Hicks missed the first three games while awaiting an academic appeal from the NCAA. He missed his fourth game against the Bears with an apparent injury.
Tech head coach Mike Leach said that Hicks practiced some during the week, but Harrell said the team didn't know Hicks would be out of the lineup until the day of the game. Hicks sat out the late stages of last week's loss against Texas with an apparent back injury.
"It was never definite until (Saturday)," Harrell said. "We didn't know that he wasn't playing, but he didn't work out with us and when he wasn't dressed we knew and made the adjustments."
Todd Walker and L.A. Reed rotated in Hicks' absence, but Filani was Harrell's favorite target.