Countdown to Kickoff: 17 Days
PREVIOUS COUNTDOWN TO KICKOFF ENTRIES: 50 | 49 | 48 | 47 | 46 | 45 | 44 | 43 | 42
41 | 40 | 39 | 38 | 37 | 36 | 35 | 34 | 33 | 32 | 31 | 30 | 29 | 28 | 27 | 26 | 25 | 24 | 23 | 22 |
Texas Tech's 2016 football season will begin in exactly 17 days with a Sept. 3 kickoff against Stephen F. Austin.
Today, we continue our Countdown to Kickoff series with a notable way the number 17 relates to Red Raider football.
17: Bradley Marquez caught 17 touchdown passes during his Texas Tech career.
Bradley Marquez's very first collegiate catch went for a touchdown. Texas Tech was trailing Texas State 10-0 in its 2011 season-opener, and Marquez put the Red Raiders on the board with a 10-yard touchdown catch.
Seventeen games later, in the 2013 opener against SMU, Marquez would catch his second career touchdown. In all, Marquez would tally 17 touchdown receptions during his four-year career.
Marquez's last collegiate catch was also a touchdown. In the Red Raiders' 2014 finale against Baylor, with the team trailing by eight in the final minute of the game, Marquez caught a 40-yard scoring bomb from Pat Mahomes that set the stage for a potential game-tying two-point conversion attempt that was ultimately unsuccessful. Marquez finished the game with six receptions for 130 yards and three touchdowns.
Tomorrow: 16 - We look at one of Texas Tech's biggest in-state rivalries.