Texas Tech football: Michigan State LB Brandon Bouyer-Randle joining Red Raiders
Friday, the Texas Tech football team picked up a commitment from Michigan State grad transfer linebacker Brandon Bouyer-Randle.
Recently, we theorized that Matt Wells and the Texas Tech football program would be rather active in the transfer market this offseason and that suspicion was affirmed on Friday when Michigan State grad transfer Brandon Bouyer-Randle announced his intention to join the Red Raiders next semester.
The 6-foot-2, 230-pound linebacker is a native of Battle Creek, Michigan and was a 3-star signee with the Spartans in 2016. After redshirting as a true freshman, he went on to amass 31 tackles and five sacks in East Lansing over the past three years.
His best season came in 2018 when as a sophomore he registered 21 tackles (5.5 for loss) and 4.0 sacks. But this past fall, he saw action in only four games as he made a mere five stops for a Michigan State team that struggled to a 6-6 record and 5th-place finish in the Big 10 East Division.
This time around, I'm going to make it clear ‼️✌🏾 #wreckem #Gunsup #Committed pic.twitter.com/yHqkeeuKAL
— EIoṉ̲ Muʂⱪ ̲̲ ................. ▶ ᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠ ᅠ (@brandonrandle7) December 6, 2019
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It will be interesting to see how defensive coordinator Keith Patterson deploys Randle because his stats and build would suggest that he’s essentially the same type of linebacker as Riko Jeffers, who had 76 tackles and 3.0 sacks this season. But with Butkus Award finalist Jordyn Brooks gone, either Jeffers or Bouyer-Randle will likely slide into the role of middle linebacker in 2020. Conventional wisdom would suggest that would be the Michigan State transfer given how well Jeffers played on the outside for Tech in 2019, especially towards the end of the season.
"When Randle entered the transfer portal after the fourth game of this season, Connor Muldowney of FanSided’s Spartan Avenue wrote, “Bouyer-Randle will be a tough loss for this defense because he brings a ton of athleticism to the linebacker position and he’s used in blitz packages. He can get after the quarterback and is a strong kid with good movement. He hasn’t gotten much of a chance to play extensively in East Lansing, which is presumably the reason he wants to explore a transfer.”"
The Spartans finished the regular season 18th in the NCAA in total defense by allowing only 319.2 yards per game. On that unit, Randle was unable to crack the starting lineup so now he’s coming to West Texas to join a defense that is in desperate need of Power 5 caliber playmakers.
Tech’s defense was just No.125 in the nation this fall, even with Brooks and Jeffers forming a formidable linebacking tandem. Giving up 480.3 yards per game and losing three dependable seniors in Brooks, safety Douglas Coleman, and lineman Broderick Washington, the defensive side of the ball remains a huge concern for the Red Raiders, as has been the case for essentially the entirety of the “Air Raid” era.
Next. Where Tech cold use grad transfer and JUCO help. dark
That’s why this isn’t likely to be the only transfer Tech adds to its defense this offseason. Whether it be through the grad transfer portal or the JUCO ranks, or both, expect this to be an active offseason in that regard for Wells and Co. as they try to plug the seemingly never-ending line of holes on the side of the ball that has been the scourge of the program for far too long.