Red Raiders make history! Two defenders achieve unanimous All-American status, joining an elite club and reshaping Texas Tech's national perception.
The Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) All-America Team dropped Thursday, and it included three Red Raiders, tying Tech for the third-most selections in the country.
Edge rusher David Bailey and linebacker Jacob Rodriguez earned FWAA First-Team honors, while defensive tackle Lee Hunter landed on the FWAA Second Team.
Here's the bigger deal ... Bailey and Rodriguez didn't just make another list; they completed the sweep.
Both were named First-Team All-Americans by all five NCAA-recognized selectors (Walter Camp, Associated Press, AFCA, Sporting News, and FWAA), making them unanimous First-Team All-Americans. That puts them in rare air in Lubbock history.
Bailey and Rodriguez become the sixth and seventh individuals in program history to earn unanimous All-America status, and the seventh and eighth occurrences overall.
The short list they join is loaded with Mark Bounds (1991), Zach Thomas (1995), Byron Hanspard (1996), Michael Crabtree (2007–08), and Jace Amaro (2013). And yes, Crabtree remains the only two-time unanimous All-American in school history.
Hunter's selection matters, too.
He was also named to the AP Third Team earlier in the week, giving him multiple All-America nods in a single season. And he's the first Tech defensive tackle to be recognized as an FWAA All-American since Montae Reagor (1998), which tells you exactly how long it's been since Tech's interior defense got this kind of national love.
And it didn't stop at three.
The Associated Press also named A.J. Holmes Jr. to its Second Team, giving Tech four total players with at least one All-America recognition this year - the most in a season since 2008, when five Red Raiders earned national honors.
This is program-history stuff.
Tech has two unanimous first-teamers in the same season for the first time ever, and they're both defenders. That's the kind of identity shift that changes how the country talks about Texas Tech football.
Now comes the next test.
Tech is headed to the College Football Playoff and will meet the winner of Oregon vs. James Madison in the CFP quarterfinals on Jan. 1 at the Capital One Orange Bowl.