Game Details
Good Guys: Texas Tech Red Raiders (0-0, 0-0)
Bad Guys: Abilene Christian Wildcats (0-1, 0-0)
Where: Galaxy Stadium | Lubbock, Texas
When: Saturday, September 5th @ 6:00 pm
TV & Streaming: FS1
Radio: The Varsity Network
The Line: Texas Tech -42.5
Game Notes: Texas Tech | Abilene Christian
Weather Report: Mostly Sunny, High 98 Low 72
Key Players for Abilene Christian
#20 RB Alex Broome (5-8/195): Broome is a transfer from Boston College and was mainly a reserve until arriving in Abilene. Again, Broome sort of made an immediate impact, rushing 14 times for 78 yards in the loss to Lamar as well as a catch for 21 yards. My guess is that he’ll be the primary runner for the Wildcats.
#4 WR Cristian Driver (6-0/190): Driver is the son of NFL’er Donald Driver and has been at Penn State where he didn’t do a ton, then a couple of years at Minnesota where the same thing happened and is now looking to make an impact. In his first game he caught 5 passes for 56 yards and a touchdown, which is nearly as much or more than what he did at his previous stops.
#93 DT Chris Herpin (6-1/290): Herpin sort of popped when watching the video and he is I tihnk a preseason all-conference player for ACU. Last year he had 35 tackles at the nose tackle position with 3.5 tackles behind the line of scrimmage. I don’t know what he will do against Texas Tech, but he will give the interior of the line a good run for their money.
#3 S Dillon Williams (6-0/215): Williams was previously at Central Arkansas and was rated as a highly rated FCS transfer with 83 tackles. He will be asked to carry quite the load for ACU, which he already did against Lamar, 14 tackles to start the season with half a tackle for a loss.
#19 WR Romelo Boykin (6-3/190): Boykin as a true freshman had a pretty good debut, 5 catches for 54 yards and 1 touchdown. He’s a bigger receiver and he can play. The only thing is that ACU was driving down the field and close to tying up the game. ACU calls a running play and Boykin does all the things that I think you should when you block. He had his hands inside and just drove the defensive back. The only problem is that Boykin was called for a hold. I don’t think it was and felt like a bad call.
#9 DT Kortlin Rausaw (6-3/305): Rausaw is another big guy in the middle that played well to me, 42 tackles last year with 5 tackles for a loss. I’d expect the combination of Rausaw and Herpin to quite good for the Wildcats.
Keys to the Game
Trouble in the DB Backfield. I watched enough video to think that the defensive backfield is a bit of an issue for ACU. The zone coverage was spotty and I think they will have issues covering the Texas Tech receivers. I’m thinking that ACU will try to disguise things, drop 8 at times, and Hammond is going to need to recognize to run the ball (not actually him, but running backs) against a light box.
Defensive Expectations. Thinking about what I would do if I were ACU, it would be quick passes, lean on that right side of the line, and try to limit mistakes. Realistically that won’t leave a ton of time for the Texas Tech defensive line to get to the quarterback
Right Side Roaten’s. The offensive line didn’t give up a sack last week against Lamar and I sort of expect that to change significantly this game. The line looked a bit slow and much will be dependent on the quarterback getting rid of the ball because he seemed like he was under pressure by quite a bit. On the right side are two brothers who were at Washington State, Landon Roaten and Luke Roaten, both are 300 points and in their senior years (maybe they are twins). Luke is a pre-season FCS All-American and they’ve both received all-conference recognition before the season and former Red Raider Kaden Carr is your starting left guard. I think this group is going to have their hands full.
Quarterback Options. Before the game, John David Back and Tucker Parks were listed as an “or” so I am guessing that they didn’t really separate much during preseason camp. Black had the much better game against Lamar. Parks doesn’t have a huge arm and that sort of cost him at least 1 interception, the other was just a bad pass. Black at the very least went 15 of 25 for 142 yards. Not lighting the world on fire, but not bad either. I’d expect ACU to go to either, but they’ll start Black most likely.
A Note About West Texas. In the notes for ACU is a note when discussing how many players are from West Texas, “* – A book much larger than these game notes could be devoted to arguing what is considered “West Texas” as a region. From these purposes, we are including any city from Abilene westward. Abilene, while looking at a map appears to be centrally placed in Texas, is assuredly West Texas culturally speaking.” That’s a funny/fun thing to put in your notes and has nothing to do with football.
The Best. After watching all of last year and thinking about how things will turn out this year, these are my most electiric and best playmakers on the team:
RB J’Koby Williams
TE Terrance Carter, Jr.
WR Micah Hudson
WR Kenny Johnson
DT A.J. Holmes, Jr.
DE’s Adam Trick & Trey White
LB’s Austin Romain, Ben Roberts & John Curry
CB Brice Pollock
S Brendan Jordan
K Stone Harrington
Video Notes
I’ll say it again, the zone defense in the defensive backfield for ACU was a problem in the highlights, but Lamar only scored 21 points so they obviously fixed some things . . . #19 for ACU pops because of his size . . . the Lamar QB had issues just completing passes so not a good comparison to what they will see against Texas Tech . . . the ACU quarterback that throws the interception probably isn’t going to start, just a smidgen of pressure and he throws it to Lamar and then he doesn’t have the arm strength to get it to the flat, just sort of fades and doesn’t make it to the sideline . . . the running back for ACU is decent enough at pass-protection and picking up his portion of the pass-rush . . . ACU likes the defensive line stunts . . . the go-ahead Lamar touchdown, the ACU defense was nowhere near the receiver as he walked into the end zone . . . I have mentioned that the holding at the end of the game sure didn’t seem like a holding call to make for me, seemed like that receiver . . .
Uniforms:
Spot the ball. ⛽️ pic.twitter.com/b1pe7ZwojD
— Texas Tech Football (@TexasTechFB) September 3, 2026
Stats:
The numbers are probably going to take a backseat until next week. Not because I’m not ready, but because comparing to an FCS team is not apples to apples. I can say that Texas Tech opens at #10 on ESPN’s FPI and ESPN’s Bill Connelly’s SP+ thinks that Texas Tech wins by 45. BCF Toys thinks Texas Tech is the #9 team in the nation.
Poll & Prediction
I feel pretty confident going into this game, which is not a bold statement. No offense to ACU (as I begin to offend them), but this should not be a competitive game. I don’t know if the margin will be as great because I think Texas Tech is going to run the damn ball and may not see the explosive plays that you would passing. That’s not to say that Texas Tech won’t get Hammond to air things out, because I think he needs that as a relatively young quarterback. He needs the reps so maybe the plan should be to get comfortably ahead and then let things go with Hammond. The defense should really limit the ACU offense, even without White.