Behren Morton injury update: Joey McGuire reveals latest status of Texas Tech QB

Texas Tech quarterback Behren Morton exited Saturday’s clash against Utah early in the third quarter after taking a big hit from a Ute defender. He did not return to the game, but the Red Raiders went on to win 34-10.

Morton was replaced by backup quarterback Will Hammond, who played nearly the entire second half. He helped guide his team to the win, completing 13/16 passes for 169 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. Prior to Morton’s afternoon-ending injury, he boasted just 142 passing yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions.

Texas Tech head coach Joey McGuire, who has his Red Raider team off to a 4-0 start, gave an encouraging update regarding Morton on Wednesday’s edition of ‘The Triple Option‘ podcast.

“Behren’s doing great,” McGuire said. “He was in there this morning. If we played Saturday, he’d be ready to go. We practiced today, so he’ll do 7 on 7. It’ll be a short practice for the older guys, and then we’ll get a bunch of scrimmage reps with the young guys.”

Morton was fired up for road game against Utah

Prior to that top-25 clash against the Utes, Morton made it clear that Texas Tech was doing whatever it took to get ready for a tough road environment. With Utah back on the upswing, the Red Raiders didn’t want to miss a detail.

“This is kind of what you dreamed of doing when you were a little kid, all this pressure and all the chips on the table, you know,” Morton said. “I mean, it’s conference play against a top-25 team on the road, so it will be a battle. But we’ve got three games under our belt to give us some confidence, and the guys in the locker room are fired up. Especially going into that atmosphere, it’s going to be a good game.”

Texas Tech climbed all the way up to No. 12 in this week’s AP Poll, its highest ranking since Oct. 2013.

“Coach (McGuire) already told us that we are going to be in the indoor facility all week, bumping loud music, getting ready for a loud and rowdy crowd,” Morton continued. “The juices are flowing, anxiety is going on, but it’s a lot of fun. For guys like Terrance Carter that, you know, probably hasn’t played in another stadium that you know has a group of 50,000 people rooting against him in it. So it’s gonna be a lot of fun for those guys to see, the atmosphere in the Big 12 is different.”

Following the massive Big 12 victory, Texas Tech has a bye week before traveling to Houston on Oct. 4. It’s safe to say there hasn’t been this much optimism around the program in 12 years.