Texas Tech Preview
Another week, another challenging Big 12 game awaits ASU, and this time, it faces the best team in the conference at this juncture of the season. Here’s a closer look at a very well-rounded and undefeated Texas Tech squad and the key matchups of the Sun Devils’ clash with the Red Raiders.
Texas Tech Offense
A member of the Texas Tech roster since 2021, quarterback Behren Morton is an accomplished, seasoned performer who is statistically among the nation’s better quarterbacks this season.
So far in 2025, Morton has completed over 68% of his passes and averages over 250 passing yards per game with 13 touchdowns to three interceptions on the year. Though he is a potent passer, he offers very little on the ground as he has -2 net rushing yards with zero scores this year.
On a national scale, Morton ranks eighth in passing efficiency (175.65), is tied for 18th in touchdown passes, and ranks 24th in completion percentage.
That said, like ASU, Texas Tech has health concerns for its typical QB1, so backup Will Hammond is a possibility to see action Saturday afternoon, as Morton is listed as “questionable” for Saturday’s game.
If Hammond is called into play, he is perfectly capable of operating the Red Raider offense, and he provides a much more athletic presence than Morton, as Hammond ranks third on the team with 231 net rushing yards and ties for second on the roster with four touchdown runs.
At running back, a pair of Red Raiders have seen significant action in Cameron Dickey and J’Koby Williams.
Dickey leads the team with 91 carries for 591 yards (6.5 avg.) with eight rushing touchdowns, a great deal of which came from his monstrous effort last week in which he totaled 263 rushing yards on 21 carries with two touchdowns against Kansas.
Williams has 358 rushing yards on 68 carries (5.3 avg.) with four touchdown runs on the year.
As is historically typical for the Texas Tech offense, regardless of the head coach, the running backs are frequently involved in the pass game as well, as Williams has 15 receptions for 227 yards with a score and Dickey has 10 catches for 122 yards with a touchdown.
Elsewhere in the pass game, Texas Tech’s starting group of receivers figures to be Caleb Douglas, Coy Eakin, and Reggie Virgil, a group that has consistently contributed across the board thus far in 2025.
Douglas leads the team with 395 receiving yards, ties for the team lead with 24 catches, and has one receiving touchdown, while Eakin also ties for the team best of 24 receptions, adding 341 yards and three scores. Virgil leads Texas Tech with four touchdown receptions and has 23 catches for 286 yards.
At tight end, Johncarlos Miller II and Terrance Carter, Jr., both are expected to see ample action on Saturday.
Carter has 19 receptions for 205 yards with three touchdowns despite missing two games, while Miller has six receptions for 57 yards on the year.
The Texas Tech starting offensive line figures to feature left tackle Howard Sampson, left guard Will Jados, center Sheridan Wilson, right guard Davion Carter, and right tackle Jacob Ponton.
Texas Tech Offense Summary
The argument can be made that Texas Tech has the top overall offense in the country through six games as the Red Raiders lead all FBS teams in total offense (558.2), while ranking second nationally in scoring offense (47.5) and third in passing offense (325.3).
Texas Tech also ranks 14th nationally in rushing offense (232.8), team passing efficiency (167.93), and third down offense (.518), and is tied for 16th in sacks allowed (1.00 per game).
The Red Raiders feature multiple highly capable pass-catchers and rushers, heck, even multiple effective quarterbacks, giving the Sun Devil defense a long list of players to keep a steady eye on this Saturday.
In many ways – especially on offense – this Texas Tech team is reminiscent of the 2023 Oregon team guided by Bo Nix that applied a significant whooping on a beleaguered Sun Devil squad in the penultimate game of the regular season that year.
Texas Tech Defense
Up front, Texas Tech has a sensational pair of defensive ends in David Bailey and Romello Height, with Lee Hunter at defensive tackle and A.J. Holmes, Jr. at nose guard.
A marquee transfer this offseason from Stanford, Bailey currently leads the nation with 8.5 sacks while also posting 18 tackles with 9.5 total tackles for loss with nine quarterback hurries, two forced fumbles, and one fumble recovery.
Height has had an excellent first half to the season in his own right and is also trending toward a double-digit sack season with 15 total tackles, including 4.5 sacks with seven quarterback hurries. Height is, however, listed as “questionable” on the first injury report for this week’s game.
Holmes leads all Tech defensive linemen with 19 tackles on the year, including 4.5 for loss with 3.0 sacks, along with four quarterback hurries, two fumble recoveries, and one pass breakup, while Hunter has posted 15 tackles, including 1.5 for loss with a share of a sack with a quarterback hurry.
At linebacker, star defender Jacob Rodriguez is slated to start with Ben Roberts, along with John Curry at the “Star” position.
Rodriguez, the 2025 Preseason Big-12 Conference Defensive Player of the Year, leads the team with 50 tackles, adding 5.5 for loss with a sack, along with three pass breakups, two interceptions, two forced fumbles, and a quarterback hurry.
Curry and Roberts tie for second on the team in total tackles (33), while Curry adds a pass breakup, a quarterback hurry, and a fumble recovery, while Roberts has four pass breakups, two quarterback hurries, two forced fumbles, and one fumble recovery.
In the secondary, cornerbacks Brice Pollock and Dontae Balfour are slated to be joined in the starting lineup by strong safety Brenden Jordan and free safety Cole Wisniewski.
Wisnewski leads all Red Raider defensive backs with 28 tackles, including 2.0 for loss with a sack, a pass breakup, and a forced fumble, while Pollock has a team-best three interceptions as well as 21 total tackles with three pass breakups.
Jordan has tallied 20 tackles with an interception and a forced fumble, while Balfour has 14 tackles with three pass breakups so far this season.
Texas Tech Defense Summary
For Texas Tech to have a nationally prominent offense is nothing terribly new, but the team’s defensive turnaround into a nationally elite unit has been a major shift for the Red Raider program this season.
Thus far, Texas Tech leads all FBS teams in rush defense (62.5) and team yards per carry allowed (2.07), while tying for second nationally with just two rushing touchdowns allowed.
Texas Tech is also tied for fifth nationally in team sacks per game (3.50), seventh in scoring defense (12.2), and ninth in total defense (256.8).
It would be quite a reach to say Texas Tech has struggled against the pass, but that area has, by comparison, not been quite as stellar as most others, as the Red Raiders rank 41st nationally in pass defense (194.3).
With the combination of Texas Tech boasting the nation’s top rush defense, the country’s sacks leader in Bailey and three players with at least three sacks on the year along with ASU’s offensive line injury issues and a recovering Sam Leavitt, Arizona State needs to be extremely concerned about the potential for Texas Tech to dominate the line of scrimmage when the Sun Devils have the ball.
Texas Tech Special Teams
Upton Bellenfant and Stone Harrington have split placekicking duties this season, with Bellenfant standing at a perfect 6-of-6 on field goal tries on the year, though his long is just 33 yards.
Harrington, on the other hand, has connected on 8-of-10 field goal attempts with an incredibly impressive long make of 58 yards.
Listed third on the depth chart at placekicker for Texas Tech is former Sun Devil Ian Hershey. Hershey has kicked off twice but has not yet attempted a field goal, extra point, or punt.
Punter Jack Burgess averages 42.47 yards on 17 punts with a long of 57 yards.
Former five-star wide receiver recruit Micah Hudson dops the depth chart at kickoff returner with fellow receiver Coy Eakin as the top punt returner. Hudson, who has only caught three passes for 31 yards this year, averages 19.0 yards on five kickoff returns, while Eakin averages 20.75 yards on four punt returns with a long return of 36 yards.
Overall Summary
A common discussion topic during the preseason due to its incredible infusion of NIL and accomplishments in the transfer portal, fans across the Big-12 and the nation held distinct curiosity as to whether those boosts away from the field would positively impact the Red Raider product on the field.
Through six games, the returns are unquestionably incredible, as Texas Tech, now the No. 7 team in the nation, has steamrolled its way through its first six opponents.
Texas Tech has not only been one of the nation’s most dominant teams but also one of the most balanced, as the Red Raiders and Indiana are the only two FBS programs in the nation to enter the week ranked in the nation’s top 10 in total offense, total defense, scoring offense, and scoring defense.
For Arizona State, this could either be the best possible matchup for the Sun Devils to face this weekend or the worst possible matchup that the team could face, as this could either be a momentous, tide-turning victory over a top-10 opponent, or it could kick the Sun Devils while they’re down and take a giant leap further away from the success of last season.
To win, ASU will have to play its best, most complete game in years, as Texas Tech has excelled in all facets of its game through the first half of the 2025 regular season.
