The 2025 college football season has been a banner year for the Red Raiders. They just secured their first-ever Big 12 championship Saturday over BYU. Linebacker Jacob Rodriguez already received the Butkus Award during a team meeting Friday night before the Big 12 championship game. But it wouldn’t be the last award he would collect this year. On Monday night, Rodriguez was selected as this year’s Bronko Nagurski award winner.
Jacob Rodriquez Wins The Bronko Nagurski Award
Best Linebacker Season The Bronko Nagurski Has Seen
The Bronko Nagurski Award is selected by the Football Writers Association of America for the top defensive player in the country. Rodriguez vaulted into national recognition by becoming a tackle and takeaway machine for Shiel Woods’ defense. He was the Bronko Nagurski Trophy National Player of the Week twice this season. He and former Buffalo standout Khalil Mack (2013) are the only FBS players since 2005 to record at least five forced fumbles, three interceptions, and two fumble recoveries in the same season.
Including the Big 12 championship, Rodriguez finished with 117 tackles, 11 for a loss. He produced 11 turnovers—four interceptions and seven forced fumbles—that made up nearly one-third of the Red Raiders’ defensive takeaways. Those takeaways rank number one nationally. Texas Tech had long been an afterthought defensively. It has been 30 years since Texas Tech had a Bronko Nagurski Trophy finalist. That was Texas Tech linebacker Zach Thomas in 1995.
With two individual awards to his name, will Rodriguez soon find his name amongst the Heisman finalists? While another individual award would add to the Texas Tech lore that Rodriguez will live in, he has his sights set on one specific trophy. His Texas Tech team secured the fourth seed in the College Football Playoff. They await the winner of the James Madison/Oregon game. Will a historically great individual season culminate in a team trophy? Can Joey McGuire, Rodriguez, and this entire Texas Tech team hoist the national championship trophy?
Main Photo: Michael C. Johnson-Imagn Images
