In each game, Texas Tech featured young guns at QB
Comparing any QB to Mahomes is unfair. After all, he’s proven to be the best player on the planet and what he was able to do in college from an individual perspective is going to be hard for anyone to match.
However, when he took Tech into Austin in 2015, he was far from being a superstar. Rather, he was a sophomore gunslinger who had plenty of confidence and enough moxy to lead his team into enemy territory.
Doesn’t that sound a little bit like Behren Morton? Though he’s been limited by the sprained right shoulder he’s played through this year, at his core, Morton is a brash sophomore gunslinger who thinks he can make every throw, even the ones he probably shouldn’t attempt.
Mahomes also had the reputation for being a gunslinger and that served him well against Texas in 2015. Morton may have to be the hero in a similar way this year given Texas’ dominance when it comes to stopping the run.
Sure, Morton’s stats don’t come anywhere near matching Mahomes’ in 2015. That’s in large part because of his injury.
He’s thrown for only 1,410 yards and 12 TDs while making seven starts. Meanwhile, in 2015, as a sophomore, Mahomes started every game and passed for 4,653 yards and 36 TDs.
Still, there are undeniable similarities between Morton and Mahomes as players. In fact, Morton is maybe a decaffeinated version of Mahomes.
Both were multi-sport athletes in high school and both use that diverse sports background to be better QBs. Each is supremely confident in his abilities and each is willing to take chances. What’s more, at the time they started their only game in Austin, each had fewer than 17 career starts in college.
Mahomes was at his best against Texas in 2015 and it led to a signature win, one that made him an instant Texas Tech legend. He had 402 yards of total offense and a TD through the air and on the ground. Maybe Morton is in store for a similar performance this week as he tries to spoil a great season for the Longhorns and get his team to 7-5 by winning in Austin just like Mahomes did eight years ago.