Veteran DB Lux settling in to new home at Tech
Through all of spring football for Texas Tech, there was excitement surrounding the defensive back room. Malik Dunlap and Rayshad Williams, the two starting corners for the majority of the 2022 season, had announced they were returning to the team for their super-senior seasons. Dadrion Taylor-Demerson and Tyler Owens, both who were a part of the lineup for the Texas Bowl win over Ole Miss, were also slated to return.
Four super-seniors and four starters that all had, in their own rights, solid seasons previous. But behind them remained uncertainty. Experience aplenty no doubt, but depth was beginning to become a question. Then, the Red Raiders went and added Fresno State transfer Bralyn Lux.
Entering his senior season, Lux has played a lot of college football to this point, having competed in 27 games through the first three years of his career. The attributes that Lux described himself after Tech’s practice on Wednesday should get fans excited for what he can bring to the room.
“I’m fast,” Lux said. “I can play the ball really well. I’m just a ball hawk. I’m a finesse-type player.”
Assuming his duties at Tech, Lux has found himself practicing at cornerback as well as a “nickel” or “slot” corner. It was this kind of versatility from Lux that shone through in the Bulldogs’ 2022 game against UCONN, a contest where Lux had eight tackles, a forced fumble and a sack. A variety of stats accumulated for a 5’11 defensive back playing on the outside. Though the King’s Academy graduate put on a show against the Huskies, it was actually a game two weeks earlier that would become the reason Lux got recruited to Tech when he hit the transfer portal.
“The film that I watched on him was when they played USC,” defensive backs coach Marcel Yates said Wednesday. “He played against (Jordan Addison), the one that had transferred from Pittsburgh. I watched (Lux) play against him man-to-man, and he played well against him. He’s a guy that’s been under the lights and he’s made plays. The thing that I love about him, what he’s showing right now, is he loves to practice. He loves the game.”
All things considered, six catches, 69 yards with a touchdown was a fair performance allowed from Lux. Addison, the 2021 Biletnikoff winner and eventual first round pick to the Minnesota Vikings, had 100+ yards receiving in four games and eight total touchdowns in 2022.
It was not a smooth transition when Lux decided his time in Fresno was finished, but what he found in Lubbock and playing under coach Yates was a new home.
“I had a couple teams hit me up,” Lux said. “But I had problems with my credits transferring over, so Texas Tech was a big team that could get me in. And Coach Yates was big on me too. He lets you play your own game. It’s not like a robot. He lets you do your own thing. So that’s what I really liked about him.”
When he is not on the field, Lux might be found at the table enjoying one of his favorite pastimes: a classic game of dominos. Though Lux has not found any challengers on the team, it will not be long before the challenge of Wyoming faces him and the Red Raiders on Sept. 2. They might be two vastly different kinds of games, but Lux finds similarities in both.
“We went to the pool, (my teammates) were playing dominos, but I was in the pool the whole time so I didn’t get to play anybody yet,” Lux said. “(Dominos and football) is a chess match. Formation-wise, you got to learn formations. If they’re tight they might run mesh. If they’re wide they’re gonna want to spread the field and get their players the ball. It’s like a chess match, for sure.”
