs 28 35 Total yards 600 624 Rushing yards 28 194 Passing yards 572 430 Turnovers 1 1 Time of possession 26:56 33:04 Team Category Player Statistics Houston Baptist Passing Bailey Zappe 30/49, 567 yards, 4 TD Rushing Ean Beek 16 rushes, 34 yards Receiving Josh Sterns 5 receptions, 209 yards, 2 TD Texas Tech Passing Alan Bowman 38/52, 430 yards, 2 TD, INT Rushing SaRodorick Thompson 22 rushes, 118 yards, 2 TD Receiving KeSean Carter 6 receptions, 86 yards, TD
Texas Tech opened up the 2020 season at home against FCS opponent Houston Baptist. The Red Raiders' defense struggled to contain the Huskies' offense, giving up 600 total yards and allowing Houston Baptist quarterback Bailey Zappe to throw for 567 yards and four touchdowns.
Texas Tech received the opening kickoff and quickly went downfield with Alan Bowman finding Erik Ezukanma for a 7-yard touchdown pass with 13:22 left in the first quarter. Houston Baptist responded on its first drive with a 40-yard field goal from Gino Garcia to make it 7–3. The Red Raiders started their second drive on their own 25-yard line, with SaRodorick Thompson running for 3 yards on the first play. On the next play, Bowman found T. J. Vasher for a 12-yard pass, but on the next play Isaiah Cash intercepted a Bowman pass near midfield for the Huskies. Houston Baptist quarterback Bailey Zappe was sacked by Jaylon Hutchings for a 5-yard loss, Zappe threw an incomplete pass on the next play, then the Huskies were moved back another 5 yards following a false start penalty. On 3rd and 20 at the 50-yard line, the Huskies managed to gain back the lost yardage from the sack and penalty and punted the ball, which was downed at the Texas Tech 5-yard line. The Red Raiders went 95-yards downfield, ending the drive with a 5-yard touchdown run from Thompson to take a 14–3 lead.
On their next drive, the Huskies made it to the Texas Tech 1-yard line, but a pass by wide receiver Jerreth Sterns was intercepted by Zech McPhearson. The two teams traded punts, before Texas Tech scored another touchdown on a 1-yard run from Tahj Brooks; Houston Baptist responded on the following drive with its first touchdown of the game, a 65-yard pass from Zappe to D. J. Dormeus. The Red Raiders went three-and-out on their next drive, gaining just 3 yards. The Huskies started the next drive at their own 29-yard line and made it all the way to the Texas Tech 1-yard line. On 4th and goal from the 1-yard line, Houston Baptist went for it, but Sterns failed to get it in the end zone, turning the ball over on downs. Texas Tech ran out the clock to end the half with a 21–10 lead.
Both teams started the half by punting on their respective opening drives. On their second drive of the half, the Huskies started a comeback attempt with Garcia making a 44-yard field goal to make it 13–21. Texas Tech made it to the Houston Baptist 42-yard line on the next drive before punting the ball. The Huskies started the next drive on their own 20-yard line, with the first play being an Ean Beek run for a loss of 5 yards. On the next play, Zappe found Sterns for a 30-yard pass. The next play was quickly blown dead due to an illegal holding penalty against Houston Baptist, moving the team back 10 yards. Following the penalty, Zappe threw a 65-yard pass to Sterns for a touchdown, trailing 20–21 with 5:40 left in the third. The Red Raiders responded with an 11 play, 75-yard drive that culminated with 8-yard touchdown run from Thompson. The quarter ended with a 14-yard pass from Zappe to Ben Ratzlaff, putting Houston Baptist in Texas Tech territory.
The Huskies' drive stalled and the team was forced to punt from the Texas Tech 40-yard line, downing the ball at the 16-yard line. The Red Raiders quickly went down field, capping the drive with an 18-yard touchdown pass from Bowman to KeSean Carter to extend the lead to 35–20. The fifteen point lead would be short lived, as Houston Baptist responded on the first play the following drive, with Zappe throwing a 75-yard touchdown pass to Sterns. Texas Tech had a chance to out the game away on its following drive, but turned the ball over on downs at the Houston Baptist 4-yard line with 5:25 left in regulation. The Red Raiders' defense gave up two big plays on the Huskies' next offensive drive: a 45-yard pass that put the Huskies into Texas Tech territory and a 27-yard pass to put them at the 2-yard line. On 1st and goal from the 2-yard line, Beek attempted to run it into the end zone, but was tackled for a 4-yard loss. The Huskies found the end zone on the next play with Zappe throwing a 6-yard pass to Sterns to make it 33–35 with 3:23 left in regulation. Houston Baptist went for a two-point conversion, but Zappe's pass was incomplete. Garcia kicked the ball back to Texas Tech, with the ball landing in the end zone for a touchback. The Huskies' defense failed to stop the Red Raiders, who ran out the clock to end the game with a 35–33 victory.
No. 8 Texas
Statistics TEXTTU First downs 27 24 Total yards 476 441 Rushing yards 214 110 Passing yards 262 331 Turnovers 2 3 Time of possession 34:39 25:21 Team Category Player Statistics Texas Passing Sam Ehlinger 27/40, 262 yards, 5 TD, INT Rushing Keaontay Ingram 12 rushes, 89 yards Receiving Joshua Moore 5 receptions, 73 yards, 3 TD Texas Tech Passing Alan Bowman 31/52, 331 yards, 5 TD, 3 INT Rushing SaRodorick Thompson 16 rushes, 104 yards, 2 TD Receiving Erik Ezukanma 7 receptions, 91 yards, TD
The defensive struggles for Texas Tech continued in the first half of the game, giving up 31 points to the Texas offense. After being down 21–31 at halftime, the Red Raiders stormed back in the 3rd quarter, scoring 21 points while only giving up 7, to lead 42–38 heading into the 4th. The Longhorns scored a touchdown with 2:39 left in the 4th to trail 48–56. Texas recovered an onside kick on the ensuing kickoff and scored another touchdown on the drive to trail 54–56 and made the two-point conversion to tie the game 56–56 with 0:40 left in regulation. The Longhorns would go on to win the game in overtime after scoring a touchdown and intercepting an Alan Bowman pass to end the game.
At Kansas State
Statistics TTUKSU First downs 27 20 Total yards 471 404 Rushing yards 204 198 Passing yards 267 206 Turnovers 1 0 Time of possession 31:39 28:21 Team Category Player Statistics Texas Tech Passing Henry Colombi 30/42, 244 yards, 2 TD, INT Rushing Xavier White 12 rushes, 113 yards, TD Receiving Erik Ezukanma 5 receptions, 77 yards Kansas State Passing Will Howard 7/12, 173 yards, TD Rushing Deuce Vaughn 16 rushes, 113 yards, TD Receiving Deuce Vaughn 3 receptions, 81 yards, TD
At No. 24 Iowa State
Statistics TTUISU First downs 15 29 Total yards 270 516 Rushing yards 58 214 Passing yards 212 302 Turnovers 0 1 Time of possession 19:09 40:51 Team Category Player Statistics Texas Tech Passing Henry Colombi 10/12, 115 yards, TD Rushing Xavier White 7 rushes, 21 yards Receiving Erik Ezukanma 5 receptions, 61 yards, TD Iowa State Passing Brock Purdy 32/43, 302 yards, 2 TD Rushing Breece Hall 27 rushes, 135 yards, 2 TD Receiving Xavier Hutchinson 9 receptions, 77 yards
West Virginia
Statistics WVUTTU First downs 22 18 Total yards 438 348 Rushing yards 91 179 Passing yards 347 169 Turnovers 1 1 Time of possession 30:07 29:53 Team Category Player Statistics West Virginia Passing Jarret Doege 32/50, 347 yards, TD Rushing Leddie Brown 21 rushes, 77 yards, 2 TD Receiving Winston Wright Jr. 9 receptions, 126 yards Texas Tech Passing Henry Colombi 22/28, 169 yards, TD Rushing SaRodorick Thompson 8 rushes, 68 yards, TD Receiving Myles Price 7 receptions, 79 yards
No. 24 Oklahoma
Statistics OKLATTU First downs 29 18 Total yards 559 400 Rushing yards 213 134 Passing yards 346 266 Turnovers 0 3 Time of possession 36:23 23:37 Team Category Player Statistics Oklahoma Passing Spencer Rattler 21/30, 288 yards, 2 TD Rushing Rhamondre Stevenson 13 rushes, 87 yards, 3 TD Receiving Theo Wease Jr. 5 receptions, 105 yards Texas Tech Passing Henry Colombi 15/28, 227 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT Rushing Chadarius Townsend 6 rushes, 68 yards, TD Receiving Erik Ezukanma 7 receptions, 88 yards
At TCU
Statistics TTUTCU First downs 15 14 Total yards 311 343 Rushing yards 77 270 Passing yards 234 73 Turnovers 1 1 Time of possession 25:28 34:32 Team Category Player Statistics Texas Tech Passing Henry Colombi 23/41, 234 yards, 2 TD, INT Rushing Xavier White 6 rushes, 43 yards Receiving Ja'Lynn Polk 2 receptions, 61 yards, TD TCU Passing Max Duggan 11/23, 73 yards, INT Rushing Max Duggan 19 rushes, 154 yards, 3 TD Receiving Taye Barber 3 receptions, 27 yards
Baylor
Statistics BAYTTU First downs 20 19 Total yards 360 381 Rushing yards 207 124 Passing yards 153 257 Turnovers 1 2 Time of possession 33:27 26:33 Team Category Player Statistics Baylor Passing Charlie Brewer 17/26, 153 yards, INT Rushing Qualan Jones 21 rushes, 86 yards Receiving R. J. Sneed II 4 receptions, 58 yards Texas Tech Passing Alan Bowman 14/23, 181 yards, INT Rushing SaRodorick Thompson 13 rushes, 69 yards Receiving KeSean Carter 7 receptions, 64 yards
This is the first game between the Red Raiders and Bears to be played in Lubbock since the 2008 season.
The Red Raiders took an early 3–0 lead with a 48-yard field goal Jonathan Garibay, who was making his first collegiate start after struggles from incumbent starter Trey Wolff. The Bears would score the first touchdown of the game late in the quarter, with Jalen Pitre intercepting an Alan Bowman (who was in the series over starter Henry Colombi) pass and returning it 26-yards for a pick six touchdown. The rest of the half would be a defensive battle between the two teams, with Baylor's John Mayers making two field goals in the 2nd quarter (one from 22-yards and the other from 48-yards) and Garibay making a 28-yard attempt. At halftime, the Bears led 13–6.