Countdown to Kickoff: 32 Days
PREVIOUS COUNTDOWN TO KICKOFF ENTRIES: 50 | 49 | 48 | 47 | 46 | 45 | 44 | 43 | 42
41 | 40 | 39 | 38 | 37 | 36 | 35 | 34 | 33
Texas Tech's 2016 football season will begin in exactly 32 days with a Sept. 3 kickoff against Stephen F. Austin.
Today, we continue our Countdown to Kickoff series with a notable way the number 32 relates to Red Raider football.
32: Texas Tech great Dave Parks set a career high in 1963 with 32 catches for 499 yards and 4 TD.
Dave Parks is one of the most decorated players ever to suit up for the Texas Tech football team. The standout wide receiver had a stellar three-year career and was the first player in program history to be earn AP All-America honors.
As a senior in 1963, Parks set a Red Raider single-season record by catching 32(!!) passes for 499 yards and four touchdowns. He left the program as its all-time leading receiver with 80 catches.
Following his graduation, Parks was drafted first overall in the 1964 NFL Draft and spent the next 10 seasons playing for the San Francisco 49ers (1964-67), New Orleans Saints (1968-72) and Houston Oilers (1973).
Parks was voted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2008 and inducted into the Texas Tech Ring of Honor in 2012.
Tomorrow: 31 - We look at one of the most impressive bowl wins in Texas Tech history.