{"id":448977,"date":"2026-09-27T02:50:11","date_gmt":"2026-09-27T02:50:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/448977\/"},"modified":"2026-09-27T02:50:11","modified_gmt":"2026-09-27T02:50:11","slug":"double-pick-6s-texas-tech-lb-austin-romaine-returns-2-interceptions-for-tds-on-consecutive-passes-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/448977\/","title":{"rendered":"Double pick-6s: Texas Tech LB Austin Romaine returns 2 interceptions for TDs on consecutive passes"},"content":{"rendered":"

LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) \u2014 Texas Tech linebacker Austin Romaine returned two interceptions for touchdowns<\/a> on consecutive passes thrown by different Sam Houston quarterbacks after some pregame encouragement from coach Joey McGuire.<\/p>\n

Romaine, the senior transfer from Kansas State, became the first FBS player in 13 years with such quick pick-6s. They came seven seconds apart in the opening minute of the second quarter in the No. 11 Red Raiders’ 49-14 win over the Bearkats on Saturday.<\/p>\n

\u201cCoach McGuire sent me a message just saying cut it loose and play free,\u201d Romaine said. \u201cAnd I just did a lot less thinking this game.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Red Raiders led only 7-0 before fellow linebacker Brock Gowlas leaped to deflect a pass thrown by Brett Holloway. Romaine, who had also jumped, then grabbed the ball out of the air and ran 15 yards for a touchdown with 14:54 left in the first half.<\/p>\n

On the first play after the ensuing kickoff, Bearcats starting quarterback Landyn Locke was back in the game, and his pass on first down was picked off by Romaine. That 31-yard return made it 21-0.<\/p>\n

Navy\u2019s Dashaun Peele returned two interceptions for touchdowns against Charlotte in 2024, but Romaine is the first FBS player with pick-6s on consecutive throws since 2013.<\/p>\n

DeVon Edwards returned two interceptions for scores on consecutive throws late in Duke\u2019s 38-20 win over North Carolina State on Nov. 9, 2013. Edwards also had a 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in that game.<\/p>\n

Romaine had 184 tackles (110 solo) the past three seasons with the Wildcats. His only interception for K-State came in a game against Texas Tech last season when he had a cast on his left hand.<\/p>\n

After winning their first Big 12 championship and going to the College Football Playoff last season, Tech had six defensive players taken in the NFL draft. That included All-America linebacker Jacob Rodriguez, who finished fifth in the Heisman Trophy voting.<\/p>\n

McGuire, who felt that Romaine had been pressing, sent him a couple of texts and then spoke to him before the game.<\/p>\n

\u201cI said, \u2018Man, I don\u2019t need Jacob Rodriguez. He\u2019s not coming back. I need Austin Romaine. There\u2019s a reason we brought you here. Go out and be Austin Romaine, go be that guy,\u2019\u201d McGuire said. \u201cAnd he showed up today, I thought he played free.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Gowlas batted the ball straight up in the air, Romaine went up and got it. On the next play, the Bearkats put a receiver in a motion while Romaine stayed where he was supposed to be on that play.<\/p>\n

“I was in disbelief that I did it twice in a row,\u201d Romaine said. \u201cI just saw that slant coming across, and the ball was right there.\u201d<\/p>\n

The last time the Red Raiders had two pick-6s in the same game was when Kevin Curtis and Antwan Alexander both had one in a 58-0 win over Oklahoma State on Nov. 11, 2000. Romaine is the first Tech player with two in the same game.<\/p>\n

Sign up for Top 25 poll alerts here. Visit the Top 25 here and see AP\u2019s full college football coverage here.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) \u2014 Texas Tech linebacker Austin Romaine returned two interceptions for touchdowns on consecutive passes thrown…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":448978,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[154567,146853,154540,3785,1888,154565,168,170,169,23681,202,196,49690,42094,942,5071,27,154613],"class_list":["post-448977","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-lubbock","tag-antwan-alexander","tag-austin-romaine","tag-brett-holloway","tag-jacob-rodriguez","tag-joey-mcguire","tag-kevin-curtis","tag-lubbock","tag-lubbock-headlines","tag-lubbock-news","tag-package-100024-ap-online","tag-package-100502-member-choice-sports-option","tag-product-30599-ap-sports-news-s-wire-only","tag-product-32555-ap-online-college-sports-news","tag-product-32562-ap-online-other-sports-news","tag-product-40815-ap-texas-sports-only","tag-sam-houston","tag-texas","tag-texas-tech-romaine-interceptions"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/448977","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=448977"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/448977\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/448978"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=448977"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=448977"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=448977"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}