Morton, Rodriguez reflect on their time as Red Raiders
A season to remember comes to an end for Texas Tech after losing to the Oregon Ducks in the Orange Bowl 23-0. Despite the score, the defense, as usual, was phenomenal for the Red Raiders against an Oregon team that loves to run the football and has a very explosive quarterback. Although the defense was superb, quarterback Behren Morton and the Red Raider offense could not find any kind of rhythm.
Tech’s offense committed four turnovers today, was not in the red zone much at all, and went 3-and-out almost every offensive drive. Despite the outcome not being what they wanted, Morton and linebacker Jacob Rodriguez have had a huge impact on this program. As much as they contributed on the field, they were just as important to building relationships and culture. Morton and Rodriguez spoke to the media after the game about the outcome and what Texas Tech means to them.
Post game thoughts
With Oregon only having a 6-0 lead at halftime, the game was still very much in reach for the Red Raiders to get right back in it. However, nothing was going right for Tech. Many players were emotional, including Morton, who walked into the press conference with tears in his eyes after the game.
“I thought we saw a really good defense today, but I thought offensively, this is not the standard of football that Texas Tech plays. But like coach said, you know, a lot to be proud of this year. But you know, today is tough,” Morton said. “I think we had a great game plan…we just didn’t execute base plays. We didn’t run our day one stuff that we’d run good, you know, I didn’t do good job of settling down and, you know, really focusing on the next play. But there’s a lot of things that, you know, we could have done differently. Can’t give them the ball. You know, we got to keep the ball on our side. We’re on offense, you know. But just a lot of bad football on offense.”
“I think we did a good job of, you know, matching up and and kind of knowing exactly what they wanted to do. A lot of the errors were on our part, you know, self inflicted. Just us, not communicating or being in the right position,” Rodriguez said. “I was super proud of our guys flying around, you know, hitting and going at the ball…a few drives started on our side of the 50, and, you know, it’s hard to play defense like that.”
Both Red Raiders for life
Despite the outcome, Morton and Rodriguez have been fully committed to Tech and building this program. What they have done for this university will never be forgotten, and they will forever be the guys who helped lead the Red Raiders to their first Big 12 Championship title.
“It’s tough. I love this university, everything that it stands for. You know, I’ve been a Red Raider since I was a little kid. So, you know, to get to do this this year has been awesome. A great group of guys, man, it’s just been so fun, just to, you know, put Texas Tech back on the map, and, you know, Lubbock deserves every bit of everything that happened this year,” Morton said with tears in his eyes. “Not the outcome that we wanted, but you know, really proud of this team the way that, you know, we fought through adversity this year. And you know, I’m proud to be a Red Raider.”
“It means everything to me. This changed my life. It has changed my family’s life. And it’s not just me, it’s everybody in that locker room. This double T has touched everybody in a way. This year was so special for us,” Rodriguez said while wearing his cowboy hat. “Today didn’t go the way we wanted it to, but I’ll always be able to look back on this year and be proud of, you know, the people that were around me. I told them just a couple of minutes ago that they got me for the rest of their life. I’m not going anywhere and I’m here for them always. They got me forever. The way this place and this university and this program has changed my life, I’m hoping to be able to do that for every single one of them.”
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