For the third time this season, Texas Tech quarterback Behren Morton left the field with an injury during a game the Red Raiders won.
And head coach Joey McGuire said Monday there’s a good chance Behren Morton will go three-for-three being back in the lineup to start a week later.
Morton was favoring his right leg following a sack in the second quarter against Kansas on Saturday, but he’s likely to be available for the undefeated Red Raiders (6-0) when they play defending Big 12 champion Arizona State (4-2) in Tempe this week.
“That dude’s the toughest kid I’ve ever coached. His pain tolerance and just toughness and care factor is really high,” McGuire said. “So he’s day-to-day. We’ll see how he feels.”
Morton started all six games for the No. 7 Red Raiders this season, but he has finished only one. He’s been able to lean heavily on a strong running game. Cameron Dickey is coming off a 263-yard performance against Kansas last week.
Morton has completed 68.4% percent of his passes (104 of 152) for 1,501 yards with 13 touchdowns and three interceptions in 2025.
Texas Tech is 3-0 in the Big 12 with the defending conference champion Sun Devils up next. Texas Tech jumped ahead of ASU 14-0 in the first quarter and won 30-22 in Lubbock last season. Morton passed for two touchdowns and 201 yards.
The Sun Devils are not fully healthy at quarterback. Sam Leavitt played through an injury for multiple weeks and then was downgraded before the Utah loss. If Sims can’t play, backup Jeff Sims gets the call again.
Arizona State coach Kenny Dillingham said Leavitt will attempt to practice this week before any decisions are made on the QB depth chart.
“We’re still in that same holding pattern I would say, unfortunately,” Dillingham said.
Dillingham pointed to Texas Tech’s win over Utah this season as a warning for his team not to overlook the Red Raiders if backup Will Hammond gets the start in Morton’s place. Hammond came on in relief to help the Red Raiders beat the Utes, the team that buried Arizona State 42-10 last week.
“Texas Tech played this team (Utah) and they won. And they won the line of scrimmage. So that tells you what their front is like on both sides of the ball,” Dillingham said of focusing on the task at hand. “We lost. It sucks. Learn from it. And you gotta go to the next game.”
