As fifth-year seniors who have spent their entire college careers in the Texas Tech football program, center Sheridan Wilson and wide receiver Coy Eakin have seen a lot and done a lot with the Red Raiders.
Playing a game in Cincinnati is not one of them.
No. 8 Texas Tech (6-0, 3-0 in the Big 12) and Cincinnati (4-2, 1-2) have played only twice, in 1968 and 2024, both times in Lubbock. The Red Raiders go into the Bearcats' backyard for the first time at 11 a.m. CDT Saturday, Oct. 24, at Nippert Stadium.
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"It's just a hundred-yard field, like anywhere we go and play," said Eakin, a 34-game starter. "We have things that coach [Joey] McGuire takes with us: Close huddles. Preparation has to go up. Film study has to go up.
"Not saying it's a more important game; just saying it has a new environment. You have to feel more comfortable on the field than you do prep-like if we played at home. And lean on each other. We have to create our own energy, because we're only traveling a certain amount of people there [under the Big 12 travel roster limit]."
The Big 12 in November 2023 announced each team's conference opponents, home and away, for the 2024 through 2027 seasons. Texas Tech made a first visit to Utah last year, winning 34-10, and the Red Raiders will play at UCF for the first time in 2027.
"No doubt, it's always a little tougher playing on the road," said Wilson, a 33-game starter, "but that's whenever we get close together and we really just lock in. We know it's going to be a crazy environment, but we're going to be prepared this week."
Cincinnati's not a new experience for all the Red Raiders. During his Texas high school coaching days, McGuire led Cedar Hill against Cincinnati LaSalle Catholic in the Kirk Herbstreit Varsity Football series in August 2008. That was a two-day extravaganza of 15 games at Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati, Pro Football Hall of Fame Field in Canton, Ohio, and Texas Stadium in Irving.
The Cedar Hill-LaSalle Catholic game was at Texas Stadium, but Ohio high school football opened a week before Texas high school football, McGuire said, so he flew up to Cincinnati the week before to scout his opponent.
"So I've seen the stadium, have been in the city and everything like that," McGuire said, "so I'm really excited about that. It's a really great atmosphere. It's built right into their campus and some of the buildings. They've played really, really — 8-2 at home [in their past 10 games] is impressive."
Tech edge defender Adam Trick went to Huber Heights High School, located in a Dayton, Ohio, suburb about 60 miles from Nippert Stadium. Every day lately, Trick said, it seems as if someone he knows is looking for a ticket to the game.
"That's the reason I'm super excited for this game: Get a chance to go home and have a lot of family and friends there," he said, "so it's going to be really special for me."
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Texas Tech football breaks new ground in trip to Cincinnati