Texas Tech University Athletics
Rodriguez adds Butkus Finalist honors to list of accolades
November 25, 2025 | Football
Jacob Rodriguez is now a finalist for five national awards after adding Burkus Award honors later Tuesday
LUBBOCK, Texas – Texas Tech senior linebacker Jacob Rodriguez is now a finalist for five national awards with the Butkus Award becoming the latest Tuesday to recognize the nation's leader in takeaways.
Rodriguez is one of five finalists for the Butkus Award, which is presented annually to the nation's top linebacker. He was joined as a finalist by C.J. Allen of Georgia, Aiden Fisher of Indiana, Anthony Hill of Texas and Arvell Reese of Ohio State with the winner announced Dec. 10 following a vote by the 51-member Butkus Award selection committee.
This is the fifth finalist honor for Rodriguez, who was tabbed to a similar list earlier Tuesday by the Bednark Award. The Heisman Trophy hopeful is also a finalist for the Lott IMPACT Trophy, the Nagurski Trophy and the Lombardi Award as well as a semifinalist for the Walter Camp National Player of the Year award.
Rodriguez' popularity across college football's major defensive awards is the byproduct of Texas Tech's rise as one of the nation's top defenses. The senior captain has pushed the Red Raiders to a No. 5 ranking by the latest College Football Playoff selection committee Tuesday following a 10-1 start that has Texas Tech as the FBS leader for rush defense and in the top 10 for scoring and total defense.
Rodriguez has made his largest impact in the area of takeaways as he has helped create nine for the Red Raiders this season entering Saturday's regular-season finale at West Virginia. Texas Tech is tied for second in the FBS with 25 takeaways as a team with Rodriguez contributing to that total with seven forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and four interceptions. Dating back to 2005, he is the only FBS player during that span to have at least five forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and four interceptions all in the same season.
Rodriguez, who leads the Red Raiders with 100 tackles this season, is the only player in the FBS with both a defensive and offensive touchdown after returning his own forced fumble 69 yards into the end zone against Oklahoma State. He later rushed for a touchdown against UCF, finding paydirt out of the Wildcat formation in Texas Tech's FBS-leading 10th win by 20 or more points this season.
Rodriguez has bolstered a Texas Tech defense that currently ranks fourth nationally in scoring defense, giving up only 12.3 a contest, which is on pace to be the Red Raiders' lowest since setting the single-season school record at only 11.3 points per game in 1963. Texas Tech enters this week also tied for second in the FBS for takeaways as well as seventh for total defense at 266.1 yards per game allowed, including just 71.8 yards on the ground. The Red Raiders remain the nation's leader in rushing defense, averaging a whole eight yards better than top-ranked Ohio State in second place.
The Red Raiders can clinch their first-ever appearance in the Edward Jones Big 12 Championship with a victory Saturday in the regular-season finale at West Virginia. Kickoff is slated for 11 a.m. CT with coverage provided on ESPN and the Texas Tech Sports Network.
