Texas Tech University, located in Lubbock, was formally known as Texas Technological College and fielded its first inter-college football team during the 1925 season. The team was originally known as the “Matadors”, a name suggested by the wife of the first football coach, to reflect the influence of the Spanish Renaissance architecture on the campus. The school’s short-lived Matadors logo was officially replaced in 1937 with “Red Raiders”, a nickname given to them by a journalist impressed by their bright scarlet uniforms that remains to this day.

Today, the Red Raiders are playing Iowa State University and Mike, Chris and I went to the game. Wow, what a spectacle it was even though the home team played miserably and lost, again!

The Red Raiders’ stadium – branded the Jones AT&T Stadium – is a 60,000 seater, state-of-the-art facility which includes luxury suites, club seating, decks for television cameras and the press and a 1,000-car park.

It has a unique Double T scoreboard modeled in the fashion of Texas Tech’s logo which sits on the roof of the athletic department offices in the south end zone and was installed prior to the start of the 1978 season. The scoreboard has remained in place through multiple renovations due to its iconic and symbolic value, and received upgraded white LED panel installations in 2013.

During the game a “Good Year” blimp flew over the stadium providing us with fantastic aerial views of the players, the audience and the “show” that took place – the band, the cheer leaders, the mascot and a masked Lady Raider riding a horse!

 

Top: an aerial view of the stadium. Bottom row, from left: a Red Raider’s cheer leader, Lady Red Raider and Raider Red, the team’s mascot.