Morton, Hutchings lead Tech in right direction, look ahead past TCU
From the very first game Behren Morton played in his Tech career, he has been dealing with some sort of ailment. At the end of the first half of his first start a season ago, an ankle injury nagged him for weeks until it was too much to bear. This season, when Morton was called upon to replace Tyler Shough, a shoulder injury left him wounded and is something he continues to battle everyday. Coming off the bye week though, Morton was as healthy as he had been in weeks, and it showed in Tech’s win over the Horned Frogs of TCU Thursday night.
“It feels really good to be back,” Morton said following the 35-28 victory. “It feels really good to win obviously, and I can’t speak enough of the guys up front keeping me safe. I really had no pressure on me tonight. I’m gonna feel good tomorrow, which is gonna make me happy. I can’t speak enough about the guys up front and what they do for me.”
Morton posted a respectable stat line of 282 passing yards and two touchdowns, and more importantly, led the Tech side to have zero turnovers on the night. Morton was able to show some of his gunslinger traits with his shoulder progressing to what he described as “70 to 80 percent.” It had been tough sledding for the Red Raider receivers, but several of them made big plays Thursday. Coy Eakin had a game-high eight receptions for 78 yards, including a 30-yard reception. Xavier White made a big play off a bubble screen, setting up Drae McCray for a 44-yard shot downfield. And Myles Price gave Morton his first touchdown pass of the night. For that entire unit, the approach was rooted in trusting the process.
“I can’t say enough about those guys around me,” Morton said, when asked about the receivers. “We’ve been through a lot this season and we really stuck together and we’ve really created a bond that is really hard to break. I feel like tonight was a sample of what we could see for the rest of the year and that’s what we’re going to continue to do. It was really special to see.”
The defensive side of the ball were similar beneficiaries of the bye week, with Jacob Rodriguez returning to the field after being injured week one against Wyoming.
“I would say the bye week was extremely important,” defensive tackle Jaylon Hutchings said. “For JRod, coming back, the practices that he had during the bye week was big. Getting him back in the flow of football because he had been gone for so long. It was good for us, I think we used it to the best of our ability.”
Defensively, the Red Raiders held one of the premier running backs in the Big 12, Emani Bailey, to just 57 yards on the ground. Tech’s defense has been serviceable in the run game, and despite Bailey scoring twice, he had his second-lowest yard tally of the season. Learning from the TCU game is something already on the minds of Tech players.
“For the defensive side, I think obviously can always be better in communication,” Hutchings said. “Not letting the explosive plays really kill us. We did a good job tonight of stopping the run, but we can help out our secondary on some of the big plays by getting to the quarterback. I think all around we can work on our communication.”
The Red Raiders will entertain a road trip to Lawrence next week, with a currently-ranked Kansas squad on tab for Nov. 11. The bye week helped show the Tech players their purpose this season, and is something they want to carry from here on out.
“I think, overall, just everyone not getting down because of what our record is,” Morton said. “I think we really came along, and just that “What’s Next?” mentality that coach McGuire preaches. We could’ve easily laid down and let the car run over us, but we fought back and I’m super proud of this team and excited moving forward.”
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