In a Texas Tech offense that returned three starters and three backups at receiver positions, Tramain Swindall was neither. Even so, he spent the first month of the season carving out a role.

Not that he’s gloating about it, but the redshirt freshman finished non-conference play as the Red Raiders’ fourth-leading pass catcher having snagged 15 balls for 165 yards.

Never mind that he’s caught at least three passes in every game. Swindall, who once starred on Oklahoma City Millwood’s Class 2A state championship team, is not at all satisfied by the first month of his college career.

“Actually, it’s pretty inconsistent,” he said of his level of play. “I’ve been up and down with my technique and different stuff, but I’ve made some good plays also, so I think that’s kind of helped my confidence a little bit.”

Lincoln Riley, Swindall’s position coach, isn’t as harsh a critic.

“The thing about him, he doesn’t have many down days,” Riley said. “You don’t see the big jumps with him. He just steadily gets better and better.”

Swindall’s numbers are more impressive since they’ve come with him in a backup role at the Red Raiders’ “Y” inside receiver spot. He shares time with sophomore Detron Lewis, who’s the team’s second-leading receiver, both by catches (21) and yards (326).

The two arrived last year, but Lewis was able to step in and play right away.

“We’re basically rotating, getting the same reps as each other right now,” Lewis said. “It’s going pretty good. We’re progressing as receivers. We’re kind of young, so we’re just growing each game, each week. We’re getting better.”

Tech (4-0), ranked No. 9 and No. 10 in the two major polls, is off this week, so Swindall’s trying to use the extra time to polish his fundamentals. The Raiders probably would be pleased if he could duplicate his best game to date, which was a three-catch, 54-yard performance in a 35-19 victory at Nevada.

Maybe the numbers didn’t jump off the page, but each one of the catches mattered. All three converted third-and-long situations, one from the Tech 22-yard line, one from the Nevada 28 and one from the Tech 16.

“I was pretty confident about that, to be a go-to guy on third down,” Swindall said. “I would say Nevada’s probably the best game I’ve had so far. It was also big because it was on the road, so that made it even more special.”

Something Swindall lacked through the first three games was a touchdown, which had proven elusive. In the opener against Eastern Washington, he caught a 9-yard pass but was tackled inside the 1-yard line. Graham Harrell sneaked in from there.

In Week 3 against SMU, Swindall caught a pass in the end zone, but the play had been whistled dead, by rule, because a Mustangs rusher had ripped off Harrell’s helmet before the throw.

Swindall finally broke through in last week’s home game against Massachusetts. He ran a quick post and caught a pass over the middle to complete a 17-yard touchdown. The TD was Tech’s second score in what turned into a 56-14 runaway.

“I had some TDs taken away from me early in the season,” Swindall said, “so I felt pretty good to finally get that first one out of the way, so I can go continue my career and get more touchdowns.”

Lewis feels sure there’s more where the one came from.

“I think he’s really good for his first year,” Lewis said. “He’s hungry. He got his first touchdown last game. I think that’s going to help him a lot, to get the nervousness out of him.”