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It's here, it's finally here! Texas Tech faces Stephen F. Austin tomorrow at Jones AT&T Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:00 PM and it can't get here fast enough. But before that, the VTM staffers made their predictions on what the game may look like.
Drew Parker
Season opener, and it's a night game? Not a chance we are letting this one slip by us. Not sure when was the last time we lost a home opener was, but it won't be this year. Tech is going to come out with a tremendous amount of energy, and so will our rowdy crowd. There is going to be a lot of pent up energy in that stadium tomorrow. This is going to be a great game, unless you are an SFA fan.
Texas Tech 42, Stephen F. Austin 17
Kyle Jacobson
Texas Tech will jump out to a big lead in the first half via Pat being Pat, and the defense causing at least one turnover. Most of the starters won't play deep into the second half, but depth on the offensive line and a surprising performance from the defense will propel the Red Raiders to a blowout victory. Bring on the Sun Devils!
Texas Tech 59, Stephen F. Austin 17
Eric Linthicum
The moment we have all been waiting for is finally here! Do not except Kingsbury and Morris to show much from the playbook in this one, but that will not hold our offense down. Mahomes and the Red Raiders will breeze by SFA and begin preparing for the trip to Arizona State.
Texas Tech 62, Stephen F. Austin 17
Maitland Rutledge
This one should be easy, but we all remember the game against Central Arkansas in 2014. The Lumberjacks are coming off a 4-7 season with a 4-5 record in Southland Conference play. The offense is led by senior QB Zach Conque who is looking to rebound from an injury-filled season. This game starts out slow for Tech (like it did last year in the opener), but the Red Raiders prevail by at least two touchdowns.
Texas Tech 45, Stephen F. Austin 28
Hunter Cooke
I'm taking Texas Tech here, and I don't think it's a close one. SFA has a couple of solid individual players, but Texas Tech has the better team overall. With the departures on the defensive sides of the ball in the Big 12, I honestly don't think there's a team as fast as us in the conference, much less the smaller conferences. Texas Tech wins in a rout, but the defense still gives up enough points to where people are worried about it.
Texas Tech 56, Stephen F. Austin 24
Austin Jordan
Tech will come out fired up for a night home-opener in what will otherwise be a pretty bland game. The offense will come out with guns up and guns blazing and jump out to a 38-7 halftime lead. Backups will start creeping in and occupy most of the 4th quarter, where Tech will finish the Lumberjacks off and win 62-24 to start the season 1-0.
Texas Tech 62, Stephen F. Austin 24
Ryan Smith
The opener has been a bit of a challenge at times for Tech in recent years, but Mahomes and company shut this one down pretty early. Tech cannot afford a 2014 start to 2016. The expectations are high and though all eyes will be on the defense, success runs through the offense early on. I see the defense getting 3 turnovers and holding SFA under 20 points. Good warm-up for Arizona St. (1-0)
Texas Tech 56, Stephen F. Austin 13
Jon Althaus
Both the offense and defense start out on fire going up 21-0 quickly in the 1st quarter after a pick 6 and 2 very effective drives by Pat and company. Then a bit of a lull sets in and we go into halftime 24-17. In the 3rd quarter we score 28 straight and let the starters rest the 4th. However, SFA can't handle our 2nd string either and the rout continues. Pat finishes with over 400 yards passing with 3 TDs through the air, 1 on the ground, and zero turnovers.
Texas Tech 69, Stephen F. Austin 31
Drew Borsellino
Texas Tech usually lets FCS schools hang around in the first half and I believe that's what will happen in this one. I expect the score to be something like 28-14 at half. Good thing for the Red Raiders is that they have one of the best quarterbacks in college football at the helm. I think the game opens up in the third quarter and the Red Raiders don't look back.
Texas Tech 56 vs Stephen F. Austin 24
Average Final Score: Texas Tech 56.3, Stephen F. Austin 21.6
What say you VTM readers?