LUBBOCK, TX — No. 5 Texas Tech will attempt to secure its first-ever berth in the Big 12 Championship Game when the Red Raiders travel to West Virginia on Saturday. Kickoff is set for 11 a.m. at Milan Puskar Stadium in Morgantown, airing nationally on ESPN.
Texas Tech (10-1, 7-1 Big 12), winners of four straight, returns from its open week after securing the program’s seventh 10-win season with a 48-9 victory over UCF. A win Saturday would match the school’s single-season record of 11 victories and guarantee a spot in the conference championship game. West Virginia (4-7, 2-6 Big 12) enters its finale also coming off an open week.
Roy Philpott and Sam Acho will call the ESPN broadcast, with Taylor Davis reporting from the sideline. Brian Jensen, John Harris and Chris Level will have the radio call on the Texas Tech Sports Network and SiriusXM channel 85.
Texas Tech clinches a title-game berth with a victory over West Virginia — or with an Arizona State loss Friday night. Arizona State, BYU and Utah all remain mathematically alive, but Texas Tech holds the simplest path to Arlington.
Texas Tech enters Week 14 as the only FBS program with at least 10 wins by 20 or more points this season. The Red Raiders lead the country with a 33.8-point average margin of victory, narrowly ahead of Utah (31.8), which Tech defeated 34-10 to open Big 12 play.
Tech’s résumé also includes two wins over top-15 teams from last week’s CFP rankings — at No. 13 Utah and versus No. 12 BYU — both by at least 20 points.
Senior linebacker Jacob Rodriguez has emerged as one of the most impactful defensive players in college football. Rodriguez has produced nine takeaways in Big 12 play alone, including five over the past four games. He is the only FBS player since at least 2005 to record five or more forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries, and four interceptions in the same season.
Rodriguez anchors a Texas Tech defense that ranks fourth nationally in scoring defense (12.3 points per game) and is tied for second in total takeaways (25). The Red Raiders have scored 104 points off turnovers, second-most in the FBS.
Texas Tech has won 11 straight games started by quarterback Behren Morton, including a 9–0 mark this season. The Red Raiders have also set a single-season program record with 24 made field goals, 18 of them by Stone Harrington.
Saturday marks the 15th all-time meeting between Texas Tech and West Virginia and the 14th since the Mountaineers joined the Big 12 in 2012. The series is tied 7–7 overall, with Texas Tech owning a 7–6 edge in Big 12 matchups.
The Red Raiders have won five of the past six meetings, including a 52–15 victory last season in Lubbock. The lone blemish in that stretch was a 20–13 loss in Morgantown in 2023. Seven of the past 13 Big 12 meetings have been decided by one possession.
Texas Tech will attempt to extend its historic season Saturday while seeking its first trip to the Big 12 Championship Game and the opportunity to set a new single-season wins record.
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