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Caleb Douglas back in Florida, excelling with Texas Tech football
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- Caleb Douglas back in Florida, excelling with Texas Tech football
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — It's been a minute since Caleb Douglas caught a pass in the state of Florida , his last coming against the Charlotte 49ers on Sept. 23, 2023.
Douglas got hurt a game later, missing the rest of the season with the Gators. Then he headed for the transfer portal, looking to show he could finish a season healthy and be the No. 1 receiving option for a College Football Playoff team.
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Safe to say Douglas has proved that with the Texas Tech football team.
"I just really wanted to come here for a better opportunity," Douglas said during the team's Orange Bowl media day Tuesday, "and I feel like I did that. We are in the best opportunity right now as we speak."
Douglas has returned to the Sunshine State with plenty more accolades than he left with. A second-team all-Big 12 selection this season, the 6-foot-4 receiver has 800-plus yards in back-to-back seasons with the Red Raiders . Entering Thursday's CFP quarterfinal against Oregon , Douglas leads Texas Tech with 846 yards and seven touchdown catches, and is second in receptions (54), one behind Reggie Virgil .
Douglas has a knack for coming on strong, starting the season slow and bursting onto the scene late in the year. He's done so again in 2025, having at least 80 yards receiving in four of the team's last six games after having one such game in Texas Tech's first seven contests.
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While Douglas and the Red Raiders are focused on the task at hand, he and Virgil could each return for the 2026 season if the current lawsuit fighting for five-year eligibility windows for college athletes passes. Both Douglas and Virgil are in their true senior seasons, neither having redshirted in their college careers.
Texas Tech's Caleb Douglas looks on after making a play against UCF during a Big 12 Conference football game, Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025, at Jones AT&T Stadium.
Virgil said, "It would be cool to come back," though he has his eyes fixated on the Ducks. Douglas is in a similar mindset.
"If it gets presented to me," Douglas said, "then I think about it."
In the two games Douglas didn't reach 80 yards in the last six contests, the Red Raiders faced BYU, which featured one of the better defenses the Red Raiders have seen this season. Oregon will pit the same kind of challenges. Douglas said one of the keys to the game will be getting the offense to open up a bit, which would most likely feature him doing much of the damage.
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"I know they like to keep the top on," Douglas said of the Ducks' defense. "They don't want to have too many explosive plays, so we're going to try to at least exploit that, try to make some explosive plays and try to make the game in our favor."
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Douglas, Texas Tech football hope to open up offense against Oregon
