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What does Texas Tech football freshmen's Liberty Bowl showing mean for the future?
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- What does Texas Tech football freshmen's Liberty Bowl showing mean for the future?
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Just finished a 39th season covering Texas Tech football in some form or fashion and my 24th bowl game involving the Red Raiders .
Spent a lot of Christmas weeks on the road, but no complaints here. I've seen some bad bowl games but never had a bad experience. In 2002, we were wearing shorts and polos in warm, sunny Orlando while filing for early deadlines back home because of winter weather in Lubbock.
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Liberty Bowl 2024 will be remembered as the bowl in which the teams who played on Dec. 27 barely resembled the teams who were suiting up a month before. So many of the marquee figures for Texas Tech or Arkansas didn't play on Friday night. One who did, Arkansas quarterback Taylen Green , had 422 yards total offense and three touchdowns, leading the Razorbacks to a 39-26 victory .
Related: Grading Texas Tech football's Liberty Bowl loss to Arkansas
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Part of the attraction for Tech fans was a getting a first full-game glimpse of an all-freshman backfield. Will Hammond started at quarterback for Behren Morton , who just had shoulder surgery . J'Koby Williams and Cameron Dickey stood in at running back for Tahj Brooks , who opted out , that decision not revealed until game day after Tech tried to make people believe he'd play. Players in Brooks's position are pressured to believe they're putting themselves at great risk by taking part in a bowl game, though they're at no greater risk than any other Saturday.
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We understand why it happens, but we don't like it. Big turn-off for fans, who increasingly don't like the vibe that players are putting selfish interests above team.
In all those years and all those bowls, it's hard to recall seeing Tech go with three true freshmen in the backfield for a bowl. Closest I can come up with was the Cotton Bowl at the end of the 1994 season in which the Red Raiders had Zebbie Lethridge at quarterback and Byron Hanspard at tailback. Both were freshmen, but both had played all year and were the Red Raiders' total offense and rushing leaders.
Texas Tech's Cameron Dickey (33) runs with the ball during the AutoZone Liberty Bowl between Arkansas and Texas Tech in Memphis, Tenn., on Friday, December 27, 2024.
So what did we learn about the future Friday night? Williams and Dickey have some juice, but you should not expect them to deliver a Brooks level of production, not right away on an every-game basis anyway. Hammond did OK under the circumstances, but his showing cooled the jets for people expecting him to use the bowl as liftoff for unseating Morton next year.
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Williams rushed for 123 yards, Dickey for 74, both on 15 carries. Williams delivered the sizzle with a 54-yard touchdown run. Williams, Dickey and incoming Southern Cal transfer Quentin Joyner, who carried 63 times for 478 yards and three TDs this season as a redshirt freshman, give Tech talent, depth and a bright future in the run game.
Freshman running back J'Koby Williams accepts the Texas Tech outstanding offensive player award in the Liberty Bowl after the Red Raiders' 39-26 loss to Arkansas on Friday. Williams carried 15 times for 123 yards, including a 54-yard touchdown.
They have a high standard to match, though. They're following a guy with 4,457 career rushing yards and 23 career 100-yard performances. Brooks ended on a 22-game streak of not being held under 95 yards rushing.
As much as some fans wanted to see a Hammond era commence on Friday night, we didn't see that. He completed 20 of 34 passes for 280 yards and a touchdown but threw a couple of backbreaking interceptions. For a guy with a promising future, it was good experience, and he'll get plenty more in March and April, when Morton figures to be rehabbing the shoulder during spring practice.
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Quarterback will be interesting to watch next August, mainly to see that Morton's shoulder is sound. He'll finish comfortably inside the top 15 in the FBS in passing yards and passing TDs. It's his team again next year, provided he's healthy.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: What can we glean from Texas Tech football freshmen in the Liberty Bowl?
