Three Defensive Stars to Watch for Arizona Wildcats vs. Texas Tech Red Raiders
The Arizona Wildcats return home with some significant defensive momentum as they prepare to host the Texas Tech Red Raiders on Saturday night.
The Wildcats (3-1, 1-0 in Big 12) are coming off quite possibly their best defensive performance of the season. Against Utah, the Wildcats held the Utes to 10 points, forced them out on downs on four different drives and had a key interception. It’s the perfect momentum boost going into a contest against Tech, which just scored 44 points last week.
The Red Raiders (4-1, 2-0) are giving up a lot of points this season, which means their defense is actually putting up some big numbers. But Texas Tech would much rather allow fewer points. But, so far, what they’re doing is working.
Here are three defensive players to watch for each team.
Arizona
LB Taye Brown
Brown is Arizona’s season-leading tackler and has 29 for the season, with 12 solo stops. He also has two sacks, which is tied for the team lead with defensive lineman Isaiah Johnson. This is a huge jump for the sophomore, who played in 13 games on defense and special teams last season, with six tackles coming at linebacker.
DB Genesis Smith
With the injury to Treydan Stukes lingering after the Utah game, Smith’s second interception of the year — which came against the Utes — looms pretty large. If Stukes is unable to play, the Wildcats can feel comfortable with Smith, who has 13 tackles and a pass defended. Like Brown, he was a freshman last year and finished with 24 tackles (13 solo, 11 assists) with one interception.
DB Tacario Davis
No defensive back has more passes defended than Smith, who has five. That’s more than a third of the passes the Wildcats have defended this season. He has 16 tackles, but no interceptions. But breaking up passes is what he does. Last year he led the Pac-12 with 15 pass breakups and 16 passes defended, which led him to being named second-team All-Pac-12.
Texas Tech
LB Ben Roberts
There aren’t many tacklers in the country with at least 40 stops right now, but Roberts is in the club. He has 20 solo stops and 20 assists. He’s also forced three fumbles, which makes him a threat when it comes to creating turnovers. It’s nothing new. As a redshirt freshman, he was Tech’s leading tackler with 107 tackles, the most by a redshirt freshman for the Red Raiders since 1980.
LB Jacob Rodriguez
Right behind Roberts is Rodriguez, who has 39 tackles so far this season but leads all Texas Tech defenders with 27 solo tackles. He’s also defended a pass, forced a fumble and recovered a fumble. He’s making up for last year’s injury, which limited him to five games and just 32 tackles. Rodriguez has left last year’s numbers in the dust.
DB Chapman Lewis
Lewis is the defender to watch in the secondary, as he leads the Red Raiders with two interceptions. He also has 17 tackles. As a true freshman, he played in every game in 2023 and finished with 14 tackles. He’s played his way into a key role on the back line of Texas Tech’s defense this season.
