The veteran defensive coordinator Tim DeRuyter has his group rolling in 2023 after a strong opening act as Texas Tech defensive coordinator in 2022.

DeRuyter’s group underwent quite a bit of personnel changes in the offseason, including losing 2022’s seventh overall pick Tyree Wilson off the edge, but this group has been better than last year’s group through four games.

The Red Raiders are doing a much better job of bottling up the explosive plays, only having really been burnt against Oregon when the Red Raider secondary was banged up.

“Statistically we’re not giving up as many big plays,” DeRuyter said. “We've actually gotten more sacks, tackles for loss, and we’re playing the run better.”

DeRuyter’s group has taken a leap in defending the run, having bottled up one of the best running backs in the nation in Oregon’s Bucky Irving, along with their consistent ability to limit big plays on the ground.

Tech is averaging 3.8 yards per carry against this season, good for 62nd in the nation, a metric that was 4.5 last season.

The Red Raiders have also taken a leap in coverage, spearheaded by Malik Dunlap who has had an excellent season thus far. Dunlap has received an 88.4 pass coverage grade from PFF through four games, good for third best in the nation at the position.

“I think the two words are Bralyn Lux,” DeRuyter said. “When Brayln came in and Malik got hurt, Malik had to go win his job back. His practice habits went up. He practiced much harder, and it's showing up on Saturday.”

The Red Raiders as a whole are much improved in the pass game averaging only 6.1 yards per pass attempt against, good for 25th in the nation and fourth in the Big 12. That’s a much-improved metric against the 2022 average of 7.8.

Dadrion Taylor-Demerson has been playing very well this season as well, helping spearhead the Red Raider secondary’s improvement, and it didn’t go unnoticed from DeRuyter and NFL scouting departments.

“I think Rabbit is playing at a really high level right now,” DeRuyter said. “The way that Rabbit is playing, even though he doesn’t have traditional NFL measurables, when the NFL scouts come into town, he’s the first guy they’re looking at.”

The Red Raider defense has done an excellent job keeping Tech in the games to this point in the season, something that has been much needed with some of the struggles on the offensive side of the football.

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