Oregon State football early opponent preview: Texas Tech

With Big 12 championship aspirations and one of the most robust NIL budgets in the country, Texas Tech will be among the biggest tests of the season for

Oregon State

football.

What’s more, the Beavers will have to go on the road to a challenging environment in Lubbock, one week before traveling to Eugene to face

Oregon

Texas Tech built out its roster by reportedly spending big in the transfer portal, including shoring up areas of a defense that finished among the worst in the country last season.

Game 3: Oregon State at Texas Tech

Date:

Sep. 13

Time:

12:30 p.m. PT

Location:

Jones AT&T Stadium — Lubbock, Texas

TV:

FOX

Texas Tech offense preview:

The Red Raiders averaged 37.6 points per game — fourth in the nation — in the high-flying Big 12 and finished 8-5 overall. For all its deficiencies on the other side of the ball, Texas Tech has no shortage of offensive weapons.

Leading receiver Josh Kelly matriculated to the NFL, but Texas Tech was able to re-recruit rising sophomore wideout Micah Hudson after he transferred and spent the spring with Texas A&M. And the team’s second- and third-leading receivers Caleb Douglas and Coy Eakin are back.

The Red Raiders are experienced at quarterback, too. Behren Morton enters his senior season with a chance to become one of the most statistically accomplished quarterbacks in Texas Tech history. Last year, he threw for 3,335 yards and 27 touchdowns to just eight interceptions despite nagging shoulder injuries.

Airing it out has been the identity of Texas Tech for a long time, and expect more of that this season from the nation’s No. 9 passing offense in 2024. Can the Beavers’ unproven secondary handle it, or at least keep things manageable?

Texas Tech defense preview:

Were it not for the woeful incompetence of Oklahoma State, giving up more than 500 yards per game, Texas Tech would have had the worst total defense (460.2 YPG) among power conference teams.

It’s all up from there. The Red Raiders aimed to address that by starting in the trenches: all four of its projected starters along the defensive line are transfers, led by defensive tackle Lee Hunter from UCF and edge rusher Romello Height from Georgia Tech.

Protecting Maalik Murphy will be front of mind for Oregon State against the Texas Tech front seven, particularly if the Beavers want to match the Red Raiders’ high-octane offense. It seems unlikely they will want a shootout, though. Not often a winning formula on the road.

More OSU early opponent previews:

Game 1: California

Game 2: Fresno State

Game 5: Houston

Game 6: Appalachian State

Game 7: Wake Forest

—

Ryan Clarke

covers the Oregon State Beavers for The Oregonian/OregonLive. Reach him at RClarke@Oregonian.com or on Twitter/X:

@RyanTClarke

. Find him on Bluesky:

@ryantclarke.bsky.social

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