Texas Tech’s Colin Schooler is Excited to Play Against Former Teammate Tony Fields

During West Virginia football’s media availability Tuesday afternoon, senior linebacker Tony Fields talked at length about how excited he is to play against Texas Tech linebacker Colin Schooler, his former teammate.

During Texas Tech’s media availability, Schooler echoed the same sentiment.

“Tony and I have a really strong relationship,” Schooler said. “We’ve been through a lot over the past couple years.”

Fields and Schooler played beside one another for three seasons as members of the Arizona Wildcats. Both elected to transfer away from Tuscon this past offseason, with Fields landing at West Virginia at the beginning of August and Schooler at Texas Tech later in the month.

As soon as he committed to the Red Raiders, Schooler said he realized he and Fields would play each other.

“As soon as I came to Tech, I knew he was on the schedule,” Schooler said. “We’ve been talking about it for a while now. It’s going to be weird to start, but it’s going to be fun.”

Fields likewise said he had Saturday’s game circled on his calendar out of excitement.

“He’s circled the day on the calendar because he can’t wait for the day he can beat me, but it’s not going to happen,” Fields joked. “Likewise, I can’t wait until the day I can beat him. We always competed with each other whether it was football games, Madden, anything, so I can’t wait.”

Watch: Tony Fields Talks About Texas Tech, Playing Against Former Teammate

“I see our friendship going longer than football, we have that kind of relationship with each other,” Schooler explained. “We talk consistently throughout each week, especially since we went out separate ways. We’re checking on each other, seeing how we’re doing, congratulating each other. We talked a little bit about the upcoming game…it’s going to be fun.”

Fields leads the Mountaineer defense in tackles with 35 tackles. WVU’s defense currently leads the nation in total defense. Schooler said he’s been happy to watch Fields’ success.

“He’s a problem for offenses,” Schooler said of Fields. “I’m really proud of the way he’s been playing this year. It’s really cool to see him to step up on such short notice at West Virginia and have the impact that he’s been doing.”

WVU and Texas will kick off at 5:30 p.m. Saturday in Lubbock, Texas. The game will be broadcast on ESPN2.

Former Teammates Tony Fields, Colin Schooler Meet When WVU Visits Texas Tech