During the offseason, Texas Tech went out with a mission of building a team capable of winning the Big 12 and making a run in the College Football Playoff. The Red Raiders bought the best transfer class money can buy, loading this roster with elite playmakers across the board. When you look at what Texas Tech did, it's easy to see what their formula was.
David Bailey, Lee Hunter, and Romello Height were all brought in to give this team a defensive line that can slow any offense. On the offensive line, Texas Tech went and got Power 4 players in Howard Sampson, Cash Cleveland, and others to give this team an advantage over every Big 12 team in the trenches.
The Red Raiders even loaded up at the skill positions, bringing in Quinten Joyner, Terrance Carter, Reggie Virgil, and they even brought former 5-star Micah Hudson back after he left in the Winter Transfer Portal.
Texas Tech had all the right ingredients except at quarterback
When Texas Tech went on its buying spree, it made a massive bet on quarterback Behren Morton. The 5th year senior showed flashes of being great, but you need to play at an even higher level if you're going to lead your team to a National Championship.
While Texas Tech ran through the Big 12 losing only when Behren Morton was out against Arizona State, they were always going to have a rude awakening in the College Football Playoff. Morton clearly wasn't up to the challenge, going just 18-32 for 137 yards with a pair of costly interceptions and a fumble.
Morton is out of eligibility, and now Texas Tech enters the offseason with a clear adjustment they'll have to make in their approach. When the Transfer Portal opens, all the players in the trenches and at the skill positions will be appealing, but the program needs a quarterback it believes can win the National Championship.
The good news is that there's a wide variety of stars in the Transfer Portal right now that the program can take a chance on. The biggest upgrade by far would be adding Cincinnati's Brendan Sorsby as he's already dominated in the Big 12 and would hit another level with this team's weapons.
We've never seen a program attack the Transfer Portal in the way that Texas Tech has, and it's now going to be interesting to see if they can keep buying at the level they have.