Texas Tech football: Areas of concern remain even after WVU win

The Red Raiders now have only one healthy scholarship RB

Other than QB Jett Duffey, the offensive star of Saturday’s win for the Red Raiders was sophomore RB Ta’Zhawn Henry.  Playing his most impactful game of the year, he had 95 total yards on 28 touches (22 runs) and two rushing touchdowns.

But the plan wasn’t for him to exceed his season-high in carries by ten.  But when RB SaRodorick Thompson was lost with an ankle injury, Henry was forced to tote the ball 22 times.

His 67 rushing yards will not go down in program history as a monumental showing but when his team needed him to step up, he ran tough and picked up key yards between the tackles.  That was a huge reason that his team was able to salt away the lead in the second half.

But now, we have to wonder if this team will have to rely on Henry as its only healthy scholarship RB for the remainder of the year.  Thompson is considered day-to-day but according to Don Williams of the Avalanche-Journal, Wells is hopeful that he will be able to play against TCU.

Of course, we already know that grad transfer Armand Shyne is out for the year with broken ribs.  Thus, the only running backs behind Henry on the depth chart may be walk-ons Jax Welch and Chux Nwabuko.

That’s not a comforting state of affairs given how likely running backs are to be banged up during the course of a game.  Even if Thompson can play this week, it is reasonable to wonder if he will be anywhere near full-strength.

Though both are still early in their college careers, Henry and Thompson are both already known for being rather tough and displaying a willingness to fight through pain for the good of their team.  But if Thompson can’t answer the bell, this program’s running back depth is going to be a huge concern.