Ryder Daniels Quarterback

Texas Tech First Year and QB Battle

The Daniels family packed Ryder's things and made the trip to Lubbock. It took them two days to get there. They made a stopover at Flagstaff for the night and continued their journey the next day. Made they made to Texas Tech, they parked their car and were met by Jordan Potter who was the starting quarterback and Chris Harris who would be one of his receivers. 

Jordan said, "Are you Ryder Daniels?" Ryder said, "I am, are you my teammates?" Jordan said, "That's right, I'm Jordan Potter, a fellow quarterback and your roommate and this is Chris Harris who is one of your receivers or will be one of your receivers," Chris said, "Nice to meet you," as they were shaking his hand. 

Jordan said, "Are they your parents?" Ryder said, "They are," Jordan said, "Nice to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Daniels," as Jordan shook their hands. Mrs. Daniels said, "Likewise, are you going to help us with Ryder's stuff?" Jordan said, "Actually we're waiting on two of our Offensive Linemen who will help the load. The advantages of being the starting quarterback," as two offensive linemen show up to help the Daniels' move in. 

They head towards Ryder's and Jordan's dorm room and Ryder said, "So didn't think two playing the same position would share a dorm room," Jordan said, "Honestly, I prefer to room with a receiver, by the way next year have a receiver be your roommate. However, I wanted to take you under my wing after the problems you had in high school," 

Ryder said, "What do you all know?" Jordan said, "We saw this performance from this Tori girl in the website called the Slap and man, she really embarrassed you. Also, I did you some of your stuff on your page on and off the field. I'm surprised you didn't go to USC or UCLA and go on to have an acting career in Hollywood," 

Ryder said, "USC had Barkley and UCLA had Prince and I didn't want to wait that long and I did have a good relationship with Coach Leach so I'm here plus I wanted to go for an NFL career before going into acting," Jordan said, "I understand, I'm going to miss coach Leach as well and I can see why he recruited you, you have a cannon for an arm. Also, that O'Connor guy is pretty fast," Chris said, "Not as fast as me," Ryder said, "Any chance we can give him here?" Jordan said, "I'm sure that Coach Tuberville will look at him. Your boy O'Connor could be Wes Welker with speed," Ryder said, "He prefers Steve Largeant with speed," Jordan said, "Going old-school we see," Chris said, "Also, what's up with him wearing Eric Dickerson glasses?" Ryder said, "He refuses to wear contact, so he sticks with glasses even if he looks nerdy but he's a cool guy," Chris said, "Maybe I'll met him,"

Ryder's stuff was packed into his and Jordan's dorm room and Ryder said Goodbyes to his parents who were going to spend the night in Lubbock before going back to LA and after he got settled in Jordan and Chris led him to football facilities. One of the rooms they went into was with most of the receivers were at and when they went in there, they saw video of the Tori's performance and as soon as it was over, they cheered and one player said, "Man, she's good. I feel bad for the sucker who broke her heart," Another player said, "I don't," A Third player said, "I would not return to school after that, I wonder what happened to that jackass," 

Jordan cleared his throat and the receivers turned around and realized that Ryder was right there. Ryder said, "Is this a part of the hazing?" Chris said, "Actually your hazing is you performing that song," Ryder said, "Looking forward to it," Jordan said, "Hey guys, this is our new quarterback Ryder Daniels," Ryder said, "Or Jackass as some of you like to call me," A player said, "We don't care as long as you're a good teammate and maybe me her name," The crowd laughed and Ryder added, "She blocked so that won't happened," Jordan said, "OK, you guys had your fun, we're going to take him to some other places, enjoy the rest of your movie night," and Jordan and Chris led Ryder to another place. 

Ryder would win over his teammates with the first practice. It felt good to be on the field again and wearing the number 3. He waited for his moment to shine and once he got that moment, he didn't waste as he launched ball after ball proving why he was the number QB in his recruiting class. He impressive his teammates and the coaching staff with one of Tuberville's assistants telling Tuberville, "You better hope that Potter doesn't get injured otherwise we got a QB controversy to deal with," Tuberville said, "I'm aware of that, one of the strongest arms I've seen in my coaching career,"     

Tuberville did said he would redshirt Ryder and true to his word, he did give Ryder his redshirt, sitting him out for the season. It sucked to put in all the work in only to be in the sidelines for the games with little to no chance of playing in the games. However, It wasn't all bad. He was able to concentrate on his schoolwork and he took 18 credits in the fall and spring semesters and as a theater major he starred in the Texas Tech production of Bye Bye Birdie where he drew rave reviews and Jordan told him, "If the football things doesn't pan out, you could go back to Hollywood," He had a 3.5 grade point average in his redshirt freshman season.

Even Ryder's personal life was going well as he started dating a blonde named Taylor Walker who he met at Freshman Orientation and who knew some things about him but she gave him a chance and it started to work out. The Texas Tech Red Raiders went 8-5 in 2010, going to the TicketCity Bowl where they beat Northwestern 45-38. After that game, Potter graduated and Ryder would get a chance to be the starter where he would battle Seth Dodge. They had an intense battle in the spring and the summer to the point where they got into a heated argument that was filmed by TV camera and shown on TV news including ESPN. It got so bad that Bobby Knight intervened to make the peace. It also created a strain on Ryder's and Taylor's relationship. After Summer Camp, Tuberville decided on the next starting quarterback for the Red Raiders and his decision was Ryder Daniels.