ESPN College Football

Posted by ESPN.com's Tim Griffin

Long odds have proved daunting to Steven Sheffield way the entire time he’s been at Texas Tech.

The invited walk-on quarterback never got the recruiting notoriety or publicity that other quarterbacks received when he was playing at Connally High School in the Austin suburb of Pflugerville, Texas.

But it’s been hard to argue with his production once he’s gotten a chance to play. The Red Raiders have scored touchdowns on 14 of 19 drives and added another field goal with Sheffield directing them since Taylor Potts was idled with a concussion midway through the New Mexico game two weeks ago.

After that performance, Sheffield believes he’s proven enough to win the starting job for the Red Raiders heading into Saturday’s game at Nebraska.

“In my mind, yes,’’ Sheffield said when asked by reporters if he’d earned the job after orchestrating a 66-14 victory over Kansas State. “But it’s not my decision. It’s up to the coach. We’ll see what (Texas Tech) Coach (Mike) Leach says next week and go from there.’’

Leach acknowledged that Sheffield’s debut is making him consider a midseason quarterback change for the first time in his 10-season tenure with the Red Raiders.

“This is the first time that I’ve ever changed or potentially changed or any of that,” Leach said. “I guess I’m new at that position.”

Sheffield, a 6-foot-4, 190-pound junior provides a different look for the Red Raider offense with his mobility and ability to keep plays alive because of his scrambling abilities. Potts, a 6-foot-5, 218-pound junior, is more of a classic dropback passer who won plaudits because of his courage facing a fearsome Texas pass rush earlier this season. Both have had games this season where they have thrown seven touchdown passes.

The Red Raiders’ offensive productivity with Sheffield in charge is his most notable attribute, according to Leach.

“I thought he did the things you really want a quarterback to do,’’ Leach said. “He played decisive and then worked the pocket really good. And he made some things happen with his feet, not just recklessly running around, but getting himself in position to make additional plays.’’

Potts easily won the job in the spring, earning the position faster than any other first-time starting quarterback Leach has had in his program.

But he’s not a loss to explain why Sheffield has blossomed once he received his starting opportunity.

“I think he’s steadily done some good things and I think that’s his own personal excitement to be out there,” Leach said. “I think that rubs off on everybody in a very good fashion."

The team has gravitated to its new leader, rolling up the most points in a Tech Big 12 game last week since a 70-10 beatdown of Nebraska in 2004.

That unity is particularly noteworthy after the dysfunction that marked the program after back-to-back losses to Texas and Houston earlier in the season.

Senior offensive captain Brandon Carter was suspended for an undisclosed violation of team rules after the Houston loss. And offensive lineman Marlon Williams ripped Leach in his Twitter account.

But the recent wins directed by Sheffield have served as palliative for the Red Raiders after the earlier turmoil.

“I thought he played really well,’’ Leach said. “He’s a real good presence out there for the entire offensive unit, and I think he has a lot of presence for the whole team. He’s a real inspiration to everybody, and I thought he played real well.’’

It’s still not determined that Potts automatically will earn his starting job when he’s healthy enough to play.

Leach plans to keep the media guessing until the last minute on who will be starting against the Cornhuskers.

“I’ve been criticized for not doing what ‘big-time’ programs do so I’ve decided to accommodate the wishes of the media,” Leach said. “And ‘big-time’ programs like to have game-time decisions so we’ve got us a game-time decision on our hands, and I think that’ll be not just ‘big-time’ for everyone but exciting for everyone. So there’s ‘big-time’ for you, how do you like that?”

After that, Leach was asked if the quarterback decision will be a game-time decision, a game-time announcement or whether the media should just assume it to be a game-time decision.

“Well, all of the above,” Leach said. “Not to do anything to diminish the excitement and anticipation of a game-time decision because I think that would screw up the whole thing and then we’d be less ‘big-time’ around here and that would certainly be disturbing to everybody.

“I think that the biggest thing is we’re going to look at practice and see how people do in practice and see how they play in practice and perform in practice.”

Potts has thrown for 1,817 yards and 13 touchdown passes this season and Sheffield has added 780 yards and 11 touchdown passes. Both rank among the top 25 nationally in touchdown passes.

“I can't say that I've felt this since high school, where I can go out there and take charge of things - everyone looks to me for guidance and tempo and to stay fast-paced and what-not,'' Sheffield told the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. "Yeah, it's a good feeling. I've been waiting for this for a long time, and I've worked real hard for this. I'm glad things are going the way they are.''