ESPN College Football

Posted by ESPN.com's Tim Griffin

New Texas Tech quarterback Taylor Potts had some first-game struggles in his opening game as the Red Raiders’ starter.

Potts passed for 405 yards and two touchdowns, but he was intercepted three times -- most ever thrown by a first-game Texas Tech quarterback under coach Mike Leach -- in the Red Raiders’ 38-13 victory over North Dakota.

Potts struggled with trying to get a handle on leading the team in his first game, Leach said.

“I think the first games early in the season, there’s anxiousness that you certainly have to work through,” Leach told reporters earlier this week. “And I’m sure that’s part of it.”

But he’s not concerned about extended problems as Potts prepares for his game against Rice on Saturday.

“There’s always a certain amount of work to be done,” Leach said. “Graham [Harrell] played a very poor game last year versus Nevada, which was the worst game of his career. He learned a lot from it and went on to throw for another 5,000 yards.”

Here’s a statistical look at all six of Leach’s starting quarterbacks and their statistics in their first game as starters at Texas Tech. Potts’ numbers compare favorably with most of them.

Texas Tech QBs at a Glance Player Year Comp ATT YDS INT TD Rating Result Kliff Kingsbury 2000 21 47 186 1 2 87.71 W, 24-3 vs. New Mexico B.J. Symons 2003 23 38 297 1 3 146.97 W, 58-10 vs. SMU Sonny Cumbie 2004 40 66 470 0 4 140.42 W, 27-13 at SMU Cody Hodges 2005 29 37 454 0 4 217.12 W, 56-3 vs. FIU Graham Harrell 2006 34 49 342 1 5 157.61 W, 35-3 vs. SMU Taylor Potts 2009 34 48 405 3 2 142.96 W, 38-13 vs. North Dakota