Jacob Rodriguez and Behren Morton stepped off the bus in Miami and spoke to reporters.

ESPN’s Dan Murphy has a long article that was posted yesterday about Cody Campbell and this is one of those things you should just read.

“I know a lot of people have a hard time believing my intentions are pure,” he tells the ballroom in Las Vegas. “… We need to preserve this national treasure that we have. It belongs to all of us. We need to make sure we protect and preserve it, and we make it sustainable for the long term.”

Madkour tells the room that his publication was criticized by some attendees for putting Campbell on the agenda — offering him equal footing as Charlie Baker and conference commissioners.

“We thought he was an important voice to be heard,” Madkour says.

Campbell steps down from the stage and wades through a line of people who wait to shake his hand or pass him a business card. The conference commissioners — all of whom except Petitti were in town for the conference — didn’t stick around to listen to him speak. They didn’t really have to. Believe him or not, Cody Campbell is inside the tent now. His voice is unavoidable.

Dallas Morning News’ Eric Prisbell has a lengthy article about the boosters, from Campbell to SMU’s boosters. Here’s a bit:

He was thrilled nearly three years ago when he told me the then-independent Matador Club, an NIL collective for Texas Tech athletes, raised $8 million from 4,000 donors. It’s come a long way: In its final year before moving under the university’s umbrella, the Matador Club raised $49 million from mid-2024 to mid-2025. Campbell said that is in addition to the $25.4 million also raised for all sports by the Texas Tech athletics fundraising arm Red Raider Club from donors in the last year (2024) on record.

“It is staggering, it’s incredible, but that’s the position Texas Tech is in …,” said Campbell, a fourth-generation Texas Tech graduate who played football there a quarter-century ago. “The stakes went up.”

Overall, Texas Tech in September announced the 2025 fiscal year was the largest fundraising year in university history: 37,845 donors contributed $236 million to support students, research and athletics.

Need more booster talk? The Athletic’s Justin Williams on how Texas Tech assembled their roster:

All 12 of the Red Raiders’ wins this season were by at least 22 points, with their only loss coming on the road at Arizona State when Morton was out due to injury. (Tech ranked 8th in Strength of Record and 54th in Strength of Schedule, according to The Athletic’s metrics.) The offense has 90 plays of 20-plus yards, more than any FBS team. The defense is third in the country in yards per play allowed, harassing opposing quarterbacks for 39 sacks. It’s a complete, balanced team that never folded to adversity or took its foot off the gas.

Portal additions have played a starring role. Texas Tech made a concerted effort to beef up the offensive and defensive lines, recognizing that the trenches tend to separate elite teams from everyone else.

The team spent $7 million on the defensive line alone — a big number, for sure, but tough to contextualize since most teams keep mum on roster financials. The headliners include Hunter and fellow tackles Skyler Gill-Howard and A.J. Holmes Jr., along with heat-seeking edge rushers David Bailey and Romello Height. Hunter, Bailey and Height each earned first-team All-Big 12 honors, and Bailey is second in the FBS with 13.5 sacks. On offense, newcomers Howard Sampson (left tackle) and Will Jados (left guard) have started all 13 games.

The Oregonian’s Aaron Fentress on facing Behren Morton:

“Obviously, when you don’t have to worry about the quarterback rushing and escaping as much, it makes life a little easier,” Boettcher said. “That being said, (Morton) still can use his legs, so you’ve still got to be aware of it.”

The Oregonian’s James Crepea on minimizing the impact of Jacob Rodriguez:

“It’s not necessarily just aggressive with them blitzing him; it’s his ability to find ways to get to the ball,” Lanning said. “Then when he gets to the ball he has intention to get the ball out every snap. He takes shots at the ball consistently.”

Rodriguez has been involved in 19 takeaways over his career, including nine this season. The Red Raiders are 13-1 when he creates a takeaway.

“On film you can see the dude literally running from one sideline to the other sideline making plays and effort,” UO center Iapani Laloulu said. “You can tell that they’re being taught effort to chase and strain to the ball.”

The Orange Bowl availability report for Oregon and Texas Tech was released (finding this report was somewhat difficult and not exactly easy):

OUT
DL #0 Skyler Gill-Howard
QB #15 Will Hammond
OL #57 Hunter Zambrano

PROBABLE
WR #4 T.J. West
LB #10 Jacob Rodriguez
CB #16 Ashton Hampton
CB #20 Dontae Balfour
K #48 Stone Harrington

Lubbock Avalanche-Journal’s Nathan Giese on how Bryce Ramirez turned a walk-on tryout into a Texas Tech football legacy:

Seven years is a long time to be in college, and they’re made longer by the arduous journey Ramirez has undergone since his arrival in the spring of 2019. A leg injury unlike anything his coaches or teammates had ever seen, the long road to return to the field, finding love and marriage, happiness and success in what was never supposed to be Ramirez’s life trajectory.

Had Ramirez ignored his mother’s wishes, spurning his commitment to Southwestern University and going to the open tryout for Matt Wells’ inaugural squad, Ramirez’s story would be far different. He may never have found his wife, who he wed in Jackson Hole this summer, or earned his Master’s degree in personal finance.

Lubbock Avalanche-Journal’s Don Williams on Behren Morton’s name:

Behren Morton grew up to be a starting quarterback for the Texas Tech football team, throwing for 8,852 yards and 71 touchdowns over the past five seasons. Behren Morton’s middle name is Bascom, a family name that’s been passed down through generations. Suni and her husband, longtime area high-school coach James Morton

“We both kind of, I think, had the thought together like, ‘Well, Jerry Behrens has been very instrumental in both of our lives,” James Morton said, “and we could name him Behren.”