All season, Texas Tech football fans have been longing for the 2026 defense to resemble the defense that last season's team spoiled us with. Saturday night, we finally got our wish.
On a night when the Red Raider offense struggled mightily by putting up only 315 total yards, the defense befuddled a limited Colorado offense in a 29-7 road win, only the second time Texas Tech has managed to prevail at Folsom Field.
After allowing the Buffaloes to march down the field for a touchdown on their opening possession of the game, Tech then pitched a shutout. Colorado racked up 75 yards on their first drive but then managed just 300 the rest of the game.
It was the turnovers that really tipped the scales for Tech, though. The Red Raiders won the turnover battle 4-0 thanks to four interceptions.
Corner Bryce Pollock had his first two picks of the season, including one on a trick play on Colorado's first possession of the second half when the Buffs ran a reverse and then asked wide receiver Joseph Williams to throw the ball downfield.
Meanwhile, Malik Esquerra had the first of three Red Raider interceptions off of Colorado QB Isaac Wilson, who was making his first start of the season in place of the benched Julian Lewis. Of course, the defining play of the game, though, was John Curry's pick-six in the Colorado end zone.
At the time, the Red Raiders were nursing a 15-7 lead in the middle of the fourth quarter, so the Lubbock native's big play gave his team some much-needed breathing room and put the offensively challenged Buffaloes in a tremendous bind.
JOHN CURRY PICK-6 💥
— Big 12 Conference (@Big12Conference) October 4, 2026
📺 @CFBONFOX pic.twitter.com/wFqGrclSR1
This is the second game in a row that the Red Raider defense has been sharp. Now, it is fair to wonder if that side of the ball is rounding into form.
Texas Tech defense is starting to look dialed in
While no one is going to confuse this year's defense with the 2025 defense, the last two weeks have given us a reason to think that defensive coordinator Shiel Wood is starting to get his side of the ball dialed in.
Yes, the last two opponents have been far from offensive juggernauts. Sam Houston has not scored more than 21 points against an FBS team this season, and Colorado has perhaps the worst quarterback situation of any Power 4 team in America.
Still, though, what we've seen from Tech in the last two outings is promising. That's especially true when it comes to one of the most important things a defense can do.
In the first three games of 2026, Tech took the ball away only three total times. However, in the past two games, the defense has collected seven takeaways.
What's more, three of those takeaways have been returned for touchdowns by Texas Tech linebackers. Austin Romaine had a pair of pick-sixes on consecutive plays against Sam Houston, and Curry had his game-changing INT in the end zone on Saturday night in Boulder.
In all, the Red Raiders have scored 34 points off turnovers in the past two games. That's reminiscent of the 2025 defense that led the nation in takeaways with 32.
Again, this year's defense does not have the ceiling that last year's did. After all, Tech lost four players off of last fall's defense who were drafted in the top half of the 2026 NFL Draft.
However, this unit still has the talent to be one of the better defenses in the Big 12. We didn't see that in the first part of the season, though.
In the second game of the year, Tech allowed Oregon State to rack up 472 yards (417 through the air). Then, in week three, Houston came to Lubbock and put up 458 yards.
That left many fans concerned that we were destined for a return to the days when playing defense was just a suggestion in Lubbock. Those fears may have been unwarranted, though.
Saturday night, the Red Raiders needed their defense to carry the load in a game that saw the offense struggle mightily. Shiel Wood's side of the ball did that and more to help Tech move to 5-0 on the season while showing that the defense is rounding into form. That's something that should make Red Raider fans excited for the rest of the season.
Add us as a preferred source on Google