Ben Roberts has settled into more than just a starting role for Texas Tech. As one of the Red Raiders’ two captains, the linebacker is helping set the tone for a defense that enters Saturday night’s trip to Colorado at 4-0 overall and 1-0 in Big 12 play.
For Roberts, the message is simple: what Tech does in practice has to show up when the lights come on.
“(It’s just a matter of) taking practice to the games because we perform well. We’re a really good practice team,” he said. “But, some of the reps that we take in practice aren’t showing up in games and we’re not doing what we did in practice, so being able to translate that to the field is going to be huge for us.”
That point has been a major topic since Tech’s 49-14 win over Sam Houston State, especially after head football coach Joey McGuire said after the game that he would help clean up the team’s mistakes. Roberts said Sunday’s film work fit right into the way the group has been approaching improvement.
“It’s the same every Sunday, it’s a time to look back and you forget that you don’t think about the win or the loss. You think about where can we get better, and we have continued to get better and we can see that on film,” he said. “But like always, there’s always going to be mistakes, but it’s good to make those mistakes early so that we can be the best team we need to be at the end of the year.”
Through four games, Roberts has been the anchor of the defense statistically, piling up 28 tackles with 17 solo stops and 11 assists. He has also added one sack and one forced fumble.
Now comes a Colorado offense that has averaged 12 points in FBS games this season, and Roberts said the week has already been spent studying the details of what the Buffaloes show before the snap.
“They do a lot of odd things just formation wise, but every game comes down to similar things, run, pass, play action. It’s just deciphering what that formation is going to tell you, where guys are going to end up 3-by-1, 2-by-1, 4-by-1, unbalanced, so film study this week is going to be huge, we’re just trying to dial those things in,” he said.
Roberts has also been encouraged by what he sees behind him, pointing specifically to sophomore Brock Golwas, who rotates in at linebacker and has already drawn praise from the veteran captain. Roberts also said Golwas was on the field for Austin Romaine’s first of two interception returns for touchdowns on Saturday.
“Brock, man, he’s going to be really good here! He doesn’t have the height, but he’s super quick, super strong.
He’s probably the fastest linebacker that we got,” Roberts said. “He’s super smart, so when he gets on the field, I’ve got all the confidence that he’s going to make the plays that he needs to make.
And these reps are going to be really good for him in his future here.”
Texas Tech will try to move to 5-0 on Saturday at Folsom Field in Boulder, Colo. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. CT, and the game will air on FOX.
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