Texas Tech @ Colorado preview

Last Meeting ( Oct 27, 2007 ) Colorado 31, Texas Tech 26

Texas Tech has never won at Colorado’s Folsom Field. And this might be the Red Raiders’ last shot when they travel there Saturday. The Buffaloes are headed to the Pac-10 next season.

More importantly, Texas Tech is trying to avoid its fourth loss in the last five games, and a sub-.500 record through its first seven games for the first time since 1994.

Last week, the Red Raiders fell to Oklahoma State 34-17.

A week after throwing for 462 yards, Texas Tech senior quarterback Taylor Potts threw for only 226 yards and a touchdown against Oklahoma State. He was 28 of 43 passing, but had to be taken to the hospital at halftime for a precautionary evaluation for a concussion. Potts was cleared and ended up with a sprained jaw. He played in the second half and will play this week, too.

The Red Raiders had a balanced rushing attack with Baron Batch gaining 83 yards on 19 carries with a touchdown and Eric Stephens finishing with 99 yards on 15 carries. Batch joined the 2,000-yard career rushing yard club last week and is 17 receiving yards shy of 1,000 for his career.

Texas Tech struggled defensively against Oklahoma State, giving up three rushing touchdown to start the game as the Cowboys took an early 21-0 lead. Oklahoma State didn’t slow down after that, either, finishing with 581 yards of total offense, including 225 rushing yards.

The lone highlight for the Red Raiders was senior linebacker Bront Bird, who tied a career high with 14 tackles and also hauled in his first career interception.

Colorado, meanwhile, will be looking to avoid its third consecutive loss. The Buffaloes were handed a 31-25 loss last week by Baylor. The week before, Colorado was shut out by Missouri 26-0.

Offensively against the Bears, quarterback Tyler Hansen completed 21 of 28 passes for 207 yards and running back Rodney Stewart had 125 yards and two touchdowns on the ground.

Colorado had a chance to win it late in the game, but Hansen’s final pass was batted down in the end zone. The Buffaloes are ranked 102nd nationally in scoring offense, averaging only 19.3 points per game.

Defensively, Colorado struggled against the run last week. The Buffaloes gave up 309 yards and two touchdown on the ground. The saving grace for Colorado, however, is that Texas Tech still runs a pass-heavy offense under Tommy Tuberville.

Finally, this is the 10th meeting between Texas Tech and Colorado. The last time the two played was in 2007, with Colorado holding on for a 31-26 victory at Texas Tech.