Texas Tech will be without Terrance Carter Jr. for the second time this season against Sam Houston, as the tight end continues to recover from an AC joint issue.
LUBBOCK -- No. 11 Texas Tech is back in action on Saturday against Sam Houston, but the Red Raiders will be without one of their biggest weapons.
Reports coming out of Lubbock indicating that sensational tight end Terrance Carter Jr. will be inactive in the matchup with the Bearkats after continue to deal with a nagging AC sprain.
Carter was able to make his way back to the field in the Big 12 opening showdown against No. 25 Houston last Friday after missing the outing with Oregon State.
Against the Cougars, Carter caught two passes and tallied 34 yards to finish as Texas Tech's third leading receiver in the 28-26 victory.
Despite his impressive performances last season, Carter has been struggling for his breakout moment in this latest campaign with Texas Tech.
And he will apparently have to wait another week for a chance to do so.
The silver lining for the Red Raiders is it seems that Carter's absence is due in most part to caution about making the injury worse instead of him taking a turn for the worst.
With a non-conference opponent in Sam Houston that should be easier to handle than the Cougars in last week's thriller, it does make sense to get Carter back to his normal self ahead of a pivotal conference schedule.
Even without one of his presumptive top targets, quarterback Will Hammond will look to lead Texas Tech to its second straight 4-0 start and a perfect record outside of the Big 12.
Hammond has begun to emerge as the threat that many expected to see following his stellar relief efforts last season for the Red Raiders.
In the outing with Houston, Hammond threw for over 250 yards and a touchdown while limiting himself to a single interception.
He also picked up 35 yards on the ground in his first true rushing effort since suffering the season-ending ACL injury last season.
With or without Carter, Texas Tech stares down a golden opportunity to showcase its skills in the final tune-up game before getting back into the brunt of its Big 12 schedule.
The No. 11 Red Raiders welcome Sam Houston to Galaxy Stadium in Lubbock at 11 a.m. CT, with TNT Sports airing the matchup on TruTV and HBO Max.
