Tag: Texas Tech Red Raiders

Tahj Brooks announces return in 2024

It will be Tahj time again in 2024.

The Texas Tech Red Raiders received a massive bump for next season. Star running back Tahj Brooks announced that he would return for his fifth season in Lubbock on Monday morning.

Brooks is coming off the most productive season of his career with a bowl game left to play on Saturday against California. He rushed for 1,443 yards with 9 touchdowns during the regular season. According to Pro Football Focus, Brooks also led the nation in missed tackles forced (91) and finished fourth in yards after contact.

Brooks’ breakout season began in 2022 during the Texas Bowl, where he rushed for 6.4 yards per attempt against the Ole Miss Rebels. The lead runner for Tech rushed for over 100 yards in eight of the final 10 games of the regular season.

It appears that quarterback Behren Morton will have plenty of weapons with the impending addition of five-star wide receiver Micah Hudson and four-star transfer tight end Jalin Conyers.

This news comes shortly after backup running back Cam’Ron Valdez announced that he would enter the transfer portal.

Bryson Donnell will likely fill the void of backup running back for Texas Tech in their bowl matchup. He has seen limited action as a redshirt freshman this season. Donnell carried the ball just four times for 15 yards.

Texas Tech gets commitment from former Arizona State tight end

Jalin Conyers amassed 846 yards and six touchdowns across three seasons with the Sun Devils, including a three-touchdown game against Colorado last year.

Former Arizona State tight end Jalin Conyers committed to play for Texas Tech, Conyers announced on social media on Sunday.

The former Sun Devil has one year of eligibility remaining, according to his announcement when he entered the portal. He compiled 846 receiving yards and six touchdowns on 74 receptions in his three years with Arizona State.

His best season with the Sun Devils came in 2022 when he caught 38 passes for 422 yards and five touchdowns in 10 games. He exploded against Colorado with six receptions for 108 catches and three touchdowns in a single game.

Pro Football Focus is bullish on the newest Red Raiders tight end. He earned a receiving grade of 86.0 in 2022 and 71.6 this past season. The company graded Conyers as its fourth-best tight end in college football over the past two seasons.

Conyers was a four-star prospect out of high school, 247Sports’ fourth-highest tight end in the class of 2020.

No. 7 Texas vs Texas Tech: A brief history of the Longhorns owning the rivalry

The two teams play each other for possibly the last time on Friday.

The upcoming game between the No. 7 Texas Longhorns and the Texas Tech Red Raiders might be their last encounter due to Texas moving to the SEC in 2024. Continue reading “No. 7 Texas vs Texas Tech: A brief history of the Longhorns owning the rivalry”

Brent Venables continues to prove he’s the right man to lead Oklahoma to the SEC

The Oklahoma Sooners are not a finished product but have still taken a big step in Year 2 under Brent Venables.

This time last year, the Oklahoma Sooners were gearing up to play their final regular season game of the season against the [autotag]Texas Tech Red Raiders[/autotag]. The Sooners were sitting at an abysmal 6-5 just barely bowl eligible.

They lost that game and their bowl game to fall to 6-7 in year one under [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag]. Fast forward to this year. The Sooners sit at 9-2 and have an outside chance at playing for a conference championship.

This offseasons, most fans would have taken that any day of the week after what happened a year ago. Venables spoke about where the program is at in year two.

“I’ve experienced tremendous success at the very highest level, and it’s never been a straight line,” Venables said. “I think having that right perspective is important. Coming off a game where it was a tough, hard-fought victory. Where maybe we had to overcome several things. Whether it’s losing our quarterback, not having him in the second half. For not fitting gaps right pretty consistently for most of the day with our linebackers. But still finding a way to win. So, the improvement has been incremental in most ways, and we’ll never stop improving.”

The improvement has been clear, especially on the defense. The thing they are still missing is true difference-makers along that defensive line. That will come over time with recruiting and development. But this year was about if Venables was the right man for the job. Could they take a massive leap as a program?

For a lot of people, including myself, a 9-3 or 10-2 season would have shown that. The Sooners already have that ninth win. Now it’s about finishing the season strong with plenty of momentum heading into next year.

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Jaron on Twitter @JaronSpor.

Texas Tech QB Tyler Shough to enter the transfer portal

The former Oregon and Texas Tech QB will enter the portal once again.

After three injury-riddled seasons with the Texas Tech Red Raiders, quarterback Tyler Shough has made a decision regarding his future. Shough has been injured since the West Virginia game during Week 4.

It was the third time in as many seasons that the former four-star quarterback had missed time with Texas Tech. After joining the team in 2021 as a transfer from the Oregon Ducks, Shough missed time with a broken collarbone. He would miss time in 2022 with an injured shoulder in the opener that cost him six more games. Shough returned to lead Tech to the Texas Bowl, which the Red Raiders won 42-25.

Shough shared the following message on social media.

this is a letter I never planned to write as I have such a deep gratitude for West Texas and the entire support this football program has provided. The people of Lubbock and within the athletic department have reignited my love for football welcomed my family with open arms, and helped me persevere through some of the most difficult times. I do not believe freak injuries are accidents or hindrances, but lessons God teaches you. I am extremely grateful for the bonds and memories shared and for the fact that I can forever proudly call myself a graduate of Texas Tech University.

Though I wish my time here could have been different, I believe everything happens for a reason and that hard work will prevail. It is in my best interest to enter the transfer portal and look for a new opportunity to play a full year and pursue my goal of being an NFL QB.

The team will look to Behren Morton, who has won five of his six starts this season. He has accounted for 15 touchdowns this season. The Red Raiders will add Will Hammond, the highly-touted four-star quarterback who competed in the Elite 11, in their 2024 recruiting class.

Brittany and Patrick Mahomes take in Texas Tech-Kansas

Patric,k and Brittany Mahomes were watching Texas Tech play Kansas

The tight end is in Argentina on the Kansas City Chiefs’ bye week. The quarterback made a more realistic trip.

Patrick Mahomes and wife Brittany decided to take in some college football on Saturday. They went to see the Chiefs’ quarterback’s school, Texas Tech, in Big 12 action against Kansas.

Meanwhile, tight end Travis Kelce made the jaunt to Argentina to watch his significant other — is it too soon for that? — Taylor Swift perform.

Possum makes cameo appearance during TCU-Texas Tech

What was a possum doing on the field during TCU-Texas Tech?

There was a critter on the field Thursday in Big 12 action between TCU and Texas Tech.

A possum made an appearance before being unceremoniously escorted from the turf.

The Red Raiders led the Horned Frogs late in the fourth quarter.

Unless TCU was playing possum.

Texas Tech AD Kirby Hocutt announces new partnership with Adidas

Texas Tech set to end 18-year run with Under Armour come July of 2024.

Texas Tech University and Under Armour will end an 18-year relationship as the school will now partner with Adidas. The deal was originally teased by former quarterback and current Kansas City Chief, Patrick Mahomes more than a week ago.

Mahomes tweeted out a picture of himself wearing a Texas Tech shirt with a piece of tape with the word ‘Adidas’ over where the Under Armour logo would be. “Coming July 2024”.

The deal has since been confirmed by multiple outlets and on Wednesday, Texas Tech athletics director Kirby Hocutt announced the deal. “Today has wrapped up a three-day session of us hosting our new apparel providers, Adidas.”

Hocutt would go on to give praise to Mahomes, who helped bring this new apparel deal to life. “We would not be where we are with Adidas, embarking on a new ten-year relationship, without our former quarterback Patrick Mahomes.”

Starting in 2024, Texas Tech joins the University of Kansas as the only Big 12 universities that are partnered with Adidas. Other Power Five schools that are partnered with the company include Arizona State, Georgia Tech, Indiana, Louisville, Miami, Mississippi State, North Carolina State, Nebraska, Rutgers, Texas A&M, and Washington.

For Texas Tech, there will be a lot of change in 2024. Not only will they have a new apparel partnership but the Big 12 will say goodbye to Oklahoma and Texas while welcoming Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, and Utah to the conference.

Texas Football: Looking at ESPN’s FPI going into Week 8

Analyzing the remaining opponents on No. 8 Texas’ schedule as they come off their bye week.

Week 8 is officially upon us, with the Houston Cougars up next on the schedule for the No. 8 Texas Longhorns. Continue reading “Texas Football: Looking at ESPN’s FPI going into Week 8”

Behren Morton dealing with a lingering shoulder issue

Morton’s AC joint injury occurred in the loss to West Virginia three weeks ago.

Saturday night against Kansas State, the Red Raiders went into the locker room down 17-14. When they emerged from the tunnel to begin the second half, starting quarterback Behren Morton wasn’t the one leading the team back onto the field. Texas Tech turned to true freshman Jake Strong.

Morton had suffered a sprained AC joint injury against West Virginia. That same game saw Tyler Shough fracture his fibula. Morton has been treating the injury during the week to save his arm for gamedays. Head coach Joey McGuire discussed the injury and mental state of the young gunslinger on Saturday.

“He was pretty emotional when he came in at halftime,” Joey McGuire said, “because he didn’t want to let anybody down. But in a situation like that, you want to protect your guy and make sure he can protect himself. We just didn’t feel like he could.”

The Red Raiders program has had a bad run of luck at the quarterback position in recent history. The team has been forced to use three or more quarterbacks in each of the last three seasons. In 2020 they used just two in the shortened season.

As Tech faced just a three-point deficit at the half and using a true freshman quarterback, you would think the team would lean on the run game. That wasn’t the case at all as Strong threw the ball 28 times resulting in one touchdown to three interceptions. The game quickly unraveled and the Wildcats were able to bury the Red Raiders.

Given that Tech has one of the better running backs in the conference, it was disheartening to see offensive coordinator Zach Kittley dial up the passing game. Tahj Brooks would carry the ball only 17 times in this game, which went for 5.8 yards per carry.

There is still a chance that Morton could return as the starter for the matchup against BYU in Provo. Still, the team should lean on Brooks whenever they can. This year the Cougars are a bottom five rushing defense in the Big 12. It should be Tahj time on Saturday.