Romello Height and defensive line dominant against Kansas

After a rocky second quarter on both sides of the ball for Texas Tech, the Red Raiders came out of halftime playing like they know how to and handled business on homecoming with a 42-17 victory against the Kansas Jayhawks. Despite being up by only four at halftime and allowing the most points they have all season, Tech’s defense forced a shutout for the entire second half.
The defensive line showed its strengths as usual, tallying nine sacks on the night, with David Bailey earning three and Romello Height earning two. With Skyler-Gill Howard going down early in the first quarter, AJ Holmes was ready to step up and tallied 1.5 sacks and two tackles for loss. Even with their vocal leader on the defense going down, the rest of them were ready to step up and came out in the second half playing on a different gear.
“Coach Wood, he didn’t really say nothing to us going into halftime. It was on the players. We got a special team, and it’s player led,” Romello Height told the media after the game. “Everyone just started playing together, we started playing as a unit… AJ Holmes, Jayden Cofield, Dooda (E’Maurion) Banks, they all stepped up.”
The relief for Skyler-Gill Howard
Gill-Howard has been a prominent leader for the defense all season. When he went down, his unit was naturally worried but relieved when they heard he was okay. When they heard the good news, they were able to take a breath and finish the job with the entire defense stepping up.
“Once we found out that the x-ray was alright, everybody locked back in,” Height said. “Knowing that he was good, that made us play so much better because we were worried. We were super worried about him… I love running games with Skylar, but when AJ came in, he was ready to go.”
Height’s development and mindset for his last season
Height was a big name coming to Tech from the portal, but he wasn’t talked about as much as he should’ve been. He wasn’t worried about the noise, which showed what is special about the way he plays and what he has to offer for this Red Raider defense. He has been and continues to work on his technique, taking a different approach to how he attacks every day.
“When I first came to Texas Tech, I told myself, like, man, it’s my last ride. So, man, I just had to change. I changed in so many ways. When it comes to attacking the training room, taking care of my body, doing extra field work. I just been, I just been hitting the lab different,” Height said. “(CJ) Ah You has taught me so much since I got here, it’s crazy how much I’ve learned from Ah You, and it’s working.”
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