{"id":204132,"date":"2025-10-06T00:23:15","date_gmt":"2025-10-06T00:23:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/204132\/"},"modified":"2025-10-06T00:23:15","modified_gmt":"2025-10-06T00:23:15","slug":"texas-techs-return-to-prominence-fueled-by-a-historical-weakness-thats-become-a-strength","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/204132\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas Tech\u2019s return to prominence fueled by a historical weakness that\u2019s become a strength"},"content":{"rendered":"

HOUSTON \u2014 The nation\u2019s top-ranked high school defensive lineman announced his commitment to Texas Tech<\/a> an hour-and-a-half into his future team\u2019s game at Houston Saturday night. <\/p>\n

Cedar Hill junior Jalen Brewster, a five-star prospect, didn\u2019t need to wait and see how the Red Raiders finished their fifth-straight win to begin the season before he pledged his allegiance. <\/p>\n

But hey, in case he missed it, a recap is in order. <\/p>\n

The Red Raiders \u2014 now 5-0 and ranked No. 9 in the AP Top 25<\/a> \u2014 wore down the Cougars with their defensive line, stymied two different quarterbacks and won 35-11<\/a> to reach their highest point in nearly two decades. Their offense (which, for the record, totaled 500-plus total yards) was merely a subplot.<\/p>\n

Sports Roundup<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe felt like coming into this year, with the defensive front that we\u2019ve got, we could do a lot of things,\u201d head coach Joey McGuire said. \u201cIt\u2019s fun when you can get pressure rushing four and we\u2019re able to cover the way we cover because we can rush four and still get pressure.\u201d<\/p>\n

How about that?<\/p>\n

Texas Tech\u2019s historical weakness is now a strength that\u2019s fueled its rise.<\/p>\n

That may qualify as an understatement. <\/p>\n

Related<\/p>\n

\"Texas<\/p>\n

The Red Raiders have the top-graded overall defense, the top-graded run defense and the third-best pass rush nationally<\/a>, according to Pro Football Focus, and are the only team in the country with a top-five defense and offense. They\u2019ve allowed a single touchdown before the fourth quarter in their first five combined games this season and have won each by 24 points or more. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s foreign territory for a program best known for the Air Raid offense, gunslingers and Big 12 stereotypes. The Red Raiders haven\u2019t finished a single season with a defense graded higher than 53rd nationally in the decade since PFF first evaluated every program in the country. They were, on average, the 89th highest-graded defense among all FBS programs from the 2014-24 seasons. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s different from what I\u2019m used to,\u201d linebacker Jacob Rodriguez said, \u201cbut when you\u2019ve got a coaching staff and good guys around you, it makes it way more enjoyable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Full disclosure: Rodriguez, a senior who\u2019s spent his entire collegiate career in Lubbock, was asked about the general state of Texas Tech football when he offered that answer. It could\u2019ve passed for an appraisal of his defense. The difference doesn\u2019t exist without it. <\/p>\n

Saturday, at TDECU Stadium, defensive end David Bailey finished with 11 pressures, 6 hurries and 2 sacks while nose tackle Lee Hunter and linebacker Romello Height anchored a run defense that limited the Cougars to 3.4 yards per carry. Rodriguez deflected two passes and intercepted another while the secondary behind him held the quarterback duo of Conner Weigman and Zeon Chriss-Gremillion to five completed passes apiece. The Red Raiders shut Houston out in the second half and gave its offense room to breathe as it battled a case of redzone inefficiency. <\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like I get to play football the easiest way possible,\u201d Rodriguez said. \u201cThere\u2019s nobody climbing to me. There\u2019s barely any time for the quarterback to get the ball out.\u201d<\/p>\n

He was also asked if there\u2019s an offensive line out there prepared to stop Texas Tech\u2019s defensive front. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m going to give you a short answer,\u201d Rodriguez said. \u201cNo, I don\u2019t think anybody can block [Bailey or Height]. I say that respectfully with the teams that are coming up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those teams, by now, are well aware. <\/p>\n

The recruits certainly are.<\/p>\n

Find more college sports coverage from The Dallas Morning News here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Find more Texas Tech coverage from The Dallas Morning News here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HOUSTON \u2014 The nation\u2019s top-ranked high school defensive lineman announced his commitment to Texas Tech an hour-and-a-half into…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":204133,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67],"tags":[966,52973,117438,117439,10725,399,398,396,397,99,13419],"class_list":{"0":"post-204132","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-football","8":"tag-article","9":"tag-behren-morton","10":"tag-cedar-hill","11":"tag-cedar-hill-school","12":"tag-colleges","13":"tag-football","14":"tag-ncaa","15":"tag-ncaa-football","16":"tag-ncaafootball","17":"tag-sports","18":"tag-texas-tech-red-raiders"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204132","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=204132"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204132\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/204133"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=204132"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=204132"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=204132"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}