While Shiel Wood has brought a ton of improvement to the 2025 Texas Tech Red Raiders defense, things aren’t totally perfect for TTU on that side of the ball.
Admittedly, this is totally a case of us getting a little nitpicky here as we continue to work our way through the stats and how the Red Raiders stack up against the rest of the Big 12, but Texas Tech has the No. 7 ranked defense when it comes to passing yards allowed per game.
But, given the success that Texas Tech is seeing just about everywhere else, this is worth noting.
The Texas Tech defense ranks well for several stats, but not so much for passing yards allowed per game
- UCF Knights - 129.8 yards per game
- Houston Cougars - 140.3 yards per game
- BYU Cougars - 150.5 yards per game
- Utah Utes - 159.6 yards per game
- Arizona wildcats - 166.8 yards per game
- Kansas State Wildcats - 181 yards per game
- Texas Tech Red Raiders - 182.5 yards per game
- Iowa State Cyclones - 191.4 yards per game
- Baylor Bears - 203 yards per game
- Colorado Buffaloes - 207.6 yards per game
- West Virginia Mountaineers - 211.2 yards per game
- Kansas Jayhawks - 226.6 yards per game
- Arizona State Sun Devils - 242.8 yards per game
- Cincinnati Bearcats - 249 yards per game
- TCU Horned Frogs - 257.3 yards per game
- Oklahoma State Cowboys - 260 yards per game
I do have a few thoughts on why this might be the case for the Red Raiders (and also why I don’t think this is that big of a deal right now). Obviously, it’d be great if the Texas Tech defense was a bit better in this category.
That said, I suspect this is happening because the Red Raiders are simultaneously absolutely shutting down opposing rushing attacks while also scoring a ton of points in a hurry, thus forcing opposing offenses to abandon running the ball and focus on throwing in an effort to try and keep up with Texas Tech.
Does that totally explain it? Not really. Does it excuse it? Not at all. But so far, this hasn’t been an issue and the Red Raiders won’t face many of the Big 12’s best passing offenses this season. So, it’ll be something to keep an eye on, but it’s not worth worrying about right now.