Texas Tech Defensive Grades: Week 6

In week 6, the Defense rebounds from a couple tough losses to help seal the game versus Iowa State. They did give up some big plays against the rush, but they got the job done. The Defense doesn't have to keep the rush yards under 150yds to get a win. I think since they have faced the two toughest opponents they will likely see for the rest of the year. They can continue to help this high powered offense by creating turnovers, and stopping drives, to give Tech a chance to win more games over last year.

While other teams in this league and other conferences are giving up similar yardage. Some analysts or commentators are still considering them to be "tough" defenses. All while they talk about Tech's porous defense.

It is understandable after last year, but this group is trying to right a ship that historically has not sailed straight in well over a decade. It might take longer to turn around than our offense, but improvements are being made and a lot of young guys are getting experience that could really pay dividends down the road including this season. There is plenty of room for improvement but let's look at this week's performance grades.

Overall Grade: C

Some may see this grade is high after last week. The rushing stats may make it seem that way even more so, but this group got the job done. For all the big rushing plays given up, Tech countered with a turnover, a sack or a tackle for a loss. Also they may have gotten only the 3 turnovers, but there was almost a couple more. That will help this team the most. Getting the Defense off the field and letting the offense put in work and that is exactly what they did in this game.

DL Grade: C-

This group made improvement over last week, they were once again getting pressure on the QB at times. They were getting some penetration in the backfield and made some plays at the line. There was some mistakes made but they didn't give up.I don't think we have seen this groups best game yet, but it is coming.

LB Grade: C+

This group led by tackle leaders Dakota Allen and Micah Awe had some nice production in this game. They both made some mistakes, but made up for them with some big plays too. Like the other groups they still need some work, but I think you will see more from this group in the coming weeks.

DB Grade: C

After the last couple weeks of this group struggling to stop or slow down the pass game they stepped it up this week with 3 turnovers and keeping Iowa State to just 180yds passing. There was also 6 pass breakups, 3 of those by Tevin Madison. Also J.J. Gaines with a couple picks on the day.

Now to the Defensive MVP, once again this one is a hard one and I think there is more than a couple that deserve it. So I will keep it at just the one MVP this week and that goes to.

Defensive MVP: Tevin Madison