Red Raiders hoping to shoot down 10th-ranked Horned Frogs

Fort Worth, TX (SportsNetwork.com) - Hoping to keep pace in the race for the Big 12 Conference crown, the 10th-ranked TCU Horned Frogs will play a home game this Saturday against the Texas Tech Red Raiders.

Texas Tech opened the season with a pair of victories, but then went on to lose four in a row, including its first three conference games. The Red Raiders were able to stop the bleeding last week as they topped visiting Kansas, 34-21. Kliff Kingsbury's club needs three more wins to become bowl eligible, but the road is difficult as bouts with TCU, Texas, Oklahoma, Iowa State and Baylor remain.

TCU also kicked off the campaign with favorable results, claiming victory in each of first four games. A wild 61-58 loss to Baylor put the team at 1-1 in conference, but it bounced back to rout visiting Oklahoma State last weekend, 42-9. Coach Gary Patterson has his squad poised to make a run at the Big 12 title, but tough tilts with West Virginia, Kansas State and Texas are still to come.

Texas Tech leads the all-time series with TCU, 30-23-3, and the Red Raiders have won the last two meetings.

Texas Tech leading receiver Jakeem Grant (50 receptions, 629 yards, five TDs) was injured in an apparent shooting in Lubbock last Sunday morning, but his injuries weren't deemed overly serious and he could even play in this game. Grant caught six passes in last week's win over Kansas, helping the Red Raiders roll up more than 500 yards of total offense, compared to only 363 for the Jayhawks.

Davis Webb went 28-of-44 for 288 yards, three TDs and one INT, hitting three different receivers (Grant, Brad Marquez and Ian Sadler) for at least 68 yards. DeAndre Washington was highly productive in rushing for a career-best 164 yards on 23 carries.

Defensively, the Red Raiders surrendered 235 yards and a pair of scores through the air, but got solid individual performances from Pete Robertson and Austin Stewart with nine tackles apiece. Robertson was credited with two of the team's four sacks.

For the season, Texas Tech scores 30.9 ppg, doing so behind 488.3 ypg. Webb ranks second in the conference in averaging 319.9 ypg, and he has thrown a league-best 22 TD passes, but has been picked off a league-high 12 times. Grant is second in the Big 12 with 7.14 receptions per game, and Marquez sits seventh with 5.86. Washington ranks third with 88.9 rushing ypg, but he has found the end zone only once.

Texas Tech ranks last in the league in scoring defense (36.9 ppg), and foes have hammered the Red Raiders on the ground, leading to 239.0 ypg -- also placing the club last. The Red Raiders have only come up with three INTs and a mere eight takeaways in all. Robertson paces the unit with 54 tackles, which includes seven of the team's 13 sacks.

Kingsbury tries to keep an even keel, even as his team fought to put an end to its four-game skid.

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Red Raiders hoping to shoot down 10th-ranked Horned Frogs

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