Texas Tech football coach Joey McGuire: Steve Linton overcame sprained ankle for career game
Steve Linton is coming off a career game against Baylor. According to Texas Tech football head coach Joey McGuire, it almost didn't happen.
McGuire said Monday that the 6-foot-5 outside linebacker suffered an ankle injury in the second half of the win over Houston. Linton worked with trainers throughout the week to be ready to go. As soon as the team arrived at the hotel in Waco, Linton was in the pool rehabbing.
That work paid off. Linton came up with three sacks and two forced fumbles in the 39-14 win over the Bears. Entering Saturday's game, Linton hadn't come up with a sack in a Red Raider uniform and had just 4.5 for his career, which started with a four-year stint at Syracuse before getting to Lubbock.
Part of what made Linton successful, McGuire said, is he has started to finish his pass-rush moves.
"If you don't finish that pass rush move, even if you don't get home," McGuire said, "if you don't finish it, you really didn't rush the passer. You kind of quit. That's what some of the guys are doing. They'll get right in the middle of it, it doesn't work and then they start to panic."
McGuire noted that hasn't been the case of the last six quarters. He pointed to Linton and Charles Esters III (who had two of Tech's six sacks) for finishing moves that helped put pressure on the Baylor offensive line.
Injury update
Heading into Saturday's home matchup with Kansas State, McGuire said he's expecting tight end Charlie Robinson and receiver Jordan Brown to return to the lineup.
Robinson has been out all season with an ankle injury he had surgery on earlier this year. Brown missed the game against Baylor after aggravating a hip injury had previously had surgery on.
Several players are considered day-to-day. Offensive lineman Cole Spencer and tight end Mason Tharp are both starters who, along with Brown, didn't travel to Waco. McGuire said Tharp practiced Sunday and Spencer is dealing with a foot issue.
Linebacker Jacob Rodriguez, who suffered a foot sprain against Wyoming, is also day-to-day but is more likely to return for next week's road game at BYU than he is to be back for K-State.
Game announcement
Texas Tech will make its first trip to Provo, Utah for a Big 12 game next week.
The Red Raiders are set to take on BYU in a game that will kickoff at 6 p.m. and air on FS1, the conference announced Monday.
Next week's game will make the first time Tech and BYU have faced each other in 83 years as the teams haven't squared off since 1940. That game occurred in Lubbock where 7,000 fans saw the Red Raiders earn a 21-20 win.
BYU is on the road this week to take on TCU.
The matchup with the Cougars will be Tech's final game before their open date. Out of the break, the Red Raiders are already slated to face TCU at 6 p.m. on Nov. 2. That game will also air on FS1.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Texas Tech football's Steve Linton overcame sprained ankle for career game
