I, for one, love and appreciate the work that Shiel Wood is doing with this Texas Tech defense. It’s been a thrill to see the way that he’s overhauled things for a program that traditionally doesn’t exactly play great defense. And ever since he was hired, and through the first six games of this season, the Red Raiders have been playing some fantastic football on that side of the ball.
Right now, there is nobody better in the Big 12 when it comes to slowing down opposing offenses. The Red Raiders are boasting the No. 1 total defense in the conference. The Red Raiders are better than BYU right now in this category. They’re better than the Utes. They’re better than Houston, where Texas Tech was able to get Wood to leave.
This is so remarkable for a program that just doesn’t historically play good defense. Because right now, they’re the best in the Big 12.
Texas Tech sits at the top of the Big 12 in slowing opposing offense as the Red Raiders are No. 1 in total defense in the conference
This is what things look like in the Big 12 (on the defensive side of things) right now:
- Texas Tech Red Raiders - 256.8 yards per game
- BYU Cougars - 263.5 yards per game
- Arizona Wildcats - 275.7 yards per game
- Utah Utes - 295.8 yards per game
- UCF Knights - 305.8 yards per game
- Houston Cougars - 306.5 yards per game
- Arizona State Sun Devils - 336.2 yards per game
- Iowa State Cyclones - 345.3 yards per game
- TCU Horned Frogs - 373.8 yards per game
- Cincinnati Bearcats - 384.5 yards per game
- Kansas State Wildcats - 386.3 yards per game
- West Virginia Mountaineers - 389.5 yards per game
- Kansas Jayhawks - 394.3 yards per game
- Baylor Bears - 403.7 yards per game
- Colorado Buffaloes - 404.9 yards per game
- Oklahoma State Cowboys - 475.8 yards per game
The fact that Texas Tech is sitting at the top of the Big 12 in total defense is pretty dang impressive, but it’s also even more impressive when you look at the way that the Red Raiders are also leading in total offense right now.
It’s going to be fun to see if Texas Tech can continue to play this sort of solid defense down the stretch of the season. There’s nothing to really indicate that they can’t, but it’s definitely going to be something to watch as we go. This feels like uncharted territory for this program and it’s fun to be in the midst of it.