The 2023 Texas Tech Red Raiders football team represented

Texas Tech University Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas Tech University Sys ...

in the 2023 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Red Raiders played their home games at

Jones AT&T Stadium and Cody Campbell Field Jones AT&T Stadium and Cody Campbell Field, previously known as Clifford B. and Audrey Jones Stadium, Jones SBC Stadium and Jones AT&T Stadium, is an outdoor athletic stadium in the southwestern United States, located on the campus of Texas Tec ...

Lubbock, Texas Lubbock ( ) is the 10th-most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and the seat of government of Lubbock County. With a population of 260,993 in 2021, the city is also the 85th-most populous in the United States. The city is in the northw ...

, and competed in the

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its ...

. They were led by second-year head coach

Joey McGuire Joey McGuire (born August 6, 1971) is an American football coach. He is the head football coach at Texas Tech University, a position he had held since the 2022 season. McGuire previously served as the associate head coach and outside linebackers c ...

. The team started 0–2 for the first time since

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, after losing to both

Wyoming Wyoming () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the south ...

and

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

. The Red Raiders would win their first game of the season in week 3, defeating FCS Tarleton State 41–3. However, starting quarterback

Tyler Shough Tyler Shough ( ; born September 28, 1999) is an American football quarterback for the Texas Tech Red Raiders. Shough began his college career with the Oregon Ducks from 2018 to 2020 before transferring to Texas Tech in 2021. Early life and high ...

would be injured the following week against

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

as the Red Raiders lost 13–20. The team rebounded and finished the rest of the season going 5–3, including an upset win over no. 16

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

on the road, to finish the regular season 6–6 with a Big 12 record of 5–4. The Red Raiders were invited to the

Independence Bowl The Independence Bowl is a post-season National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)-sanctioned Division I college football bowl game that is played annually each December at Independence Stadium in Shreveport, Louisiana. The Independence Bowl ...

, where they defeated

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

34–14.

Offseason

Coaching changes

On January 10, passing game coordinator and receivers coach Emmett Jones left Texas Tech to take the same position with the

Oklahoma Sooners The Oklahoma Sooners are the athletic teams that represent the University of Oklahoma, located in Norman. The 19 men's and women's varsity teams are called the "Sooners", a reference to a nickname given to the early participants in the Land Run ...

. The following day, January 11, Baylor running backs coach Justin Johnson was hired to replace Jones.

Recruiting class

References:

Transfers

Outgoing Incoming

Preseason

Big 12 media poll

The preseason poll was released on July 6, 2023.

Award watch lists

Schedule

:Schedule Source:

Personnel

Game summaries

At Wyoming

No. 13 Oregon

Tarleton State

At West Virginia

Tyler Shough was carted off the field in the 1st quarter after he appeared to have rolled his ankle on back-to-back plays. It was later revealed that Shough had a broken fibula in his left leg; Shough had surgery the following Tuesday and is expected to be out six to eight weeks.

Houston

The Red Raiders scored two special teams touchdowns, with Drae McCray returning a kickoff for 100 yards and Loic Fouonji blocking a punt and returning it for a touchdown. Running back Tahj Brooks finished with over 100 rushing yards for the third straight game, becoming the first Texas Tech running back since

DeAndré Washington DeAndré Washington (born February 22, 1993) is a former American football running back. He played college football at Texas Tech, and was drafted by the Oakland Raiders in the fifth round of the 2016 NFL Draft. Early years Washington atten ...

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to do so.

At Baylor

Texas Tech quarterback Behren Morton threw for a career-high three touchdown passes while rushing for another. Running back Tahj Brooks finished with 100 rushing yards for the fourth game in a row, becoming the first Texas Tech running back to do so in the 21st century.

Kansas State

Starting quarterback Behren Morton exited the game at halftime with an undisclosed injury. Morton had been dealing with a sprained AC joint in his throwing shoulder ever since he took over for the injured Tyler Shough.

At BYU

TCU

A possum ran onto the field early in the second quarter, quickly becoming a viral sensation and spawning numerous

Internet meme An Internet meme, commonly known simply as a meme ( ), is an idea, behavior, style, or image that is spread via the Internet, often through social media platforms. What is considered a meme may vary across different communities on the Internet ...

s. The animal was captured by stadium officials and was petted by university president Lawrence Schovanec after the game before being released back into the wild.

At No. 16 Kansas

UCF

At No. 7 Texas

Vs. California (Independence Bowl)

Rankings

References

{{Texas Tech Red Raiders football navbox

Texas Tech Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas Tech University Sys ...

Texas Tech Red Raiders football seasons Independence Bowl champion seasons

Texas Tech Red Raiders football The Texas Tech Red Raiders football program is a college football team that represents Texas Tech University (variously "Texas Tech" or "TTU"). The team competes as a member of the Big 12 Conference, which is a NCAA Division I, Division I NCAA D ...