No. 11 Texas Tech returns from its bye week with a quarterback quandary heading into Saturday night’s game at Houston in a showdown of unbeaten Big 12 Conference rivals.
Behren Morton was knocked out in the third quarter of the Red Raiders’ 34-10 win at then-No. 16 Utah on Sept. 20 when he slid on a scramble and took a shot to the head. Backup Will Hammond took over and hit 13 of 16 passes for 169 yards and two touchdowns to blow open a tight game.
But Morton cleared concussion protocol over the weekend and coach Joey McGuire said he would start for the Red Raiders (4-0, 1-0 Big 12) against the Cougars (4-0, 1-0). However, McGuire also raised the possibility of Hammond getting into the game as well.
“A lot of people wish they had a Will Hammond as their No. 2,” McGuire said. “We’re really fortunate that we have the two guys that we have. We’ve been fortunate that we have a lot of different things that we can do with a lot of different personnel that we haven’t had to use yet.
“At some points, we’re going to have to. And that could be one of them.”
Either way, McGuire has a quality quarterback. Morton is 69 of 100 for 1,065 yards and 11 touchdowns, while Hammond is 31 of 41 for 369 yards and four scores. Five receivers have amassed at least 200 yard, led by Coy Eakin with 260.
Equally impressive has been the defense. Texas Tech has allowed only 45 points in four games, limiting Utah to 263 total yards and forcing four turnovers.
Houston hasn’t been heavily tested by any means but has perhaps surprised some experts by getting off to such a good start. It’s coming off a 27-24 overtime win last week at Oregon State, rallying from a 24-10 fourth-quarter deficit and prevailing on Ethan Sanchez’s 24-yard field goal.
This is the first time the Cougars have started 4-0 since 2016, when Tom Herman’s star was rising fast in the coaching ranks and nose guard Ed Oliver was dominating. Houston also has wins over Colorado, Rice and Stephen F. Austin.
Second-year coach Willie Fritz mined the transfer portal to build the offense. Quarterback Conner Weigman (Texas A&M), leading rusher Dean Connors (Rice) and top receiver Tanner Koziol (Ball State) all had big contributions to the comeback at Oregon State.
Koziol, who caught 94 passes last year, scored the tying touchdown on a 50-yard reception late in the fourth quarter.
“He’s got great hands,” Fritz said of Koziol. “He catches the ball away from his body. I think he’s got great speed.”
Fritz said a key to slowing down the Red Raiders’ attack will be stopping the ground game.
“That’s a big deal for us is trying to make them one-dimensional,” he said. “We always want to try to do good against the run.”
The Cougars own an 18-16-1 advantage in the series between former Southwest Conference rivals, including a 10-4-1 mark at home.