Commentary: Who plays at QB? Morton is future

An open date for Texas Tech was a much-needed reprieve at the midpoint of the football season. Injuries, inevitable with any team, were starting to become a factor for a team lacking depth, and the gauntlet that was the five-game ultra-test is over.

The Red Raiders faced five consecutive Top 25 teams at the time they played – Houston, North Carolina State, Texas, Kansas State and Oklahoma State. Tech is 3-3, with three wins at home and three losses on the road. It’s perhaps even a little better than where most thought they would be at the break.

While it’s a welcome sight to have the hardest part of the schedule in the rear-view mirror, there are no layups ahead. This is true of every Big 12 team. They can lose any game or win any game. For Tech, the next two games are home against West Virginia and Baylor in a quest to reach six wins and bowl eligibility.

The biggest question – not the biggest concern – is quarterback, the most crucial position on the field. Tech has a problem, and as problems go, it’s a good one to have. The Raiders have three who have started and all had their moments.

Who starts this Saturday among Tyler Shough, Donovan Smith and Behren Morton? That is going to go a long way in determining how Tech finishes the season.

Shough was the starter, but was injured for the second year in a row. After a broken collarbone sidelined him for the season in late September 2021, a left shoulder injury in the first quarter in the opener against Murray State sent him again to street clothes.

Donovan Smith stepped in with a mixture of talent and inexperience. He performed like most might expect. He made some big-time plays. He also had some throws, including two interceptions returned for touchdowns in consecutive games, that had fans shaking their heads.

Then, in the last game at Oklahoma State on Oct. 8, Morton, the four-star recruit with the most upside, started his first game. In a 41-31 loss, he played admirably, completing 39 of 62 for 379 yards and two touchdowns and rushing for 46 yards while playing the second half with an ankle sprain.

There is intrigue because Shough began practice in 7-on-7 drills last week. He has not been medically cleared to play, but that’s expected this week. In a sense, it’s like preseason camp all over again.

I’m waiting for head coach Joey McGuire to reach out and ask me what he should do. In the meantime, there feels like a difference in what Tech should do and what it will do.

As always, I reserve the right to be wrong, but I believe Shough will be in the backfield against West Virginia. Though we have only seen him in all or parts of five games over two seasons, two different head coaches and two different offensive coordinators signed off on Shough as the starter.

That has to count for something, and this year, McGuire and offensive coordinator Zach Kittley both made it sound like the competition wasn’t that close and the Oregon transfer was the clear front-runner.

One concern obviously is rust. He didn’t practice for five weeks. He’s had less than one quarter of live action this year. Plus, I have a sense that Shough is one of those who’s a better practice player than in the game. He’s done fine in games – 70 of 92 for 1,026 yards and seven TDs against weak competition – but he’s also thrown two pick-sixes in a small sample size.

Not to be a prisoner of the moment, but Tech needs to ride with Morton, the 6-2, 200-pound redshirt transfer. Though Shough could return for another season, he likely won’t. I feel for someone who transferred across the country to Lubbock, and has been twice sidelined by injuries. Morton, however, is the future, and he needs quality reps.

Smith is a great athlete playing quarterback for really only two seasons, one in high school and this year. Morton passed the eye test. He looked the part against OSU. His arm was stronger. His decisions were quicker. He was a surprisingly productive runner. Morton showed enough that Tech needs to see more.

Tech should be commended for these three in one quarterback room. Oklahoma lost Dillon Gabriel and looked pathetic against Texas with a converted tight end throwing for 39 yards. Other quality programs, like N.C. State, lost its starter and noticeably struggled.

All three Tech quarterbacks have at least one 300-yard passing game. Smith, probably third on the QB totem pole, has three 300-yard games. There can’t be another school in the country that can say that.

It won’t be chiseled in granite that whoever trots out there Saturday will remain the guy. The narrative has changed though since August’s three-man competition. Morton is the future. He also needs to be the now.

Jon Mark Beilue is a 1981 graduate of Texas Tech. He has been writing about Red Raiders sports for five decades.