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Texas Tech senior linebacker Jacob Rodriguez won the Bronko Nagurski Award given annually to the nation’s top college defensive player.
The 6-foot-1, 230-pound Rodriguez received the award at a banquet Monday night at the Charlotte Convention Center. The other finalists for the award were Ohio State safety Caleb Downs, Texas A&M defensive end Cashius Howell and Notre Dame cornerback Leonard Moore.
Rodriguez, known for his dark mustache now copied by Texas Tech football fans, has 114 tackles this season, along with four interceptions, seven forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and one sack for the Red Raiders, who boast the fifth-best defense in the country.
Texas Tech (12-1) won the Big 12 championship and will make its first appearance in the Orange Bowl on New Year’s Day. The Red Raiders, who allow just 254.4 yards per game on defense, were ranked No. 4 in the final College Football Playoff standings and have a bye week.
They will play the winner of No. 5 Oregon/No. 12 James Madison in the quarterfinals.
Behind a stifling defense led by Rodriguez, the Red Raiders have won 12 games by more than 20 points this season, including a 34-7 victory over formerly No. 11 BYU in the Big 12 championship game on Saturday. They join the 2018 Alabama team as the only programs in the Associated Press era to accomplish that feat.
After a regular-season win over BYU in November in which Rodriguez had 14 tackles and two takeaways in a 29-7 victory, he struck the Heisman Trophy pose.
Three-time Super Bowl MVP Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who played at Texas Tech and was in the game during a bye week, later posted on social media: “Take him to New York! @HeismanTrophy.”
“My guys wanted me to hit him. Just an adrenaline rush,” Rodriguez later said of his pose.
Rodriguez will now join an elite company following Monday’s announcement.
Previous Bronko Nagurski Award winners include Will Anderson Jr. (2021), Chase Young (2019), Bradley Chubb (2017), Aaron Donald (2013), Luke Kuechly (2011), Ndamukong Suh (2009), Brian Orakpo (2008), Derrick Johnson (2004), Terrell Suggs (2002), Dan Morgan (2000), Charles Woodson (1997) and Warren. Sap (1994).
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