Guide to Texas Tech Kickoff: Oregon State

The cross-country matchup puts Tech in territory the program has never covered before.

For a team ranked No. 13 in the country, playing a true road opener that far from Lubbock is its own kind of test. There is no home crowd at Jones AT&T Stadium to lean on, no short conference trip to ease into the season. Instead, fans back home watching from their couches on 19th Street or packed into a Depot District bar will be tracking how the Red Raiders handle the travel and the unfamiliar stadium as much as the scoreboard.

A win keeps Tech's ranking and early season momentum intact heading into the rest of the schedule. If Tech loses, questions will follow fast about how this team performs away from West Texas. Either way, the outcome in Corvallis sets the tone for how people here talk about this Red Raiders team for weeks.

Tech has played a lot of football over the decades. Saturday will be the first time any of it happened in Corvallis, Oregon.