Ben Roberts is no stranger to the bright lights of football. At the power five level of college football, rarely any player is. From early in their prep careers, most players are thrust into the spotlight and are counted on to lead their team into battle. A graduate of Eaton High School, Roberts was a significant contributor for the Eagles when they made a trip to the regional finals his junior year.

But when Ben Roberts was a high-flying Eagle at Eaton, he was not found at the inside linebacker position that Texas Tech fans saw him play when he made his first collegiate start against Oregon Sept. 9. Instead, Roberts was playing safety, but he has always had the tools to be a versatile player on the defensive side of the ball.

“I always knew, like through peewee football, I was playing middle linebacker,” Roberts said following the Red Raiders’ Tuesday practice. “Once I got to high school, I was a quarterback then became a safety. Then I had people telling me all ‘He’s a big guy, he’s long, he’s got a good frame for a linebacker.’ And then once people started telling me that, like my sophomore, junior year, I knew I was going to play linebacker.”

Roberts does have a good frame for the position, indeed. Listed at 6-foot-3, 230 pounds, the redshirt freshman only saw the field in two games in 2022, both appearances on the special teams front. What has been going on behind the scenes, however, was a 20 pound weight gain. Roberts was listed at 210 pounds coming out of Eaton, and has since filled out his frame so he would be ready for any opportunity that arose.

Good thing, too. That opportunity sprung up quicker than many would have hoped or anticipated, with an injury to week one starter Jacob Rodriguez leaving a gaping hole to fill. With Rodriguez still expected to be sidelined for several weeks, Roberts was the next man up. Despite missing a large chunk of Tech’s fall camp ahead of the season, Roberts was confident that he would be the right player for the job.

“I was a little nervous because, yeah, I missed 15 practices. I didn’t have very many under my belt, but I trusted the process. I studied hard all week, I prepared like I was the starter for both Wyoming and (Oregon), so I was prepared.”

Playing against a rapid-fire Ducks offense led by Bo Nix and Bucky Irving, Roberts was a force for the Red Raiders and made his presence known. It would have been tough to predict Roberts’ performance given it was his first start in college, but by the end of the night he had a 12 tackle, 0.5 sack, 1.5 TFL and a forced fumble to show for it. Surprising to many, for sure, but others who had played with Roberts before were not surprised.

“It was impressive man, young guy coming in, he wasn’t fazed,” companion inside linebacker Jesiah Pierre said of Roberts. “He was ready for the moment. He’s prepared hard. I told him, ‘Hey, just breathe and just play your game,’ and he did that. He just flew around and played ball… that’s my guy, man. He’s my little bro. In Ben, I see a lot of myself. On his visit I was his host. He was my recruit and we just had a connection and I could see the fire in his eyes to always get better. He just always had that dog in him.”

Roberts and the Red Raiders have an opportunity to get their first win of the season Saturday against Tarleton State.