LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) – “I think this team is going to surprise some people. It’s gonna be a big test, but I think we got what it takes to pull it off.”
Those words hold even more weight when you realize who’s saying them. Jimmy Carmichael was a quarterback for Texas Tech during the early 1970’s after his playing days at Brownwood High School.
As a Red Raider, he was on the last team to play the Utah Utes in 1973.
“It was a really fun time,” Carmichael said. “That was back when you only had one team that went to the playoffs in each district. Our first playoff game my junior and senior years were against Lubbock Estacado and they were No. 1 in the state both years, and one year they beat us and the next year we beat them.”
Carmichael arrived in Lubbock in 1970, where he was part of the freshman “Picadors” team. He then moved up to varsity and played for Texas Tech from 1971 to 1973.
“We had a really great bunch of guys,” Carmichael said. “They were a bunch of overachievers I’ve told people, but at the end of the day, we did things that even surprised us.”
One of those surprises came in the 1973 season, when Tech started the season ranked No. 20 and defeated Utah, 29-22, in the season opener.
“Utah was a pretty good team that year,” Carmichael said. “They went on to beat Arizona State and they were ranked No. 8 in the country. We figured we had a pretty decent team and a pretty good shot at being highly ranked by the end of the year.”
And highly ranked they were, as they defeated Tennessee in the Gator Bowl that season to finish No. 11 in the rankings. No Texas Tech team since then has finished the season with a better ranking.
“I told Joey (McGuire) he needs to fix that,” Carmichael said. “We got to get in that top 10 when the end of the year rolls around.”
Carmichael says this team this season has a lot of potential and one side of the ball even reminds him of the squad he played with more than five decades ago.
“I like our defense,” Carmichael said, “our defense is looking really good. ”We’ve got some really good players over there and some kids that can play, but I like our offense, too. I think Behren Morton’s doing a good job at quarterback, he’s putting up some really strong numbers.”
With so much on the line, Carmichael will be eagerly watching the next Texas Tech-Utah matchup this Saturday. He says this game, along with the season, could be one for the record books.
“I live and die with Tech football,” Carmichael said, “and many years, we died with Tech football. I have always been a great fan, I will always be a great fan, and I think this is one of those year’s we’re going to live with them.”
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