With bowl eligibility in hand already heading into the season finale, Texas Tech can place the entirety of its focus on winning the game at hand. Regardless of the result, postseason play has been clinched.
In a sense that makes Friday’s trip to Austin to face Texas ditch a potential “do or die” scenario had the Red Raiders lost against Central Florida. Even with this in mind, Tech is on tab to face arguably the strongest opponent it has faced all season in the No. 7 Longhorns.
Injuries are a part of the game, Tech is no stranger to this notion, and the injury bug bit Texas in a major way two weeks ago. The Longhorns are without running back Jonathan Brooks, who fell victim to a torn ACL against TCU. As is typically the case with schools who typically pick up highly-rated talent on a whim however, waiting in the wings behind Brooks was Cedric (CJ) Baxter. A freshman out of Orlando, coming out of high school Baxter was the No. 2 running back in his class, according to Rivals.com. In his first game as the primary back, Baxter rushed for 117 yards, and the Red Raiders are gearing up for the challenge now trying to defend someone who may not have been expected several weeks ago.
“It’s a really explosive offense,” outside linebacker Joseph Adedire said Tuesday evening. “I feel like we can really get after them when we play our brand of football and we really attack them… (Baxter) is an amazing back… he’s a great athlete, great football player but we intend to attack him the same way that we’ve attacked everybody else.”
With the amount of talent spread out through the Texas offense, Baxter may even be the least of Tech’s worries. After missing several weeks with a Grade 2 AC sprain, Quinn Ewers returned against the Horned Frogs and pitched two scores a week ago in Ames. With a variety of weapons at his disposal, Ewers will be a different brand of quarterback than the Red Raiders have faced in the last few contests. After a heavy dose of dual-threat with John Rhys Plumlee, Ewers presents a more pocket-oriented game that brings its own challenges. For one Tech player in particular, there will be familiarity when lined up against the sophomore in burnt orange.
“It’s kind of nice, you don’t have to worry about chasing a really fast quarterback with like (Jason) Bean the week before and then Plumlee,” linebacker Ben Roberts. “I’ve seen Quinn in high school because we were in the same district. It won’t be anything super new to me. But I’m really excited to play him because every year that I’ve been watching film preparing to play him, he’s been hurt or he took his senior year and went to college early. I was like, he’s dodging me. I’ll have an opportunity now.”
With the 2023 game being the last scheduled matchup between Tech and Texas, the long standing series will come to an end for the foreseeable future. When the clock reaches triple zeroes Friday night in Austin, the storied matchup will become history. As players come and go the tradition will mean less as the years progress, but for those who have witnessed it, there will always be a special place in their hearts for it.
“I actually grew up an A&M fan, unfortunately,” tight end Mason Tharp said. “My dad went to A&M so I would always watch A&M on Thanksgiving and hoping (Texas) lost everytime… I just grew up not a Texas fan, so it kind of feeds into that. I don’t know really anyone that wants Texas to win in the Big 12, but I mean, they’re a great team. It’s gonna be a fun game, it’s gonna be a challenge for us.”
Texas has received its flowers this season for their strong defensive line play. It starts with T’Vondre Sweat and Byron Murphy, with Trill Carter being a strong depth option. The Longhorns boast the No. 1 graded defense in the Big 12 per PFF, anchored by No. 1 rankings in both run defense and pass rush. Coverage wise however, Texas is graded No. 9, three spots below Tech. The Red Raiders are likely going to stick with its potent ground game behind Tahj Brooks, but the passing game will also be featured with Behren Morton getting healthier every week.
“They’re gonna be athletic guys,” Drae McCray said. “They’re gonna be detailed and I think we’ll have some chances against them. We just have to execute and be detailed ourselves, take care of the football and do things that we do.”
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