The 2023 Texas Tech Red Raiders football team represented Texas Tech University in the 2023 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Red Raiders played their home games at Jones AT&T Stadium in Lubbock, Texas, and competed in the Big 12 Conference. They were led by second-year head coach Joey McGuire. The Texas Tech Red Raiders football team drew an average home attendance of 54,491 in 2023.
The team started 0–2 for the first time since 1990, after losing to both Wyoming and Oregon. The Red Raiders would win their first game of the season in week 3, defeating FCS Tarleton State 41–3. However, starting quarterback Tyler Shough would be injured the following week against West Virginia as the Red Raiders lost 13–20. The team rebounded and finished the rest of the season going 5–3, including an upset win over no. 16 Kansas on the road, to finish the regular season 6–6 with a Big 12 record of 5–4. The Red Raiders were invited to the Independence Bowl, where they defeated California 34–14.
Offseason
Coaching changes On January 10, passing game coordinator and receivers coach Emmett Jones left Texas Tech to take the same position with the Oklahoma Sooners. The following day, January 11, Baylor running backs coach Justin Johnson was hired to replace Jones.
Recruiting class References:
Transfers Outgoing Name No. Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown New school Philip Blidi 96 DL 6'3 295 Junior Portales, NM Indiana Trey Cleveland 10 WR 6'4 190 Junior Arlington, TX North Texas Syncere Massey 90 DL 6'5 330 Freshman Cedar Hill, TX Abilene Christian Kobee Minor 3 DB 6'0 185 Sophomore Lake Dallas, TX Indiana Reggie Pearson Jr. 22 DB 5'11 200 Senior Detroit, MI Oklahoma Donovan Smith 7 QB 6'5 230 Sophomore Las Vegas, NV Houston
Incoming Name No. Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Prev. school C. J. Baskerville 6 S 6'2 210 Sophomore North Richland Hills, TX San Diego State Quincy Ledet 5 DL 6'2 294 Sophomore Orange, TX Louisiana–Monroe Steve Linton 17 DL 6'5 219 RS Sophomore Dublin, GA Syracuse Bralyn Lux 12 DB 5'11 175 Senior San Jose, CA Fresno State Drae McCray 10 WR 5'9 177 Sophomore Tallahassee, FL Austin Peay Rusty Staats 53 OL 6'4 310 RS Junior Watertown, TN Western Kentucky Terrell Tilmon 34 OLB 6'5 225 Freshman Mansfield, TX Oregon
Preseason Big 12 media poll The preseason poll was released on July 6, 2023. Big 12 media poll 1 Texas 886 (41) 2 Kansas State 858 (14) 3 Oklahoma 758 (5) 4 Texas Tech 729 (4) 5 TCU 727 (3) 6 Baylor 572 7 Oklahoma State 470 (1) 8 UCF 463 9 Kansas 461 10 Iowa State 334 11 BYU 318 12 Houston 215 13 Cincinnati 202 14 West Virginia 129
Award watch lists Dodd TrophyJoey McGuireHC—Maxwell AwardTyler ShoughQBSrOutland TrophyJaylon HutchingsDL SrRay Guy AwardAustin McNamaraPWuerffel TrophyTony Bradford Jr.DLDoak Walker AwardTahj BrooksRBSrFred Biletnikoff AwardJerand BradleyWRSoRimington TrophyRusty StaatsOL SrBronko Nagurski TrophyJaylon HutchingsDLBednarik AwardLombardi AwardEarl Campbell Tyler Rose AwardJerand BradleyWRSoTahj BrooksRBSrTyler ShoughQB Sr
Schedule
Schedule source:
Personnel
Game summaries At Wyoming
Statistics TTUWYO First downs 26 24 Total yards 431 320 Rushing yards 93 171 Passing yards 338 149 Turnovers 1 2 Time of possession 25:58 34:02 Team Category Player Statistics Texas Tech Passing Tyler Shough 31/47, 338 yards, 3 TD, INT Rushing Tahj Brooks 11 rushes, 39 yards, TD Receiving Jerand Bradley 8 receptions, 88 yards, TD Wyoming Passing Andrew Peasley 18/34, 149 yards, 2 TD Rushing Andrew Peasley 15 rushes, 68 yards, TD Receiving John Michael Gyllenborg 5 receptions, 37 yards, TD
No. 13 Oregon
Statistics ORETTU First downs 21 27 Total yards 472 456 Rushing yards 113 174 Passing yards 359 282 Turnovers 0 4 Time of possession 32:15 27:45 Team Category Player Statistics Oregon Passing Bo Nix 32/44, 359 yards, 2 TD Rushing Bo Nix 9 rushes, 46 yards Receiving Troy Franklin 6 receptions, 103 yards, TD Texas Tech Passing Tyler Shough 24/38, 282 yards, 3 TD, 3 INT Rushing Tyler Shough 23 rushes, 101 yards, TD Receiving Jerand Bradley 5 receptions, 83 yards, TD
Tarleton State
Statistics TSUTTU First downs 19 26 Total yards 342 416 Rushing yards 145 221 Passing yards 197 195 Turnovers 3 1 Time of possession 32:31 27:29 Team Category Player Statistics Tarleton State Passing Victor Gabalis 21/40, 182 yards, 3 INT Rushing Caleb Lewis 11 rushes, 67 yards Receiving Benjamin Omayebu 12 receptions, 76 yards Texas Tech Passing Tyler Shough 10/20, 123 yards, TD Rushing Tahj Brooks 19 rushes, 158 yards Receiving Jordan Brown 6 receptions, 73 yards, TD
At West Virginia
Statistics TTUWVU First downs 18 16 Total yards 321 256 Rushing yards 160 157 Passing yards 161 99 Turnovers 0 2 Time of possession 25:10 34:50 Team Category Player Statistics Texas Tech Passing Behren Morton 13/37, 158 yards, TD Rushing Tahj Brooks 25 rushes, 149 yards Receiving Xavier White 3 receptions, 45 yards West Virginia Passing Nicco Marchiol 12/21, 78 yards, TD, 2 INT Rushing Nicco Marchiol 15 rushes, 72 yards Receiving Kole Taylor 3 receptions, 39 yards, TD
Tyler Shough was carted off the field in the 1st quarter after he appeared to have rolled his ankle on back-to-back plays. It was later revealed that Shough had a broken fibula in his left leg; Shough had surgery the following Tuesday and is expected to be out six to eight weeks.
Houston
Statistics HOUTTU First downs 26 21 Total yards 489 400 Rushing yards 153 239 Passing yards 336 161 Turnovers 0 0 Time of possession 35:11 24:49 Team Category Player Statistics Houston Passing Donovan Smith 30/41, 336 yards, 4 TD Rushing Parker Jenkins 13 rushes, 71 yards Receiving Samuel Brown 10 receptions, 113 yards, TD Texas Tech Passing Behren Morton 14/22, 161 yards, 2 TD Rushing Cam'Ron Valdez 6 rushes, 111 yards, TD Receiving Myles Price 5 receptions, 63 yards, TD
The Red Raiders scored two special teams touchdowns, with Drae McCray returning a kickoff for 100 yards and Loic Fouonji blocking a punt and returning it for a touchdown. Running back Tahj Brooks finished with over 100 rushing yards for the third straight game, becoming the first Texas Tech running back since DeAndré Washington in 2015 to do so.
At Baylor
Statistics TTUBAY First downs 19 17 Total yards 366 341 Rushing yards 186 17 Passing yards 180 324 Turnovers 2 1 Time of possession 30:04 29:56 Team Category Player Statistics Texas Tech Passing Behren Morton 19/26, 180 yards, 3 TD, INT Rushing Tahj Brooks 31 rushes, 170 yards, TD Receiving Myles Price 10 receptions, 90 yards Baylor Passing Blake Shapen 22/38, 324 yards, TD Rushing Dominic Richardson 9 rushes, 21 yards Receiving Monaray Baldwin 5 receptions, 126 yards, TD
Texas Tech quarterback Behren Morton threw for a career-high three touchdown passes while rushing for another. Running back Tahj Brooks finished with 100 rushing yards for the fourth game in a row, becoming the first Texas Tech running back to do so in the 21st century.
Kansas State
Statistics KSUTTU First downs 24 23 Total yards 435 480 Rushing yards 272 182 Passing yards 163 298 Turnovers 0 3 Time of possession 32:45 27:15 Team Category Player Statistics Kansas State Passing Will Howard 6/9, 86 yards Rushing Treshaun Ward 15 rushes, 118 yards Receiving Ben Sinnott 6 receptions, 72 yards Texas Tech Passing Jake Strong 16/28, 173 yards, TD, 3 INT Rushing Tahj Brooks 17 rushes, 98 yards, TD Receiving Coy Eakin 5 receptions, 102 yards
Starting quarterback Behren Morton exited the game at halftime with an undisclosed injury. Morton had been dealing with a sprained AC joint in his throwing shoulder ever since he took over for the injured Tyler Shough.
At BYU
Statistics TTUBYU First downs 19 12 Total yards 389 277 Rushing yards 153 150 Passing yards 236 127 Turnovers 5 0 Time of possession 30:55 29:05 Team Category Player Statistics Texas Tech Passing Jake Strong 19/37, 236 yards, TD, 3 INT Rushing Tahj Brooks 30 rushes, 101 yards, TD Receiving Xavier White 3 receptions, 98 yards, TD BYU Passing Kedon Slovis 15/27, 127 yards, 2 TD Rushing LJ Martin 10 rushes, 93 yards Receiving Darius Lassiter 4 receptions, 47 yards, TD
TCU
Statistics TCUTTU First downs 26 22 Total yards 440 428 Rushing yards 87 146 Passing yards 353 282 Turnovers 2 0 Time of possession 25:35 34:25 Team Category Player Statistics TCU Passing Josh Hoover 32/52, 353 yards, TD, 2 INT Rushing Emani Bailey 19 rushes, 57 yards, 2 TD Receiving Jaylon Robinson 5 receptions, 68 yards Texas Tech Passing Behren Morton 28/36, 282 yards, 2 TD Rushing Tahj Brooks 31 rushes, 146 yards, TD Receiving Coy Eakin 8 receptions, 78 yards
A possum ran onto the field early in the second quarter, quickly becoming a viral sensation and spawning numerous Internet memes. The animal was captured by stadium officials and was petted by university president Lawrence Schovanec after the game before being released back into the wild.
At No. 16 Kansas
Statistics TTUKU First downs 21 18 Total yards 312 344 Rushing yards 136 207 Passing yards 176 137 Turnovers 1 1 Time of possession 31:20 28:40 Team Category Player Statistics Texas Tech Passing Behren Morton 19/25, 176 yards, INT Rushing Tahj Brooks 33 rushes, 133 yards, TD Receiving Jerand Bradley 4 receptions, 91 yards Kansas Passing Cole Ballard 9/20, 124 yards, INT Rushing Devin Neal 19 rushes, 137 yards, TD Receiving Lawrence Arnold 2 receptions, 44 yards
UCF
Statistics UCFTTU First downs 23 25 Total yards 486 446 Rushing yards 238 190 Passing yards 248 256 Turnovers 1 1 Time of possession 31:57 28:03 Team Category Player Statistics UCF Passing John Rhys Plumlee 16/32, 248 yards, TD, INT Rushing John Rhys Plumlee 13 rushes, 84 yards Receiving Javon Baker 4 receptions, 117 yards, TD Texas Tech Passing Behren Morton 21/34, 256 yards, 2 TD, INT Rushing Tahj Brooks 24 rushes, 182 yards, TD Receiving Xavier White 3 receptions, 77 yards
At No. 7 Texas
Statistics TTUTEX First downs 14 27 Total yards 198 528 Rushing yards 110 302 Passing yards 88 226 Turnovers 3 1 Time of possession 27:00 33:00 Team Category Player Statistics Texas Tech Passing Behren Morton 19/36, 88 yards, 3 INT Rushing Tahj Brooks 19 rushes, 95 yards Receiving Coy Eakin 4 receptions, 27 yards Texas Passing Quinn Ewers 17/26, 196 yards, TD, INT Rushing Jaydon Blue 10 rushes, 121 yards, TD Receiving Xavier Worthy 4 receptions, 49 yards, TD
Vs. California (Independence Bowl)
Statistics CALTTU First downs 15 24 Total yards 333 383 Rushing yards 73 125 Passing yards 261 259 Turnovers 4 2 Time of possession 26:28 33:32 Team Category Player Statistics California Passing Fernando Mendoza 22/33, 261 yards, TD, 3 INT Rushing Jaydn Ott 17 rushes, 55 yards, TD Receiving Trond Grizzell 4 receptions, 80 yards Texas Tech Passing Behren Morton 27/43, 259 yards, 3 TD, INT Rushing Tahj Brooks 22 rushes, 95 yards, TD Receiving Coy Eakin 7 receptions, 106 yards, TD
Rankings
References