Cameron Dickey hated to see Texas Tech football teammate Cam'Ron Valdez go down with his season-ending knee injury during practice last week. The freshman also had an instant thought.

In Dickey's mind, it was "next man up," and that man is him.

"I know it's unfortunate for that injury to happen," Dickey said Tuesday, "but I think since I've been here, I've just been working on preparation, getting ready."

Dickey had been trying to take the No. 2 running back position behind Tahj Brooks from Valdez since joining the Red Raiders as a spring enrollee, graduating early from Crockett High School to do so. The two split time in the Washington State game in Brooks' absence, but with Valdez no longer available, it'll be Dickey who gets the majority of those backup reps.

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When Dickey joined the Red Raiders for the spring, Tech associate head coach Kenny Perry said he had some concerns about how the Austin native would transition to being a true running back. During his prolific high school career, Dickey operated as a dual-threat quarterback, accumulating more than 7,000 and 90 touchdowns, the majority coming through his running ability.

Dickey's style of play gave some colleges pause about recruiting him. Ranked between a three- and four-star prospect by most recruiting services, nobody recruited Dickey to continue playing quarterback in college.

"I think I'm real humble about it," Dickey said." ... I had a great opportunity here. Just took that and the rest is history."

Dickey's emergence in spring ball prompted several of Tech's returning running backs to hit the transfer portal, head coach Joey McGuire telling the Avalanche-Journal, "it's dramatic whenever you see him versus some of the other guys."

Being a quarterback in high school, Dickey has had to adjust to life as a running back full-time.

"I was worried a little bit about that," Perry said, "because when you're taking a snap, I think he'll tell you the same thing, he can kind of run around and, some of the teams he played against, they could not have an offensive lineman and he was going to get four or five yards.

"It think it's more now him getting on path and understanding where, what our offensive line is doing, where some of his cuts are. You can't just break everything outside and outrun guys at this level. It's really hard to do. You're just trying to get and understand where the plays are going to hit and he's got the vision to go wherever he needs to go."

Dickey admitted the speed at the Division I level is a big difference from what he experienced in high school. He also said his biggest adjustment to the running back position is blocking, something he didn't have to do at Crockett.

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Playing time hasn't been too hard for Dickey to find early in his career. He got his first major time on the field in Week 2 with Tahj Brooks out with an arm injury. Against Washington State, Dickey got his the first touchdown of his collegiate career, taking a 12-yard pass into the end zone.

With the move up the depth chart, Dickey is likely to have more and more opportunities to score.

"It was an unreal feeling," Dickey said of the score. "I kind of blacked out a little bit when I saw the end zone, like at five yards away. Oh, wow, there it is. And then it happened. I didn't want to do anything too crazy in celebration, but I was just really happy and ready for more."

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Texas Tech football's Cameron Dickey ready for more opportunities