Jacob Rodriguez, Texas Tech in the spotlight versus BYU in Arlington
Texas Tech will be in one of the biggest spotlights a college football team can have on Saturday. That spotlight being in Arlington versus the #11-ranked BYU Cougars for the Big 12 Championship crown. Jacob Rodriguez amidst all the Heisman talk, and individual awards has stressed his focus on the team instead of himself.
Keeping The Team Mindset
Even through all of the Heisman mentions, receiving Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year honors; Rodriguez has made sure to keep his focus on the team.
“Well, I think football is the best team game in the world. And I think it takes so many different people, so many different skill sets to be good at it. So I’m just a piece of the puzzle.”
“Whatever I can do to help this team win is a bigger deal than any individual award. Don’t get me wrong, they’re great, I’d love to have them rather than not, but it’s a team game, and I would do anything to have this team set up with a chance to win rather than any individual board.”
BYU Offensively
The Heisman candidate was asked where he thinks their defense has improved since the last time they saw BYU a few weeks ago.
“Yeah, I think they do a really good job with running the football. They don’t see a lot of pressure, they don’t get sacked a lot either. It’s a lot of credit to their game plan, their offensive line and their quarterback. I think they’re all extremely, extremely talented players.”
“But I think it all starts with stopping the run. Any good defense you need to set edges, and so then when you can do that, you get to rush the passer. You earn that right with stopping the run. Just excited for the matchup, I think they played really good football.”
Stopping L.J. Martin
BYU’s L.J. Martin is one of the nation’s best offensive players. Martin was named Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year, and his talent will be key for the Cougars on Saturday.
“Yeah, I think they do a really good job with trying to out-populate you at the point of attack. Everything that we do, we need to have knock back tackles and not give up any extra yardage. Something they’re really good at is driving the pile and that is something that we need to be ready for.”
The Trophy Case
One spot sits empty in the trophy case within the newly-built Dustin R. Womble Football Center. The Red Raiders and Jacob Rodriguez will have a chance to bring home the Big 12 Championship trophy to its rightful place in Lubbock on Saturday.
“It’s a really good representation about what you know can be done here and what needs to be done here. I think everybody in West Texas, everybody in Lubbock has earned this, and I’m hoping that this team can be the team that will bring that to them.”
“I’m just part of this team. Everybody comes in every day ready to work. It’s something that we see every single day we walk in and walk out, and that’s something constantly on our minds. We try to go 1-0 every week.”
“Now we’re actually playing for hardware. But it’s the same thing every week, and you just got to prepare the same and keep the same routine and do what you’ve been doing and do what works.”
The Venue In Arlington
The host of the high school football state championship within the great state of Texas, AT&T Stadium has a special place in a lot of player’s hearts.
“Yeah, it’s unreal. I actually got to play there in high school, and it’s world class. I mean, seriously, the stadium the way it’s set up. The screens are massive, like you find yourself sitting on the sideline, like looking up just watching the game that way.”
“It’s unreal. It seriously is. It’s a great place to play, great place to be. We got beat terribly when I played there. So don’t go look that up, but it’s a great place to play.”
The Coaching Staff
This staff has changed the life of Jacob Rodriguez, he has repeatedly said he can’t say enough for the opportunities this coaching staff has provided to him during his time in Lubbock.
“No doubt. Starting with Coach (Joey) McGuire and his belief in me, and Coach (Shiel) Wood, and what he’s done for this team and his defense. Coach Matt (Leftwich) letting me come over and play some offense again.”
“It seriously has been life changing event after life changing event. I’ll remember these things for the rest of my life, and I’m just so fortunate to be a part of everything that we have going here, and that means so much to me, the way that they believe in me and trust in me.”
“…I know when Coach (Shiel) Wood first got here, and he would kind of make jokes and our linebackers, we would kind of look around like wondering if we should laugh or not because we just didn’t like his humor because it’s so dry at times.”
“Now, I mean, he’s the funniest guy I think I’ve ever met. Early on you’ve got to get to know people, and then now I feel like I’ve known them for years, I wish I could learn under Coach (Shiel) Wood for the next five years. I tell our freshman linebacker Brock (Golwas) all the time, “I envy you so much, because you get to be here with Coach (Joey) McGuire and be with Coach (Shiel) Wood and learn this system and his defense, and be around great people.” I think all of our coaches are the best, but especially Coach (Shiel) Wood and a couple Guys it took us a little while to kind of learn their humor, but it’s awesome.”
“…There’s so many times on the field or off the field where you show your appreciation, and whether that’s a look or a head nod or whatever it is, but on the field, it’s a little bit more outgoing and so just appreciation, and giving a hug here and there after the game, I appreciate every single one of those guys in the locker room.”
“These coaches too, they mean so much to me. I hope that they can see that, but I hope that they more so feel that energy and all that inspiration that comes off.”
“…It’s just kind of how everybody interacts, and we still have to be strict in areas where we need to get better and we need to perform, and there’s things that come up in practice that we really have to, you know, work and stress.”
“But it’s so much fun to go out and practice. But it’s week 13, it’s not fun to go out on a Tuesday and sprint around when your body doesn’t feel good, but it makes it so much more enjoyable when you have guys who want to be out there with you, and then you have coaches who understand that it’s this late into the season.”
“We have to strain when we need to, but then we can also have a little fun and and realize that we get to play football this late in the season, and that it’s such a blessing to be able to just be a part of the team who is relevant this late in the season, where, as in years past, we haven’t been.”
“It’s just nice that they all can kind of understand that and see that too. And it’s just kind of the means that we have interactions, we have they understand. And it’s all kind of understood, kind of everybody’s mindset of we need to win, but we still understand that it’s a game, and it’s a blessing that we even get to do this.”
Throwing The INT In Morgantown
During Saturday’s game in Morgantown, Rodriguez was picked off looking for his second touchdown on the day. He gave some insight into what he saw when he unfortunately threw the pick.
“As soon as I threw it, I was like, “I should have just threw out the back of the end zone.”, but, yeah guy had a good spot on him, played good defense. I just had a bad ball.”
Recognizing The Future At Tech
Jacob was asked if there are any unsung heroes on this team that is now heading to Arlington on Saturday.
“Yeah, Sheridan Wilson, Davion Carter, Lee Hunter, Brenden Jordan, Trent Low, Gage Elder, Oliver Miles. I mean, I could just keep naming like there’s so many people that come in every single day,”
“I think, one is how hard they work, and two, how much they care about this team. Everything for them, and everybody who I didn’t name, I think it truly is all about this team. Being present and just doing their job, whatever their job looks like, just being all in for this, for this team, and knowing that, you know, we just have to go 1-0 today, 1-0 this rep.”
“And I mean, there’s so many unsung heroes on this team. And I wish I could name them all, but I think just the collective appreciation for everybody in the locker room, and the appreciation for how hard each of those guys work, it just kind of sets everybody apart. When you got guys around, you want to work that hard who excel at what they do.”
Trent Low + Gage Elder Relationship
Trent Low and Gage Elder are fellow linebackers at Texas Tech, Rodriguez gave some insight into their relationship and the playing time between the three.
“I’ve known them ever since I got here, we’ve been in the same room, and we’ve been in the same position a lot of the time, and those guys never complain.”
“They’re in every meeting, they’re not taking reps off, they’re contributing a lot on special teams. They’re doing their job at the highest level. And that’s what you need to have to have a great team is unique guys who are willing to do whatever it takes to win in whatever that role looks like.”
“I know those two would rather be on the field, on the defensive side of the ball, making plays. They can, but we need them to do what they’re doing on special teams, and be kind of the anchors of this unit. And so that’s kind of why I talked about those guys, because I’m just so proud of them and so appreciative of their attitude every single day when they come in to work, and you know how much they care about this team, and the only thing that matters to them is this team winning.”
Watching Arizona Take Down ASU To Clinch A Spot
When Arizona took down Arizona State in Tempe on Saturday it clinched the Red Raiders spot in Arlington. The battle for the “Territorial Cup” lasted until nearly midnight in the central timezone, which didn’t allow for Jacob to watch the Red Raiders clinch their spot in Arlington.
“Yeah, Ben (Roberts) and I are roommates, and we got into our hotel room and I go take a shower, and I come out, he has the Texas A&M and Texas game on. So I’m watching the last bit where they throw two interceptions, and it kind of gets locked up.”
“So we switched the game, and we’re kind of both laying in bed, and we have an early kick. So I look at him and say “All right, we’re gonna watch this drive, and then we’re gonna go to sleep.” then we kind of watch, and then kind of looking at each other like because we both want to keep watching, and kind of want to know what happens. But it is such a late game that we ended up turning it off and going to sleep, and we found out in the morning that we had clinched. But, yeah, it was kind of a funny moment. You know, trying to we both knew that we wanted to watch the game, but we had to go to sleep as we had a early one.”
Shiel Wood
Shiel Wood was recently named as a Broyles Award Semi-Finalist, given to the nation’s top assistant coach.
“I’m obviously biased, but I think that he deserves every award that there is. What he’s done for this team, and his defense on the field and off the field. I think just the leader of men that he is. But then as a football coach, X’s and O’s wise, he’s unbelievable, and he always, you know, puts us in a great spot to have a chance to win.”
“There’s very few times in games where we came up to the sideline and had much to tweak or change. That goes into Coach Wood, and the coaching staff, their game plan going into the week, and the way that they prepare us every single week, throughout the Tuesday, Wednesday, practice, Thursday, walk through.”
“Getting us ready to see the picture that we are going to see in the game, and then being able to motivate us the way that they have, I think he’s the perfect man for the job. And I give a lot of credit to him, because he deserves it. He’s earned it. And I’m just so thankful for him and his family, and they come up here all the time. His wife and his two beautiful little girls come up here and hang out, it’s great to see them. I’m just so thankful for him, and I think he deserves everything that he gets, he’s earned.”
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