By STEPHEN HAWKINS
AP Sports Writer
Tyler Shough again goes into a season opener as Texas Tech’s starting quarterback. He hopes to play every game his third time around with the Red Raiders.
“That’s why I wanted to come back this year, to put a whole season together,” Shough said. “I feel like if we all stay healthy, we’re going to make a run at a Big 12 championship, just with the talent we have and our relationships.”
Texas Tech is 8-1 in the games Shough (pronounced ‘shuck’) started the past two years, winning all eight he started and finished. But the former Oregon transfer missed significant time both of those seasons because of an injured left (non-throwing) shoulder.
“He’s a pro. He’s a guy that comes in and prepares at such a high level,” second-year Red Raiders coach Joey McGuire said. “He’s such a great example to our football team to this is how you have to prepare to play at a high level. It’s really important for him to stay healthy.”
Shough transferred to Texas Tech after starting for Oregon during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, when the Ducks won the Pac-12 championship game. He broke his collarbone in his fourth game with the Red Raiders in 2021, then re-injured that shoulder in his last year’s opener and missed six more games.
The Red Raiders went 8-5 last season by winning their last four games. That streak coincided with the return of the 6-foot-5 Shough to the starting role in mid-November, and is the longest any returning Big 12 team takes into this season. He had a career-high 436 yards passing against Oklahoma to end the regular season, then was MVP of the Texas Bowl with 353 yards (242 passing, 111 rushing) and three touchdowns in a win over Ole Miss.
“Candidly, it was just … I’m going to go out there and have fun, because I’m not going to worry about getting injured. I’m not going to worry about playing bad, or this and that,” Shough said. “I just went out there and was having fun with my teammates. … I think that showed, and I think it fired up a lot of guys. We all have that similar mentality.”
FEATURED BACK
Tahj Brooks finally gets his chance to be Tech’s featured running back after leading the team in rushing each of the past two seasons when sharing the load with SaRodorick Thompson.
“He’s a workhorse. I feel like he’s an every-down back,” Shough said. “Everything that he does off the field, on the field, he’s a sparkplug.”
Brooks ran for 691 yards with seven touchdowns last season, and caught 26 passes. Shough also lauded his ability as a blocker picking up blitzes.
“For me, it’s being more than just a one-dimensional guy,” Brooks said.
WINNING IN CONFERENCE
The Red Raiders had a winning record (5-4) in Big 12 play for the first time since 2009, which was Mike Leach’s final season as their coach. Both their conference opener and finale were overtime victories at home and those happened to be wins over Texas and Oklahoma in the same season for the first time.
FULL HOUSES
Texas Tech has already announced sellouts for its home opener against Oregon on Sept. 9 and the conference opener against Big 12 newcomer Houston on Sept. 30. The stadium capacity is just over 56,000 this season because of an ongoing construction project in the south end. The school sold out its full allotment of nearly 32,000 season tickets, plus all single-game tickets for those two games. There are about 12,000 seats set aside for students.
ALMOST RANKED
The Red Raiders just missed getting into the preseason AP Top 25 poll for the first time since 2008. They were the first team listed among others receiving votes. Texas Tech hasn’t been ranked at any point since a one-week stay at No. 25 early in the 2018 season.
THE SCHEDULE
The Red Raiders will play five of their conference games on the road, including trips to Baylor and BYU before ending the regular season at Texas the night after Thanksgiving in the last Big 12 regular-season game for the Longhorns. Tech doesn’t have another game scheduled with Oklahoma before the Sooners go with Texas to the SEC next year.
