Texas Tech left a lot on the table in its season-opening win over Abilene Christian, and the biggest missed opportunity might have been Terrance Carter Jr.
The Red Raiders have no shortage of playmakers, but Carter stands out as the most unique weapon in the offense. At 6-foot-2 and 245 pounds, he brings wide receiver movement in a tight end body, the kind of matchup problem that should force defenses to adjust. Instead, he barely showed up in week one.
Carter finished with just three catches for 28 yards, and his last reception came with 4:00 left in the third quarter. For a player who can tilt the field, that kind of usage just doesn’t make sense. Even more glaring: in Tech’s five red-zone possessions against the Wildcats, Carter never touched the ball and wasn’t targeted once.
That’s a tough fit with the way the Red Raiders said they wanted to operate this season. The coaching staff talked before the opener about spreading the ball around among receivers and tight ends, and that’s exactly what happened.
Ten Texas Tech players caught a pass, though only running back J'Koby Williams had more than four receptions. It also showed that the receiver pecking order is still being sorted out, with slot receiver Coy Eakin the only wideout with any real track record in a Red Raider uniform.
The tight end room, though, doesn’t feel complicated. Carter is the one who should be getting the most touches. He can run like a receiver, make defenders miss, and be a major threat near the goal line, where his size should make him one of the offense’s most valuable tools.
There’s also a track record here. In his first season at Texas Tech, Carter caught 55 passes for 624 yards and five touchdowns while dealing with nagging injuries that limited him at times. He came back expecting more in 2025, and plenty of fans are thinking big, even wondering whether he could produce the best season by a Tech tight end since Jace Amaro’s 2013 run, when Amaro posted 106 catches for 1,302 yards and seven touchdowns.
That kind of season is a long shot. But a big year for Carter is still well within reach if Texas Tech makes him a priority.
Of all the pass catchers on the roster, he’s the proven one. The Red Raiders should be making sure he’s a central part of the passing game every week.
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The agreement also comes with a $1.2 million game guarantee from Texas Tech to Texas State, a reminder that these future schedules are often as much about economics and timing as they are about opponents. For the Red Raiders, the addition brings more clarity to a long-range plan that has seen a few moving parts, even if there is still plenty of time for the broader picture to shift again. [Read more 🡒]
Texas Tech's New Safety Look Faces An Early Test Fans Will Notice
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Texas Techs First Real Test Could Expose A Big Week 1 Concern
Texas Tech heads into its matchup with Oregon State carrying the kind of early momentum every coach wants in September, but also the kind of questions that tend to surface once the competition tightens. The Red Raiders opened with a win over Abilene Christian, and Will Hammond gave the offense a promising start by throwing for 298 yards in his first game action of the season. Now the stakes rise a bit, with Oregon State coming in after a narrow loss to Houston and a quarterback situation that already looks settled enough to test a secondary.
Braden Atkinson made an immediate impression for the Beavers in his debut, passing for 376 yards and giving Texas Tech a true first look at a passing game that can stress a defense in different ways. That is where this game starts to matter for the Red Raiders, because the opener did not answer every question about how sturdy they are once an opponent can sustain drives and force repeated stops. The prediction leans toward Texas Tech covering, but this one feels like a useful early measuring stick for a team still sorting out exactly where its ceiling and concerns really are. [Read more 🡒]