The home team is on a two-game losing streak. The visitors have lost eight straight dating to last season.

Texas Tech's Shawn Byrnes (51) and Mickey Okafor (77) will try to make up for the absence of suspended offensive lineman Brandon Carter. (Geoffrey Mcallister / Lubbock Avalanche-Journal)

At first glance, Texas Tech (2-2) taking on New Mexico (0-4) holds little appeal. Lately, though, life has been anything but boring for the Red Raiders and the Lobos, who hook up at 2:30 p.m. today in a nationally televised game at Jones AT&T Stadium.

Mike Leach’s Twitter ban and his suspension of team captain Brandon Carter were the primary topics of conversation around Tech this week, replacing discussions about back-to-back losses to two top-20 teams.

“I think we’re just going to try and stay focused,” Tech center Shawn Byrnes said. “I don’t think we’re going to let any distractions get to us. Our main focus is New Mexico.

“We haven’t had the best start. We didn’t want this – 2-2 is not what we sought – but we’re going to try and fix that and stay positive.”

Tech is a five-touchdown favorite, but the game – scheduled in conjunction with Family Weekend on campus – is a sellout.

It comes at the end of a tempestuous week when Leach, Tech’s head coach, suspended Carter, a guard and one of the team’s most prominent players. He also banned his players from putting team-related information on their social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook.

He took that action in the wake of Carter announcing his suspension via Twitter and linebacker Marlon Williams tweeting his dissatisfaction with Leach’s tardiness to a meeting.

“It’s a few guys that use it,” senior cornerback Jamar Wall said. “Twitter’s dumb. I’m actually glad that he’s making us get rid of it.”

On the turmoil meter, Twittergate might not match up to the unrest at New Mexico, where first-year coach Mike Locksley is trying to keep his job after a Sept. 20 fight with an assistant coach went public.

J.B. Gerald, the Lobos’ 27-year-old receivers coach, filed a police report alleging he suffered a split lip when Locksley grabbed him by the collar and punched him during a “heated” coaches meeting the day after a 37-13 loss to Air Force. Gerald declined to press charges.

Both teams’ resolve is being tested this week after last-minute losses a week ago. Tech’s 29-28 setback at Houston came on a touchdown with 49 seconds left. New Mexico’s 20-17 loss to New Mexico State came on a fourth-and-goal touchdown pass with 39 seconds to go.

Then the Lobos’ attempt at a tying field goal narrowly missed.

At least they came close in that one.

The Lobos lost their first three games by an average of 31 points, and they currently rank 100th or worse as a team in 14 NCAA statistical categories.

“You try to win every game,” UNM running back James Wright said, “then just keep practicing and getting better. We know we have chances to win every game on our schedule, but we dug ourselves a hole with those first three games.”

Both teams are suffering some pains of inexperience.

Locksley, the former offensive coordinator at Illinois, inherited a team that returned starters at five positions on offense and two on defense. The Lobos have struggled to score points, averaging fewer than 12 per game. Last week’s 17-point output was their highest of the season as they adjust to the new offense.

“It’s definitely a whole new ball game,” said senior quarterback Donovan Porterie, who has a team-high 26 career starts. “But at the end of the day, football is football. Since Pop Warner to college football to the pros, you see the same Xs and Os.”

New Mexico at Texas Tech

COVERAGE

Radio: 1:30 p.m. on 104.3 FM and 950 AM.

TV: 2:30 p.m., FSN (Suddenlink Cable channel 20).

RECORDS

New Mexico 0-4, 0-1 in Mountain West Conference; Texas Tech 2-2, 0-1 in Big 12 Conference

TICKETS

The game is sold out.

FAST FACTS

Today’s game starts a four-year home-and-home series between Tech and New Mexico. … Tech has a 10-game home winning streak, the second longest in Mike Leach’s 10 seasons as head coach. The Red Raiders won 11 in a row from 2004-06. … New Mexico has lost 10 straight road games at Texas schools since a 40-10 win in 1997 at TCU. … Tech is averaging 7.88 tackles for loss per game, which ranks 13th in the nation, and 2.5 sacks per game, which ranks 31st. … … New Mexico LB Carmen Messina leads the nation with 57 tackles. … Tech special teams coach Eric Russell was a member of UNM offensive coordinator Darrell Dickey’s staff when Dickey was head coach at North Texas from 1998-2006. … Covenant Medical Systems plans to distribute 10,000 pink T-shirts at the game to promote breast cancer awareness.

FORECAST

Mostly cloudy with a high temperature near 72 degrees. A slight chance of showers with thunderstorms possible after 1 p.m. South southeast wind from 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation 20 percent.

NEXT FOR TECH

The Red Raiders play their Big 12 home opener at 6 p.m. next Saturday against Kansas State. It was announced Friday that the game has been picked up by FSN (Suddenlink Cable Channel 20) for a regional telecast.