After ankle surgery and a Big 12 title, Texas Tech disruptor Skyler Gill-Howard could boost the Red Raiders' CFP run if they reach the Peach Bowl.
One of the breakout stars of Texas Tech's 2025 season might still have one more surprise left.
Senior interior defensive lineman Skyler Gill-Howard was a tone-setter for the Texas Tech Red Raiders early in the year, anchoring the middle of the Big 12 champions' defense.
A former zero-star high school recruit who clawed his way up through Upper Iowa and Northern Illinois, he arrived in Lubbock as a three-star transfer portal gem and immediately played like it.
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That momentum was halted on Oct. 11 against Kansas when Gill-Howard suffered an ankle injury that required surgery in Dallas and was expected to end his regular season. Any hope for a return hinged on one thing ... Texas Tech making a deep postseason run.
The Red Raiders did their part.
Tech ripped off a 12-1 campaign, won the Big 12 title and locked up the No. 4 seed in the College Football Playoff, complete with a first-round bye.
That extra time off has opened the door for a potential Gill-Howard comeback, with new reports indicating there is optimism he could be available if Tech advances past the quarterfinals.
Texas Tech will open its historic first CFP appearance in the Orange Bowl on Jan. 1, 2026, against the winner of No. 5 Oregon and No. 12 James Madison.
If the Red Raiders survive and move on to the semifinal at the Peach Bowl in Atlanta, Gill-Howard could become a massive X-factor against the winner of Indiana–Alabama.
Before the injury, Gill-Howard started the first six games and terrorized offenses. He stacked a sack against Arkansas–Pine Bluff in Week 1, a pick-six versus Kent State in Week 2, and at least one pressure and one run stop in each of the first five contests.
The numbers - 2.5 tackles for loss, 11 pressures, eight run stops and an 88.9 PFF pass-rush grade - back up the eye test of a disruptive force inside.
In his absence, A.J. Holmes Jr. emerged as an AP All-American with 9.0 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks, while Lee Hunter became an interior wrecking ball in his own right.
Jayden Cofield and Dooda Banks rounded out a deep, physical rotation that will be critical in the Orange Bowl with Gill-Howard still expected to sit.
Yet Gill-Howard's impact never left the field.
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He has traveled with the team, delivered pregame speeches from his scooter, brought energy on the sideline and even graduated from Texas Tech in December.
For a former zero-star kid from Greenfield, Wisconsin, who fought through Division II, the MAC and now the Big 12, a Peach Bowl return in the College Football Playoff would be a fitting next chapter in one of the Red Raiders' best stories.