It's been 12 years since Texas Tech has traveled to Waco (TX) to play the Baylor football program. Since 2007, the Red Raiders and the Bears have met up in Arlington (TX) at AT&T Stadium, except once on Oct. 9, 2010, when the ex-Southwestern Conference members played at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas.

This Saturday’s return to the home of Snickers candy bars and Dr. Pepper soda (PROOF) will be a true inner-conference road test for the Red Raiders as the Bears are riding high, coming off of a ranking in the top-25 and a 5-0 start – one win away from bowl eligibility.

Here’s how Texas Tech coach Matt Wells views this upcoming game and any updates he brought the media on Monday. OL Travis Bruffy addressed those In attendance as well.

Baylor coach Matt Rhule said on the Big 12 teleconference on Monday that he considers Wells a good friend and respects where Wells wants to take the Red Raiders.

What’s one thing he wants to utilize in order to build this program? Grad transfers and seniors.

“We're going to continue to play in that space, continue to play in the grad transfer market,” Wells said. “We're going to have to stay old, I believe, here at Texas Tech. And we're going to -- you know, we'll keep scholarships for grad transfers. We've been successful with them this year. I believe this logo's been successful with them in other sports. Notably, basketball. And just in the last place I was at, we had success with grad transfers. It's part of the world we live in right now. And those guys, if they're the right character, the right makeup with the right work ethic and they can fill a need, I believe they're going to add to our character and our culture here, and we'll look at them, we'll bring them in, and I think you'll see us kind of play in that space, if you will, the next -- for certain the next year.”

Wells added on to that by explaining the role of his senior players have right now in the three-win season so far.

This isn’t something he thinks is crucial to building every program or that it’s something everyone should do. But, it’s his philosophy and he’s going to follow it.

“Seniors are special. I've always said I think the seniors that we came in on December the 1st, I always said they're going to get everything we have, everything the coordinators have, coach (Dave) Scholz. We're going to pour everything because I believe they deserve to win, they deserve to have a great season. We're building this program. We're not building this 2019 team. But it's this year, this season, this team, and the investment that we're going to put into it for those guys to go out a winner and to, I think, create a championship foundation and a culture here and chase a championship.

We're going to get in the fight. We're right in the middle of the fight right now. It's game three of the fight and we're excited. But those seniors, you can start to see, you know, the clock ticking, if you will. They know they got seven, hopefully eight, maybe nine. We'll see. We don't put a limit on it. All we're worried about is this week. But, you know, I think you add grad transfers, and they're coming in for the right reasons and they're the right guys, then our program will open our arms up, wrap our arms around them, teach them how we do things, but then I think they'll also add to who we are, not only on the field but in the locker room.”

Here’s a list of Red Raiders that Matt Wells addressed on Monday due to injury.

- Xavier White will be out the remainder of the year. He is having upper-body surgery on Tuesday, Oct. 8.

- QB Alan Bowman is still recovering and will remain out for an extended amount of time aka no update to his progress just yet.

- Evan Rambo is cleared to play this week after missing the Oklahoma State game.

- Jack Anderson, for those who missed it, will be out the remainder of the season with a shoulder injury. He did not participate against the Cowboys.

- It’s not clear on if it’s injury related or not but OL Bailey Smith has been out for the Red Raiders and looks to remain that way.

A two-game losing streak headlined the week in Lubbock leading to the start of kickoff against Oklahoma State. Optimism was necessarily found in Lubbock amongst Red Raider nation but Bruffy didn’t hold back his words on the team’s blowout loss to Oklahoma the week before.

Bruffy said the team was embarrassed leaving Norman in the Big 12 opener. Feelings have turned the corner now but expecting to win is what he believes needs to happen to establish the winning culture Wells is looking to form at Texas Tech.

“Well, we made some people proud. Honestly, I walked off the field, you know, people were very happy, but we go into games like that expecting to win,” Bruffy said. “When we have the preparation, the talent that we have in this facility, the coaching staff, the plan to win that we had, we expect to win games. Around here, we shouldn't be surprised by things like that.

What we should not expect is performances like two weeks ago in Norman. That's something that hits us up side the head and something we have to react to. When we prepare and we work as hard as we do and we have the coaching and the game plan in place, from the talent, the buy-in from the leadership and the underclassmen, we should expect to win on Saturdays.”

Bruffy spoke about playing with new starting QB Jett Duffey, who was named the Big 12 offensive Player of the Week by the league office on Monday. Bruffy said the dual-threat QB is now in a position to have schemes and plays drawn around his talent and ability as an all-around threat at quarterback compared to a year ago when Duffey was an “unexpected guy making plays.

Bruffy added that he believes Duffey is in a position to build on his intangibles as a quarterback that will lift him into a more mature player on the field.

“He has a couple extra inches on his dreadlocks. Kind of adds a little swagger to him,” Bruffy said laughing while discussing Duffey’s changes. “Honestly, I think he's a more developed leader. So he kind of came and you all have had the pleasure of talking to him. He's a very bubbly, frantic person, and that's exemplified in his play on the field.”

LB Jordyn Brooks, who was named the conference defensive player of the week, called for a players-only meeting in recent days. Bruffy, a leader on this team, explained how that broke down... well, sorta.

“Well, you know, I said this in the players only meeting. I think if I were to tell you what it was about or express what was in there, it's betraying my team. I can tell you I think it's foolish if we address something one time and expect people to remember it the rest of their lives. Building off of that, I think that if we think that what we said last week, it translated to a win on the football field. If we expect to slack off and not be as adamant about the things we pushed in the meeting expect the same performance this upcoming Saturday, we're silly.

The leadership on this team, and we're on the same page, all of us are, we need to push little things that made us successful this Saturday, keep pushing the things we talked about in the double-team. Not let the success we recently had overshadow what we want to be.”

Bruffy opened up this weekend’s matchup against Baylor by discussing the Bears’ defense, who leads the conference in defensive scoring and sacks.

Bruffy said they’ll need to be on their A game going up against a tough group in Baylor. He added it’s a totally different defense and outlook now under coach Rhule compared to where Baylor was in 2014 or even 2016.

“They're a smash mouth defense, very physical up front, really good defensive line and a great box for the front seven. I can't speak on their secondary. Honestly, I'm not that deep in my scouting report. Their front seven will be something we need to attack head on. It's going to be the offensive line's responsibility as well as the tight ends and blocking backs to make sure everything is going forward, make sure we're the ones attacking the line of scrimmage and not just catching everything as it comes.”

Last year was no question a nail in the coffin when it came to the head coaching change in Lubbock. That season ended with Baylor leaving Arlington with a victory followed by the dismissal of Kliff Kingsbury at Texas Tech.

Here’s what Bruffy said about that last meeting and the outcome.

“It was a rough one. We knew what it meant and we knew that that was -- we knew what that game held and we knew the responsibility that was on us, and when you walk off the field, it's different than a loss,” Bruffy said. “It's different than not just going to bowl game. You know the implications are deeper than you. It's people's families, and we kind of understood what that meant. Very personal, a very hard feeling. But change has been made because of games like that. As much as we wanted it to go different, we have changed and we embrace it with optimism. I can promise you we're not going to be playing with that feeling ever over again.”

Speaking of Kingsbury, the former Red Raider quarterback picked up his first win as the coach of the Arizona Cardinals this past Sunday.

Bruffy said he texted his former coach to tell him congratulations.

“It was really fun. I texted him, told him congratulations. It was really good to see,” Bruffy said. “I keep up with them and watch them coach and play. It's a pleasure. I think very prolific offense as well. And that t-shirt has a different logo on it but he rocks it just as good.”