Few teams have been a bigger surprise in the 2025 college football season than Texas Tech, which should continue flowing at a high rate in Week 12 against UCF. After listing several key players as on their injury report throughout the week, the Red Raiders confirmed that Behren Morton, Jacob Rodriguez and Lee Hunter are all good to go.
All three players were listed as probable on the Week 12 injury report with unspecified injuries. Each was confirmed to be active early on gameday morning, On3 Sports' Pete Nakos reported.
Morton and Rodriguez are the key names as the most important players on each side of the ball. As the Red Raiders' defensive captain and arguably the best linebacker in the country, Rodriguez has suddenly become a popular name in the Heisman conversation after posting 14 tackles, one interception and a fumble recovery in Texas Tech's Week 11 win over BYU.
Morton enters Week 12 with 1,969 passing yards, 16 touchdowns and four interceptions, while completing 65.7 percent of his passes. Although he is not on track to match his career-high numbers from the 2024 season, the fifth-year quarterback is the team's unequivocal emotional leader.
Texas Tech looks to extend win streak against UCF
With Morton, Rodriguez and Lee in the lineup, Texas Tech's beaming College Football Playoff hopes remain red hot. The Red Raiders enter Week 12 as the No. 6-ranked team in the CFP rankings, making them the highest-rated team in the Big 12.
With just two games remaining in the regular season, Texas Tech is poised to make the Big 12 Championship Game. They are a full game ahead of BYU, against whom they own the tiebreaker, and Cincinnati, which are both 5-1 in the conference.
The matchup with UCF is one of two favorable matchups Texas Tech has to end the 2025 college football season. The Knights enter Week 12 at just 4-5, having lost five of their last six games.
Likewise, West Virginia is just 4-6 on the year, albeit riding a two-game mini win streak into Week 12. The Mountaineeers face the Sam Leavitt-less Arizona State Sun Devils in Week 12 before ending the year against Texas Tech.
