Ask Behren Morton what he remembers most about Texas Tech’s best season ever, and the quarterback might point to the one game he missed due to injury, the Red Raiders’ only loss.
That October day in the Arizona desert held special significance for Morton, as the Lubbock native knows better than most the largely forgotten football past of the plains of West Texas.
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The Red Raiders were perfect in their six games before losing 26-22 to Arizona State, and the fifth-year senior is one of those who thinks the younger players need a history lesson next week.
“We brought everybody up and we kind of said, ‘Is this another year for Texas Tech where we win eight games and make a decent bowl game, or do we have something special?'” Morton said.
The Red Raiders and their quarterback believe they are finding answers.
Texas Tech (12-1) defeated Brigham Young University 34-7 to capture the school’s first Big 12 championship, set a school record for wins and clinched a first-round bye in the College Football Playoff.
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The fourth seed will face fifth-seeded Oregon (12-1), which defeated James Madison in the first round, in the Orange Bowl quarterfinals on Thursday. Both teams are ranked identically in the AP poll.
Morton’s career has been plagued by shoulder issues, and this season turned into one dealing with lower-body injuries — first what coach Joey McGuire called a hyperextended knee, then a reported hairline fracture of his right fibula.
The broken bone kept Morton out of the Sun Devils’ 42-0 victory over Oklahoma State, and backup Will Hammond suffered a season-ending knee injury, forcing Morton to suit up at halftime. He didn’t have to play.
Regarding reports of a fibula injury, McGuire would only say that medical staff kept Morton in a walking boot for much of the game — against his will. He will rest nearly four weeks before taking the field against the Ducks.
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“This is definitely the best I’ve felt, probably since the Kansas game,” Morton said, referring to the Oct. 11 game that resulted in a sack. “I had taken my boots off a little bit and there were still boots everywhere. But when we started training, the coach asked me to take them off and chase it, so that was good.”
Morton was born in Lubbock, where his father, James, was the head coach at a local high school. He was his father’s quarterback in Eastland, a small town 220 miles southeast of Texas Tech’s campus.
As a kid, Morton idolized Graham Harrell and Michael Crabtree, who teamed up to create the most famous games in the Red Raiders’ best-ever season before this year.
In 2008, this team went 10-0 and pulled off a thrilling 39-33 win over Texas State on a Harrell-to-Crabtree touchdown run with 1 second remaining, but ultimately lost to Oklahoma State, missed the BCS Championship Game (both teams’ playoff era), and finished 11-2.
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Yes, in this era of transfer portals, even Morton has considered leaving his beloved school. He went through another offensive coordinator change this offseason.
Morton stayed and decided to be part of a welcome group to a high-priced transfer class considered the best in the country. Several of those transfers, mixed in with retaining linebacker Jacob Rodriguez, give Texas Tech one of the best defenses in the country, and the defense has been something that’s been holding the Red Raiders back.
“We say we are ‘The Brand,’ the hardest-working, hardest-working, most competitive team in the country,” Morton said. “From day one, when these guys come in, we tell them what the culture is, tell them what the ‘brand’ is, and they really embody that. With one year of eligibility left, you might think that guy is just coming in for himself. You know, he’s getting a lot of money, he’s going to the (NFL) next year, and that’s not the case at all.”
McGuire won three Texas state championships as a high school coach at Cedar Hill near Dallas. He and Morton share a deep loyalty to Lubbock and deep ties to the state’s rich football tradition.
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That’s probably why they discussed winning the Big 12 Championship in June at the home of the Dallas Cowboys, where all 12 high school championship games are played each December.
That’s probably why Morton’s father sent McGwire a text message the week of the Big 12 championship game, telling the coach to make sure he took a picture with the quarterback before leaving AT&T Stadium.
McGwire relayed the news the morning of the game.
“We found each other and we’re both excited,” Morton said. “I just love this university and everything it stands for. I think this town deserves to bring a championship home.”
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Morton isn’t alone in thinking this way. He’s a fraternity with Harrell and three-time Super Bowl champion Patrick Mahomes in Kansas City, who, believe it or not, never won a bowl game at Texas Tech. Harrell recruited him. Mahomes texted him all the time, even though he wasn’t there in person because he was at Oklahoma State’s crushing loss.
There was a time, about 60 years ago, when the Red Raiders competed in the old Southwest League from time to time.
“I still have that guy who’s about 85 years old texting me and telling me how proud he is of this team and being a Red Raider,” Morton said. “It’s really like nothing I’ve ever seen.”
It’s not something Lubbock has ever seen, either.
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