Minor-league baseball is for playing and developing young players without regard to team record. College football is about putting the team on the field every Saturday that gives you the best chance to win.
I’ve written that a few times over the past 15 years when a Texas Tech football team’s big goals have disappeared one by one. Ten games into the current season, the Red Raiders are 6-4 and 4-3 in the Big 12, so we have some clarity. Tech’s going to a bowl, and it’s not going to the Big 12 championship game.
In the position the Red Raiders find themselves now, the annual pleas have gone up to use more young guys. Start playing with an eye toward 2025, right? Can’t be any worse at some positions, correct?
To answer the last one first, yes, by playing guys who aren’t ready, it can get worse.
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As to the first, no, this is not the time to start looking ahead toward 2025. Regular seasons of 6-6, 7-5 and 8-4 are not the same. Tech last finished a regular season at 8-4 in 2009, so beating Oklahoma State and West Virginia the next two Saturdays would show progress.
“To grow this program and push it forward, it’s really important,” Tech coach Joey McGuire said Monday. “Our guys understand how important this week is. I think you’re going to see that on Saturday, how hard we play, of how important this game is, to get to seven wins. … We have to push this program forward.”
Under a 2018 NCAA rule change, football players who have not previously redshirted can take part in up to four games without losing the year of eligibility. Freshman safety Oliver Miles is at the four-game limit, so Peyton Morgan, another freshman safety, will take Miles’ spot on special teams. The offensive line has had issues, so McGuire said guard Nick Fattig and true freshman tackle Jacob Ponton might get a chance.
Redshirt freshman receiver Kelby Valsin, showing up well in scrimmages for several weeks, might be ready for more, McGuire said. He’d like to see Micah Hudson return punts if Hudson has recovered from a recent injury.
Oh, and the big one: Will Hammond. The true freshman quarterback turned heads when he was pressed into duty for an injured Behren Morton the second half at TCU. When we asked Monday the plan for Hammond, McGuire said he would get “a lot more reps with the twos” going into the bowl game to make sure he’s ready to go.
In other words, don’t expect a wave of fresh young faces. Remember the 2023 Independence Bowl. The Red Raiders were depleted at receiver, stirring anticipation that McGuire would break the seal on true freshmen at those spots. What happened? They didn’t play — that night, or even this year as redshirt freshmen.
There’s ample time to look at the young guys during bowl workouts and spring practice. But the Tech staff is not treating the last two games as exhibitions or tryouts for 2025.
“I think it’s huge to build some momentum,” McGuire said. “The more games you win, the better bowl you get in. It makes a difference, because you’re going to be playing really good competition, and that’s what we need.”
Also essential: You owe it to the upperclassmen to put the best team on the field all the way through. When a coach demands players such as Tahj Brooks and Caleb Rogers on offense, C.J Baskerville and Quincy Ledet on defense give their all to the program 12 months a year for multiple years, those players should expect the same in return.
