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Texas Tech football: 5 greats we wish we could add to 2019 offense

By Matthew Conner

26 Oct 1996: Running back Byron Hanspard of the Texas Tech Red Raiders moves the ball during a game against the Texas A&M Aggies at Lyons Field in College Station, Texas. Texas Tech won the game, 13-10. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Dunn /Allsport
26 Oct 1996: Running back Byron Hanspard of the Texas Tech Red Raiders moves the ball during a game against the Texas A&M Aggies at Lyons Field in College Station, Texas. Texas Tech won the game, 13-10. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Dunn /Allsport /
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RB Byron Hanspard

If new head coach Matt Wells and OC David Yost are going to rely on the ground game more heavily this year than we’ve seen since the Spike Dykes era, why not add the best running back in Tech history, Byron Hanspard?  The former Red Raider great would be a nightmare in the spread offense era given his explosive athleticism, which was ahead of his time.

He ran for 4,135 yards and 29 touchdowns in his three-year Tech career.  He ranks first in career yards and is tied for seventh in rushing touchdowns among Red Raider running backs.

What’s more, he caught 63 career passes for 896 yards and nine touchdowns in an era when throwing the ball to running backs was not nearly as much a part of the game as it is today.  It is scary to think of what the 5-foot-10, 198-pound RB would do in a modern spread offense.

Tech enters the 2019 season with huge questions at RB.  The two returning backs from last year, Ta’Zhawn Henry and Sarodorick Thompson, have just 446 career rushing yards and 11 touchdowns as both played their first season of college ball last year.

To supplement the RB position, Tech has added Utah grad transfer Armand Shyne, who has 885 yards and 9 touchdowns in his carer.  If he can pick up the offense after not being on campus for spring practice, Shyne could be a significant factor this fall given the roster’s lack of proven talent at the position.

For his career, Hanspard averaged 125.3 rushing and 152.4 all-purpose yards in 33 career games.  Adding that type of proven productivity to the year’s offense would be a dream come true for Wells and Yost.

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