Texas Tech football names Tyler Shough starting quarterback

Texas Tech plans to go into this coming football season with the same starting quarterback for the third year in a row, hoping for Tyler Shough's sake that he has better luck staying healthy.

Tech football coach Joey McGuire named Shough the team's starting QB on Friday, giving Shough the chance to pick up where he left off as MVP of the Red Raiders' Texas Bowl victory over Mississippi.

He competed for the job during the off-season and spring practice with Behren Morton, though the announcement wasn't a surprise given the Red Raiders went 4-0 in the last four games of last season with Shough as the starter.

Asked what gave Shough the edge, McGuire said, "I think the way he ended the season, being 4-and-0, his grasp of the offense."

Shough suffered a broken left collarbone in the fourth game of the 2021 season and didn't play again, then suffered a broken collarbone in the first game of the 2022 season and didn't play again until the seventh game. He led Tech to victories over Kansas, Iowa State and Oklahoma to end the regular season, and then in the Texas Bowl passed for 242 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 111 yards and two TDs in Tech's 42-25 victory over Mississippi.

Donovan Smith, who started games two through five last season, transferred to Houston.

Morton, who started games six through nine last season, is the Red Raiders' No. 2 quarterback again going into the summer.

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"If you look at the spring last year, (Shough's) completion rate was 62 percent," McGuire said. "He went to 72 percent this year in the spring.

"Now with Behren, what was really impressive is, Behren we felt like would have given up in the full spring practices — in the live periods minus hitting the quarterback — 26 sacks [last spring]. This spring, he would have given up six.

"So we're better up front, but it's also him understanding where to get the ball out. A lot of his sacks last year, in a brand-new offense, was him holding on to the ball too long."

McGuire said Shough's numbers in sacks taken are "very comparable."

"He gave up less last year," McGuire said, "just because of being, I think, older and more experienced."

Given the talent level and starting experience of both his QBs, McGuire thinks they're being undervalued nationally.

"What's crazy is Texas Tech quarterbacks are not being talked about," McGuire said, "and it's almost, to me, just laziness. I've got two guys, I think both of them are going to play on Sunday. And our guys have won games in power-five football, and it's not that they have five stars (recruiting ratings) behind them or they have a name behind him. Our guys have actually done it in games, so it's not like the potential good. They are good.

"So I love our room. I feel great about our room."

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Morton will be a third-year sophomore this fall. Shough will be a sixth-year senior, though he could seek a medical hardship waiver for a seventh season in 2024, based on his injury-shortened 2021 season.

One knock on Shough has been his ability to stay on the field. He suffered his first collarbone injury diving into the end zone for a touchdown at Texas two years ago. He suffered an injury to the same collarbone last year being tackled into the turf at the end of a 17-yard run.

McGuire noted his rugged display against Ole Miss when he carried the ball 25 times.

"At the end of the day, his two injuries are kind of freak injuries," McGuire said. "If you're wondering about his health, I don't know of anybody that played harder against Ole Miss and almost invited contact and didn't get hurt.

"Last year was such a freak deal. They did plate it, so I think that's going to help. I think us being better up front ... ."

To make the point Shough should not be viewed as injury prone, McGuire pointed to other players who have suffered collarbone injuries. Among them: Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers, who suffered a clavicle sprain last season, Tech wide receiver Coy Eakin, who suffered a broken collarbone this spring and former Baylor quarterback Garret McGuire, the coach's son, who also once had a broken collarbone.

"It's just one of those deals, if you hit it perfectly like that, that's just one spot that's vulnerable," McGuire said.

Freshman Jake Strong, who signed in December and joined the team in January, is the Red Raiders' third quarterback. Strong, listed at 6-foot-1 and 210 pounds, set Justin Northwest school career records for passing yards (6,688), passing touchdowns (82), total yards (8,284) and total touchdowns (100).

This spring, Strong's completion rate was in the 62-63 percent range, which McGuire said was higher than two of the top three QBs last spring.

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Texas Tech football names Tyler Shough starting quarterback