Texas Tech football: Position groups to watch in spring ball

Will one quarterback separate himself from the pack?

It’s been far too long since the Texas Tech football program had a legitimate star at the quarterback position.  In fact, not since the final year of the Pat Mahomes run has Tech had stability at the game’s most important spot. McGuire has to change that and the search for a solution begins this spring with a 3-headed QB battle.

Senior Tyler Shough, sophomore Donovan Smith, and redshirt freshman Behren Morton are the three players with a legitimate shot at winning the starting QB job this offseason.  That group gives Tech the most depth it has had at the position since the early days of the Kingsbury era.  But is there a star among that trio?

Shough, who still could play as many as three seasons if he is granted a medical redshirt for 2021, might be the most likely to emerge as the starter.  After all, he has the most experience among the group with eleven career starts at the Power 5 level.  And prior to last season, many experts were projecting him to be an early-round NFL Draft pick in 2022.

That didn’t happen because of a broken collar bone sustained in Tech’s first conference game, a humiliating loss at Texas.  And because Shough missed so much time, it has opened the door for Donovan Smith to have a say in this position battle.

The former Frienship Tiger was hit or miss in his four starts last fall.  He led Tech to wins over Iowa State and Missippi State but he was unable to play at a consistent level.

In his two wins, he was 40-60 passing (66.6%) with 574 yards and four TD passes.  But in his two losses, he was just 24-52 (46.2%) for 354 yards and two TDs.  That’s not all that unexpected from a freshman and it is worth noting that his two losses came against Oklahoma State and Baylor, the two teams that played in the Big 12 Championship game.  Still, Smith is going to have to prove his consistency this spring if he wants to beat out Shough.

As for Morton, it would seem like his time is still in the future.  Having yet to start a game at the collegiate level, he’s thrown only three passes as a Red Raider.  Still, the former 4-star recruit has as much of a pedigree as any player to don the Double T since Graham Harrell and he could surprise in his second spring with the program.

Tech desperately needs one of these quarterbacks to pay off if the program is going to get back to where it once was as a legitimate force in the Big 12.  So keep an eye on reports about the QBs this spring because that has to be the top priority for McGuire and his new offensive coordinator Zach Kittley.