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Texas Tech football: Ranking the 10 best QB seasons of “Air Raid” era

By Matthew Conner

ARLINGTON, TX - NOVEMBER 25: Patrick Mahomes II #5 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders warming up before 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 warming up before 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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Quarterback Cody Hodges of Texas Tech scrambles (Photo by G. N. Lowrance/Getty Images)
Quarterback Cody Hodges of Texas Tech scrambles (Photo by G. N. Lowrance/Getty Images) /

No. 9: Hodges in 2005

A player who had a similar game to Doege was Cody Hodges, who was the third-straight 5th-year senior to start for the Red Raiders in the years after the Kliff Kingsbury era.  Following the footsteps of BJ Symons and Sonny Cumbie, Hodges made the most of his one year as a starter.

The Hereford, Texas product passed for 4197 yards 31 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions in 2005 while leading Tech to an appearance in the Cotton Bowl.  That’s why this season ranks just a bit higher than Doege’s senior year despite being statistically a bit less impressive.

Like Doege, Hodges was capable of picking up yards with his feet and he also ran for 191 yards and three more scores that year.  It wasn’t like he was a true dual-threat QB who was going to run the read-option all game long (that wasn’t a staple of the Mike Leach offense anyway) but when the running lanes were there, he could exploit them.

Hodges had eight games over 300 yards.  That included a monster 643-yard, 5-TD game at home against Kansas State.   Of course, that performance was overshadowed by the huge hit that safety Dwayne Slay put on KSU QB Alan Everidge.

It’s always fun to beat Texas A&M and to help Tech accomplish that in 2005, Hodges passed for 408 yards and a TD in Lubbock.  And his 368-yard, 4-TD game against Nebraska in Lincoln remains legendary for the miraculous way Tech pulled out that win.

Interestingly, he is also having an impact on the current version of the Red Raiders.  That’s because Hodges worked as a personal QB coach for Alan Bowman when Bowman was in high school meaning that some of the credit for what the Red Raiders starter has become as a collegiate is due to Hodges’ tutelage.

But don’t forget how impressive Hodges was in 2005 when he was the one taking snaps in Lubbock.  Leading Tech to a 9-3 record and at one point a spot in the top 10 in the polls, he milked everything he could out of his lone chance to be a starting QB in the Big 12.

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