Tech\u2019s defense has recorded seven interceptions<\/a>, including two each from Brice Pollock and Austin Romaine. Along with the interceptions, Tech has forced three fumbles with one recovery.\u00a0<\/p>\nArticle continues below this ad<\/p>\n
Tech\u2019s defense has been a safety net for a struggling offense. The defense currently ranks No. 26 in the nation in points allowed at 16.2 per game.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Karoll has put opposing offenses in tricky situations<\/p>\n
Will Karoll, an offseason transfer from UCLA, has been one of the top punters in the Big 12. The\u00a0Mosman, New South Wales, Australia, native has been named the Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Week three times, including this past week against Colorado.<\/p>\n
In addition to conference awards, Karoll was named the Ray Guy Punter of the Week for his performance against the Buffaloes on Saturday. Karoll has recorded 19 punts with an average of 51.6 yards per punt, ranking No. 1 in the nation.<\/p>\n
Head coach Joey McGuire and special teams coordinator Kenny Perry have praised Karoll on his success. With an offense that still hasn\u2019t hit its groove,\u00a0Karoll has been able to be a major factor for opposing offenses this season.<\/p>\n
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![\"BOULDER,]()
<\/p>\n
BOULDER, COLORADO – OCTOBER 3: Julien Laventure #1 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders hauls in a pass against the Colorado Buffaloes at Folsom Field on October 3, 2026 in Boulder, Colorado. (Photo by Chet Strange\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Chet Strange\/Getty Images<\/p>\n
What the Red Raiders need to improve on for the remainder of the season:<\/p>\n
Consistency in run and pass games<\/p>\n
The Red Raiders\u2019 main struggle has been trying to find a consistent groove across offensive possessions.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Will Hammond hasn\u2019t been able to effectively find the end zone through the air, with only five passing touchdowns, which ranks No. 16 among Big 12 quarterbacks. In addition to Hammond\u2019s five touchdown passes, he\u2019s thrown five interceptions, including three against Sam Houston.<\/p>\n
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The running game has been heavily utilized because of passing miscues as 12 Red Raider touchdowns have come on the ground. Cameron Dickey, a third of Tech\u2019s running back trio, suffered a high-ankle sprain against Colorado and is expected to be out several weeks, putting a damper on the Red Raiders\u2019 offensive output.<\/p>\n
Tech\u2019s defense has given the offense some leeway. The Red Raiders\u2019 offense has been able to score 54 unanswered points in the second half in the past two games and is showing more life in the final 30 minutes of each game.<\/p>\n
The second-half performances from the offense showcase its ability to move the ball and find the end zone, but an emphasis on consistency needs to be a priority heading out of the bye week.<\/p>\n
Hudson needs more involvement in offense<\/p>\n
McGuire said before the season that Micah Hudson was a solidified starter and poised to have an impact on Tech\u2019s offensive output. However, through the first five weeks, Hudson has only seven catches for 78 yards.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Kenny Johnson, Tech\u2019s leading receiver with 298 yards, is the only Red Raider who has eclipsed at least 200 receiving yards. Hudson has been targeted significantly less than other receivers, and there isn\u2019t a specific reason why.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Temple native recorded two receptions for 16 yards against Colorado, with a catch for 15 yards as his game high. With Dickey out, the Red Raiders have the chance to involve Hudson more in the offense, which could help occupy defenders trying to limit targets to Johnson and\u00a0Terrance Carter\u00a0Jr.<\/p>\n
Following the bye week, the Red Raiders will take on Arizona State at 2:30\u00a0p.m. Oct. 17 at Galaxy Stadium in Lubbock.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LUBBOCK, TEXAS – SEPTEMBER 26: Austin Romaine #15 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders celebrates with teammates after…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":459212,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[168,170,169,144221,89414,88145],"class_list":["post-459211","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-lubbock","tag-lubbock","tag-lubbock-headlines","tag-lubbock-news","tag-tp-college-football","tag-tp-texas-tech-red-raiders","tag-tp-colleges"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/459211","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=459211"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/459211\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/459212"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=459211"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=459211"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=459211"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}