Series History: Oklahoma State and Texas Tech Have a Long and Quirky History

Support PFB with a PFB+ membership — $8 a month or $50 for a year.

According to the latest College Football Playoff ranking, this weekend’s late-night Big 12 matchup is now ranked vs. ranked.

No. 25 Oklahoma State hosts No. 12 Texas Tech Saturday night in a matchup with plenty on the line when it comes to a potential one-year rental for an all-time QB and with the last trip to Arlington still a possibility.

But before things kick off on Saturday, let’s look back at the long history between the Cowboys and the Red Raiders.

Capsule

Overall record: TTU leads 25-24-3
Neutral site meetings: 2-2-1
Meetings in Stillwater: OSU leads 14-10
Meetings in Lubbock: TTU leads 14-8-2
Past 10 meetings: OSU leads 6-4
First meeting (1935): TTU defeated OSU 14-0 (Lubbock)
Most recent meeting (2025): TTU defeated OSU 42-0 (Lubbock)

Last Year: Pokes Get Blanked 42-0

The Red Raiders ran through the Cowboys on their way to their first Big 12 title. Will Hammond and Mitch Griffis each had to throw for only one touchdown to get the 42-nothing win over the hapless Cowboys. It’s easier to do when you return your opening kickoff 99 yards for a TD and then return a fumble 69 yards for another.

The No. 7 Red Raiders were bouncing back from their first loss to Arizona State and this would start a six-game win streak through Arlington before they fell to Oregon in the CFP.

Biggest Win for OSU: 2011 (66-6)

The Cowboys were nearly unstoppable in 2011, and they bullied the Raiders in that meeting 66-6. Brandon Weeden racked up more than 400 yards and five scores and in the air, with no picks, and Joseph Randle ran for three more scores. Justin Blackmon and Josh Cooper (receiving) and Hershel Sims (rushing) all had 100-yard games.

The only score the Red Raiders got was on a Randle fumble which was returned for a touchdown by Texas Tech DB Cornelius Douglas. They missed the two-point attempt.

Biggest Loss for OSU: 2000 (58-0)

The Cowboys got blanked by Kliff Kingsbury and Ricky Williams. Not that Ricky Williams. Kingsbury tossed it around for 236 yards and three touchdowns. Williams was Tech’s leading rusher with 34 yards. Lopsided enough, but not exactly peak Air Raid numbers. But who needs them when you get a 79-yard touchdown return on a missed field goal plus two pick-6s. (Sounds familiar.)

Cowboy QB Aso Pogi threw for 219 yards and two interceptions. Reggie White did rush for 111 yards. This was the final season of the Bob Simmons Era in Stillwater and the first of the Mike Leach Era in Lubbock. Two programs going in opposite directions.

Farthest Game: 1988 Coca-Cola Classic (45-42)

The Cowboys and Red Raiders played in the Coca-Cola Classic in Tokyo, Japan in 1988. It was a nonconference end-of-season game which was not actually considered a postseason bowl game. Barry Sanders rushed for 300 yards and led No. 12 OSU to the 45-42 win. He watched his Heisman Trophy announcement in a Tokyo TV studio at 5 a.m.

Other Notables

Although the most recent matchup was as lopsided as it could get, over the 52 meetings between OSU and Tech, the average scoring margin is 1.8 points per game in the Raiders’ favor.

Since Tech and the other Lone Star schools joined the Big Eight to make it the Big 12, the Pokes and Raiders have met 28 times. OSU is 16-12 against Tech as conference mates.

Despite not being in the same conference before 1996, the teams played 24 times in 61 years.

The longest win streak for either team was nine with the Cowboys winning each matchup from 2009 to 2017.

There have been three ties and five neutral-site games. Other than that game in Tokyo, the teams played in Oklahoma City in 1940, 1941 and 1943, going 1-1-1. They also played in a nonconference matchup at Texas Stadium in Irving, Texas in 1996, a 31-3 win by Tech.