Texas Tech RB, USC transfer, Quinten Joyner will miss 2025 season with torn ACL

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According to On3 reporter Pete Nakos, Texas Tech running back Quinten Joyner is expected to miss the 2025 season after tearing his ACL. Joyner had transfered to the team in December after spending the first two seasons of his career with the USC Trojans.
Joyner, who was a Doak Walker Award watch list nominee, ran for 478 yards on 63 attempts (7.6 yards per attempt) in 2024 with the Trojans in their first season in the Big 10. He was expected to have a significant role in Texas Tech's offense in 2025, playing alongside returning talents in J'Koby Williams and Cameron Dickey.
NEWS: Texas Tech RB Quinten Joyner has torn his ACL, @PeteNakos_ reports.
— On3 (@On3sports) August 18, 2025
The USC transfer will miss the 2025 season. https://t.co/0LB01Xz1b0 pic.twitter.com/NVWQfLFZQr
With Joyner out for the season, the Red Raiders will have to rely even more on Williams and Dickey, who were expected to be involved not only on offense but on special teams this season.
"I feel great about all three of those guys [Joyner, Williams, and Dickey]," head coach Joey McGuire said in July. "I think it's going to be really important that we find ways to do things with all three of them."
McGuire had tried to coin the running back room as "The Committee," an homage to his former two-time state championship-winning room at Cedar Hills High School. The debut of the three-man rotation will have to wait for 2026.
Joyner is a former four-star recruit from Manor, Texas, who excelled as a multi-sport athlete. He ran an 11.06-second 100-meter sprint and threw a shot put personal-best of 49 feet in 2022. The promising running back had impressed over the offseason and was in line to potentially emerge as the team's lead runner.
While the Red Raiders led the Big 12 in points per game and yards per game, they were just eighth in rushing yards per game despite boasting a 1,500-yard rusher in Tahj Brooks. After he was drafted in the sixth round by the Cincinnati Bengals, there was room for a new star to emerge in Texas Tech's backfield. Joyner's shot as the Red Raiders' RB1 will likely have to wait for one more season.
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Jordan Epp is a journalist who graduated from Texas A&M in 2022 and is passionate about telling stories, sharing news, and finding ways to entertain people through the medium of sports. He has formerly worked as a writer and editor at The Battalion and The Eagle, covering football in College Station, Texas, and served as the managing editor for PFSN.
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