Pending defections via the NCAA transfer portal can rock teams gearing up for bowl games, the Texas Tech football team being no exception.
Starting receivers Jerand Bradley and Myles Price and starting left tackle Monroe Mills announced in the past week they plan to have their names entered into the portal, which reopens for 45 days starting Monday.
That means Texas Tech coach Joey McGuire and his staff will have holes to fill before the Red Raiders face California on Dec. 16 at the Independence Bowl.
McGuire, in a Zoom conference Sunday, said Ty Buchanan will start in Mills’ place at left tackle. Buchanan’s a third-year sophomore whose first career start came last year at TCU.
In addition to Bradley and Price, inside receiver/running back Nehemiah Martinez also is looking at transfer options.
McGuire said the starting receivers, a cast composed of all regulars, project as Coy Eakin and Jordan Brown on the outside and Xavier White and Drae McCray on the inside.
That’s in 10 personnel; i.e., formations with one running back and no tight ends. In 11 personnel (one running back, one tight end), Mason Tharp or Baylor Cupp would replace one of the inside receivers.
Loic Fouonji is second team behind Eakin, and Brady Boyd and can play any receiver position.
“We feel good about the guys we have,” McGuire said. “The guys have played a lot. Xavier White leads us in yards after catch. He might be our leading receiver when you’re talking about yards overall.
“Coy has had a great season coming back from his (collarbone) injury. Jordan Brown early in the season, when he was healthy, was a dynamic receiver. So we feel good about the guys that we have.”
Tech has yet to use true freshman receivers D.J. Crest and T.J. West, who play on the outside, and Kelby Velsin, an inside receiver. One or more could get a look in the bowl game, given the whittled-down rotation.
McGuire said he expects Tahj Brooks to play in the bowl game, though the Red Raiders’ workhorse running back hasn’t made his plans known.
Brooks, the FBS’s fourth-leading rusher, said after the home finale he probably will declare for the NFL draft, leaving eligibility on the table.
McGuire said players were given Friday, Saturday and Sunday off, “and so he went home to sit down with his parents and talk through what the next step is for him.”
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