Red Raider Football 2nd in BIG 12 (2004)

Hey there guys, this is pretty long but just jotting down some thoughts. It has been quite interesting on how things have been fairing since the '04 season (on football). Since the '04 season the Red Raiders have stunningly became the 2nd best team in away games... read on and you all will understand. Really have not had too much time to compare and contrast but have done it on an occasional timely basis. It's just some friendly input on Red Raider football as of lately...

2009 2-3; 1-3 against top 25

#2 Texas- 24-34
#17 Houston- 29-28
#15 NU- 31-10
#17 OSU-17-24
Baylor- 20-13 (Neutral)

UT was 29-3 in home games since '04 before this game and last loss at home against KSU Sept 2007 (10 game home winning streak afterwards); Under Coach Sumlin, the Coogs had never lost a home game before the Red Raider game (6-0) and last loss at home was against ECU on Sept 2007 (10 game home winning streak afterwards)... 24-7 home record since the '04 season. NU was 9-2 in home games under Pelini before the Red Raider game and had only lost 1 Home Conference Opener since the inception of the BIG 12 (against Mizzou in '08). Under Coach Gundy, the Cowboys have compiled a 20-7 home record since the '06 season before the annual meeting with the Red Raiders. The Cowboys have become a difficult team to beat in Stillwater under Coach Gundy; other than this year's massacre from UT in Stillwater, the Longhorns have had to come from behind in the fourth quarter to win at OSU in recent years; the Sooners won by 5 in 2000, won by 3 in '04, won by 6 in '06 and the Sooner defense gave up 41 points (yet still won) in '08... so winning in Stillwater has been no easy task for OU either; the Raiders have not yet beat Gundy in Stillwater.

The Red Raider win over the Huskers snapped a 9 home game Husker winning streak and is only the second home conference opener loss since the inception of the BIG 12. On a side note, Texas Tech is only one of three teams that has been able to beat the Huskers 4 straight times within the last 30 or so years... OU and UT being the others. For any team to accomplish this feat, has to be doing something right.

2008 4-2; 1-2 against top 25

Nevada- 35-19
KSU- 58-28
TAMU- 43-25
#23 KU- 63-21
#5 OU- 21-65
#25 Ole Miss- 34-47 (Bowl)

Nevada was 20-6 at home before the game against the Red Raiders... previous 7 games, the wolfpack were 5-2, with only losing the two by 10 points combined; KSU had a 13-4 home record before the game since the '06 season... losing in '07 to only two teams that finished the season in the top 10 (KU and MU)... went 7-2 before the Red Raider game; TAMU has always given the Red Raiders trouble in College Station (same with OU and UT) before the '08 season... 8 of the last 9 games were decided by 7 points or less, with A&M holding a 6-3 record against the Red Raiders since '90 in College Station; KU was on a 13 game home winning streak before the Red Raider game and 25-6 since the beginning of the '04 season; OU's last home loss was against TCU on Sept 03, 2005 and were on a 23 home game winning streak before the Red Raider game... 29-1 since the  '04 season. Ole Miss throughout the '08 campaign had lost to each of their opponents by a TD or less and had defeated the National Champ earlier throughout the season. They had outscored their last 4 opponents 152-20 before the Cotton Bowl, showing that they only grew stronger before the game against Texas Tech.

The 16 point win against the Wolf Pack was their worst loss at home since Boise St handed them a 38-7 loss in the last regular season game of '06 (BSU went undefeated in '06 beating OU in the Fiesta Bowl); The win against the Aggies has closed the gap to 4-6 since 1990 and has been the largest victory (18 points) by a Tech team in College Station within this time frame; Not only did the Red Raiders snap the Jayhawks 13 home game winning streak, but had handed Kansas their worst loss (42 point difference) since a 40-15 defeat against the Huskers in '05.

Only blowout loss was against OU (By 44)

2007 4-3; 1-2 against top 25

SMU- 49-9
Rice- 59-24
OSU- 45-49
#15 MU- 10-41
BU- 38-7
#14 UT- 43-59
#21 UV- 31-28 (Bowl)

There were really no key victories away from the Jones thoughout the '07 season until the the Gator Bowl against Virginia. There were at the least, two impressive showings against OSU and UT, where the Red Raiders did not backdown and showed the competition that they would give them all they had. OSU had a 5-2 home record before the Red Raider game, finishing the '06 season 4-2 at home, losing the two by 7 points combined... one being against the BIG 12 Conference Champion (lost to OU, 21-27); UT had a 42-4 home winning record (since 2000) before the annual meeting with Texas Tech, which shows they normally do not lose at home. As for Virginia, they finished 2nd in the ACC behind V-Tech that season. Virginia had lost their final game against V-Tech, in which if they would have won, they would have made the trip to the ACC championship game against BC instead of the Hokies.

The Gator Bowl was the milestone victory for Texas Tech this season, not only against a potential Conference Championship team yet coming from behind in the final few minutes of the bowl game to come out with the win.

Lost to UT (By 16) and MU (By 31)

2006- 4-3; 0-2 against top 25

UTEP- 38-35
#21 TCU- 3-12
TAMU- 31-27
CU- 6-30
ISU- 42-26- have to look this up
#17 OU- 24-34
Minn- 44-41 (Bowl)

UTEP had a 10-2 record at home in the previous two seasons, before inviting the Red Raiders to El Paso. With a fairly impressive record, the Red Raiders were in for a pretty good matchup. The Horn Frogs were on a 6 game winning streak before the match up with the former SWC rival and had a 30-4 home record since the 2000 season; Like stated earlier, TAMU usually gives the Red Raiders a difficult time in College Station (same against OU and UT). Before this match up, the Aggies held a 6-2 home record against Tech since the '90 season; OU was on a 10 game home winning streak before the annual matchup and held an amazing 46-2 record at home under Coach Stoops.

Tech re-wrote history in the Outback Bowl against Minnesota, when the Red Raiders almost fell apart against the running attack of the Gophers, down 35-7 at the half... winning in OT, 44-41. The win was the largest deficit to overcome in coming away with victory. The Gophers were really not that bad of a team if you look at what they did throughout the season. Three of their losses came by 2 TD's or less against the 2nd, 4th, and 5th best teams in the BIG 10. Against Penn St, they took the Lions to OT to determine the winner... against Purdue and Michigan, the game came down to the final quarter of play to determine the victor. The Gophers then went on to win their final 4 of 5 games to become bowl eligible.

Lost to CU (By 24)

2005- 2-3;  0-2 against top 25

NU- 34-31
#2 UT- 17-52
BU- 28-0
OSU- 17-24
#13 Ala- 10-13 (Bowl)

Nebraska had a 34-5 home record since the 2000 season before the meeting of the two BIG 12 teams. The Huskers had an 8-2 home record before the meeting (the 2004 season and games in '05 before the matchup), in which they lost the two in the previous season by 10 points combined. Texas Tech had never won in Lincoln before this day, losing the previous 3 by a score of 120-58; The last time Tech had won in Austin was in '97 and UT had a home record under Coach Brown at 41-3 before the Red Raider game, with a 14 home game winning streak entact. Alabama was on a 9 game overall winning streak before losing the next 2 games against 2 of the top 3 SEC teams, by a combined score of 13 points.

Everyone that had watched Cotton Bowl understands the outcome should have been different, but was not. The Tide even competed with ineligible players... which could have most certainly had a different outcome... but did not.

Lost to UT (By 35)

2004- 4-3; 1-2 against top 25

SMU- 27-13
UNM- 24-27
KU- 31-30
#2 OU- 13-28
KSU- 35-25
#23 TAMU- 25-32
#4 Cali- 45-31 (Bowl)

New Mexico had not won against Texas Tech since 1984, and was on a 10 game losing streak against TTU before the Red Raider game... so in my eyes, this win was due up sometime soon. UNM also had a 17-9 home record since the 2000 season, losing all but 2 of those games by 8 points or less (Tech being a 49-0 loss in '02... only home loss of the season); KU had a 7-2 home record coming into this game (including previous season), with one of those losses by single digits; OU was on a 13 game winning streak before the meeting with the Red Raiders, and only had one loss at home since the HC change to Bob Stoops (Oklahoma St in '01); KSU had a 28-7 home record before the game with the Red Raiders... ending the '03 season and up to the Texas Tech game, KSU had a 10-3 home record; TAMU had only lost 1 home game in the 2004 season, losing to OU by a TD, finishing the regular season 7-4 (losing 3 of the 4 by less than 2 TD's). The Aggies had a pretty good competitive season in '04 (one of very few this decade). California only had one loss coming into this game, against the PAC-10 champs and only lost by 6 points.

I remember a lot of controversy concerning the Cal Bears, in this particular situation and who could blame them... they pretty much handled the competition other than a couple of teams. They barely edged out Oregon and really did not win too convincingly against Southern Miss (26-16), but did finish the season with 7 straight wins. The other team that was a part of the controversy were the Longhorns, and they struggled against teams themselves. Winning by only 4 against the Jayhawks, by only 8 against Mizzou, and pulling out a 13 point victory against A&M notching 6 straight wins. They lost against the BIG 12 Champs by more points (12-0) and the Horns got chosen to compete in the Rose Bowl over the Bears. This was a very impressive win for the Red Raiders, but I completely understand that the moral for the Bears must have been very low due to the conflicting issues in the BCS and UT.

Lost to OU (By 15)
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Total since 2004- 20-17; Bowl games- 3-2, 1-0 in Neutal games; 16-15 at opponents field; 4-13 against top 25 (with 6 of those games being against OU and UT... 4-7 against others)

6 times Tech was defeated by 15 or more points. Twice by OU, twice by UT, once by CU and MU. Consider this... UT and OU have an excellent home record, have a total of 4 losses combined at their stadiums since '04 (at OU, only 2 games have been lost under Stoops in Norman; at UT, only 5 games have been lost under Brown in Austin). So understand that 6 of those losses being "normal" losses, from both of these teams in which both DO NOT normally lose at home, just as Tech normally does not lose at the Jones... Tech is 4-2 against both these teams since '04 (UT gave TT their worst loss of these years- 51-21, but barely pulled it off in '06- 35-31).

Take those 6 (away) games from the record and Tech is 20-11, with only two losses being a blowouts to CU (06) and MU (07). The other 9 losses were by less than 2 TD's, showing that Tech was pretty competitive in each. In '04, lost by 3 (UNM), 7 (TAMU)= competitive; In '05 lost by 7 (OSU)  and 3 (ALAB)= competitive; In '06 lost by 9 (TCU)= competitive; In '07 lost by 4 (OSU)= competitive; In ' 08 lost by 13 (Ole Miss)= competitive; In '09 lost by 1 (UH) and 7 (OSU)=  competitive. Tech is not that bad of team in away games, they stay competitive in most situations. Minus the UT/OU games, Tech is at a 64.5% winning percentage away from the Jones... not that bad if you ask me. Now SECOND best in the BIG 12.

Think of this... UT has had two BIG 12 Title since '04, OU has had the other 4. UT has a better away record than that of OU, yet OU has 2 more titles than UT. So having a better record away from home does not necessarily mean the "better" team comes out ontop in the end. Look below on how OU has faired out against teams away from Norman:

2009- 1-5; 1-3 against top 25

#20 BYU- 13-14 (Neutral)
#17 Miami- 20-21
#3 UT- 13-16 (Neutral)
#24 KU- 35-13
NU- 3-10
TT-13-41

Lost to TT (By 28)
2008- 6-2; 2-2 against top 25

Wash.- 55-14
BU- 49-17
#5 UT- 35-45 (Neutral)
KSU- 58-35
TAMU- 66-28
#12 OSU- 61-41
#20 MU- 62-21 (CCG)
#2 Flor- 14-24 (Bowl)

2007- 4-3; 2-1 against top 25

Tulsa- 62-21
CU- 24-27
#19 UT- 28-21 (Neutral)
ISU- 17-7
TTU- 27-34
#1 MU- 38-17 (CCG)
#11 WVU- 28-48 (Bowl)

Lost to WVU (By 20)

2006- 5-3; 3-3 against top 25

#18 Oregon- 33-34
#7 UT- 10-28 (Neutral)
#23 MU- 26-10
#21 TAMU- 17-16
BU- 36-10
OSU- 27-21
#19 NU- 21-7 (CCG)
#9 BSU- 42-43 (Bowl)

2005- 3-3; 1-2 against top 25

UCLA- 24-41
#2 UT- 12-45 (Neutral)
KU- 19-3
NU- 31-24
#21 TTU- 21-23
#6 Oregon- 17-14 (Bowl)

Lost to UCLA (By 17) and UT (By 33)

2004- 6-1; 3-1 against top 25

#5 UT- 12-0 (Neutral)
KSU- 31-21
#20 OSU- 38-35
#22 TAMU- 42-35
BU- 35-0
CU- 42-3 (CCG)
#1 USC- 19-55 (Bowl)

Lost to USC (By 36)

Total since 2004- 25-17; records in Neutral(2-5)/CCG(4-0)/Bowl(1-4)- 7-9; 18-8 at opponents field; 12-12 against top 25 teams (with one of those losses coming to Tech; 12-11 against others)

The Sooners have struggled quite a bit in games away from home since '04, yet 4 Conference Championships have been won by this team, 2 BCS games and 2 National Championship games have been played by the Sooners. In the 17 losses, OU has lost 5 (one being TT in '09) by more than 2 TD's and has also played against a team that ordinarily does not lose at home... TTU (OU is 0-3 since '04). Take out those 3 losses, the Sooners still have a 25-14 record. The other 10 (minus the 4 blowout losses) losses were quite competitive... somewhat like Tech. In saying all this UT, has only lost against TTU, KSU, TAMU... at their stadiums and has lost twice against the Sooners since '04, with no other Neutral site losses, Bowl game losses or CCG losses. With only having a total of 5 total losses away from Austin since '04, they have 1 NCAA championship appearance, and 2 Conference Championship appearance to show for it (2005, '09). So having the best record away from home, does not necessarily mean that they are the "best" team of the conference. Since 2004, UT has the best record in away games (in the BIG 12) followed by Texas Tech (minus the OU/UT games), then OU (64% winning percentage- minus the TT games)... away games, including Bowls, CCG, and Neutral sites. Yes TTU still has a mountain to climb to be compared to the likes of UT and OU, but from what they have done in the past 6 years they are doing something right, dont you think?