No. 12 Texas Tech opens 2026 season Saturday
Texas Tech opens its 102nd season of football on the South Plains this Saturday at 6 p.m. CT when the No. 12 Red Raiders host Abilene Christian inside Galaxy Stadium. Coming off their first Big 12 title in school history, the Red Raiders will look to showcase a reloaded roster and extend their eight-game home winning streak against the Wildcats, who enter the weekend 0-1 after a Week Zero loss at Lamar.
The contest will be televised nationally on FS1. The broadcast team of Dan Hellie (play-by-play) and Robert Smith (analyst) will have the call from the booth. In addition to traditional outlets, fans can access the game from their mobile or streaming device by using the FOX Sports app.
Texas Tech Sports Network will also broadcast the game across more than 20 affiliates throughout the state of Texas and New Mexico, as Brian Jensen will have the call alongside analyst John Harris and sideline reporter Chris Level. The radio broadcast can also be heard on SiriusXM channel 176/237, as well as on the Varsity app.
SATURDAY SOLD OUT, DOWNLOAD TICKETS EARLY
- On Aug. 21, Texas Tech announced it had sold out of its primary ticket inventory for the Sept. 5 season opener against Abilene Christian at Galaxy Stadium.
- Fans are encouraged to download their digital tickets to their smartphone’s mobile wallet before arriving at the stadium. For assistance, visit texastech.com/feature/digital-
ticketing. - It marked the second advance sellout announced for the 2026 season, with tickets for the remaining dates on the seven-game home slate moving quickly. Texas Tech previously announced a sellout for the Sept. 26 non-conference finale against Sam Houston, which will serve as the annual Agriculture Game and Parents Weekend on campus.
- Texas Tech is nearing its third sellout, with fewer than 1,500 seats remaining for the Oct. 17 home game against Arizona State.
- On May 11, Texas Tech Athletics announced it had sold out its season ticket allotment for the 2026 football season, marking the fourth consecutive year Red Raider football season tickets have sold out. Due to significant demand following the program’s continued rise, Texas Tech increased its season ticket allotment for 2026. Red Raider fans purchased more than 33,400 season tickets en route to another sellout, while the season-ticket renewal rate reached 95 percent, creating only limited availability for the wait list.
- Remaining single-game tickets can be purchased online at TexasTech.com or by contacting a ticket sales representative at 806-742-TECH.
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HAMMOND TAKES OVER AS TEXAS TECH’S QB1
- The Red Raiders will have a new but familiar face under center Saturday in junior Will Hammond, who becomes the seventh Red Raider in his third year or younger to earn the starting nod to kick off a season.
- Hammond is no stranger to Red Raider fans, as he will make his fourth career start and his first since suffering a season-ending knee injury that cut his 2025 campaign short.
- He takes over for a Red Raider program that enters the season ranked 12th in the polls, matching the second-highest preseason ranking in school history.
THE RED RAIDERS PLAY DEFENSE IN WEST TEXAS- Texas Tech led the FBS with 32 takeaways and was one of two teams in the country to rank in the top five for scoring defense, total defense and rushing defense. The rushing defense in particular led the country, allowing only 68.1 yards per game.
- Despite losing six NFL draft picks from its defense in 2025, Texas Tech returns five starters from a year ago, including a second-team All-American in A.J. Holmes Jr., a first-team All-Big 12 selection in Brice Pollock, and the Most Outstanding Player of the Big 12 Championship in Ben Roberts.
- The preseason All-Big 12 football team tabbed Holmes as its preseason defensive player of the year, while Roberts and Pollock joined him on the preseason team. Plus, the additions of Austin Romaine and Adam Trick landed on the preseason All-Big 12 football team from the defensive side of the ball.
RED RAIDERS IN THE POLLS- Texas Tech will enter the season ranked No. 12 in both the Associated Press and U.S. LBM coaches polls, matching the second-highest preseason ranking in program history. The Red Raiders are the highest-ranked Big 12 program in both polls, as BYU is as high as No. 14 overall, while Utah is at No. 21 and Houston is No. 23 entering the season.
- Texas Tech’s preseason ranking in both polls matches where the voters placed the Red Raiders in the Associated Press rankings prior to their memorable 2008 season. Texas Tech’s highest-ever preseason ranking came in 1977 when the Red Raiders, coming off a 10-2 season under Steve Sloan, were No. 8 overall in the Associated Press poll.
- The Red Raiders wrapped the 2025 season at No. 7 overall in both the Associated Press and coaches polls, marking their highest final ranking in school history. Texas Tech moved to as high as No. 4 in the polls a year ago, ultimately earning the Red Raiders their first-ever appearance in the College Football Playoff.
RED RAIDERS VERSUS THE FCS- Texas Tech has compiled a 29-1 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 25-consecutive games against FCS opponents dating back to the 1991 season.
- Texas Tech’s lone loss to an FCS program came in 1988 when North Texas stunned the Red Raiders, 29-24, inside Galaxy Stadium (UNT was DI-AA from 1982-95). The loss opened the second full season for the Red Raiders under head coach Spike Dykes.
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INSIDE THE SERIES
- Texas Tech and Abilene Christian will meet for only the 11th time in program history Saturday. The two programs met for the first time since 1949 two seasons ago as the Red Raiders opened the 2024 campaign with a 52-51 win over the Wildcats.
- Abilene Christian moved to the NCAA Division II level shortly after the 1949 meeting and then transitioned to the FCS level prior to the 2014 campaign. This is the second game of a two-game contract with the Wildcats, matching up the two programs for the Red Raiders’ season openers in 2024 and 2026.
- The Red Raiders, entering their 102nd season of football on campus, faced Abilene Christian in only its seventh game as a college football program, making the short drive south to top the Wildcats, 10-7, in 1925 under head coach E.Y. Freeland. The two schools met in each of Texas Tech’s first seven seasons as a college football program but only twice after that, despite being separated by less than 170 miles.
TEXAS TECH-ACU CONNECTIONS- This weekend’s opener will mark a return to Galaxy Stadium for Abilene Christian head coach Keith Patterson, who was previously Texas Tech’s defensive coordinator under Matt Wells from 2019-21. He accepted the ACU position following the 2021 season and is 30-21 now in his four-plus seasons in Abilene. Patterson, whose ACU program has advanced to its first two NCAA FCS Playoff appearances in the past two seasons, led the Red Raiders for one game as acting head coach during his tenure, pushing Texas Tech to a 16-13 victory over Kansas in the 2020 regular-season finale.
- Patterson’s staff at ACU has numerous ties to Texas Tech, none probably more recognizable than associate head coach and offensive coordinator Graham Harrell and co-offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach Joel Filani. Harrell remains one of the top quarterbacks in college football history after torching opponents for 15,793 passing yards over his Red Raider career from 2005-08, ultimately finishing fourth in the Heisman Trophy voting in 2008 after leading Texas Tech to as high as No. 2 in the national rankings. Harrell was inducted into the Texas Tech Hall of Fame as part of the 2021 class and then became the 12th inductee into the prestigious Ring of Honor during the 2025 season. He was enshrined in the NFF College Football Hall of Fame last December, becoming the ninth Red Raider in school history to receive college football’s highest honor.
- Filani, meanwhile, will join Harrell in the Texas Tech Hall of Fame this fall as part of the 2026 class after his own illustrious career as a Red Raider. Filani, who, like Patterson, was on the Texas Tech staff under Wells as wide receivers coach from 2019-21, wrapped his Red Raider tenure with 175 catches for 2,626 yards and 23 touchdowns over 50 games from 2003-06, and he still ranks sixth all-time for career receiving touchdowns and 10th for receiving yards.
Release provided by MATT BURKHOLDER Texas Tech Athletics