Will Texas Tech continue to work Tahj Brooks to the bone in final three games?

The last time that we saw the Texas Tech football team in action, history was made as running back Tahj Brooks set the program's all-time rushing record. Now, with that career milestone achieved and the Red Raiders unfortunately out of the running for a Big 12 title, it is worth wondering how the senior will be utilized for the duration of the season.

This year, Brooks has carried the ball 235 carries in 9 games. That's an average of 26.1 each week. To put that in perspective, he averaged 22.3 carries per game last season when he set a career-high with 290 carries.

Currently, Brooks is on pace for 313 rushes given that Tech has three more games left to play. On Monday, offensive coordinator Zach Kittley was asked if there is any intention of lessening Brooks' workload and his answer was vague.

"I wasn't expecting him to carry as many as he did against Colorado," Kittley said, "based on what they've shown schematically. They changed up their scheme and were giving us extremely light boxes, just daring us to run the football and we just didn't get it done against those guys.

"So, same thing this week. There's going to be some friendly boxes at times but a lot of man coverage adding a hat to the box so we'll see. If they want to play like that, expect more throws probably but if they want to drop guys out of the box, expect the run."

Kittley didn't say anything about whether or not more carries will go to freshmen running backs J'Koby Williams and Cam Dickey, however even though it would be best for all parties involved to see a wider distribution of the carries.

So far, Dickey has 26 carries for 151 yards and a TD while Williams has only 19 carries for 89 yards and 1 TD. However, each has shown flashes of talent in the limited opportunities they have received.

The reality is that there will be only three more Texas Tech football games ever played with Tahj Brooks in the lineup. So with the Red Raiders out of the mix for any type of championship this year, the remainder of the season should be as much about finding out which young players are ready for an increased role in 2025 as anything else.

That isn't to say that Tech shouldn't try to win. Getting to nine wins would be a significant step forward for the program as Tech hasn't hit that win total since 2009.

However, if 2025 is going to be a success, the Red Raiders need to know whether or not they will need to hit the portal this offseason looking for a starting running back or whether they simply need to find a depth piece to support Williams and Dickey. The only way to do that is to find out whether either of the freshmen backs is ready to carry the load in a Big 12 game.

Again, this isn't to suggest that Brooks should be benched. He still needs between 15-20 carries per game because he's Tech's best offensive player.

However, to ride him into the dirt for the rest of this season would be a disservice to the future of the program as well as Brooks' NFL future. But the good news is that there should be plenty of carries available for everyone this weekend.

That's because the Oklahoma State defense is one of the worst in the nation against the run. In fact, by giving up 253.8 yards per game on the ground, they rank second-to-last in the NCAA. What's more, the Cowboys' opponents are averaging 42.3 rushing attempts per game, the sixth-most in the country.

So look to see if the Red Raiders give Williams and Dickey more opportunities this weekend and moving forward. Tech shouldn't stop running the football but it is time to start to find out what the freshmen have to offer. After all, Brooks has already done all he can for this university.