With the Texas Tech football team just over a week away from facing Arkansas in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl, Red Raider fans got some expected but still somewhat disappointing news on Wednesday. The team's leading wide receiver in 2024, Josh Kelly, announced that he will skip the Liberty Bowl to continue his preparation for the upcoming NFL Draft.
This news, which was reported by the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, should not take anyone by surprise. That's because as Texas Tech has been going through bowl practices in Lubbock, Kelly has produced social media posts showing that he was not with the team.
It was a terrific season for Kelly in his one year as a Red Raider. After transferring to Texas Tech from Washington State he caught 89 passes for 1,023 yards and five touchdowns. It was the only time in his college career that he surpassed the 1,000-yard mark.
Those numbers were good enough to earn Kelly second-team All-Big 12 recognition from the league's coaches. He ranked eighth in the nation in receptions this fall and helped the Red Raiders have the No. 10 passing offense in America at 291.1 yards per game.
Texas Tech football will be without wide receiver Josh Kelly in the Liberty Bowl, a school spokesman says, as Kelly starts preparing for draft process https://t.co/hO2EC7V5Yl
— Lubbock Avalanche-Journal (@lubbockonline) December 18, 2024
This season, Kelly had five 100-yard receiving games. That included a season-high 156 yards to go along with a touchdown in the season opener against Abilene Christian.
He also posted 150 yards in the regular-season finale against West Virginia. And in the Red Raiders' road upset of then No. 11 Iowa State in November, he hauled in eight passes for 127 yards and two scores.
The Fresno, California native began his career at home with Fresno State where he played for four seasons. Then, he left for Washington State prior to the 2023 season only to finish his career with the Red Raiders.
In all, he hauled in 237 passes for 3,251 yards and 17 touchdowns over the course of 51 career college games. Now, he's set to try to land an opportunity in the NFL and his absence will be felt in the Liberty Bowl.
This news means that Texas Tech's offense will be without its top receiver, starting quarterback Behren Morton (who is recovering from offseason shoulder surgery), and 2024 offensive coordinator Zach Kittley (who is now the head coach at Florida Atlantic). However, being without critical members of the program is a reality that many programs around the country face when playing in mid-tier bowl games in the modern era of the sport, especially given that the transfer portal opens before bowl games are even played.
This news will open up opportunities for younger wide receivers to step in and showcase their skills against the Razorbacks. Kelly will be tough to replace, though, and his time as a Red Raider will be remembered fondly as he is the first 1,000-yard wide receiver the program has produced since Antoine Wesley in 2018. Hopefully, he can have that type of success at the next level as well.