McGuire, Red Raiders relishing much-needed bye week
Texas Tech’s bye week in the 2023 season could not possibly have come at a better time, with the Red Raiders desperate for a week off following a loss at BYU. At 3-5 on the season, Tech is utilizing the off week to rejuvenate and recover, with several players who had been previously injured healing up over the course of the time off.
The most notable perhaps, is quarterback Behren Morton, who has been battling a Grade 3 AC sprain dating back to the Red Raiders’ trip to Morgantown. After taking several hard hits against Kansas State two Saturdays ago, the redshirt freshman was unable to roll against the Cougars in Provo, but was confirmed to be making his return against TCU.
“Today was the first time Behren Morton’s thrown in practice since going into West Virginia,” head coach Joey McGuire said following Tech’s practice Wednesday evening. “... Oh, he’ll play. If we played today, he would play. Yeah, he’s back.”
With only four games on the schedule remaining, there could be some opportunities for freshmen who have not played yet to compete without the chance of burning their redshirt. It is a possibility, but not something that the Red Raiders will be chomping at the bit to make happen.
“We’re taking it one game at a time, our objective is to go out and find a way to beat TCU,” McGuire said. “We’ve really talked about it, we always talk about it. Y’all have seen the signs about being “1-0” and being “1-0” going into the bye week with taking care of our bodies. We just got to scrimmage the young guys, I will tell you, it’s fun the last few days to watch, we’ve scrimmaged the young guys the last two days. It’s fun to watch the young receivers, TJ West, DJ Crest, Kelby (Valsin) made a really good catch, Aiden Meeks had a touchdown yesterday… It’s really, you know, the young guys that have played are going to, but we’re not going to push any of the young guys in, especially right now. Trying to focus on TCU and getting better with the guys we have.”
McGuire also noted that inside linebacker Jacob Rodriguez has returned to practice, and has been participating in drills, not fully-padded yet but donning a helmet and shoulder pads. One player that does not have a set timetable still however, is left guard Cole Spencer.
“He’s progressing, I still don’t see him at TCU,” McGuire said. “It’s frustrating, I know he’s really frustrated. It’s where the break is, he’s got a broken toe, and you know you’re like ‘Every lineman’, but the problem is where the break is. It’s right on the lisfranc. That lisfranc, he didn’t do anything there, but it’s so close that any kind of damage now, you’re out. That rehab’s somewhere six to eight months. I don’t want to do that to him… we put him in a cast, non-weight bearing. We took that cast off, they x-rayed it. Still don’t feel 100 percent, so it’d be again, take the cast off, x-ray it soon. As soon as they feel good about it, he can go.”
The status of Spencer is not the only note to keep an eye on moving forward when it concerns the Tech offensive line. There was much scrutiny in Provo about the offensive snaps from Rusty Staats to Jake Strong, and snaps have been an area of question all season. For now, at least, Staats will be assuming a new role on the line.
“(Dennis Wilburn) is sliding over, Rusty’s going to right guard, Dennis is going to center,” McGuire said when asked about the miscues snapping the ball. “It’s not, the reason we’re not doing that, we’re doing it (because of) injury to his right elbow, and you saw it at the end. Now, we had bad snaps throughout the game, so you can’t use that as an excuse from early in the game. We had snaps that were off target, I think there was 26 percent of snaps that were off target. Meaning that quarterback, I don’t care who it is, anytime you got to take your eyes away, down or anything like that, it’s hard to play that position. So our plan is to move Dennis to center and Rusty to right guard.”
With the hustle and bustle of the season continuing to roar away, the time off gives the team a chance to regroup ahead of what will be the most critical stretch of their schedule.
“Sunday is like a Tuesday,” McGuire said. The team’s schedule has adjusted with the contest against TCU slated for next Thursday. “Tomorrow we’ve got community service, we’re going to a bunch of elementary schools to read. They’ve got a big lift in the morning. Friday they’ll be off. Saturday’s kinda like a Monday, so it’s an off day for them, but we’ll have all our cut-ups of TCU so they could come in and watch on Saturday.”
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