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Baker Mayfield? Gone.
Mason Rudolph? Out.
Kenny Hill? Vanished.
The Texas Tech defense is undoubtedly thrilled at the prospect of playing in a Big 12 without the aforementioned veteran quarterbacks.
Instead, this year’s slate of opposing signal callers includes guys you never heard of, like Taylor Cornelius and Zeb Noland. There’s also a ton of underclassmen like Charlie Brewer, Shawn Robinson, Sam Ehlinger and Skylar Thompson, to name a few.
In total, the quarterbacks Tech will play in 2018 have accounted for 121 touchdowns in their entire careers, and, wait for it...44 of those came from Will Grier.
Take the West Virginia quarterback out of the equation, and the average quarterback the Red Raider defense will face has only thrown seven touchdowns in his collegiate career.
That’s a matchup worth anticipating.
Check out the list of opposing QBs in 2018:
Tech’s 2018 opposing QBs
| Quarterback | School | Touchdowns |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterback | School | Touchdowns |
| Jordan Ta'amu | Ole Miss | 11 |
| Darrell Colbert, Jr. | Lamar | 8 |
| D’eriq King | Houston | 8 |
| Taylor Cornelius | Oklahoma State | 0 |
| Will Grier | West Virginia | 44 |
| Shawn Robinson | TCU | 3 |
| Carter Stanley | Kansas | 10 |
| Zeb Noland | Iowa State | 2 |
| Kyler Murray | Oklahoma | 8 |
| Sam Ehlinger | Texas | 11 |
| Skylar Thompson | Kansas State | 5 |
| Charlie Brewer | Baylor | 11 |
Combining the lack of experience at the game’s most important position with the continually improving Tech defense and the outlook in 2018 looks really, really good.
*Side note, Iowa State is still awaiting an NCAA decision that may allow Kyle Kempt to have a second senior season in 2018. He’s thrown for 15 touchdowns in his career.