LUBBOCK — Texas Tech won but lost starting quarterback Taylor Potts against New Mexico on Saturday. Potts left the game after he was shaken up before halftime of the Red Raiders' 48-28 victory.

Head coach Mike Leach was mum on whether he'll play next week.

"I expect everyone to be back since there has not been an injury around here in five years or whenever it started," Leach said of the program's policy of not commenting on or even acknowledging injuries. "I don't know why this week would be any different. So we'll go out and practice and see what happens."

Backup Steven Sheffield, playing in only his second game, threw for 238 yards and three touchdowns.

Potts, the nation's leading passer, left the game after two hard sacks appeared to affect his balance.

Sheffield threw scoring passes of 25, 20 and 62 yards. He was 16 of 23 with one interception. Alex Torres, Detron Lewis and Harrison Jeffers caught the touchdowns. Jeffers also rushed for three TDS.

On his first possession after Potts left, Sheffield led the Red Raiders on an 86-yard drive to close the half and put Texas Tech up 14-7.

"I thought he came out and played good," Leach said. "I thought that drive right before half kind of sparked not just the offense but all aspects of our team."

Potts, who was 13 of 23 for 215 yards, was intercepted twice, both by cornerback Nathan Enriquez.

The Lobos (0-5) got their only first-half score off Potts' second interception. Donovan Porterie threw a 7-yard TD pass to Josh Fussell in the second quarter.

Porterie, who completed 30 of 56 passes for 316 yards and two touchdowns, called the game frustrating.

"But we see improvement week by week and that's all
I can ask of the guys up front," Porterie said. "The receivers are pulling in more balls and the offensive line is giving me time."

The loss for New Mexico was its ninth straight dating to last season.

The game capped a week of off-the-field distractions for both teams.

Leach made headlines when he indefinitely suspended Brandon Carter, a team captain and preseason All-America pick, for violating team rules following Texas Tech's 29-28 loss to No. 12 Houston.

Carter was in the stands for much of the game. He did not practice this week.

Leach also banned his players from using Twitter after learning Marlon Williams had tweeted about Leach being late to a team meeting.

For the Lobos, head coach Mike Locksley is under investigation by the university following a Sept. 20 fight involving an assistant.

Receivers coach J.B. Gerald told police Locksley struck him during a staff meeting. Gerald hasn't been with the team since the incident.

"We've had every opportunity to quit, we had every opportunity, with all the adversity we have faced here in the last couple of weeks, to maybe fall apart and we haven't," Locksley said. "You can win a lot of football games when you have a team like the one I have in that locker room."

At the outset, Texas Tech (3-2) showed no signs of being distracted.

On its first possession, Potts threw a 79-yard pass to Tremain Swindall, who outran Lobos defenders to the 1 on the Red Raiders' longest play from scrimmage this season.

Jeffers took the ball in on the next play to put Texas Tech up 7-0.

Potts, who was without a touchdown pass, was not on the sideline after halftime. He got sacked hard twice late in the second quarter.

Tech trainers checked Potts' balance — he stood on one foot and then the other — and rubbed the back of his neck.

Lobos linebacker Carmen Messina sacked Potts on a first-down play and Johnathan Rainey threw him to the ground on third-and-9 after Potts scrambled toward the far sideline late in the second quarter.

The nation's leading passer got up slowly after the second sack, then stood still momentarily as he bent over, resting his hands on his knees.

His head was down as he made his way to Texas Tech's sideline.




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