Joey McGuire and Texas Tech ran a full-fledged campaign for Jacob Rodriguez to get more recognition among Heisman voters. This pushed the linebacker to score his first touchdown against the UCF Knights and perform a Heisman pose, which resulted in a 48-9 win. As the Heisman efforts are in full swing, the LB also paid homage to a $340 million Heisman winner.

November 15th wasn’t just a game day for the Red Raiders; it was their Senior Day ceremony. Every senior was recognized before the game, and celebrated their moments. Jacob Rodriguez made sure to add his own touch, donning his cowboy hat, holding it high in the air, as the whole Jones AT&T Stadium crowd rained cheers of appreciation.

While Rodriguez was asked about the ‘cowboy hat’, the Red Raiders LB revealed that it was a homage to the Heisman winner Joe Burrow. According to Jarrett Ramirez’s report on X, “Jacob Rodriguez said wearing his cowboy hat for senior day was a nod to Joe Burrow’s “Burreaux” jersey on his own senior night. Rodriguez got the idea from Tech head strength coach Lance Barilow, who was on staff at LSU in 2019.” Lance Barilow was a staff member at LSU when Joe Burrow won the Heisman Trophy in 2019.

It’s an impressive way to pay homage to a legend like Joe Burrow, who had a historical run in 2019 for LSU, threw 4,715 yards with 48 touchdown passes to win the Heisman trophy with the most first-place votes, 1846 more than the runner-up Jalen Hurts. It didn’t end there. Burrow led LSU to win the 2020 national championship against Clemson by 42-25.

He went to the postseason and completed the 2019 season with 60 passing TDs, breaking the single-season FBS record posted by Colt Brennan (58) in 2006. He also tied the most touchdowns (65) with Bailey Zappe in 2021, and fourth most passing yards (5671), tied with Case Keenum in 2009.

A shoutout from the aspirant to the Heisman winner, who won the poll by a big margin, seems like a stunt to boost his campaign. However, Rodriguez is also racking up some Heisman-worthy numbers on his 2025 campaign.

Jacob Rodriguez’ Heisman Trophy-worthy season

Jacob Rodriguez has been having a noteworthy 2025 season with some incredible numbers. Entering week 12, he has totaled 97 tackles (54 solo), 9.5 tackles for loss, seven forced fumbles, three interceptions, and two fumble recoveries. Rodriguez is a defensive beast for Texas Tech, who had 10 straight games with at least five tackles and recorded a season high of 14 tackles twice, against Kansas and BYU. He had 12 tackles for a loss to Arizona State, and 11 and 10 against Utah and Oklahoma.

His 14 tackles, a fumble recovery, and an interception in Tech’s 29 – 7 win over BYU, led the former Red Raiders QB Patrick Mahomes, who was in attendance on the Chiefs bye week endorse Rodriguez for the Heisman finalist, through a tweet, “Get him to New York! @HeismanTrophy.”

On the Saturday game against UCF, he came up short with nine tackles, of which six are solo tackles. He also scored his first touchdown, snapping the ball from the QB position, as an effort to be in the Heisman trophy conversation. However, his chances of winning the Heisman are incredibly slim. Currently, Ohio State’s Julian Sayin and Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza are considered the favorites. But he’ll probably get votes if he leads the Red Raiders to win the Big 12.