Texas Tech football coach Joey McGuire on looking at Behren Morton as QB instead of Tyler Shough
Texas Tech football coach Joey McGuire on looking at Behren Morton as QB instead of Tyler Shough.
Carlos Silva Jr., Lubbock Avalanche Journal
Starting quarterback Behren Morton left Saturday’s Texas Tech football game against Kansas State at halftime and was not expected to return.
Morton, already playing with a sprained AC joint in his throwing shoulder, took several tough hits in the first half, including a shot into the pocket from defensive end Nate Matlack. Later in the half, 290-pound defensive tackle Jevon Banks drove Morton into the turf along the home line.
Just before halftime, Morton led a seven-play, 89-yard drive that ended with a 2-yard run by Tahj Brooks with 23 seconds left. Morton completed a 30-yard pass to Coy Eakin on the drive.
Jake Strong, making his collegiate debut, took over early in the second half. Strong is a true freshman who enrolled in January and went through spring training.
The nature of Morton’s injury was not immediately known. A Tech athletics spokesman said Morton was doubtful whether he would return. In the first half, he completed 14 of 21 passes for 125 yards.
In Texas Tech’s loss at West Virginia three weeks earlier, the Red Raiders lost starting quarterback Tyler Shough to a broken fibula and Morton suffered an ACL injury when he landed hard on the turf at the end of a run.
Behind Morton and Strong, receiver Brady Boyd served as the third quarterback during warmups before the Red Raiders’ game last week at Baylor. On Saturday, two-sport athlete Will Burns was the third QB in pregame warmups, and the fourth was Cooper LaFebre, a Lubbock-Cooper backup.
Burns is a shortstop on the Tech baseball team. LaFebre, one of the players released after spring football, was brought back after Shough’s injury.