Texas Tech University is represented by the Texas Tech Raiders football team. They are part of the Big 12 conference, which is a Division 1 Bowl Subdivision (or formerly known as Division I-A) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The team began football in 1925 and has an overall winning record. The team is currently being coached by Mike Leach. Home games are played at Jones AT&T Stadium in Lubbock, Texas.

Texas Tech, or TTU as it is more commonly known, played its first intercollegiate football game on October 3rd of 1925. This was a controversial game as it resulted to a 0-0 tie against McMurry University when the referee ruled that the clock had run out before the score.

Texas Tech University's first head coach is Ewing Freeland, which saw a 21-10-6 slate for his four years of tenure as coach. Before becoming known as the Raiders, they were known as the Matadors. After Freeland, Grady Higginbotham coached the team with much little success, at only .200 winning percentage. After a year of only one win, two ties and seven losses, the team was coached by Pete Cawthon who led the Raiders for the next eleven seasons. His winning percentage of 0.693 has never been surpassed at Texas Tech as of this date.

The Raiders have been an independent team for its first seven years. It was during the Cawthon era that they joined the Border Intercollegiate Athletic Association.

There were two coaches after Cawthon who held on to the post for a decade. Dell Morgan started his coaching in 1941, with a 55-49-3 record that ended up in three bowl appearances. DeWitt Weaver started his run on 1951, with a 49-51-5 record. He coached the Raiders to their first bowl victory, in a game against Pacific in the 1951 Sun Bowl.

The Raiders withdrew from the BDIAA in 19956 and became independent for the next three years. The Raiders joined the Big 12 conference in 1996, wherein they were known as the only team in the Big 12 to have a winning season each year since the Big 12's inception.

Milestones and Accomplishments

The Raiders enjoyed a lot of firsts during the time of Cawthon. In 1934, they were first referred to as the Red Raiders. They were also the first team to fly to a game on 1937. They also received the first postseason invite to the 1937 Sun Bowl.

During the 1938 season, Cawthon led the Raiders to become the only team in college football history to have an undefeated regular season. The 1939 Raiders still hold an unbroken NCAA record for most punts during a single game. They punted for 39 times while playing in a driving rainstorm.

Current Quarterbacks in the Roster

Seth Doege, Graham Harrell, Stefan Loucks, Taylor Potts

Texas Tech Raiders Recent News

The Raiders are proving to be one up and coming bunch as they kick off November with a victory over the number 1 Texas Longhorns. This has been cemented by a pass from Quarterback Graham Harrell to All-American wide receiver Michael Crabtree with 8 seconds remaining. This has been billed up as the most important game in Texas tech history, and has also spawned the largest home crowd in school history. Expect to see more of their games build up this way as they are now the number two seed in all major polls, and in the BCS rankings.