Game Notes: Cowboy Football Hosts Texas Tech

Saturday, September 22

Stillwater, OK

6 p.m. CT

Oklahoma State University

Texas Tech

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September 17, 2018 | Cowboy Football

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The Basics
The Oklahoma State football team (3-0 overall; 0-0 Big 12) hosts Texas Tech (2-1 overall; 0-0 Big 12) at 6 p.m. Saturday in Boone Pickens Stadium. It is the final game of a four-game home stand for the Cowboys to open the 2018 season.

Get Your Tickets
Season tickets and single-game tickets are available at www.okstate.com/tickets or by calling the OSU ticket office at 877-ALL-4-OSU. Fans interested in tickets can also text the OSU ticket office at 877-255-4678. Single game tickets for the game against Texas Tech start at $75. Additionally, Saturday's game marks Educator's Day and Extra Yard for Teachers Week at OSU, and educators can call the OSU ticket office for a special promo code to get discounted tickets to the game. Tailgating locations for Saturday may be reserved starting at 6 p.m. on Friday.

On the Air
The game will be televised by FS1 with Brian Custer and Ben Leber on the call. The contest will also be carried live on the Cowboy Radio Network, with Dave Hunziker handling play-by-play, John Holcomb providing analysis and Robert Allen reporting from the sideline. Fans outside of the Cowboy Radio Network can listen to the OSU broadcast for free through TuneIn Radio or the TuneIn Radio app.

In the Rankings
The Cowboys are ranked No. 15 in both the Associated Press Poll and the USA Today Coaches Poll. With the jump from last week, OSU has now been ranked in the top 15 of the A.P. poll at some point in 10 of the past 11 seasons. OSU has also seen a top 10 ranking in the A.P poll at some point in eight of the past 10 seasons (not including 2018). Oklahoma State has now been ranked in the top 25 of at least one of those polls since week 10 of the 2016 season. The Cowboys are also one of only five teams to be ranked in every set of College Football Playoff rankings since the beginning of 2015, joining Alabama, Clemson, Oklahoma and Ohio State. Texas Tech is not ranked in the A.P. or the coaches poll this week.

The Series
Saturday's game will mark the 46th meeting between Oklahoma State and Texas Tech, with all-time record at an even 21-21-3. The Cowboys have won nine straight games vs. Texas Tech, as the streak began with a 2009 win over the Red Raiders in Stillwater. OSU holds a 12-7-0 edge over TTU in Stillwater, including a seven-game home win streak that began in 2003. The Cowboys won last year's matchup in Lubbock, 41-34, and also knocked off the Red Raiders, 45-44, the last time they met at Boone Pickens Stadium in 2016. Mike Gundy holds an 11-2 career record against Texas Tech, while Kliff Kingsbury is 0-5 in his coaching career against the Cowboys.

Oklahoma State From a Distance
Oklahoma State is 3-0 after winning its first three games by a combined score of 157-51. Last week's 44-21 win over No. 17-ranked and previously undefeated Boise State provided a powerful point on the Cowboys' résumé. The Cowboy defense earned its fair share of the credit for the convincing win, sacking the Broncos seven times, blocking two punts and holding BSU to just 1.1 yards per carry on 31 rush attempts in the game. The 21 points the Broncos managed marked a season low to its other outputs of 56 and 62 points this season. Doak Walker Award candidate Justice Hill led the way on the offensive side with 123 rushing yards and a touchdown to mark the 16th game of his career with 100 yards rushing. He's also scored on the ground in nine straight games to mark the seventh-longest streak in Big 12 history. Senior quarterback Taylor Cornelius improved to 3-0 in his career as a starter as he passed for 243 yards with a touchdown and no interceptions. He added a pair of rushing touchdown and, if sacks are taken out of the equation, rushed 13 times for 60 yards. Receiver Tylan Wallace posted his second consecutive 100-yard game. OSU is one of just three Power Five teams to rank among the top 20 nationally in total offense and defense.

Big Screen TV
The 2018 season marks the debut of Boone Pickens Stadium's new Daktronics video board, which measures 110 feet wide by 56 feet tall and is suspended on the side of Gallagher-Iba Arena in the stadium's east end zone. The board is the eighth-largest at a college football-only stadium and can show better than 1080HD resolution. The board's brightness registers at 11,000 nits while most similar boards measure at 7,000 nits. The amplified brightness is to account for the fact that OSU's board faces west, and the brightness can be adjusted manually depending on the position of the sun. It was made possible through a gift from Gary and Claudia Humphreys.

An Oklahoma State Win Would...
• Improve the Cowboys to 22-4 in their last 26 games and 36-9 in their last 45 games.
• Make the Cowboys 22-21-3 all-time vs. Texas Tech.
• Improve Mike Gundy's career record vs. Texas Tech to 12-2.
• Improve Mike Gundy's record in Big 12 games to 70-42.
• Give OSU 10 straight wins vs. Texas Tech - its longest active win streak against any opponent and matching the second-longest in OSU history against one opponent. It would only trail OSU's 11-game streak vs. K-State from 1947-62. The only other 10-game win streak came against Central Oklahoma from 1908-1922.
• Mark the fifth time the Cowboys have started 4-0 during the Mike Gundy era.
• Mark the eighth time Mike Gundy has opened conference play with a win.
• Make OSU 39-10 at Boone Pickens Stadium since the start of the 2011 season.
• Make OSU 62-7 in its last 69 games vs. unranked opponents, dating back to 2010 (89.9 pct.).
• Mark OSU's sixth consecutive win overall, dating back to last season.
• Give it wins in 26 of its last 28 games when playing as an A.P. ranked team against an unranked opponent.
• Improve the Cowboys to 51-21 in Big 12 Conference games since 2010.

Notable Streaks and Trends Entering the Game
• Oklahoma State has won 21 of its last 25 games overall.
• OSU is 15-2 in its last 17 games decided by less than 10 points.
• OSU has won 18 straight games when leading at halftime, a streak that began on Sept. 17, 2016.
• Justice Hill has at least one rushing touchdown in each of his last nine games, dating back to last season.
• Justice Hill has rushed for at least 100 yards in nine of his last 13 games and in 13 of his last 20 games.
• Matt Ammendola has made 17 consecutive field goal attempts, and 19 of his last 20 tries.
• OSU has won three straight overtime games.
• OSU has had at least one 100-yard receiver in seven of its last eight games.
• OSU has had a 100-yard rusher in 11 of its last 17 games.
• OSU has outrushed its opponent in 14 of its last 17 games and in 16 of its last 20 games.
• Oklahoma State has won 35 of its last 44 games overall, dating back to the end of the 2014 season.
• OSU has forced at least one turnover in 30 straight games and in 39 of the last 40 games, dating to 2015.
• Dating back to 2005, the Cowboys have won 34 of their last 36 games when not committing a turnover.
• Dating back to 2008, the Cowboys have won 58 of their last 63 games when winning the turnover battle.
• Dillon Stoner has at least one catch in each of his last 16 games.
• Jalen McCleskey has at least one catch in 40 of his 42 career games played.