Texas Tech football news: Key Red Raiders TE ruled out vs. Sam Houston

As the No. 11 Texas Tech football program gears up to play Sam Houston on Saturday, the offense got some bad news. Tight end Terrance Carter Jr . will miss the contest with an injury .

" Texas Tech TE Terrance Carter Jr. will miss today's game against Sam Houston State, source tells @On3," Peter Nakos reported on Saturday morning.

The 6-foot-2, 245-pound pass-catcher returned to the Red Raiders' offense last week against Houston after missing the start of the season with a foot injury. He played in the opener against Abeline Christian but missed the Red Raiders' matchup with Oregon State the next week.

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Through two games, Carter has five catches for 62 yards. Last year, the now-fifth-year senior had 55 receptions for 624 yards and five touchdowns in his first season with Texas Tech. He previously played three years at Louisiana .

Carter was a game-time decision all week, so his missing this Texas Tech-Sam Houston clash isn't a major surprise. There may be a precautionary element to this injury designation as well. The Bearkats are 1-2 on the season, and are one of the weaker teams on the Red Raiders' schedule this year.

Texas Tech visits Colorado next weekend and plays Arizona State after that, so Joey McGuire may just be playing it safe so that he has one of his most potent offensive weapons available for the meet of the 2026 college football schedule.

While that Texas Tech schedule does get harder than it's been so far as they start playing Big 12 competition, the Red Raiders are not currently slated to play another team currently ranked in the top 25 for the rest of the regular season.