Behren Morton’s Grit Behind the Scenes: How Texas Tech’s QB Prepped Through Pain
Texas Tech’s 2025 season has been a rollercoaster, and not just on the scoreboard. The Red Raiders have had to weather a storm of quarterback injuries that would derail most teams.
But what’s made this campaign so compelling isn’t just that they stayed afloat - it’s how they did it. At the center of it all: Behren Morton, a quarterback who’s been fighting through more than just opposing defenses.
When your starter goes down, you turn to the backup. When the backup gets hurt, well, that’s when things get complicated.
That’s the situation head coach Joey McGuire and his staff found themselves in. And while Morton was able to return to action, it wasn’t exactly a storybook comeback.
He’s been playing at less than 100 percent for weeks - and the Red Raiders haven’t been shy about that.
What’s flown a bit under the radar, though, is the behind-the-scenes grind Morton’s been putting in just to get to game day. Offensive coordinator Mack Leftwich pulled back the curtain recently, and what he shared paints a picture of a player doing everything in his power to stay sharp, even while his body was still healing.
“After the BYU game, he would kind of go through our walkthroughs in his boot,” Leftwich said. “He wasn’t doing the Tuesday and Wednesday practices, but he would do our walkthroughs in the boot and he was throwing it.”
Think about that for a second. Morton, still in a walking boot, skipping full practices but showing up for walkthroughs - and still slinging the ball. That’s not just about toughness; that’s about commitment, about finding ways to stay mentally and mechanically locked in when your body won’t let you do the usual prep work.
Leftwich even joked with Morton about how the injury might’ve made him more accurate.
“I told him that made him more accurate because he had to play with a base and balance,” Leftwich said. “I think when you have injuries, you’ve got to kind of learn to play with it and know where your limitations are and what you’re able to do.”
That’s a coach’s way of saying: this kid’s learning how to adapt. Injuries test more than just your body - they test your fundamentals, your patience, your football IQ. And Morton’s been passing that test, week after week, by finding ways to keep progressing even when his mobility was limited.
Now, with the Orange Bowl on deck and a showdown looming against a loaded Oregon defense, Morton’s finally starting to feel like himself again. “Now that he’s back feeling good again and feeling really healthy, I think he’s as confident as he ever has been,” Leftwich said.
That confidence is going to be key. Oregon brings one of the most talented, disciplined defensive units in the country - they don’t give you much, and they’ll punish mistakes. But a sharper, healthier Morton, one who’s had to fine-tune his game under less-than-ideal circumstances, might just be ready for the moment.
Texas Tech’s road to the Orange Bowl hasn’t been smooth, but it’s revealed something important about this team - and about their quarterback. Morton’s not just a guy under center. He’s a grinder, a leader, and a student of the game who’s been quietly putting in the work when no one was watching.
And now, with the spotlight back on, we’ll see just how far that work can take him.