No. 23 Tech surges on stormy opening night
August 31, 2025 | Football
LUBBOCK – By the time an ominous storm rolled in, No. 23 Texas Tech had already jumped out to a 47-0 lead and outgained Arkansas-Pine Bluff by a 392-52 margin at halftime. The storm caused a lengthy delay, canceled the halftime show and postponed a drone show. Two eight-minute quarters were played in the second half of the season opener on a unique night where the Red Raiders were expected to win by a large margin and did so with a 67-7 victory to open the season.
Terrance Carter Jr. scored two of Tech's first three touchdowns of the game, his first coming just five minutes into the game when he took off on a straight-line sprint from his tight end position from the 21-yard line and caught a pass from Behran Morton at the 3. Absorbing two hits, Carter extended the football across the goal line for his first touchdown as a Red Raider for a 14-0 lead. One series later, Morton again found Carter, this time for a 9-yard touchdown to cap the first quarter with Tech leading 23-0 and giving Carter his first multi-touchdown performance of his career.
"I enjoyed it a lot," Carter said. "Actually, the fast-paced look got to me a little bit, but you have to get used to it. It's part of football. I love the way coach (Mack) Leftwich goes out there and just calls the plays, gets defenses on their toes, as y'all can see. I mean, UAPB really couldn't get set up with how quick we were running the ball and just getting passes out there."
Carter, a Killeen, Texas native who is in his first season at Tech after spending three at Louisiana, came into the season opener with 76 receptions and seven touchdowns in his career. He earned All-Sun Belt first team honors last season at tight end for the Rajin' Cajuns – finishing his sophomore season with 48 receptions and four touchdowns. On Saturday night, his presence on the field was immediately felt in a game where depth and talent throughout the roster became the storyline in a 60-point win with a trio of Texas Tech quarterbacks throwing for 314, with 12 receivers catching at least one pass. Carter had three receptions for 42 yards while Reggie Virgil led the team with four receptions and 56 yards. Caleb Douglas and Coy Eakin joined Carter with three receptions, while Eakin added a 41-yard touchdown to push the Red Raiders to a 30-0 lead just over a minute into the second half. Morton was near flawless, completing 16-of-20 passes for 201 yards and four touchdowns before Will Hammond went 7-of-9 for 92 yards and a touchdown, while Mitch Griffis got in to throw for 21 yards on two completions, one of which was a touchdown, giving Texas Tech its first game with three quarterbacks tossing touchdowns since the season opener in 2022
"Our expectations was that we were going to play really well early and we were going to be able to get Will and Mitch in the game," Tech head coach Joey McGuire said. "Our plan was to run the offense. In this day and age, when it is a constant evaluation of the roster, you have to do that. You've got to understand what you have, not for only right now, but what you have a few weeks from now to months from now. I thought we executed really well. I thought, you know, tempo wise, it was a point that Will Jados and Howard Sampson at halftime said, 'hey, that tempo is for real coach.' Â We're sitting there and we're pancaking somebody and bearing their wheels, yelling, gas, gas, gas, to get the next play going."
On a night when only a storm could slow Tech down, Carter sat on the dais for the postgame press conference with Skyler Gill-Howard to talk about the dominant win and the spectacle of the night. Gill-Howard, also in his first season at Tech, was still wearing his pads and uniform well after McGuire's postgame speech to the team – not wanting to take it off because of how much he's enjoying being part of the Red Raider program. "It's just amazing to get out here and play a game," Gill-Howard said. "That's why I still have this jersey on. I don't want to take it off." Carter felt the same, smiling as he spoke about the win that came in front of 60,229 fans at Jones AT&T Stadium.
"I can say I definitely loved it," Carter said. "I've never been part of a sold-out crowd like that. The most people I've probably played in front of was like 21,000. Just seeing the atmosphere and how many people came out to support, like that really showed a lot and how much they care about Lubbock."
