Texas Tech QB's first starts

Comparing Tyler Shough, Henry Colombi, and Donovan Smith

This year the Texas Tech Red Raiders have started three different quarterbacks for a variety of reasons. Former Oregon Duck transfer Tyler Shough won the job in camp. He went out with a broken collarbone against Texas and it became the Henry Colombi show. When he wasn’t getting the job done against Kansas State and Oklahoma, interim head coach Sonny Cumbie turned to the redshirt freshman Donovan Smith.

A look at how each performed in their first start:

Tyler Shough vs Houston

17/24

231 yards

1 TD 0 INTs

The offense scored 38 points (win)

Henry Colombi vs West Virginia

23/34

266 yards

0 TDs 0 INTs

The offense scored 23 points (win)

Donovan Smith vs Iowa State

25/32

322 yards

3 TDs 1 INT

The offense scored 41 points (win)

All three quarterbacks won a game for Tech in their first start and all three did it in different ways. With Shough and Colombi it felt more like they were just game managers for the Red Raiders offense. Against Houston, most of the damage was done by Tahj Brooks but Shough did have a rushing touchdown of his own. Although Erik Ezukanma had a huge game for Tech with 179 yards receiving.

For Colombi, it was SoRodorick Thompson’s running and Jonathan Garibay’s final kick that won the day for them. Garibay was monumental for both the West Virginia and Iowa State games. The point I will make on Smith is that it felt more like him willing his team to victory rather than relying on the running game. They did make plays on the ground but it was the combination of Smith’s legs and his arm that put them into position to win.

The journey of how we got here isn’t as important as the result. Donovan Smith is the starting quarterback moving forward and he has the Red Raiders Nation very excited about the future of the program.