How a Latter-day Saint backup QB ‘ran the game plan’ and helped No. 17 Texas Tech beat No. 16 Utah

Saturday’s game between Utah and Texas Tech was supposed to center around the quarterback matchup between the Utes’ Devon Dampier and the Red Raiders’ Behren Morton, as the pair had shown through the first three weeks of the season that they are on an upward trajectory to being two of the top quarterbacks in the Big 12.

Texas Tech redshirt freshman Will Hammond, though, took advantage of an opportunity to shine in the No. 17 Red Raiders’ 34-10 road win over the No. 16 Utes at Rice-Eccles Stadium.

Morton was lost for the game on Texas Tech’s first drive of the second half after he took a hard shot from Utah linebacker Johnathan Hall, and while Hammond didn’t immediately pay dividends — the Red Raiders punted the ball on their first three possessions of the second half — the redshirt freshman from Austin, Texas, eventually got the Texas Tech offense rolling on a day when defense dominated the action for large portions.

All totaled, there were six turnovers in the game — four by Utah (two fumbles and two interceptions), and two interceptions from Morton.

Hammond, unlike the other two, held on to the ball and showed the ability to connect on deep throws to get drives moving.

“He’s a dude, man,” Texas Tech coach Joey McGuire said of Hammond. “... The one thing we really feel, and I know this, is coach speak to a lot of people, but the standard is the standard. You walk on that field and you’re wearing a double T, there’s only one way to play, which you go out and execute the game plan.

“You know, I thought he did a great job, and we’ve got some big playmakers. They were going to give us some 1-on-1 shots, and we’re able to take them and win enough to really stretch the lead and win the game.”

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Hammond led Texas Tech on a field goal drive that spanned the end of the third and start of the fourth quarters, giving the Red Raiders a 13-3 lead.

That was sparked by a 33-yard pass to Caleb Douglas on third-and-10 that moved Texas Tech to the Utah 27-yard line.

After Utah scored its lone touchdown to make it 13-10 with 10:22 to play, Hammond and the Texas Tech offense really got rolling.

He started the next drive with a 32-yard run, and Texas Tech cashed in with a 24-yard Hammond touchdown pass to tight end Terrance Carter Jr.

Following a Utah three and out, the Red Raiders again marched downfield and scored, as Jeremiah Dickey rattled off a 24-yard scoring run with 3:41 to play to make it 24-10.

Then, after a Dampier interception on a fourth-and-long play with the Utes in desperation mode, Hammond found Reggie Vigil for a 21-yard score to cap the blowout victory.

The freshman QB isn’t totally green — Hammond played in four games last season, and he started the team’s bowl game against Arkansas.

He completed his final five passes of the day, and all went for 10 or more yards and included to 20-plus yard touchdowns.

Hammond, who also played a couple of snaps in the first half when Morton was dinged up, said he felt the trust of his head coach when he was asked to go out and face a Utah defense that often frustrates opposing quarterbacks.

“That gives you the confidence to go out there and do your thing,” he said.

There’s another twist to the story: Hammond still got a home-crowd feel of his own in Utah.

Hammond, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said he had 30-35 members of his family on hand for the game in the same city that houses the church’s headquarters.

“All my aunts, uncles, grand parents, cousins, they all live here in the state of Utah,” Hammond said. “My oldest brother’s wife, they’re having a baby in December, so they’re having a baby shower. It was just a perfect opportunity ... everyone came out. I’m excited to go spend that time with them.”

Hammond has played in every game for Texas Tech this season, earning mop-up time minutes in the Red Raiders’ first three games before being asked to take over when Morton left hurt.

McGuire commended him for mastering his role when given the opportunity, while adding that his previous experience helped, as Texas Tech didn’t simply ask him to hand off the ball with the Red Raiders up big in their previous games.

“He’s extremely mature. He knows exactly what his role is right now on this team, and that is to be our backup quarterback,” McGuire said. “When he comes in the game, we’re going to run our offense, and you go back to Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, there’s a lot of coaches possibly to come out and you’re up 50, wherever you’re up, and you don’t run your offense, you hand the ball up and try to get out (of the game).

“That was one thing that we didn’t do. Will ... came out, he ran the game plan and executed game playing at a high level, so we expected to do that today. You know, the one thing that he does to add a little bit ... we’re going to run him a little bit more in the quarterback run game, and so that helped, because it added another hat and kept the chains moving.”