Texas Tech QB Behren Morton talks about his O-line, new receivers, more

With the start of the 2024 Texas Tech football season, all eyes are going to be on Behren Morton. In his first fall camp as the starting quarterback for the Red Raiders, he is assuming a leadership role and becoming one of the faces of the program.

On Tuesday, Morton met with the media to discuss a variety of topics including the offensive line, his new receivers, and his relationship with star freshman Micah Hudson. Here's what he had to say.

Morton's shoulder is 100%

"It’s been fun for sure,” Morton said. “Camp has been, this has been my favorite camp by far for sure.  You know being the guy too and having full control of the offense has been great.  With the new weapons that we got, they make my life a lot easier at practice so it's really fun to get out there.  The shoulder is 100% I’m not missing a rep I’m throwing over 125 to 150 throws a day so I’m not missing a rep and I feel really good."

Knowing that Morton has no restrictions on throwing the ball because his shoulder is 100% healed is the best news Texas Tech fans could have hoped for. He was held out of a large portion of spring practice so every rep he gets with his receivers is crucial in fall camp.

What Morton sees in the new receivers

Speaking of the new receivers, Morton was asked what he's seen from that group. Not surprisingly, he indicated that the upgraded receiver room is making his life easier.

“It makes the defense, their jobs much harder with all the weapons. It's one, two, and three deep,” he said.  "Tyson Turner all the way down to the freshman we got, we got skilled guys that can play with the ones and so just to have that amount of depth, it's going to be very helpful throughout the season.  

"And then two, having those ones like Josh Kelly, Caleb Douglas, Coy [Eakin] has had a great camp, Micah [Hudson] too, and Jalin Conyers. I mean the list goes on and on.  Just the depth that we have and you know it makes my life a lot easier.”

Morton has been helping Micah Hudson get up to speed

Speaking of Micah Hudson, the five-star 2024 signee, Texas Tech fans are eager to get as much information on the high school All-American wide receiver as possible. Morton talked about his relationship with Hudson and how he's trying to help get him up to speed since he missed all of spring practice.

“Micah, the ceiling for him is, you know, there's not one," Morton said, "and you know I want to, while I'm here, I want to put his best foot forward and I want to help him because there's a big jump from high school football to college football.  And you know he didn't get to play in the spring so he didn't get to go through all the ins and outs of playing the game and so I'm trying to help him as best as I can because we play in 25 days.

“And, just staying on top of him with that.  The playbook too, I mean it's a complex offense.  Coach Kittley does a great job with our scheme and so every day is a new 60-play playbook and so like yesterday we had 60 plays, today we had new plays in 60 and so it's every day.  You got to go home when we get done around 9:30 and you got to go study for at least an hour before you go to bed and just helping him out in that aspect but he's doing a great job.”

How the offensive line has improved

Protecting Morton is going to be critical in 2024. However, there are questions about the Red Raider offensive line heading into the season. Fortunately, Morton said that he's seen an improvement in that group.

"Coach Clay McGuire has done a great job this camp," he said, "all the way back in the spring training those guys the way he wants them to play. And, it's been nice. I actually got to go yesterday, we were in a compete period and I got to my 4th and 5th progression like three or four times and I haven't been able to do that in some time. So you know having that ability to get to your 4th and 5th progression, throwing the deep post over to [Caleb Douglas] has been one of our one go-to deals, and up front, they've done a great job."

Defensive backs that are standing out

It is always fun to get a player's perspective on the guys that call the other side of the ball home. Morton named a few defensive backs who have stood out to him thus far.

“Man all of them,” Morton said. “They do a really good job.  They disguise, they're getting really good at the defense, Coach DeRyuter’s defense.  He has about 100 calls for every play and so they're getting really good at disguising plays.  

"So you know [Braylon] Lux is really good.  Mo Horn is awesome.  CJ Baskerville up at the safety level he's great too.  Then the linebackers do a really good job of showing blitz early coming off, they do a good job of checking us too. When I check the play at the line they do a good job of checking me too so you know we keep each other on [our] toes for sure."