No. 15 Texas Tech’s defensive star power creates issues for WVU football’s offense
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MORGANTOWN -- Texas Tech's defense in 2025 played a major role in helping the Red Raiders to a Big 12 Championship and a College Football Playoff berth, where they had a first-round bye. Texas Tech had the best scoring defense in the Big 12, allowing under 12 points per game, and was third in the FBS behind Ohio State and National Champion Indiana.
The defense was loaded with NFL talent, including second overall NFL Draft pick pass rusher David Bailey, and had six defensive players drafted.
After all the losses to the draft, the Red Raiders are seventh in the Big 12 in scoring defense, so a little regression, but No. 15 Texas Tech has rebuilt its defense and still has a lot of talent on that side of the ball heading into a home game against West Virginia on Saturday.
It starts up front with defensive lineman A.J. Holmes Jr. The fifth-year player had every accolade in the book after the 2025 season and decided to play out his last season. Holmes leads the Big 12 in sacks and is in the top 10 in tackles for loss. At 6-foot-3, 300 pounds, Holmes is a force to be reckoned with.
There are playmakers at the other two levels, too. The secondary features senior cornerback Brice Pollack, who returned after being named first-team All-Big 12 in 2025. The trio of linebackers Austin Romaine, Ben Roberts and John Curry aren't afraid to stick their noses in a play. Curry has three interceptions, and Romaine has two as well, taking both back for touchdowns.
"There’s not a guy on defense that you think, 'Well, I don’t know if he quite fits,'" Rodriguez said. "I mean, every one of them is all-conference caliber players, and I’m not just saying it because we’re playing them next. They’re highly productive, well coached, very physical, rarely out of position, and they make you earn everything. I’m talking about everything."
Shiel Wood is in Year 2 as the defensive coordinator, and knows how to put his best players in ideal situations for them to succeed. His players listen, which is why the defense doesn't have a lot of breakdowns.
The defense is very disciplined.
"You don't see a lot of breakdowns from a busted coverage or getting beat on a one-on-one route or anything like that," Rodriguez said. "They're aggressive, but they're aggressive from a structural standpoint. Very rarely do they have a guy who had a bonehead play. You don't see that very often."
The biggest problem Texas Tech's defense presents is how stout it is against the run. The Mountaineers are a run-heavy squad, leading the Big 12 in rushing and having run the ball the second most in the FBS, behind Air Force. The Red Raiders’ defense is the best in the Big 12, giving up under 95 yards per game.
Having talented players, like Holmes, really aids in filling up gaps and preventing big runs.
"I think they got a system that they understand, and they’re coached well," Rodriguez said. "But there’s no question, if you look at the players that they had last year, the ones that left, I think all of them are in the NFL, and the returning five or six returning starters they got this year, I think, are all NFL guys. They got some really, really good players."
There are holes in Texas Tech's defense. It is seventh in the Big 12, even with a top rushing defense, so something has to be dragging it down. The pass defense is the second-worst in the conference. This past weekend, Arizona and talented quarterback Noah Fifita played the Red Raiders. In a loss, Fifita led the offense to 429 yards of total offense and 417 yards through the air.
During the open date, Rodriguez watched Arizona-Texas Tech because Rodriguez's offense would play the defense in a few days. Rodriguez was taking notes on how the Wildcats totaled over 400 yards of offense, but also acknowledged the fact that most of those yards were because of the talent of Fifita. Fifita had 341 yards and three touchdowns on the Mountaineers.
"Like last week, Arizona had a lot of yards, but there were three or four of them where Fifita, who I think is just a phenomenal player, was scrambling around, and the guy scrambled with them," Rodriguez said. "He makes some off-balance throws that are unreal, and he’s done that his whole career, and that’s where they got a lot of them against Tech last week was some of the off-schedule stuff where Fifita was just being a freak."
Texas Tech's defense isn't the world beater as it was last season, but still has the talent to be one of the better defenses in the conference. The Red Raiders’ strength is stopping the run, providing an obvious threat to Rodriguez's offense. It might be on the arm of quarterback Michael Hawkins Jr. if WVU wants to pull off the road upset. He’s answered the call before, beating Cincinnati, so he could have to replicate that performance.
For the second-straight game, after facing TCU, Rodriguez's unit faces a tough defense. He believes his offense is up for the challenge.
"But we’ve played really good on offense on occasion, so I’m expecting our guys to play well on offense again Saturday night," Rodriguez said. "But this will be the best challenge we’ve certainly had offensively in any game that they’ve played to this day."