The 2023 Texas Tech Red Raiders football team represented

Texas Tech University Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public university, public research university in Lubbock, Texas, United States. Established on February 10, 1923, and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the flagship instit ...

in the

2023 NCAA Division I FBS football season The 2023 NCAA Division I FBS football season was the 154th season of college football in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at its highest level of competition, the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). ...

. The Red Raiders played their home games at

Jones AT&T Stadium Jones AT&T Stadium (commonly referred to as "The Jones") is an outdoor athletic stadium on the campus of Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas. Built in the style of Spanish Renaissance architecture, it is the home field of the Texas Tech Red ...

Lubbock, Texas Lubbock ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Lubbock County. With a population of 272,086 in 2024, Lubbock is the 10th-most populous city in Texas and the 84th-most populous in the United States. The city is in the ...

, and competed in the

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida ...

. They were led by second-year head coach

Joey McGuire Joe Newton 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 lineba ...

. The Texas Tech Red Raiders football team drew an average home attendance of 54,491 in 2023. The team started 0–2 for the first time since

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

, after losing to both

Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...

and

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

. 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 would be injured the following week against

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

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 landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

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 Bow ...

, where they defeated

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

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 college athletics in the United States , athletic teams that represent the University of Oklahoma, located in Norman, Oklahoma, Norman. The 19 men's and women's varsity teams are called the "Sooners", a reference to ...

. 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 in

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

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, or meme (, Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''MEEM''), is a cultural item (such as an idea, behavior, or style) that spreads across the Internet, primarily through Social media, social media platforms. Internet memes manif ...

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, United States. Established on February 10, 1923, and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the flagship institution of the five- ...

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 "TTU"). The Red Raiders competes as a member of the Big 12 Conference, which is a Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (for ...