Texas Tech defense makes plays in spring football game

A few days before the Texas Tech football spring game, Red Raiders coach Joey McGuire said he had two future NFL quarterbacks in Tyler Shough and Behren Morton.

McGuire won't like it if they're throwing interceptions come September, but he doesn't mind so much if they do it in April.

New Star safety C.J. Baskerville and free safety Dadrion Taylor-Demerson intercepted Shough and linebacker Ty Kana picked off Morton as the Red Raiders concluded their 15 spring sessions with the annual intrasquad game.

"I was proud of both sides of the ball," McGuire said. "I think some coaches that were here before might have been disappointed, but y'all have got to remember: I'm a defensive head coach, and those turnovers were really nice. I don't want to do that against anybody else, but it was good to see the defense."

Team Fearless beat Team Red Raiders 26-15 Saturday at PlainsCapital Park/Lowrey Field. Shough, who led the Red Raiders to four victories in a row to end the 2022 season, finished with 70 yards on 10-for-23 passing and broke a 27-yard run.

Baskerville picked off Shough's first throw of the game, a tipped pass on the second play. The other came on fourth-and-22 when Shough threw into heavy traffic over the middle. But it's the spring game. It's fourth down in plus territory. What's the price to pay?

"He kind of had to throw it," Taylor-Demerson said. "It's like a gimme. That's why I didn't talk trash to him. It was fourth-and-20. I knew he had to throw it at least close enough to the stick so guys can make a play."

Morton finished with 143 yards on 12-for-20 passing. In the second quarter, the sophomore from Eastland drove the first offense to a first-and-10 at the plus-11. On third-and-8 from the 9, his throw over the middle was picked by Kana. McGuire said that one also appeared to be tipped.

Morton also delivered a 58-yard touchdown pass to Loic Founji on a deep ball down the sideline.

Here are other observations from the game.

Kicker looks promising

Gino Garcia was an all-conference kicker at Houston Baptist, and six of his 32 career field goals were from 48 yards or longer. The junior from Richardson Pearce has a big leg, and he showed it off Saturday, going 3 for 3 from 50, 46 and 23 yards in gusty wind. The two long ones would have been good from much longer.

With Trey Wolff forgoing his Covid bonus-year option for 2023, the time is now for Garcia to take over. McGuire said he also made a 50-yarder to end a period this past week in practice.

Wide side taking shape

It's not just that Tech lost defensive end Tyree Wilson, linebacker Krishon Merriweather and Star safety-linebacker hybrid Marquis Waters all at once, but three of the team's biggest playmakers patrolled the same side of the field last season. The spring game offered a glimpse of how the wide side is likely to look next season.

The first team had Myles Cole at the field end, Tyrique Matthews at the field inside linebacker and Baskerville at the Star safety-linebacker hybrid, the spots played by Wilson, Merriweather and Waters, respectively. Matthews paired on the first string with converted edge player Jesiah Pierre, the latter deployed at boundary linebacker, the position where the departed Kosi Eldridge started in 2022.

Cole was credited with two sacks on Shough, which came in a three-play span. Again, it's spring. Touch the QB, and the play is dead. Cole will have to finish those plays without the quick whistles in the fall.

Cole has only 1 1/2 career sacks, but Tech coaches have expressed optimism the 6-foot-6, 285-pound senior can take a bigger role and be productive. He got a full shot the past month with promising sophomore Joseph Adedire, who was Wilson's primary backup, missing the spring.

The Star spot is new for Baskerville, who was a boundary safety the past couple of years at San Diego State. Because he transferred in at mid-year and stayed healthy, he got a full dose of his new position.

"I think I've made a big amount of progress," he said.

Baskerville was credited with a game-high six tackles, including five solos.

"He's a really smart player," McGuire said. "He's physical. He's 6-2, probably 215 pounds, and he's going to have a great year for us."

Fun with Fouonji

Loic Fouonji put up career highs last season with 34 catches for 451 yards and three touchdowns, and he finished Saturday with three catches for a game-high 103 yards.

The 6-foot-4, 215-pound senior from Midland Lee dealt with a shoulder injury last season and missed a chunk of spring practice with a hamstring injury. With his size and speed, he could have a breakout year if he can stay on the field.

"It's good to have him back," McGuire said. "Once he got totally healthy at the end of the year, he had two huge games with OU [four catches, 61 yards] and Ole Miss [seven catches, 100 yards]. He had a really good second half of spring once he got back from his hamstring, caught the ball well.

"You see what he can do when you throw the ball deep. He can really run, and that was a big touchdown for us today."

Restoring a tradition

More: Here's a custom that needs to return

Annual team awards that date to 1961 ceased in the chaos of the Mike Leach firing at the end of the 2008 season and were dormant for more than a decade. Finally, that tradition has been restored.

The team awards for 2022 were presented at halftime. The winners:

Clint Ramsey academic effort award: Linebacker Patrick Curley.

E.J. Holub Double Tough award: Linebacker Krishon Merriweather.

Dare to be Great award: Linebacker Kosi Eldridge.

J T King Award, most improved player: Offense, center Dennis Wilburn. Defense, end Isaac Smith.

Donny Anderson sportsmanship award: Defensive tackle Tony Bradford and defensive back Adrian Frye.

Dell Morgan courage award: Quarterback Tyler Shough.

Pete Cawthon memorial team MVP: Defensive end Tyree Wilson.

Finding new spots

Jaden Morris ran seven times for 49 yards playing running back, and Cooper LaFebre from Lubbock-Cooper caught four passes for 24 yards playing receiver.

Both joined the program as walk-on quarterbacks, but the top three there are established with Shough, Morton and scholarship first-semester freshman Jake Strong.

"We feel that we've got a good quarterback in Jake Strong," McGuire said. "We're not going to take any reps off of Behren and Tyler, and we want to give Jake every opportunity to learn the offense. So when you've got five quarterbacks, to get those reps, you kind of move guys around."

Quick hits

Tahj Brooks was the leading rusher with 74 yards on 15 carries. Brooks and fellow running backs Cam'Ron Valdez and Clazarion Campbell each ran for a short touchdown. ... Linebacker Matthew Young and first-semester freshman safety Chapman Lewis made big hits to break up passes, Young unloading on receiver Jordan Brown and Lewis popping receiver Loic Fouonji. Later, Young broke up a pass with a hit on receiver Aiden Meeks. Regarding Lewis, Taylor-Demerson said, "That's a name to look forward to in a couple of years. He's a little shy, but he will come downhill, and he will make you feel him." ... Second-team center Sheridan Wilson played with a padded cast on his left (non-snapping) hand. He suffered a broken bone in that hand the first week of spring ball. ... Robert Wooten, an edge player his first three seasons of college football, has moved to defensive tackle. He's 6-3, 265 pounds. "He's really strong," McGuire said. "The one (way) he's going to be able to help us possibly there is having a better pass rush when it comes to interior guys, because he's a little bit more twitchy than some of the other guys besides the two starters." ... DT Dooda Banks missed the game because he needed to go home for a family matter, a Tech athletics spokesman said.

TEXAS TECH SPRING GAME

at PlainsCapital Park/Lowrey Field

TEAM FEARLESS 26, TEAM RED RAIDERS 15

First Quarter

RAIDERS—FG Gino Garcia 50

FEARLESS—Loic Fouonji 58 pass from Behren Morton (Garcia kick)

Second Quarter

FEARLESS—FG Stone Harrington 30

Third Quarter

RAIDERS—FG Garcia 46

FEARLESS—Cam'Ron Valdez 5 run (no attempt)

RAIDERS—FG Garcia 23

FEARLESS—FG Harrington 38

RAIDERS—Tahj Brooks 2 run (no attempt)

Fourth Quarter

FEARLESS—Clazarion Campbell 9 run (Gabe Showalter kick)

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Texas Tech defense makes plays in spring football game