Important Texas Tech weapon shows off his strength at first fall scrimmage

Saturday, the Texas Tech football team held the first scrimmage of fall camp, and an often overlooked Red Raider reminded everyone why he's such a great weapon for head coach Joey McGuire. In fact, by making a 64-yard field goal, kicker Stone Harrington might have stolen the show from the rest of his teammates.

Of course, no football team is going to live or die by the success of its kicker. However, having a reliable option at that spot is important for teams that plan to prevail in close contests. And having a kicker who can knock it through the uprights from the other side of midfield is a luxury few teams in the nation enjoy.

Harrington proved to be a long-range weapon a season ago, his first as the Red Raiders' primary placekicker. While making 22 of his 28 field goal tries, he converted on three of his five attempts from 50 yards or longer.

That included a 58-yard make early in the season against Utah in a pivotal Red Raider Big 12 victory. It was around that time of the season that Harrington won the primary kicking role after splitting kicks with Upton Bellenfant to begin the season.

After making 78.6% of his field goals and all but one of his 42 extra-point tries last fall, Harrington was named a first-team All-Big 12 honoree. Now, he enters 2026 as one of the top kickers in America, one who gives Texas Tech a long-distance weapon the likes of which few teams can match.

Should Harrington find a way to convert from 64 yards in a game this year, he would set a new Texas Tech record, but just barely. Back in 2021, Jonathan Garibay had perhaps the most dramatic kick in school history when he drilled a 62-yard kick to upset Iowa State in Lubbock as time expired.

Of course, the Texas Tech coaching staff wants to see a little less of Harrington in 2026 than it saw last year, when the red-zone struggles of the offense led to more field goal tries than McGuire preferred. In fact, Tech even began referring to the red zone as the "No Stone Zone" in an attempt to emphasize the importance of finishing drives with seven points instead of three.

Still, to have a kicker who can grab his team an unexpected three points by converting from way outside of the red zone could be something that helps turn close games, especially at the end of each half. Fortunately, Texas Tech has such a weapon in Stone Harrington.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow