Texas Tech left in another QB competition late in the season

Texas Tech QB Tyler Shough and QB Donovan Smith are officially competing for the starting job on Saturday when Texas Tech hosts Kansas in the second-to-last home game of the season.

The two Red Raider gunslingers spoke with the media on Tuesday as decision time for Texas Tech coach Joey McGuire and offensive coordinator Zach Kittley approaches on who they throw out first against the bowl eligible Jayhawks.

Shough said he feels 100% physically after taking hits against TCU following missing numerous weeks due to injury.

He said he feels ready to play for the Red Raiders. Right now, he and Smith are splitting the reps in practice. It's officially a competition once again and Shough said he'll do everything he can to be the starter on Saturday.

Shough said it helps that all the QBs are close off of the field and they all understand it's the name of the game. He mentioned they're used to competing especially after an offseason where it was a competition every practice until Shough was eventually named the starting QB for week one.

However, he knows continuity at the position would go a long way if injuries could be avoided. He added that it's hard to gain chemistry with some guys with the issue of being banged up throughout the room.

As far as the Jayhawks, Shough said their confidence is high and they play as a unit and for their coaches.

Smith said the biggest thing they do is watching film following a game. He said there's always one play or missed communication. He said it's a mental thing now because they play hard and physical. They need to know where they are by communicating and finishing on plays.

He said he's grown in how he prepares for each week. He said he goes into the week with the same consistent mindset.

As far as competing with Shough, Smith said the two are great QBs. When they compete he said it elevates the whole team to do better. The outcome of the game is how they handle practice that week.

Smith has dealt with his own injury to his shoulder, which he said happened on the first touchdown run against Texas. He said he's all fine now and wasn't too banged up when it initially happened anyways.

The whole situation with the delayed flight on Friday was made into a quality bonding moment for the team, Smith said. He mentioned they didn't have much time once they landed as they checked into a "super nice hotel", had meetings, showered and went to bed. But, the hours long wait was spent on the plane playing DJ, eating pizza and finishing all of the snacks onboard.

"It was actually pretty crazy," Smith said, "but it just kind of goes to show like what kind of group of team we have like how much we love each other because it was just a weird feeling to think like we're on there for eight hours. We had a fun time on the plane."