Texas Football: 3 problematic Red Raiders players for the Longhorns

DaMarcus Fields, CB

There are two players that are leaders and the most productive players for this Texas Tech defense so far this season. And those two key defensive players for the Red Raiders are senior linebacker Colin Schooler and redshirt senior cornerback DaMarcus Fields. Schools was very productive for Texas Tech in the last couple of seasons, but Fields is off to the hotter start in 2021.

Texas has also been presented with a multitude of problems when facing a stout secondary and a defensive front that can get pressure on the passer. That’s similar to what the Longhorns faced in the loss to Arkansas a couple of weeks ago. Now, the Longhorns will face a defense that isn’t as talented as Arkansas, but does still have some threats to worry about.

Fields is a good place to start in that regard.

Through three games, Fields has a the second-best defensive grade for the Red Raiders, and the best among the regular starters. The 6-foot and 200-pound fifth-year corner has registered 14 combined tackles, one tackle for loss, and four pass breakups.

Only 50 percent of the balls that were targeted his way in pass coverage wound up in completions. And he has yet to allow a single passing touchdown in coverage assignments this season.

Fields is often lined up as the outside corner on the right side. That means he will likely most often be matched up against redshirt junior wide receiver Joshua Moore. But we should still see at least one-third of the snaps on passing downs have freshman Xavier Worthy matched up with Fields.

Two of the teams that had the most success against Fields last season were the Oklahoma schools. It was Theo Wease and Tylan Wallace that did most of the damage to Fields. The commonality there is that Wease and Wallace were both very quick and vertically gifted on the outside. That sounds like something that Sark can exploit with Worthy on the outside.