Texas Tech co-defensive coordinator Mike Smith might not make a big distinction between his second- and third-team defensive linemen.
After all, he’s been craving better depth for a couple of years. The more useful players, the better.
Nevertheless, some of his best remaining battles for playing time are for backup spots along the defensive front: Josh Outlaw’s trying to dislodge Marcus Smith for the backup job to starting nose tackle Rika Levi, and Zach Barnes is trying to hold off Mike Mitchell for the second-team spot behind rush end Pete Robertson.
“Rika can’t play 80 snaps,” said Mike Smith, who coaches the defensive line.