How do you not include Chappelle Brown? He had 85 tackles (22 more than Smith and before the Nebraska game) and 3 and a half sacks. No interceptions but he had a much better season than Smith in my opinion.

Texas Tech generally starts 5th year seniors, sometimes 4th year juniors, which means they've spent 3 or 4 years learning the system inside and out. That's the primary reason for their instant on-field success. In addition, Hawkins' offense system is rather complicated for the college game from what I've read.