The 2019 Texas Tech Red Raiders football team represented Texas Tech University in the 2019 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team was led by Matt Wells in his first season as the program's 16th head coach. The Red Raiders played their home games on the university's campus in Lubbock, Texas at Jones AT&T Stadium, and competed as members of the Big 12 Conference. They finished the season 4–8, 2–7 in Big 12 play to finish in ninth place.
Preseason
Coaching changes Following a 24–35 loss to Baylor in the last game of the 2018 season, head coach Kliff Kingsbury was fired on November 26, 2018. Three days later on November 29, Matt Wells was hired as the Red Raiders' new head coach, having previously been the head coach for the Utah State Aggies. David Yost and Keith Patterson, who both worked with Wells at Utah State, were hired as the team's new offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator, respectively.
Big 12 media poll The 2019 Big 12 media days were held July 15–16, 2019 in Frisco, Texas. In the Big 12 preseason media poll, Texas Tech was predicted to finish in seventh in the standings.
Preseason All-Big 12 teams Offensive lineman Jack Anderson and defensive back Adrian Frye were selected to the Big 12's preseason all-conference team.
Schedule
Coaching staff Name Position Year at Texas Tech Alma materMatt Wells Head coach 1st Utah State David Yost Offensive coordinator/quarterbacks 1st Dayton Keith Patterson Defensive coordinator/linebackers 1st East Central Jovon Bouknight Outside receivers 1st Wyoming Julius Brown Defensive backs 1st Boise State Steve Farmer Offensive line 1st Illinois State DeAndre Smith Running backs 1st Southwest Missouri State Luke Wells Tight ends/Inside Receivers 1st Oklahoma Dave Scholz Strength and conditioning 1st Wisconsin–Eau Claire Joe Lorig Special teams Coordinator 1st Western Oregon
Roster 2019 Texas Tech Red Raiders FootballQuarterbacks
7 Jett Duffey – junior (6'1, 195) 8 Maverick McIvor – freshman (6'3, 195) 10 Alan Bowman – sophomore (6'3, 210) 16 Logan Green – freshman (6'3, 205) 17 Jackson Tyner – senior (6'5, 230)
Running backs 5 Armand Shyne – junior (5'11, 210) 26 Ta'Zhawn Henry – sophomore (5'7, 185) 28 SaRodorick Thompson – freshman (6'0, 210) 30 Jax Welch – junior (5'9, 185) 37 Chux Nwabuko III – freshman (5'6, 150)
Fullbacks 40 Connor Killian – junior (6'2, 240)
Wide receivers 2 R.J. Turner – senior (6'2, 215) 3 Xavier Martin – sophomore (6'0, 190) 9 T. J. Vasher – junior (6'6, 210) 13 McLane Mannix – junior (5'10, 195) 18 Cameron Cantrell – freshman (6'1, 195) 22 Seth Collins – senior (6'3, 195) 24 Xavier White – sophomore (5'11, 185) 29 Kendell Jimerson – freshman (5'10, 170) 31 Dax Neece – freshman (6'0, 195) 32 Caleb Durham – freshman (5'10, 170) 35 Mark Richardson – sophomore (6'0, 195) 80 Kevin Terry – freshman (6'1, 195) 82 Kesean Carter – sophomore (5,11, 180) 83 Myller Royals – freshman (6'5, 180) 84 Erik Ezukanma – freshman (6'3, 180) 85 Trey Cleveland – freshman (6'4, 190) 86 Dalton Rigdon – sophomore (5'11, 170) 87 Sterling Galban – freshman (5'11, 170) 89 Caden Leggett – freshman (6'1, 185)
Tight ends 11 Donta Thompson – senior (6'5, 225) 15 Travis Koontz – junior (6'5, 245) 41 Tyler Carr – sophomore (6'4, 240) 47 Mason McHorse – freshman (6'4, 230) 88 Simon Gonzalez – freshman (6'4, 235)
Long snappers 46 Hayden Hood – freshman (6'0, 195) 50 Landon O'Connor – sophomore (6'2, 210) 54 Luke Rizzo – freshman (6'0, 215) Offensive linemen 53 Trevor Roberson – freshman (6'11, 345) 56 Jack Anderson – junior (6'5, 320) 57 Ty Morrow – senior (6'4, 275) 58 Madison Akamnonu – senior (6'5, 310) 59 Demarcus Marshall – freshman (6'3, 320) 60 C.J. Zotz – freshman (6'3, 275) 63 Aaron Castro – freshman (6'3, 285) 64 Clayton Franks – freshman (6'4, 295) 65 Zach Adams – junior (6'6, 320) 66 Hakeem White – freshman (6'3, 285) 67 Troy Bradshaw – freshman (6'6, 280) 68 Casey Verhulst – sophomore (6'6, 290) 70 Weston Wright – freshman (6'6, 310) 71 Bailey Smith – senior (6'5, 295) 72 Landon Peterson – freshman (6'5, 285) 73 Dawson Deaton – sophomore (6'6, 305) 74 Will Farrar – sophomore (6'5, 310) 78 Terence Steele – senior (6'6, 310) 79 Travis Bruffy – senior (6'6, 305)
Defensive linemen 43 Malik Essilfie – senior (6'3, 275) 45 Quinton Williams – freshman (6'5, 230) 53 Eli Howard – junior (6'4, 275) 59 Zackery Semrak – sophomore (6'2, 280) 61 Troy Te'o – sophomore (6'2, 270) 77 Tre'Jon Lewis – freshman (6'4, 240) 89 Houston Miller – junior (6'4, 275) 90 Quentin Yontz – senior (6'2, 275) 91 Nelson Mbanasor – sophomore (6'3, 285) 92 Noah Jones – junior (6'3, 285) 93 John Scott III – freshman (6'3, 275) 94 Lonzell Gilmore – senior (6'3, 260) 95 Jaylon Hutchings – freshman (6'0, 295) 96 Broderick Washington Jr. – senior (6'3, 305) 97 Tony Bradford Jr. – freshman (6'1, 270) 98 Nick McCann – junior (6'2, 310) 99 Gilbert Ibeneme – freshman (6'3, 175) Linebackers 1 Jordyn Brooks – senior (6'1, 245) 6 Riko Jeffers – junior (6'2, 240) 18 Christian Taylor – senior (6'2, 235) 20 Kosi Eldridge – sophomore (6'1, 215) 21 Evan Rambo – junior (6'4, 220) 32 Tyrique Matthews – freshman (5'11, 220) 33 Brayden Stringer – junior (6'0, 240) 34 Bryce Robinson – freshman (6'0, 240) 35 Patrick Curley – freshman (6'2, 220) 37 Xavier Benson – freshman (6'3, 220) 39 Michael Nelson – sophomore (5'11, 205) 47 Ethan Frasier – freshman (6'11, 225) 48 Blu Caylor – freshman (6'2, 220) 49 Chance Cover – freshman (6'2, 235) 50 Cole Daggett – freshman (6'0, 220) 51 Wyatt Watson – freshman (6'3, 200) 52 Jackson Baggett – freshman (6'3, 200)
Defensive backs 3 Douglas Coleman III – senior (6'1, 200) 4 Desmon Smith – senior (6'2, 195) 7 Adrian Frye – sophomore (6'1, 195) 8 Zech McPhearson – junior (5'11, 195) 16 Thomas Leggett – junior (6'0, 200) 17 John Davis Jr. – sophomore (6'1, 190) 19 Dequanteous Watts – freshman (6'2, 165) 22 Ja'Marcus Ingram – junior (6'2, 185) 23 DaMarcus Fields – junior (6'0, 200) 24 Adam Beck – sophomore (6'2, 205) 25 Dadrion Taylor – freshman (5'11, 180) 27 Alex Hogan – freshman (5'11, 180) 28 Darien Boyd – freshman (5'11, 190) 29 Devyn Butler – freshman (5'10, 180) 30 Cole Boyd – freshman (6'3, 180) 32 Jake Kirkpatrick – freshman (5'11, 200) 38 Jett Whitfield – freshman (5'11, 205) 41 Luis Jaramillo – freshman (6'0, 175) 46 Seth Ette – sophomore (6'1, 190)
Placekickers 10 Jonathan Garibay – junior (6'0, 215) 36 Trey Wolff – freshman (6'4, 185) 62 Gabriel Lozano – freshman (6'0, 165)
Punters 31 Austin McNamara – freshman (6'4, 175) 48 Cody Waddell – junior (6'1, 205)
Game summaries
No. 14 (FCS) Montana State
Statistics MTSTTTU First downs 8 35 Total yards 289 691 Rushing yards 127 255 Passing yards 162 436 Turnovers 0 1 Time of possession 29:19 30:41 Team Category Player Statistics Montana State Passing Casey Bauman 7/19, 120 yards, TD Rushing Isaiah Ifanse 15 rushes, 77 yards Receiving Coy Steel 3 receptions, 56 yards, TD Texas Tech Passing Alan Bowman 40/53, 436 yards, 2 TD Rushing Armand Shyne 11 rushes, 125 yards, TD Receiving Xavier White 5 receptions, 107 yards, TD
The Matt Wells era of Texas Tech football opened up at home against the Montana State Bobcats. The Red Raiders dominated most of the first half, scoring on their first two possessions. The only score in the half for the Bobcats came in the second quarter, with the drive starting with a Xavier White fumble that was recovered by Jahque Alleyne. On the scoring drive, Montana State converted on a 4th and 4 with a fake punt that kept the drive alive. The drive ended with Casey Baunam throwing a 31-yard pass to Coy Steel for a touchdown. White would later redeem himself in the 4th quarter with a 45-yard pass from Alan Bowman for a touchdown. Montana State would not score again until the 4th quarter, with Tristan Bailey making a 37-yard field goal.
UTEP
Statistics UTEPTTU First downs 11 27 Total yards 131 424 Rushing yards 77 143 Passing yards 54 281 Turnovers 0 1 Time of possession 33:09 26:51 Team Category Player Statistics UTEP Passing Kai Locksley 3/7, 33 yards Rushing Treyvon Hughes 10 rushes, 27 yards Receiving Devaughn Cooper 2 receptions, 26 yards Texas Tech Passing Alan Bowman 31/46, 277 yards, 3 TD, INT Rushing Armand Shyne 8 rushes, 45 yards, TD Receiving Dalton Rigdon 5 receptions, 83 yards, TD
The Texas Tech defense held UTEP scoreless for 3 quarters. The Miners' only score of the game came in the 4th quarter with a 45-yard field goal from Gavin Baechle; Baechle had previously missed a 47-yard attempt in the 3rd quarter. UTEP's defense gave up 38 points, but held Texas Tech to under 500 total yards. Alan Bowman left the game in the 4th quarter, finishing 30/45 for 260 yards with 3 touchdowns and an interception along with 7 rushing yards. Jackson Tyner played one drive at quarterback, finishing 0/1 for no yards with 6 rushing yards. On the Red Raiders' next offensive drive, Jett Duffey came in at quarterback, going 1/1 for 4 yards before the game ended. The three Texas Tech quarterbacks finished with a combined 31 completions out of 47 attempts for 264 yards.
At Arizona
Statistics TTUARIZ First downs 22 23 Total yards 411 499 Rushing yards 104 314 Passing yards 307 185 Turnovers 2 3 Time of possession 25:08 34:52 Team Category Player Statistics Texas Tech Passing Alan Bowman 30/55, 307 yards, TD, 2 INT Rushing Armand Shyne 13 rushes, 68 yards Receiving T. J. Vasher 6 receptions, 96 yards Arizona Passing Khalil Tate 14/23, 185 yards, TD, 2 INT Rushing Khalil Tate 17 rushes, 129 yards, TD Receiving Cedric Peterson 1 reception, 47 yards
The Red Raiders traveled to Tucson, Arizona to take on the Arizona Wildcats in their first road game of the season. In a slow 1st quarter, both teams turned the ball over twice. The first score of the game came late in the quarter with a 1-yard run from SaRodorick Thompson to give Texas Tech the lead. Following the touchdown, Arizona's offense started to pick up momentum and reached the Texas Tech 23-yard line before the end of the quarter. The momentum for the Wildcats carried into the 2nd quarter, with Khalil Tate finding Stanley Berryhill for a 12-yard touchdown pass to tie the game 7–7 following Lucas Havrisik's extra point attempt. Arizona would extend its lead two drives later with a 84-yard touchdown run from Tate, but Havrisik missed the extra point. Texas Tech defensive back Desmon Smith was ejected in the 2nd quarter for targeting. Havrisik attempted to further extend the Wildcats' lead with a 51-yard field goal, but the kick failed. The Red Raiders took a one-point lead in the 3rd, but the Wildcats scored 15 unanswered points in the 4th quarter to win 28–14. With the loss, Texas Tech dropped to 2–1 on the season and Matt Wells had his first loss as the Red Raiders' head coach.
On the Monday following the game, it was announced that Alan Bowman suffered a shoulder injury during the game. Matt Wells stated that Bowman would miss several weeks.
At No. 6 Oklahoma
Statistics TTUOKLA First downs 16 24 Total yards 314 644 Rushing yards 192 201 Passing yards 122 443 Turnovers 1 1 Time of possession 31:54 28:06 Team Category Player Statistics Texas Tech Passing Jett Duffey 11/20, 120 yards Rushing SaRodorick Thompson 13 rushes, 96 yards Receiving Dalton Rigdon 2 receptions, 37 yards Oklahoma Passing Jalen Hurts 17/24, 415 yards, 3 TD, INT Rushing Trey Sermon 7 rushes, 76 yards, 2 TD Receiving CeeDee Lamb 7 receptions, 185 yards, 3 TD
Jackson Tyner started at quarterback for the Red Raiders, but struggled throughout the 1st quarter. Tyner was pulled late in the quarter and replaced by Jett Duffey; Tyner finished 1/5 for 2 yards.
No. 21 Oklahoma State
Statistics OKSTTTU First downs 26 29 Total yards 509 586 Rushing yards 219 162 Passing yards 290 424 Turnovers 5 0 Time of possession 31:56 28:04