Joyner played his first game as a Red Raider after missing last season with an injury.
LUBBOCK -- It didn't take long for running back Quinten Joyner to make an impact for No. 12 Texas Tech in the first game of the season, and his first since joining the program last offseason.
His moment came early, and he made the most of it to demonstrate how his year-long recovery from surgery was worth the wait and patience.
"I was proud," head coach Joey McGuire said. "What I told the team a while ago, man it was really fun to see Quinten Joyner play a football game for the Red Raiders. That's the first time he's played in a game [for Texas Tech] and his first touch was a touchdown. So that was fun."
Joyner rotated in the backfield with Cam Dickey and J'Koby Williams on the Red Raiders' opening drive. In the red zone, Joyner entered the game and took the handoff from quarterback Will Hammond, who was also making his much-anticipated return from injury.
The 5-11, 220-pound running back knifed through the defense for a 14-yard touchdown on his first carry in a Texas Tech uniform.
Joyner, who was out for the entirety of Texas Tech's conference championship-winning season last year with a torn ACL suffered in training camp, said his debut was an emotional one.
"I had a few tears before the game," Joyner said in the postgame press conference, seated to the right of a smiling Hammond.
"It's been a whole year since I've been doing it again. It felt good, though. Having fun again."
In April, Joyner spoke about how his knee injury was his first substantial injury of his athletic career. While it was a grueling recovery, he kept his focus on his team's future.
"It was hard. I've never been through something like that before. This was my first time," he said. "It's not about me. It's about making the team better, me getting back healthy so I can make the team better. Myself, too. It's just like, go out there, try to do your best, do what you can do, try to do what you can for the team."
Joyner got 10 carries and rushed for a tied-career-high 43 yards in the game and scored his first touchdown since October 2024. Williams produced 128 total yards of offense, and Dickey pitched in 56 yards of his bulldozer-style running.
After posting over 500 yards of offense for USC in 2024, Joyner transferred to Tech and was thought to be the Red Raiders' RB1 ahead of the 2025 season. His preseason injury was devastating, but it paved the way for Dickey and Williams to account for 1,000 yards from scrimmage apiece as Texas Tech dominated its Big 12 competition.
Now in a three-man committee - which keyed Texas Tech's methodical offense with 39 total carries and 173 yards - and a conference repeat in mind, Joyner believes the trio of backs can feed off one another, as they did in Tech's 33-10 win over ACU to open the new season.
Still, however, Joyner saw areas where they could do better. The Red Raiders struggled with red-zone efficiency as a whole on offense, which was "frustrating" for McGuire.
"Just punishing people, just running with anger," Joyner said about how the running backs can improve. "But I feel like we did great today. We've got a lot to improve and we're gonna do better. We're gonna get better."
Tech's offensive coordinator Mack Leftwich views Joyner's addition to the running back room as a massive advantage to the offense.
"I think getting Q back just gives us the depth where we feel good about, you know - you can put some two-back stuff on the call sheet and if one goes down, you've got somebody that can step up into that role," Leftwich said earlier this offseason.
About himself individually, what sparked such immediate production in his return? Does his look and feel like his normal self?
"I've gotten better," Joyner smirked matter-of-factly. "He definitely has," Hammond added.
It only took one play to prove it.
