LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) – While the No. 12 Texas Tech Red Raiders take the field against Abilene Christian tonight, they can finally shake off frustrations from their 2024 matchup, which ended as a 52-51 overtime win.
- This game is also the first game back for quarterback Will Hammond, who will be the Red Raiders’ lead signal-caller this season. It also comes 315 days after he suffered a season-ending ACL tear against Oklahoma State.
“It feels great! It feels great to be 100 percent. It feels great to be back out there with the guys and not worried about any of the offseason things and just being able to go out there and play. We’re excited!,” he said. “This is a dream of mine, and I was thinking back last night to year one, week one, year two, week one, and just kind of the excitement leading up to each of those games and the excitement that we have this week leading up to this game, and it’s just a special opportunity to be the starting quarterback for Texas Tech University.”
- The running back room is also one of the team’s most-important features, since Quentin Joyner will be joining veterans Cameron Dickey and J’Koby Williams.
“It’s going to be awesome. Keep coming back, it’s going to be a three-headed monster, I’d say all three of us are going to be out there, and whenever our name is called, we’re going to be fresh, ready to go, and it’s going to be hard to stop!,” said Cameron Dickey, who was named to the Maxwell Award preseason watch list on Monday.
Last year, Joyner was unable to play after he suffered a torn ACL in fall camp. Offensive coordinator Mack Leftwich says “Q” will be ready to go for this year, and that he’s already put in the work this offseason.
“Man, he looked good! He looked really good. I think that running back room gets you fired up. I would put ours up against anybody in the country with him, J’Koby and Cam,” he said. “We’ll definitely lean on those guys, but I feel like Q’s going to step in and kind of challenge Cam and Jack. I feel really good about any of those guys whenever they’re in the game.”…