The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Wright up the middle: October 21
10.21.2005 | Football
Rod Wright is a preseason All-American, earned second-team All-America (The Sporting News) honors in 2004 and is already a semifinalist for the Lombardi Award (nation's top lineman) and has earned a spot on the Bednarik Award (nation's top defensive player), Nagurski Trophy (nation's top defensive) and Outland Trophy (nation's top interior lineman) watch lists in 2005. A three-year starter, he has played in 43 career games (38 starts). Through his diary, Wright Up the Middle, Rod will provide his view of Texas football.
Texas Tech is a tough team to play because their offense is capable of scoring a lot of points in a short amount of time. With a team like that, you can't rest. You have to truly play four quarters because they can score 21 points in a matter of minutes. I believe their defense feeds off their offense, and when their offense starts scoring, their defense starts coming up with stops. It's a big game for us as a defense with them coming in as the number one scoring offense, and it's a big challenge.
It's not a surprise at all that Tech is a top 10 team. They beat a top 10 team in Cal last year, and people thought it was a fluke, but they've beaten our class once out of three times and came close two years ago the last time they were down here. They're a good team, and it seems like whoever they put back there behind center always puts up big numbers, so it's not a surprise where they're ranked.
For the D-line, it's time to lay our ears back and go make things happen. A lot of people will tend to think that a defensive line really doesn't have any input in this game because of the splits, but we want to prove, as a defensive line, that we can get pressure on the quarterback and we will be an impact on this game. I believe that up front, if we come out and get up the street fast and put pressure on (Texas Tech QB) Cody (Hodges), it will make it a lot easier on our DBs and that can be the key to the game.
With GameDay being here, that's something that comes with it when you have the No. 2 team in the nation, and this is our fourth week in a row on ABC, and you have the No. 7 team, who just happens to be one of our rivals coming to town, it deserves it. It deserves GameDay and Cold Pizza, but it really doesn't mean anything to us, because we're not going to be able to see anything on TV. It's all about the game, it's all about getting the victory, but it's a great set up to show once again why we're the No. 2 team in the nation.
It's a big game for the defense, and it's a great set up to have the number one scoring offense in the nation. It's a big challenge for us and we want to make a statement this week, like we do every week, but this is the biggest one, because they're the number one offense. There are no exceptions, and we're not looking to just contain them.
Hook 'Em
Rod