Texas looks to keep bowl hopes alive with win over Texas Tech on Thanksgiving night

The Red Raiders are playing in their second-ever Thanksgiving game while the Longhorns have played in 87 games on Thanksgiving Day. Texas played Dallas University in 1893 for its first Thanksgiving game. The Longhorns are 59-25-3 on the holiday. The Red Raiders finished their first and only Thanksgiving game with a loss in 2013 against the Longhorns in Austin.

Both teams are coming off a bye week. Tech beat its last opponent, Kansas State, 59-44 on its Senior Day, marking Tech’s sixth win of the season. The Red Raiders are 6-5 and bowl eligible. Tech looks to end its regular season with a winning record, needing to beat the Longhorns to do so.

Texas lost to its last opponent, West Virginia, 38-20. The Longhorns are 4-6 and need to win their next two games to become bowl eligible. This Thanksgiving game is also Senior Night for the Longhorns.

Tech’s offense will be a challenge for the Longhorns defense. The Red Raiders average 588.1 yards per game, ranking them third in the nation. Tech owns a passing and running threat. Running Back DeAndre Washington leads the Big 12 with 12 rushing touchdowns, tallying 1,282 yards on the season. Quarterback Patrick Mahones averages 355.5 passing yards per game with 31 touchdowns, ranking fourth in the nation in both categories. Tech’s offense averages 46.5 points per game with at least scoring 25 points in every game this season.

Texas’ offense, which has struggled to put up points in some games this season, should not have a problem against Tech’s defense. The Red Raiders’ defense allows an average of 42.4 points per game. Tech gives up an average of 256 rushing yards a game, ranking 122^nd out of 127 teams – a positive for the Longhorns, who will be looking for help from their third- and fourth-string running backs.

D’Onta Foreman, the Longhorns leading rusher this season, underwent surgery last Thursday to repair a broken finger. In Monday’s press conference, Texas head coach Charlie Strong hinted that Foreman probably wouldn’t play.

“If I had to say right now, he would not play for us,” Strong said. “We’ve got other guys that happen to step in and go play.”

Senior running back Johnathan Gray is also questionable with turf toe.

The Longhorns will lean on two freshmen to carry the ball on Thursday night: Chris Warren and Kirk Johnson. Warren is listed as the third-string running back with a total of 18 carries all season. Johnson, the fourth-string, only touched the ball five times on offense this season for 12 yards, which all came against Kansas.

These two freshmen are not foreigners to carrying the ball though. Warren ran for 2,329 yards and 34 touchdowns his senior year at Rockwall High School. Johnson totaled 1,048 rushing yards and 12 rushing touchdowns as a senior at Valley Christian High School in San Jose, California.

Texas leads the all-time record against Tech, 49-15. The Longhorns are 30-5 against the Red Raiders at home. Tech has not won in Austin since 1997.