by Rod Pearson
Monday, Sep 01, 2025
Game Time: 12:00 pm ET, Saturday, September 6, 2025
Venue: Jones AT&T Stadium, Lubbock, TX
Where to Watch: TNT, HBO Max
Opening Odds at USA Sportsbooks
DraftKings: Point Spread: Kent +48.5, Texas Tech -48.5; Over/Under: 59.5 points
Bet365: Point Spread: Kent +48.5, Texas Tech -48.5; Over/Under: 59.5 points
BetMGM: Point Spread: Kent +48.5, Texas Tech -48.5; Over/Under: 59.5 points
Season Record
Kent State Golden Flashes: 1-0 (0-0) (3rd place, MAC)
Texas Tech Red Raiders: 1-0 (0-0) (4th place, Big 12)
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Recent Form
Kent State Golden Flashes: won their last game at home against the Merrimack Warriors 21-17.
Texas Tech Red Raiders: won their last game at home against the Arkansas-Pine Bluff Golden Lions 67-7.
Kent State Golden Flashes vs Texas Tech Red Raiders Preview and Analysis
Kent State is entering this game with a 1-0 record overall and they have a 0-0 record in their conference games too. They are 1-0 in their home games, 0-0 in their road games, and they are also 0-0 in their neutral site games this season, but they will be on the road for this game. They won their last game against Merrimack 21-17. CJ Montes was the starting QB and he completed 6/9 passes for 91 passing yards, 1 touchdown, and 0 interceptions before getting replaced by Dru DeShields who completed 6/10 passes for 118 yards and 1 TD. Gavin Garcia led the team in rushing yards with 49. Cade Wolford led the receivers with 109 receiving yards on 2 receptions and 2 TDs. Jaire Rawlison led the defense in that game with 5 solo tackles and 2 assisted tackles while Jamond Mathis led the defense in sacks with 1. No one on the defense came away with an interception for them in that one.
Texas Tech is entering this game with a 1-0 record overall and they have a 0-0 record in their conference games too. They are 1-0 in their home games, 0-0 in their road games, and they are also 0-0 in their neutral site games this season, but they will be at home for this game. They won their last game against Arkansas-Pine Bluff 67-7. Behren Morton was the starting QB and he completed 16/18 passes for 201 passing yards, 4 touchdowns, and 0 interceptions. Cameron Dickey led the team in rushing yards with 90 and 1 TD. Reggie Virgil led the receivers with 56 receiving yards on 4 receptions and 1 TD. Bryce Ramirez, Wesley Smith, and Jacob Rodriguez each led the defense in that game with 3 solo tackles and 1 assisted tackle while Skyler Gill-Howard, David Bailey, Romello Height, and Lee Hunter each led the defense in sacks with 0.5. Amier Boyd-Matthews came away with the only interception for them in that one.
Kent State vs Texas Tech Prediction
The current betting odds have Texas Tech listed as a 48.5 point favorite in this game according to Draftkings Sportsbook. Texas Tech is 1-0 overall this season and they looked great in their season opener. They were playing a team from the FCS and weren't really challenged in that game, but they didn't struggle at all and embarrassed Arkansas-Pine Bluff 67-7. Meanwhile, Kent State is 1-0 overall this season, but they were one of the worst teams in the nation last season and they haven't really gotten any better. They won their season opener against a team from the FCS, but they only beat Merrimack 21-17 at home and they are going to struggle a lot more in this one. They barely won that season opener and this Texas Tech defense only gave up 7 points last week so this game is going to be really similar where Kent State struggles to move the ball. Kent State also gave up 17 points on defense in a close game so this Texas Tech offense is going to have no problem moving the ball and running up the score on them. Kent State will be lucky to score at all in this game and Texas Tech should be able to put up another 60 point game here. The best way to place a bet here is on Texas Tech to cover the spread in this game.
Kent State Texas Tech Prediction: Our NCAAF Pick for Saturday, September 6, 2025 (12:00 pm ET start time) is Texas Tech 63 Kent State 0.
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NCAAF Betting Trends
Kent State Golden Flashes: 5-17 ATS in all lined games. 4-16 ATS as an underdog. 2-10 ATS in road lined games. 8-5 OVER as a road underdog. 12-7 OVER in games played on turf.
Texas Tech Red Raiders: 7-3 ATS as a home favorite. 7-4 ATS after playing a game at home. 8-3 OVER as a home favorite. 6-2 OVER in a home game where the total is between 56.5 and 63.
Key Injuries
Kent State Golden Flashes: C. Wilson (OG) Questionable - Undisclosed. J. Nubin (RB) Questionable - Undisclosed. D. Martin (WR) Questionable - Undisclosed. D. Kargman (QB) Questionable - Undisclosed. A. Jeffery (RB) Questionable - Undisclosed. M. Gembus (OG) Questionable - Undisclosed. A. Fisher (WR) Questionable - Undisclosed. J. Federer (WR) Questionable - Undisclosed. D. Dorsey (WR) Questionable - Undisclosed. T. Bivens (CB) Questionable - Undisclosed. H. Chasko (OG) Out - Undisclosed. N. Cross (OG) Out - Undisclosed. G. Garcia (RB) Out - Knee.
Texas Tech Red Raiders: B. Morton (QB) Questionable - Knee. T. Tilmon (LB) Questionable - Undisclosed. D. Lindsay (CB) Questionable - Undisclosed. I. Collins (CB) Questionable - Undisclosed. C. Lewis (S) Questionable - Undisclosed. C. Cleveland (OG) Questionable - Foot. T. Grant (CB) Questionable - Undisclosed. R. Brown (OG) Questionable - Undisclosed. M. Ramon-Edwards (S) Questionable - Undisclosed. M. Stevenson (CB) Questionable - Undisclosed. L. Jones III (QB) Questionable - Undisclosed. J. Horne (LB) Questionable - Undisclosed. H. Hendrix (OG) Questionable - Undisclosed. E. Davis (OG) Questionable - Undisclosed. D. Singleton (DL) Out - Undisclosed. Q. Joyner (RB) Out - Knee. D. Balfour (CB) Questionable - Undisclosed. C. Lemons (LB) Questionable - Undisclosed.
Notable Quotes
“I think I was born for this. I'm the oldest of, whatever, 50-something cousins. I've been calling plays since I was a sophomore in college. I view myself as a natural-born leader. I'm sure there's going to be things that come up that you're not going to be prepared for, but I feel like I'm built for this.” - Mark Carney on being the head coach of Kent State this season.
“We did exactly what we wanted to coming into this game. Our expectations that were going to play really well early and we were going to able to get Will in the game, Mitch in the game. Our plan was to run the offense. In this day and age when it is a constant evaluation of the roster, then you have to do that.” - Joey McGuire after his team’s win against Arkansas-Pine Bluff in their last game.
Starting Lineups
Kent State Golden Flashes
WR Martin, Da'Shawn
WR Clark, Da'Realyst
WR Harris, Wayne
TE Hopperton, Hunter
QB Montes, CJ
RB Garcia, Gavin
Texas Tech Red Raiders
WR Virgil, Reggie
WR Douglas, Caleb
WR Eakin, Coy
TE Miller II, Johncarlos
QB Morton, Behren
RB Dickey, Cameron
Statistical Leaders
Kent State Golden Flashes
Passing: D. DeShields (118)
Rushing: G. Garcia (49)
Receiving: C. Wolford (109)
Touchdowns: C. Wolford (2)
Texas Tech Red Raiders
Passing: B. Morton (201)
Rushing: C. Dickey (90)
Receiving: R. Virgil (56)
Touchdowns: T. Carter Jr. (2)
Coaches:
Kent State Golden Flashes: Mark Carney (1st season)
Texas Tech Red Raiders: Joey McGuire (4th season)
Rod Pearson
About the Author:
Rod Pearson has been a rabid sports fan his entire life. He grew up in Ontario, and was skilled in both hockey and baseball, and pitched in an elite baseball league for many years. In 2022, Rod decided to hang up his glove, so that he could write about the sports he loves -- but from a gambling perspective. Join Rod every day as he breaks down the games to find the best betting value.
