As Joey McGuire and the Texas Tech Red Raiders get set to meet up with the Houston Cougars, we need to talk about just how good the Red Raiders have been on the defensive side of the ball through the first four Texas Tech football games of the season.
Last season, the Red Raiders were absolutely abysmal on defense. And that really has been the story for this program off and on for more of the past couple of decades than what many would like to admit. There were some solid defenses during the Mike Leach era, but things really dipped down after he left Lubbock.
This year though? This year, the Red Raiders are looking really good on defense. Right now, as we head into week 6, Texas Tech’s defense sits at No. 2 in the Big 12 when it comes to points scored per game. That’s right, it’s early, but it's still impressive that only one other conference team is ahead of Texas Tech right now.
Texas Tech’s defense sits at No. 2 in the Big 12 as the Red Raiders are holding opposing offense to just 11.3 points per game
Here’s what the Big 12 defensive standings look like right now entering week 6 and looking at how many points are scored per game.
- BYU Cougars - 9.3 points per game
- Texas Tech Red Raiders - 11.3 points per game
- Houston Cougars - 13.3 points per game
- Iowa State Cyclones - 14.2 points per game
- Utah Utes - 14.6 points per game
- UCF Knights - 15 points per game
- Arizona Wildcats - 16.3 points per game
- Cincinnati Bearcats - 18.5 points per game
- Kansas Jayhawks - 20.6 points per game
- Arizona State Sun Devils - 21.2 points per game
- TCU Horned Frogs - 21.5 points per game
- Colorado Buffaloes - 22.8 points per game
- Kansas State Wildcats - 25.2 points per game
- West Virginia Mountaineers - 26.6 points per game
- Baylor Bears - 28.8 points per game
- Oklahoma State Cowboys - 35 points per game
This weekend’s matchup between the Red Raiders and the Cougars is going to be interesting. We’re going to find out a lot about both of those defenses. UH didn’t look all that remarkable on the road against Oregon State, but maybe they’ll be better at home? I don’t know. I’m intrigued to see though!