Texas Tech football: Ranking the offensive position groups

With Alan Bowman back, Texas Tech’s quarterback situation is its greatest strength

The Texas Tech offense should be excellent this year because sophomore QB Alan Bowman will be back to 100% after missing four full games and the second half of two more last year after suffering two collapsed lungs.  And with backup Jett Duffey, who made three starts last year, back for his junior season, the Red Raiders may have one of the better quarterback situations in the Big 12.

Bowman put together the most impressive true freshman season of any QB in program history after being unexpectedly thrust into action in the first quarter of the season-opening loss to Ole Miss.  The former 3-star signee from Grapevine put up a 4-1 record in games the started and finished.

Completing 69.4% of his passes and throwing for 2,638 yards and 17 touchdowns in what amounted to fewer than seven full games played, Bowman showed that he is the face of Red Raider football.  And in the five complete games he played, he averaged over 400 yards passing.

Had he not been derailed by injuries, he likely would have garnered freshman All-American honors and would be entering this fall as one of the most talked-about young QBs in the country.  So long as Alan Bowman is on the field, the Red Raiders will not enter any game with a talent deficit at the game’s most important position.

In the unfortunate event that Bowman does have to miss time again this year, Duffey is a rather capable backup.  Yes, his six interceptions in just seven games were frustrating and ultimately cost his team a couple of potential victories.

But still, he completed 67.5% of his passes and had 8 touchdowns and 1,221 yards through the air.  And on the ground, he was Tech’s leading rusher with 369 yards and four scores.  Those are numbers that most programs would love to have from their second-string QB.

There’s also reason to believe that Yost’s offense will be more suited to Duffey’s skill set as a QB that is often more comfortable running the ball than throwing it from inside the pocket.  Yost was able to make Utah State QB Jordan Love into one of the best QBs in the nation last year and being as Duffey and Love have similar games, there’s reason to believe that Yost would be more prepared to succeed if Duffey has to play multiple games again this fall than Kliff Kingsbury was last fall.