Texas Tech’s trip to Oregon State comes with a familiar college football wrinkle: a paycheck.
The Red Raiders are set to receive $300,000 for Saturday’s game, Sept. 12, at Reser Stadium in Corvallis, Oregon. Under the contract, Oregon State’s payment to Texas Tech is due by Dec. 31.
This matchup is the second game in a two-game series between the schools. Texas Tech handled Oregon State in Lubbock last year, and after that game the Red Raiders paid the Beavers $300,000.
These kinds of appearance fees are standard in a lot of FBS non-conference games, though they usually get the most attention when an FCS team pulls off an upset and still collects a seven-figure payout. Texas Tech’s schedule is especially loaded with them. Including last week’s season opener against Abilene Christian, the Red Raiders have 18 non-conference games lined up through 2034, and only one of those does not include an appearance fee.
The Texas Tech-Oregon State agreement goes back to May 2018, when the schools signed the two-game deal. That was a few months after Texas Tech fired Kliff Kingsbury and hired Matt Wells.
Oregon State, meanwhile, was coming off a 2-10 season, the fifth straight losing year in what became a stretch of seven in a row. The Beavers later made bowl trips in 2021, 2022 and 2023, then dropped back to 2-10 last season.
The contract also lays out the officiating assignments: Pac 12 officials were assigned to the 2025 game, while Big 12 officials will work the 2026 matchup.
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Texas Tech Faces Its First Real Test Away From Lubbock
Texas Tech handled Abilene Christian 33-10 and now turns to something a little more revealing, its first road game of the season against Oregon State. Joey McGuire came away encouraged by what he saw from quarterback Will Hammond and a running backs group that helped the Red Raiders control enough of the game to move on without much drama. The challenge changes quickly now, though, because this trip gives Tech its first chance to show whether that early rhythm travels.
Oregon State is coming off a loss to Houston, but the Beavers still look like a far more complete test than the one Texas Tech just cleared. Braden Atkinson and Jesse Legree give Oregon State the kind of passing-game threat that can force a defense to stay honest, and this matchup should tell Tech a lot more about where it stands away from Lubbock. For McGuire, the next step is less about what the Red Raiders did last week and more about how they handle a different kind of pressure on the road. [Read more 🡒]
Texas Tech's First Road Test Puts A Few Red Raiders Under Pressure
Texas Tech heads into its first road test after opening the season with a week-one win, and the Red Raiders are already dealing with a few lineup wrinkles as they prepare for Oregon State. The trip will put added attention on players expected to carry more of the load, including Jamond Mathis, Cameron Dickey and Malik Esquerra, while the defense also adjusts without starting edge rusher Trey White.
Mathis in particular gave Texas Tech a glimpse of what he can do in his debut, flashing as a disruptive presence right away and giving the staff another option to lean on in a tougher environment. Esquerras role is also expanding with Brendan Jordan serving a suspension, which pushes the safety into a second straight start and gives Texas Tech one more spot where the margin for error is a little thinner than it was a week ago. [Read more 🡒]
Texas Tech Faces A Confidence Check In A Game They Should Control
Week 2 gives Texas Tech a chance to settle in after an opening week that should have shown enough to strengthen the picture of what this roster can be. The Red Raiders have the kind of depth and matchup edges that make this one look manageable on paper, with the offense carrying more than enough weapons to stress a defense that already showed some cracks and a run game that did not offer much resistance in its first outing.
Still, the trip to Corvallis adds a little more edge than the spread would suggest, because games like this are as much about control as they are about talent. Texas Tech is expected to have the upper hand across the field, but the Red Raiders will be leaning on a long list of familiar names to keep that advantage from slipping, and this is the kind of night where one sloppy stretch can turn a comfortable script into a test of how confidently they can handle a game they are supposed to own. [Read more 🡒]