Kirk Herbstreit gives Texas Tech DC his flowers for ‘masterful’ defense ahead of Cincinnati tilt

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Kirk Herbstreit credited defensive coordinator Shiel Wood for Texas Tech football’s success ahead of Saturday’s road matchup vs. Cincinnati, highlighting a defense that has helped the Red Raiders remain unbeaten.

No. 8 Texas Tech enters the Big 12 contest at 6-0 overall and 3-0 in conference play. Wood is in his second season overseeing the defense after earning recognition as a 2025 Broyles Award finalist.

The Red Raiders have not lost a regular-season game since falling 26-22 at Arizona State on October 18, 2025.

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ESPN’s College GameDay shared a clip Saturday on X, formerly Twitter, featuring Herbstreit praising Wood’s personnel during the program’s morning broadcast from Salt Lake City:

“Everybody talks about Texas Tech’s offense, but Shiel Wood, the D.C., he has a very, very talented group.”

It's been over a year since Texas Tech lost a regular season game 👀@KirkHerbstreit breaks down what makes the Red Raider defense so tough to game plan against 😤 pic.twitter.com/phKNJ9lOWq

— College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) October 24, 2026

Wood’s first Texas Tech defense allowed 11.8 points per game and ranked third nationally in both scoring and total defense.

The Red Raiders also led the country in rushing defense, allowing 68.1 yards per game, and forced an FBS-best 32 takeaways.

Six defenders from that group were selected in the 2026 NFL Draft, including edge rusher David Bailey, whom the New York Jets selected second overall.

Texas Tech currently ranks fifth nationally in rushing defense and remains the only FBS team that has not allowed a rushing touchdown this season.

Cincinnati presents a test for that unit. The Bearcats average 234 rushing yards per game, ranking 11th nationally, with Gi’Bran Payne and Cole Tabb leading the ground attack.

Texas Tech visits the 4-2 Bearcats at Nippert Stadium for Cincinnati’s 100th homecoming game, with kickoff scheduled for noon ET/9 a.m. PT on FS1 this Saturday.

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