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Tyler Shough being out again could mean Texas Tech football turns more to Tahj Brooks
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- Tyler Shough being out again could mean Texas Tech football turns more to Tahj Brooks
MORGANTOWN, W. Va. — Tyler Shough had not been carted off the field before he was voicing what everyone else was thinking. The Texas Tech football quarterback was sidelined in September for the third year in a row, this time with an apparent left leg injury.
Joey McGuire didn't know the extent of Shough 's injury immediately after the Red Raiders' 20-13 loss Saturday to West Virginia . The Texas Tech coach acknowledged it's not a good sign, though, when Shough's lower leg was stabilized with an air cast and a cart brought onto the field to take him off.
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"He was hurting," McGuire said. "He literally was like, 'I can not catch a break. I can not catch a break. I can not catch a break.' You feel for a guy that works as hard as he does. I would challenge any college football player that Tyler puts as much time into this game as anybody in the country.
"When you see a guy like that, that's put that much time and has this frustration that he has and setbacks, I just gave him a kiss on the forehead and told him I loved him and said, 'Hang in there. We'll see what it is.' "
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NFL reporter Jordan Schultz and national college football reporter Bruce Feldman, citing unnamed sources, both posted on social media that Shough suffered a broken fibula that will require surgery. A Texas Tech athletics spokesman said he will defer comment until after Shough's prognosis had been discussed further with McGuire.
Saturday's game was the Big 12 opener for Tech (1-3, 0-1) and West Virginia (3-1, 1-0) and the Red Raiders' fourth game of the season. Shough missed the rest of the 2021 season after a collarbone injury in game four at Texas, also a Big 12 opener. He suffered a collarbone injury in the season opener last year and returned in week eight.
On a gray, drizzly day Saturday, Shough got hurt in the final minute of the first quarter, throwing from a collapsing pocket. He came up limping the play before after a 6-yard run.
Lying on his back as he was carted off, Shough flashed Texas Tech's Guns Up hand sign.
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"Sad for him," running back Tahj Brooks said, "but it's adversity. We all go through it, so I'm going to just wish him the best, and that's my guy."
Now the Red Raiders have to build an offense around an inconsistent cast. Quarterback Behren Morton completed 13 of 37 passes for 158 yards and a touchdown in relief of Shough. Tech receivers have been plagued by drops at key moments during the first month.
A 6-yard pass from Morton to Jerand Bradley narrowed Tech's deficit to 13-10 early in the fourth quarter, but no receiver caught more than three passes and Xavier White's 45 receiving yards led the team. Myles Price, with a touchdown catch in each of the first three games, had that streak end. He played little on offense because of a bone bruise to one knee.
McGuire said the first- and second-team players receive an equal number of snaps in practice, but Morton had not received as many snaps with the starters as Shough.
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Until Morton and the receivers have time to get on the same page, that might mean leaning on Brooks. The fourth-year running back carried a career-high 25 times for 149 yards a week after he carried 19 times for a career-high 158 yards in a win against Tarleton State .
"I feel great," Brooks said. "My body's the same way it's been all the time. I'm really just feeling great, feeling blessed and honored to get those carries and that the coaching staff believes in me to make those plays."
Tech finished with 321 yards, was 2 for 18 on third down and 5 of 8 on fourth down. Those numbers were spruced up considerably in the fourth quarter. The Red Raiders had only seven first downs and 137 yards when the third quarter ended with them trailing 13-3.
"I feel really confident about Tahj," McGuire said. "I think he's doing a great job. ... I think there's some runs that we feel very comfortable with.
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"One thing we talked about, and I talked with (offensive coordinator Zach) Kittley about, was trying to settle the game down a little bit, because we were inconsistent. We were playing a lot of third-and-(long). We were trying to get into better second and third downs, and Tahj was helping us do that."
Texas Tech running back Tahj Brooks (28) has 162 carries for 891 yards, both second in the FBS. His average of 111.4 yards rushing per game ranks seventh.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Will Texas Tech football offense be more Brooks-centric without Shough?
