A rematch of the first football game in Big 12 Conference history will occur Saturday when No. 13 Texas Tech travels to Manhattan, Kan., to face Kansas State.
The Wildcats defeated the Red Raiders 21-14 in that game on Aug. 31, 1996, the first time K-State had beaten Texas Tech in four tries.
Texas Tech (7-1, 4-1 Big 12) is coming off a 42-0 home victory over Oklahoma State last Saturday.
Kansas State (4-4, 3-2) has won two straight games resoundingly, following a 41-28 home victory over TCU on Oct. 11 with its 17th straight victory over cross-state rival Kansas, 42-17 last Saturday on the road.
Texas Tech will get quarterback Behren Morton back after he missed the last two games with a lower-body ailment. Morton’s availability is even more critical after backup Will Hammond suffered a torn ACL in his right knee during Saturday’s win.
Morton has completed 68.4% of his passes for 1,501 yards and 13 touchdowns with three interceptions in six games. The Red Raiders will need a strong showing from Morton in Manhattan, a place they have not won since 2008.
Texas Tech head coach Joey McGuire said it’s not the series history that concerns him. He’s more aware of more recent history with the Kansas State team.
“They’re playing their best football right now,” McGuire said Monday. “I know they started off not the way they wanted to. But you look up and in their last four games they’re 3-1. They’re playing really well on offense. The quarterback is really good, and they’re a physical football team.
“We’re going to have our work cut out for us. We’ve got to take care of the football. I think they’re (No. 8) in the country at plus-9 in the turnover margin. That was a huge part of their win against Kansas.”
Kansas State appears to have found its stride after starting 1-3, with the lone win coming on a last-minute victory over FCS opponent North Dakota. The key for the Wildcats is to not take things for granted now that they are playing better.
“I told them early in the week that average wasn’t going to be good enough,” head coach Chris Klieman said Monday about beating the Jayhawks. “We needed to raise our level of play, and they did that. So, it was fun to see us put a game together like that and get a big win.
“Now, it just raises the stakes, and it gets tougher and tougher. We’ve got a really good football team coming in here in Texas Tech. We are excited to have them at home, but we have to come up with great plans.”
Quarterback Avery Johnson has turned it up a notch in his last four games, averaging 235 yards passing with nine touchdowns and one interception. He’s also added three touchdowns on the ground, including two against Kansas.
“I thought it was (Johnson’s best game of the season),” Klieman said. “We didn’t have the ball that much, but we were efficient. In the second half, once we got the game in hand, we didn’t have to throw the ball much.”
