Texas Tech at Baylor Spread

Written by David Woodburn

Texas Tech is on a big slide after a 4-0 start, desperately seeking that sixth win that makes it bowl-eligible. Baylor is riding its biggest win in program history and will look to ride it to breaking a long losing streak against Texas Tech while securing a winning Big 12 season.

Texas Tech and Baylor will collide Saturday for the 70th time, this time meeting at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington.

Texas Tech has a 36-32-1 all-time series lead vs. Baylor and has won the last 15 meetings. The last Baylor win came in 1995 in Waco, 9-7. This is the third time the two teams will meet at a neutral site – they played at Cowboys Stadium in 2009 and the Cotton Bowl last year.

The latest college football odds show Baylor favored by 12 points and the over/under set for 77.5 points.

Texas Tech

The Red Raiders have lost four straight games since the upset of Oklahoma, and six of seven overall. The most recent defeat was a 31-27 loss at Missouri. Four of the Raiders’ six losses have been to nationally ranked opponents.

Offensively, Texas Tech ranks 29th in the country in scoring (33 ppg), compiling 473 yards per game (340 passing, 133 rushing). Seth Doege has completed 68 percent of his passes for 3,644 yards and 25 touchdowns with eight interceptions. The offensive line has allowed 18 sacks.

Eric Ward is the leading receiver with 68 receptions for 649 yards and nine TDs, while Eric Stephens leads the running game with 570 yards and eight TDs on 5.2 yards per carry.

Defensively, Texas Tech has suffered, ranking just 113th in points allowed (37 ppg), surrendering 474 yards per game (250 rushing, 224 passing) while recording 14 sacks and forcing 17 turnovers – one returned for a TD (Cornelius Douglas, fumble).

Cody Davis leads the defense with 81 tackles, adding a forced fumble, while D.J. Johnson has 71 stops, two interceptions, a forced fumble and a recovery. Scott Smith has 4.5 sacks, 28 tackles and two forced fumbles, and Dartwan Bush has four forced fumbles, 28 tackles, two sacks and two fumble recoveries.

Baylor

The Bears are riding high after their 45-38 win over Oklahoma last week, the program’s first-ever victory over the Sooners. All three losses for Baylor have come away from home – the team is 6-0 in Waco but 2-3 anywhere else.

The Bears rank 11th nationally in scoring (41 ppg), compiling 573 yards of offense per game (370 passing, 203 rushing). Robert Griffin III has completed 73 percent of his passes for 3,572 yards and 33 touchdowns with five interceptions. The offensive line has allowed 22 sacks.

The top receiving target in Kendall Wright with 89 receptions (43 more than anyone else) for 1,281 yards and 10 touchdowns. Terrance Ganaway leads the running game with 949 yards and 12 touchdowns on 5.8 yards per carry, while Griffin adds 550 yards and five scores on 4.1 ypc.

Baylor’s defense ranks 111th nationally in scoring defense (36 ppg), surrendering 473 yards per game (259 passing, 214 passing) while posting 16 sacks and forcing 17 turnovers – two of which were returned for TDs (Tevin Elliott, fumble; Ahmad Dixon, interception).

Mike Hicks has 82 tackles with three picks, while Elliot Coffey and Sam Holl each have 81 stops and combining for three INTs, a forced fumble, a recovery and a half-sack. Nicolas Jean-Baptiste has 3.5 sacks, 29 tackles and a fumble recovery.

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