Photo by: Caleb Saunders
Football Friday – Texas Tech Preview
October 23, 2020 08:00 PM | Football
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – It's a COVID-19-style Homecoming weekend for Texas Tech, which is perfectly fine for West Virginia quarterback Jarret Doege.
That's because it's a homecoming, too, for the Lubbock, Texas, resident.
Doege spent the second and third grades living in Lubbock, moved to Iraan, Texas, where he lived until his sophomore year of high school before returning to Lubbock for his junior and senior seasons at Cooper High.
Jarret was in Jones AT&T Stadium in 2012 to see his big brother Seth throw six touchdown passes in Texas Tech's 49-14 upset victory over fifth-ranked West Virginia.
Afterward, Jarret got a chance to rush the field with the Red Raider students.
"I feel like it was yesterday," Doege said earlier this week. "Geno Smith, Stedman Bailey, Tavon Austin and all of those guys came in ranked three or five, I can't remember, and my brother had a really good game. I asked my dad if I could rush the field, and I went on the field and ran around. I tried to find my brother, couldn't find him, but I just kind of enjoyed the experience of getting to rush the field.
"Hopefully, this time I can reverse the roles and go out there and do what my brother did for West Virginia," he added.
West Virginia coach Neal Brown was coordinating Tommy Tuberville's Red Raider offense that afternoon, while WVU running backs coach Chad Scott also served on Tuberville's offensive staff.
Mountaineer offensive line coach Matt Moore departed Lubbock the year before, while quarterbacks coach Sean Reagan was by then two years removed from the Red Raider program.
There are some West Virginia ties on this year's Texas Tech staff as well. Defensive coordinator Keith Patterson spent two years on Dana Holgorsen's WVU staff in 2012-13, and Red Raider defensive line coach Paul Randolph served one year on Rich Rodriguez's defensive staff in 2002.
Also, Texas Tech linebacker Colin Schooler and West Virginia linebacker Tony Fields II were teammates last year at Arizona, but it is Doege who will be taking center stage when the two teams hook up late tomorrow afternoon at 5:30 p.m.
Doege said he will have about 15 family members and friends attending the game, no small feat considering current capacity limitations as a result of the coronavirus.
"I've been asking a couple of guys to give me their tickets," Doege said.
Brown said he has talked to Jarret about returning home, but he admitted it isn't something he has spent a great deal of time addressing.
"He's been in that stadium numerous times," Brown said. "He's practiced in there. He may have played a game in high school in there, I'm not sure, but he's watched his brother play there and he's been a fan. He's got to be able to control those emotions, but that's not any different than any other game."
Jarret said Seth won't be able to watch him play in person Saturday because he's busy getting USC ready for its season as a Trojans' offensive analyst.
"They are basically in fall camp right now going through their full deal," Doege said. "I'm sure he'll watch it on TV. Growing up it was like an unreal experience for me just watching him go to work on Saturdays, and that's exactly what I wanted to do.
"Seeing him sling the ball around made me want to go play in an Air Raid offense just like that," he added. "I've gained a lot of knowledge from him, and I still am today. Hopefully, one day I will get to coach with him, too."
That's down the road, of course.
Right now, Doege is focused on a Red Raiders team that has lost to three games to solid Big 12 teams – 63-56 to Texas in overtime, 31-21 to Kansas State 31-21 and 31-15 to Iowa State.
There is also the issue of having to throw the football in the west Texas wind.
"I grew up in high school having to deal with it," Doege said. "Going to camps at Tech I dealt with it and really I don't think it's a huge deal. You just have to kind of tighten your spiral down and put a little more velocity on it, but there is no secret or key to it. Just throw the football in the wind."
ESPN2 (Anish Shroff, Tom Luginbill and Ian Fitzsimmons) will televise the game nationally. The Mountaineer Sports Network from Learfield IMG College radio coverage will begin at 2 p.m. with the Go-Mart Mountaineer Tailgate Show on stations throughout West Virginia and online via WVUsports.com and the popular mobile app WVU Gameday.
Regular network coverage with Tony Caridi, Dwight Wallace and Jed Drenning will get underway at 4:30 p.m.
Last year, Texas Tech handled West Virginia 38-17 in Morgantown to snap the Mountaineers' five-game winning streak in the series. Overall, WVU owns a 6-3 advantage including a 3-1 record in Lubbock.
Tonight's Football Friday is presented by our friends at the West Virginia Lottery.
That's because it's a homecoming, too, for the Lubbock, Texas, resident.
Doege spent the second and third grades living in Lubbock, moved to Iraan, Texas, where he lived until his sophomore year of high school before returning to Lubbock for his junior and senior seasons at Cooper High.
Jarret was in Jones AT&T Stadium in 2012 to see his big brother Seth throw six touchdown passes in Texas Tech's 49-14 upset victory over fifth-ranked West Virginia.
Afterward, Jarret got a chance to rush the field with the Red Raider students.
"I feel like it was yesterday," Doege said earlier this week. "Geno Smith, Stedman Bailey, Tavon Austin and all of those guys came in ranked three or five, I can't remember, and my brother had a really good game. I asked my dad if I could rush the field, and I went on the field and ran around. I tried to find my brother, couldn't find him, but I just kind of enjoyed the experience of getting to rush the field.
"Hopefully, this time I can reverse the roles and go out there and do what my brother did for West Virginia," he added.
West Virginia coach Neal Brown was coordinating Tommy Tuberville's Red Raider offense that afternoon, while WVU running backs coach Chad Scott also served on Tuberville's offensive staff.
Mountaineer offensive line coach Matt Moore departed Lubbock the year before, while quarterbacks coach Sean Reagan was by then two years removed from the Red Raider program.
There are some West Virginia ties on this year's Texas Tech staff as well. Defensive coordinator Keith Patterson spent two years on Dana Holgorsen's WVU staff in 2012-13, and Red Raider defensive line coach Paul Randolph served one year on Rich Rodriguez's defensive staff in 2002.
Also, Texas Tech linebacker Colin Schooler and West Virginia linebacker Tony Fields II were teammates last year at Arizona, but it is Doege who will be taking center stage when the two teams hook up late tomorrow afternoon at 5:30 p.m.
Doege said he will have about 15 family members and friends attending the game, no small feat considering current capacity limitations as a result of the coronavirus.
"I've been asking a couple of guys to give me their tickets," Doege said.
Brown said he has talked to Jarret about returning home, but he admitted it isn't something he has spent a great deal of time addressing.
"He's been in that stadium numerous times," Brown said. "He's practiced in there. He may have played a game in high school in there, I'm not sure, but he's watched his brother play there and he's been a fan. He's got to be able to control those emotions, but that's not any different than any other game."
Jarret said Seth won't be able to watch him play in person Saturday because he's busy getting USC ready for its season as a Trojans' offensive analyst.
"They are basically in fall camp right now going through their full deal," Doege said. "I'm sure he'll watch it on TV. Growing up it was like an unreal experience for me just watching him go to work on Saturdays, and that's exactly what I wanted to do.
"Seeing him sling the ball around made me want to go play in an Air Raid offense just like that," he added. "I've gained a lot of knowledge from him, and I still am today. Hopefully, one day I will get to coach with him, too."
That's down the road, of course.
Right now, Doege is focused on a Red Raiders team that has lost to three games to solid Big 12 teams – 63-56 to Texas in overtime, 31-21 to Kansas State 31-21 and 31-15 to Iowa State.
There is also the issue of having to throw the football in the west Texas wind.
"I grew up in high school having to deal with it," Doege said. "Going to camps at Tech I dealt with it and really I don't think it's a huge deal. You just have to kind of tighten your spiral down and put a little more velocity on it, but there is no secret or key to it. Just throw the football in the wind."
ESPN2 (Anish Shroff, Tom Luginbill and Ian Fitzsimmons) will televise the game nationally. The Mountaineer Sports Network from Learfield IMG College radio coverage will begin at 2 p.m. with the Go-Mart Mountaineer Tailgate Show on stations throughout West Virginia and online via WVUsports.com and the popular mobile app WVU Gameday.
Regular network coverage with Tony Caridi, Dwight Wallace and Jed Drenning will get underway at 4:30 p.m.
Last year, Texas Tech handled West Virginia 38-17 in Morgantown to snap the Mountaineers' five-game winning streak in the series. Overall, WVU owns a 6-3 advantage including a 3-1 record in Lubbock.
Tonight's Football Friday is presented by our friends at the West Virginia Lottery.
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