Editor’s note: This story is part of a series previewing the 12 opponents the UAPB football team will play this fall.
For the third straight year, the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff will open its football season on the road against an FBS foe this fall.
The Golden Lions will face Texas Tech at Jones AT&T Stadium in Lubbock, Texas, on Aug. 30.
UAPB (3-9 in 2024) faced Arkansas last year and Tulsa the year prior in its past two season openers. Texas Tech will be the first Big 12 foe the Golden Lions have faced since a 63-7 loss at Oklahoma State on Sept. 17, 2022. UAPB faced two non-Division I foes to open that season.
Texas Tech (8-5) needed overtime to beat last year’s FCS opponent. The Red Raiders survived a season-opening scare from Abilene Christian 52-51, during which the Wildcats threw for 506 yards and rushed for 109.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
That game marked a second straight season Tech’s opener went past regulation. The Red Raiders fell 35-33 in double overtime at Wyoming to open the 2023 campaign.
The narrow win against ACU was followed by a 37-16 road loss at Washington State, but Texas Tech recovered afterward and went 6-3 in conference play to finish tied for fifth in the Big 12. The Red Raiders finished the year with a 39-26 loss to Arkansas in the Liberty Bowl.
Texas Tech boasted the highest scoring offense in the Big 12 last year with 37.6 points per game, which was aided by the third-leading passing offense, something that will test newly promoted UAPB defensive coordinator Jeff Burrow’s squad.
The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal reported in April several of that offense’s key returning players missed some or all of spring practice with various injuries but were expected to be ready to go by summertime.
Starting quarterback Behren Morton, who underwent shoulder surgery in the offseason, threw for 3,335 yards and 27 touchdowns with eight interceptions, completing 63.3% of his passes.
Tech lost leading receiver Josh Kelly to graduation but brings back last year’s second and third leading receivers. Caleb Douglas and Coy Eakin combined for 1,529 yards and 13 touchdowns. The Red Raiders added Miami (Ohio) transfer Reggie Virgil, who was the RedHawks’ second-leading receiver with 816 yards and a team-high nine touchdowns last year.
Defensively, the Red Raiders allowed a Big 12-worst 308.1 passing yards per game, and their 34.8 points allowed per game was the second-most in the conference. Six opponents threw for 301 or more yards, with ACU’s 506 being the highest. The Razorbacks threw for 341 yards while rushing for 218 in the bowl game.
UAPB has struggled to score against FBS opponents. The Golden Lions have been held to 7 or fewer points by each of their past five FBS foes, including Arkansas shutting UAPB out last year. The last time UAPB scored more than 7 against an FBS opponent was in a 55-9 loss to Florida International in 2018.
Texas Tech has shown it can allow a lot of points to teams below the Power Four level, but UAPB will need a breakout performance by whoever wins the Golden Lions’ quarterback battle to keep up with the Red Raiders’ offense.