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Texas Tech football: The all-time Red Raider team from the rest of Texas

By Matthew Conner

ARLINGTON, TX - NOVEMBER 25: Patrick Mahomes II #5 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders interacts with fans after the game against the Baylor Bears on November 25, 2016 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Texas Tech defeated Baylor 54-35. (Photo by John Weast/Getty Images)
ARLINGTON, TX - NOVEMBER 25: Patrick Mahomes II #5 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders interacts with fans after the game against the Baylor Bears on November 25, 2016 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Texas Tech defeated Baylor 54-35. (Photo by John Weast/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by John Weast/Getty Images)
(Photo by John Weast/Getty Images) /

QB: Pat Mahomes, Kliff Kingsbury

The rest of Texas roster features two of the most prolific quarterbacks in program history, Pat Mahomes and Kilff Kingsbury.  The duo that was together as head coach and QB in Lubbock from 2014-16 would be the top QB tandem of any on the all-time Texas Tech rosters.

Mahomes would get the starting nod over his former mentor.  He is unquestionably the most talented QB the program has ever produced and had his career not been spoiled by one of the worst two-year stretches of defense that college football has ever seen, he would likely be the most accomplished as well.

Though he was only a starter for two full seasons (2015-16) (asw well as four games as a freshman in 2014), Mahomes ended his career ranked third in Tech history in passing yards (11,252), touchdown passes (93), attempts (1,349) and completions (857).  What’s more, he ranks second all-time among Red Raider quarterbacks with 22 rushing touchdowns.

In 32 career games, the Whitehouse native averaged 351.6 passing yards and 378 total yards.  If you extrapolate those numbers into a 52 game career, which would be four full years as a starter (including bowl games), he could have put up 18,283 passing yards and 19,656 total yards.

Even if you just take his career averages and apply them to 13 more games in what would have been his senior season, he could have put up 15,822 passing and 17,010 total yards.  It is truly mind-boggling to think about what he was able to do while at Tech.

But a decade and a half before his arrival, Kliff Kingsbury put up numbers that also astounded people in the early 2000s.   Ranking second in program history in passing yards (12,429) and touchdown passes (95), the New Braunfels native was the first QB of the “Air Raid” era and set a lofty standard for those to walk in his footsteps.

Because of his six-season run as head coach from 2013-18, which ended in an unfortunate manner, sometimes we tend to forget that prior to the Kliff who was known for his GQ style and custom threads, there was a Kliff who was a fantastically tough and historically significant quarterback.

The 2002 Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year and a first-team All-Conference selection that season, he set 39 school and 17 NCAA records.  Still,  he would not get the starting job over his protegee on the all-time rest of Texas team.  Whenever you have a player as your backup that ended his career in the top 10 all-time in career passing for the NCAA, that says something about your roster.

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