Texas Tech junior linebacker Dakota Allen was named the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week on Monday after he led the Red Raiders with a team-high 12 tackles and an interception in last weekend’s 27-24 victory at Houston.

Allen is the first Red Raider to garner Defensive Player of the Week honors since Jah’Shawn Johnson did so on Sept. 21, 2015. His selection marks the second-consecutive week a Red Raider has been chosen as Ja’Deion High was recognized as the top special teams standouts following Tech’s win over Arizona State.

Allen, a native of Humble, Texas, made an immediate impact for a stingy Red Raider defense, picking off Houston quarterback Kyle Allen on the Cougars’ first possession of the game. It was the first of five takeaways for the Red Raiders, their most in a game since facing Kansas in 2008.

Allen was also instrumental in limiting Houston to just 110 yards on the ground with his 12 tackles, eight of which were solo takedowns. Allen has now reached double digits for tackles in each of the last two games and six times over his Red Raider career.

In addition to his role stuffing the run game, Allen was in Houston’s backfield regularly on passing downs with two quarterback hurries. Both of his quarterback hurries led to key third-down incompletions, forcing Houston to punt each time.

Following his performance, Allen now ranks second in the Big 12 and 36th nationally, averaging 9.0 tackles per game. He leads the Red Raiders with 27 tackles altogether, two more than both Jordyn Brooks and Jah’Shawn Johnson.

The win over Houston snapped a 16-game home winning streak for the Cougars, which was previously the longest in the country. Houston had also won seven-straight games over power-five opponents leading into last weekend.

The Red Raiders head into this weekend’s showdown with No. 15 Oklahoma State with a perfect 3-0 record after wins over Eastern Washington, Arizona State and Houston to start the season. Kickoff against the Cowboys is slated for 7 p.m. in front of a nationally-televised audience on FOX.

COURTESY OF TEXAS TECH ATHLETICS

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