Joey McGuire updates wide receivers and offensive line after first spring scrimmage

Friday, March 29, the Texas Tech football program held its first spring scrimmage. After the practice session, head coach Joey McGuire spoke to the media about the receivers and the offensive line. What he said was both encouraging and a bit surprising in some instances.

"Excited, you know, back like full tilt some game situations," he said. "I thought you know we played fast. I thought the scrimmage started off and you said like who won the scrimmage it's kind of different parts.

"I thought the defense came out really fast you know probably through four series we gave up a field goal and that was it and then the offense really got going. It got going as we started getting the ball to Josh Kelly. Man, he made some amazing plays and more than just catches. He made routine catches and he made some really great moves in space and he got us going.

"And so the offense really got rolling and then we did our red zone lockout which is you know we always end our scrimmages that way first to 18 put the ball on the 20-yard line and the offense dominated. We had a touchdown with the ones by Brady Boyd to go up 6 nothing. Then, with the twos he came back and caught another touchdown to go up you know 12, and then right at the end, very first play with the threes, Trey Jackson 20-yard touchdown to win 18 to nothing."

Kelly is one of the new transfers that people around the program are most excited about. Last season at Washington State, he caught 61 passes for 923 yards and eight TDs and he's expected to bring a big-play element to Lubbock that was missing last season.

Boyd is an intriguing player as well after he emerged late in the 2023 season. He caught only five passes for 41 yards and played in only three games due to injury but McGuire seems high on the former Minnesota transfer.

"First touchdown he caught from the outside it was probably about a 12 yard touchdown," McGuire said, "and then the second he was playing the slot and that was like a four-yard touchdown.  He could play all four positions, you know, put him inside and outside on either side of the ball but really good scrimmage."

McGuire was then asked about the offensive line. He reviewed the starting lineup for the day and there were a couple of surprises.

"Right now with our offensive line," McGuire said, "whenever you look you know Ty Buchanan is starting at right tackle right now and you know I expect that he can hold everybody off there but he's played in games but not a lot of them. And then you got today the right guard was Caleb Rogers. Now he's played a ton so you expect a lot. Center was Sheridan Wilson and I think he's doing a really good job. He's having a great spring football and then Vinny [Sciury] is playing at left guard he started 37 games. Then you had Sterling [Porcher] who started I think 28 games so I felt good about that. Next week we’ll kind of shake it up."

This starting lineup is not exactly what was expected. For instance, Rogers was initially thought to be the starter at center but perhaps new offensive line coach Clay McGuire prefers the senior to play guard.

Wilson is a sophomore from Argyle, Texas who has seemingly come from out of nowhere to insert himself into the competition for a starting job at center. Meanwhile, Porcher and Sciury were highly-regarded transfers who were indeed expected to vie for starting jobs this season.

McGuire was then specifically asked about the all-important left tackle position. He indicated that there is competition at that spot.

"It's strong I think you know if you say who's winning today and we go play it's going to be Sterling and we think he's ahead," McGuire said. "You know he's a guy that's played a lot more football than [Maurice Rodriques] you know but it's great to have [Maurice].

"Good thing with him is he's learning fast he's a large human being, I mean I think he's 6-foot-5, 6-foot-6 and he truly weighs 340 lbs right now. You know he'll continue to work, like I don't care if he weighs 340, that's great. We just want it the best 340. But if we were playing right now, you know, Sterling would be the starting left tackle. Just his experience and he's doing some great things."

Porcher is a transfer from Middle Tennessee State who started all 25 games over the past two years. Rodriques is a JUCO transfer who was highly sought after by some of the top programs in the country. That should be an interesting battle through the spring and into summer camp.

The Red Raiders return to the practice field this week after a weekend off for the Easter holiday. They will hold the annual spring game on April 20 in Midland.