QB Maverick McIvor
Plenty of fans know the name of backup QB Maverick McIvor. After all, it is rather unique. But none of us know what type of player he is. That will likely change in 2020.
There remains an outside shot that the redshirt freshman could win the starting job from Alan Bowman but the lack of a full spring practice season severely diminished his shot at pulling off that feat. But as we’ve learned in recent years, the QB spot is one where there can never be too much depth.
It has been since the final year of Pat Mahomes’ career in Lubbock, 2016, that Tech has started the same QB in every game of a season. And in the last two seasons, Tech has started three different QBs due to an unprecedented rash of injuries.
Thus, McIvor, the San Angelo native, needs to be ready to go this year. Especially given Bowman’s injury history.
Of course, McIvor has an injury history of his own. In fact, he’s played just one-and-a-half games of football in the last two years. A torn knee ligament cut his senior season of high school ball down to just 1.5 games while a broken foot kept him out of action all last year.
But don’t forget that the former 3-star recruit was the No. 19 dual-threat QB and the No. 101 overall player in the nation in the class of 2019. That’s a rather impressive set of rankings and it should remind us just how good of a prospect he was thought to be.
If the 2020 season is going to be better, whoever plays QB for the Red Raiders has to be better than Jett Duffey was last fall. In 2019, the former Red Raider who entered the transfer portal this offseason was good enough to keep Tech in games but not good enough to win them.
That mustn’t be what Tech receives from this year’s QBs because that position is the one that often tells the tale each week. We know that McIvor will see the field this year if healthy. And there’s a chance he could make a start or two…or more…this season should Bowman go down again. If so, here’s hoping that the redshirt freshman is fully healthy and ready to play his first action at the Big 12 level.