The unofficial start to the 2024 season has arrived with Joey McGuire and the Texas Tech football team headed to Las Vegas for Big 12 media days.
With the eyes of the sports world headed toward college football, here’s a brief rundown of the top things to know about the 2024 Red Raiders, and the Big 12 Conference as a whole.
In Joey McGuire’s first two seasons, the Red Raiders have been able to turn it on in November to find their way to a bowl game. If that’s the case again in 2024, red flags should be raised.
Texas Tech’s 2024 schedule features four teams that had winning records in 2023. The team’s first five games overall, and seven of the first eight, come against teams with a losing record. It won’t be until the last two weeks of the season that the Red Raiders play back-to-back games against teams that won more than they lost a season ago.
By Phil Steele’s calculations, in this year’s preview magazine, Tech’s schedule ranks 111th in the country (out of 134) in opponent winning percentage.
In total, Tech’s opponents had a combined record of 69-79 in 2023. If the Red Raiders aren’t knocking on the door of bowl eligibility by the Oct. 5 trip to Arizona, it will not be pretty.
Quarterback health has been a big issue for the Red Raiders in recent years. Tech has had to start three different quarterbacks in three straight years. The last QB to appear in every game of the season for the Red Raiders was Nic Shimonek in 2017.
The hope is that Behren Morton can buck that trend, though his own health issues are something to monitor. Morton didn’t make it one game as the starter before he was dealing with an injured shoulder. The AC joint issue plagued him the rest of the season and McGuire decided to shut Morton down for the bulk of spring practice to preserve the shoulder.
McGuire and co. have accounted for this to add depth to the quarterback room, though they’re banking on Morton being the guy. Can he withstand a whole season?
With the quarterback situation unsettled, the Red Raiders leaned heavily on veteran running back Tahj Brooks to be the workhorse. He came through by being one of the top rushers in the country last season (290 carries, 1,538 yards and 10 TDs). He opted to return to Tech for one last season rather than take his chances in the NFL Draft.
That was welcomed news as the Red Raiders had to revamp their offensive skill positions. Much of last year’s receiving production is gone, either through graduation or the transfer portal. Luckily, McGuire’s crew knew they had a five-star receiver coming in.
Micah Hudson caught some by surprise when he opted to sign with Texas Tech over the slew of power programs who also sought his services. He was the centerpiece of one of the top recruiting classes in the country and they’ve surrounded him with some other veteran pieces through the portal.
The Red Raiders brought in receivers Josh Kelly (Washington State) and Caleb Douglas (Florida) and tight ends Johncarlos Miller (Elon) and Jalin Conyers (Arizona State). They’re paired with returners in tight end Mason Tharp and Brooks to give Morton — or whoever is playing quarterback — plenty of options around the field.
The offense, more less, has defined players who should carry the majority of the load, at least right now. The defense is where things are less concrete.
Gone are the mainstays like Jaylon Hutchings and Tony Bradford in the middle and Dadrion Taylor-Demerson in the secondary. The two highly-touted edge rushers — who failed to produce as many expected — are also out with Steven Linton transferring to Baylor and Myles Cole off to the NFL.
The one area the Red Raiders seem deepest at is inside linebacker with Ben Roberts, Jacob Rodriguez and Bryce Ramirez all coming back with major experience under their belts. The secondary has some key returners as well in Bralyn Lux and C.J. Baskerville.
Filling out the rest of the defensive rotation will be key for a unit that has progressed well under McGuire’s tenure.
None of the returning Big 12 Conference members were willing to throw going away parties for Texas and Oklahoma as they hit the exits for the Southeastern Conference. Much of that is because without the egotists around, the door is wide open for new head honchos to rise up.
Texas Tech hopes to be one of those teams to take up the mantel for the Big 12. Oklahoma State, Utah and Arizona appear to have the early advantage this season, but don’t look past the likes of Iowa State and West Virginia.
And then there’s Colorado, with all its Deion Sanders pomp and circumstance. Or programs like UCF and Cincinnati, who are trying to reinvent themselves in the power-conference structure.
How everything unfolds not just this year but in the years to come will be fascinating to watch.
