CFP QUARTERFINAL AT THE CAPITAL ONE ORANGE BOWL: OREGON VS TEXAS TECH

December 30, 2025

Jacob Rodriguez

Hard Rock Stadium

Texas Tech Red Raiders

Press Conference

Q. Have you seen any similarities between you guys? You give up very few points, very few yards, they give up very few points, very few yards. You score a lot, they score a lot. Do you see similarities?

JACOB RODRIGUEZ: Yeah, of course. I think first of all, we're a really good team, so that kind of shows up. But I think they're one of the best in the country, as well.

They're a very good football team, so I think it's accurate that both teams will kind of match up well and the numbers will be pretty similar just because of -- especially offensively, our style of offense and their style of offense, they want to make a lot of downfield plays and explosive plays, so I think it would make sense that it matches up.

Q. What's it been like waiting for this game to get here?

JACOB RODRIGUEZ: It's been different. I think it feels like fall camp all over again, and it feels like you're going through it week to week but there's no scrimmage and there's no game to play. You have all these questions that you just never get answered.

You don't know if it's best to move on from that, that specific call or game plan and move to the next, or it's just kind of doing the same thing over and over. So you just don't know if you're right or wrong, so you could be prepping for the wrong thing. You just never know. That's the hardest part.

But it was nice to have the time off and get guys healthy, but the prep was pretty weird.

Q. As a linebacker, when you look at Oregon, what do you see?

JACOB RODRIGUEZ: I see a massive offensive line who is very good with their hands, very good with their feet, and then I see a quarterback who's arguably the best in the country, and then receivers and running backs who can go the distance. Their speed jumps off the page, and they're very explosive. If we can just do our job and do what we can to stop the explosive plays, that's what we're going to try to do.

Q. (Indiscernible.)

JACOB RODRIGUEZ: I mean, I think we just do what we've been doing all year, just trying to attack the ball using our leverage and just doing stuff that we've been coached to do all season long and keep proper shoulders, proper feet, proper hands.

Q. (Indiscernible.)

JACOB RODRIGUEZ: I guess I don't know exactly how they do it yet. I hope that I can give you an answer after the game. We're just looking forward to a great match-up against a great team. Yeah, we've definitely looked into that and tried to study why that happened last year and what we can do to prevent it, and I think we've had a good plan up until this point, and I'm excited for it.

Q. (On Oregon's run game.)

JACOB RODRIGUEZ: I mean, all of their running backs that they play are incredible, and they can go the distance at any point. Then it really helps when you have an O-line who is as big and as strong as they are and use their feet as well as they do.

But then I think it comes down to their quarterback play. I think what I see from them is their quarterback is checking them at the line and putting them into the right play, putting them into good positions for them to win.

They may pick up a few yards, but it'll open the door to bigger and longer runs as the game goes on because they're just checking into the right play.