Texas Tech head football coach Kliff Kingsbury is hoping to settle on a starting quarterback by the time the Red Raiders kick off the football season on September 1st against Ole Miss.

UTEP v Texas Tech
Getty Images
loading...

At Big 12 Media Days in Frisco on Monday, Kingsbury said it’s exciting to see which of the three candidates for the quarterback spot will step up and separate from the others.  He also said it’s possible that more than one could see playing time but he would prefer to settle on just one primary starter. The three players competing for the job include Junior McLane Carter, Sophomore Jett Duffy and Freshman Alan Bowman.

The Red Raiders will have to replace some playmakers at receiver. Kingsbury said he expects T.J. Vasher, De’Quon Bowman and Ja’Deion High of Hereford to make an impact.

Kingsbury may be most excited about the Tech defense, which he says has developed some quality players and plenty of depth.  Kingsbury credits Defensive coordinator David Gibbs for developing a culture and identity that the players are buying into.

Tech finished 6-7 last season but that included several games they could easily have won. Kingsbury said they have preached “finishing” ever since the end of last season.

- Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby has plenty of reasons to feel bullish about his league. He never bought into the negative perceptions some had about the smallest of the Power Five conferences. Revenue keeps growing for the Big 12's 10 schools. Oklahoma has been to the College Football Playoff twice in the last three years. The Big 12 is the only league in the last year to have teams in the CFP, men's Final Four, College World Series and Women's World Series.

- Gabriel “Gabe” Rivera, a San Antonio sports legend and former Texas Tech star, died Monday night at a local hospital.  Rivera, who became known as "Señor Sack" at Tech, had his pro football career tragically cut short after he sustained a spinal-cord injury in a car accident during his rookie season with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1983,

Rivera had been in critical condition with a perforated bowel since Friday night, when he fell ill after attending a function at Inner City Development Center, a social services organization where he had worked as a volunteer for years. He was 57.

Rivera was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2012 and is also in the Texas Tech Sports Hall of Fame and San Antonio Sports Hall of Fame. His name was added to Tech's Ring of Honor at Jones AT&T Stadium in Lubbock in 2014. Rivera was named Southwest Conference Defensive Player of the Year in his senior season and made the SWC All-Decade team for the 1980s.

-- For the second time in four years, a hometown player has won the Home Run Derby. Nationals star Bryce Harper edged out Cubs slugger Kyle Schwarber in the 2018 Home Run Derby at Nationals Park on Monday night.

Schwarber, the first hitter in the final round, swatted 18 home runs, with a 453-footer ranking as his longest. Harper rallied to win with 19 home runs. His longest was 473 feet. Both Schwarber and Harper qualified for the 30-second bonus time in the final round, and Harper needed a furious run in the final minute to tie the score heading into his bonus time, where he pulled off the win.

- For the second year in a row, Chris Sale of Boston and Max Scherzer of Washington will be the starting pitchers in the All-Star Game tonight.

This will be the third consecutive start for left-hander Sale, who joins Lefty Gomez (American League, 1933-35) and Robin Roberts (National League, 1953-55) as the only pitchers to start three All-Star games in a row.

Scherzer becomes the 12th pitcher to start an All-Star Game on his home field

Sale is 10-4 on the season with a 2.23 ERA. The 29-year-old has started 20 games and struck out a league-high 188 batters in 129 innings.

The Nationals' right-hander Scherzer is 12-5 in 20 starts on the year. His 182 strikeouts and 134 2/3 innings lead the National League.

More From NewsTalk 940 AM