Decision on Starting Quarterback for Texas Tech “Up in the Air” as Kliff Kingsbury Awaits Word on Baker Mayfield
The big question going into Saturday's Homecoming game against Iowa State (1-3, 0-1) is 'Who is starting at quarterback for #20/#21 Texas Tech (5-0, 2-0)?'.
Baker Mayfield left last week's game at Kansas with a knee injury. At Monday's press conference, Texas Tech head coach Kliff Kingsbury said Mayfield's injury isn't season ending, but the full extent isn't yet known.
In elaborating on his quarterback situation, Kingsbury said, "It's kind of all up in the air. I know about as much as you do at this point. We'll get everybody here to the building today and sort through it as we go. But Brewer progressed nicely last week, so we'll see how he does this week."
With Mayfield's status up in the air, and sophomore quarterback, Michael Brewer, receiving limited snaps at the end of the Kansas game, all eyes now turn to Davis Webb.
Webb has played in four games this year, all in relief of Mayfield. He's gone 36/70 passing for 550 yards, 6 touchdowns and 4 interceptions. Webb's shown that he can get the ball to his receivers and keep up with the faster pace of play, compared to high school, where he was a year ago.
The Kansas game was Brewer's first game of the season and he did not attempt any passes. Brewer may need a few more weeks of practice before the coaching staff is comfortable turning him loose in live game action. He is still recovering from a back injury that kept him out of the first four games.
As far as being 5-0 to start the season, Kingsbury said, "We expect to win every game. Like I said since I got here, we're trying to get better each and every day. It wasn't a goal to be 5‑0 or 6‑0. Just every time we took the field we want to get better. That's still how we're approaching it."
Junior tight end, Jace Amaro, set a career high for season receiving yards in last week's game at Kansas. For the season, Amaro now has 38 catches for 463 yards and 1 touchdown. He has four straight games of at least 8 catches or more.
Earlier today, Amaro talked about being a primary target for whichever quarterback is on the field for Texas Tech. "Baker's done a great job at getting me the ball," Amaro said. "Some of those plays are designed to go to me since I'm the first read and he felt like I could catch the ball."
Texas Tech vs Iowa State kicks off this Saturday at 11a on FOX Sports 1. Countdown to Kickoff airs from 8a-10a on SportsRadio 1340 The Fan