Texas Tech quarterback Tyler Shough carted off with injury vs. West Virginia

Texas Tech quarterback Tyler Shough had to be carted off with injury late in the first quarter Saturday against West Virginia. Shough went down after a pass attempt on third down and was seen with a temporary cast on his left leg as he was taken back to the locker room.

Shough flashed a “Guns Up” sign as the Red Raiders crowd cheered him off. Prior to his injury, the quarterback had completed 2-of-6 passes for just three yards. Texas Tech trailed 7-3 at the time.

It’s an unfortunate occurrence as Shough has dealt with injury issues in his past two seasons in Lubbock. A broken collarbone in 2021 limited him to only four games after he transferred to Tech from Oregon. Then he again suffered an injured shoulder in the season opener of 2022 that caused him to miss six games.

Behren Morton entered the game in place of Shough. Morton started against West Virginia with Shough injured in 2022 and threw for 325 yards and a pair of touchdowns in a Red Raiders win.

However, he went just 1-of-7 passing for 13 yards in the first half on Saturday. Texas Tech managed just 56 total yards of offense and trailed 13-3 at halftime as it looked out of sorts following the blow to its starting quarterback.

Things didn’t look much better in the second half and the Red Raiders still struggled to get the ball moving on offense. Morton ended the game with 13-of-37 passing for 158 yards and a touchdown.

He’ll likely be the Texas Tech starting quarterback next week when the Red Raiders face Houston at home.

Tyler Shough suffered fractured fibula in loss to West Virginia

After the game, it was reported that Shough suffered a fractured fibula. A timetable for his return is not exactly clear, but he likely will be out multiple weeks.

Between two years at Oregon and three at Texas Tech, Shough has passed for 4,622 yards and 36 touchdowns against 17 interceptions. He was the Ducks’ starter during the abbreviated COVID-19 season in 2020, which resulted in Oregon winning the Pac-12 championship and reaching the Fiesta Bowl. Morton, with four starts, is the second-most experienced quarterback on the Red Raiders roster after Shough’s 13 starts for the program.

Entering the 2023 season, Shough was 8-1 as a starter at Texas Tech. The Red Raiders, however, lost their opening two games of the year — at Wyoming and at home against Oregon — before getting in the win column against Tarleton State in Week 3.