Why it is ok to buy into Texas Tech football hype again before the 2024 season
Texas Tech football fans may have a case of prolonged trauma. That's because this program has almost annually disappointed regardless of what the offseason expectations were.
For example, remember the 2014 season? A year after Kliff Kingsbury took the program to an 8-5 record and a bowl win over a ranked Arizona State team in his debut season, expectations were at a fevered pitch, especially with sophomore QB Davis Webb set to return after a promising true freshman campaign.
Unfortunately, Tech would spit the bit that season going just 4-8 overall. What's more, Webb wouldn't even finish the year due to an ankle injury that allowed a young true freshman named Patrick Mahomes II to make his presence known.
Mahomes then led the program to a 7-6 season in 2015 which included wins over Kansas State and Texas to close out the regular season. Thus, many were high on the Red Raiders in the summer of 2016.
That year, Tech managed to go just 5-7 missing out on a postseason birth. It was a disappointing way for Mahomes' career to come to an end.
The point is that Tech has rarely exceeded expectations in the 14 seasons since the end of the Mike Leach era. That included last fall.
There was plenty of bravado coming out of the Texas Tech football program in the summer of 2023. What's more, people around the nation bought in.
Unfortunately, Tech would struggle right out of the gates getting off to just a 1-3 start. That ended any hope of the Red Raiders meeting the offseason hype.
Last year seemed to be a painful one for Tech fans in that regard. Now many have sworn that they won't buy into the Red Raiders again until the program actually proves it is worthy of our faith.
However, some may be ready to give their hearts back to the Red Raiders ahead of another season. So let's look at why it is ok to believe in Texas Tech football once again.
Behren Morton is Texas Tech's most talented QB since Mahomes
Football is all about the QB position and there's reason to believe that Texas Tech has found an upgrade at that position. Sure, junior Behren Morton is still a bit of an unproven commodity but he is the most physically talented QB the Red Raiders have had since Mahomes.
When Morton is fully healthy, he has elite arm talent and the type of quick release that could make him a future NFL QB. He also is elusive in the pocket and can make big plays off-schedule.
What's more, he knows the game extremely well. The son of a high school coach, Morton understands how to play the position and he's ready to show what he can do as the unquestioned QB1 for the first time in his college career.
The problem is that we just haven't seen Morton at full strength. He was hampered by an ankle injury when he started a handful of games as a redshirt freshman and last season he didn't make one start in which his throwing shoulder was at 100% after spraining it against West Virginia in the fourth game of the year.
Still, there is reason to believe that Morton will be a better QB than his predecessor, Tyler Shough. He has more arm talent, plays with more confidence, and is more elusive in the pocket. If he can just stay healthy, he should give the Red Raiders excellent QB play in 2024 and that is one reason to have hope for a strong season.