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Jersey Number 15
Austin Romaine
- Position:
- Linebacker
- Height:
- 6-2
- Weight:
- 240
- Class:
- Senior
- Hometown:
- Hillsboro, Mo.
- High School:
- Hillsboro
CAREER HONORS
PRIOR TO TEXAS TECH
HIGH SCHOOL
PERSONAL
- All-Big 12 Second Team (2025, Jr.)
- Bronko Nagurski Award Watch List (2025, Jr.)
- Chuck Bednarik Award Watch List (2025, Jr.)
- Butkus Award Watch List (2025, Jr.)
- All-Big 12 Second Team (2024, So.)
- Associated Press All-Big 12 Second Team (2024, So.)
- College Sports Communicators Academic All-District (2024, So.)
- Two-time Academic All-Big 12 selection (2024-25)
- All-Big 12 Honorable Mention (2023, Fr.)
PRIOR TO TEXAS TECH
- Bolstered Texas Tech’s linebacker room after joining Red Raiders following three years at fellow Big 12 member Kansas State … a three-time All-Big 12 selection with the Wildcats with 34 career games played and 26 starts … will have one season of eligibility remaining as a Red Raider with the possibility of a redshirt.
- Compiled 184 tackles (110 solo) over his three seasons in Manhattan, including 17.5 that went for a loss and 3.5 sacks … recorded at least 60 tackles each of the past two seasons, including a 2025 campaign that was cut short due to injury … able to create takeaways with three forced fumbles over his career, a fumble recovery and an interception … has six double-digit tackle performances in his career prior to arriving at Texas Tech.
- Arrived at Texas Tech with significant experience with 1,458 defensive snaps over the past three years, per Pro Football Focus … one of the more highly-graded linebackers in college football the past two seasons … received at least a 75.0 overall defensive grade or higher each of the past two seasons … able to disrupt the backfield with 44 quarterback pressures overall.
- Considered one of the top players to enter the NCAA Transfer Portal following the 2025 season … listed as the No. 34 overall transfer in the portal by 247Sports and second overall among inside linebackers … tabbed the No. 42 overall transfer by The Athletic and fifth overall among inside linebackers … highest ranking came from On3 as the top-rated inside linebacker and at No. 18 overall, helping give the Red Raiders one of the nation’s top transfer classes.
- 2025 SEASON (JUNIOR AT KANSAS STATE): collected All-Big 12 second team honors for a second-consecutive season despite having his year cut short due to injury … limited to only nine games played – all starts – after suffering a season-ending injury against his new team in Texas Tech … was a preseason candidate for the Bronko Nagurski Award, the Chuck Bednarik Award and the Butkus Award.
- Ended his season with 66 tackles (41 solo), including 7.0 for a loss and a shared sack, while adding an interception, fumble recovery and two pass breakups … recorded 10 or more tackles in three different games and had at least four stops in all nine contests … notched at least a share of a tackle for loss in five of those games.
- Best performance of the year likely came against the Red Raiders (11/1) with a season-high 11 tackles, a shared sack and an interception … picked off the Red Raiders on the first drive of the game, which was followed a play later by a Brice Pollock interception to give the ball back to Texas Tech … shared a sack later in the second quarter on a 2nd-and-goal attempt that ultimately forced the Red Raiders into a Stone Harrington field goal.
- Previously began the season with eight tackles in the opener versus Iowa State (8/23) before hitting double digits in back-to-back games with 10 stops versus both North Dakota (8/30) and Army (9/6) … recorded 1.5 tackles for loss against North Dakota and then 1.0 against Army … came close to double digits again with nine stops in a Friday night loss at Arizona (9/12).
- Credited with playing in 517 defensive snaps by Pro Football Focus despite missing the final three games of the season … publication awarded him a 76.5 overall defensive grade, which ranked sixth in the Big 12 among inside linebackers with at least 400 snaps … had an 80.5 grade in rush defense, which was seventh in the league among the same group.
- 2024 SEASON (SOPHOMORE AT KANSAS STATE): emerged as one of the Big 12’s top linebackers as a sophomore, appearing in all 13 games for the Wildcats while making 12 starts … earned All-Big 12 second team honors by both the Associated Press and conference coaches after leading the Wildcats with 96 tackles to go along with 7.5 tackles for loss, 2.0 sacks, three forced fumbles and two pass breakups.
- Recorded the most tackles in a season by a Wildcat since Jayd Kirby had 99 during the 2017 campaign … had at least five tackles in 11 games and reached double digits in three different contests … made at least one stop behind the line of scrimmage in six different games as well.
- Set a career-high with 12 tackles in three different games, all in Big 12 road games at West Virginia (10/19), Houston (11/2) and Iowa State (11/30) … performance versus Houston featured a career-high 2.5 tackles for loss, including one that stopped a fourth-down attempt midway through the fourth quarter … his 12 tackles at West Virginia earlier were the most by a Wildcat in a single game since Daniel Green had 13 at Baylor in 2020.
- Created takeaways in key moments with two of his forced fumbles leading directly to game-winning scores … one was returned 60 yards for a touchdown at Tulane (9/7) midway through the fourth quarter to give the Wildcats a seven-point lead … later punched out a key fumble against Kansas (10/26) that set up the Wildcats in plus territory for a 51-yard field goal with 1:42 remaining in regulation … added a career-high 2.0 sacks in the win over Tulane, including the one with the forced fumble that stripped Darian Mensah near the red zone.
- Came close to reaching double digits in several other contests, finishing with nine stops at BYU (9/21), eight at Tulane and seven versus Arizona (9/13), Oklahoma State (9/28) and in the Rate Bowl against Rutgers (12/26) … ended the season ranked fifth in the Big 12 for forced fumbles (3) and ninth for total tackles (96).
- The second-highest rated inside linebacker in college football that season after receiving a 90.8 overall grade by Pro Football Focus … trailed only the 91.9 grade by Buffalo’s Shaun Dolac … played in 621 defensive snaps, per the publication, creating 22 pressures in the process … ranked third among inside linebackers nationally with a 90.7 grade in rush defense, trailing only Michigan State’s Jordan Turner (92.2) and Oklahoma’s Danny Stutsman (90.9).
- 2023 SEASON (FRESHMAN AT KANSAS STATE): immediately became a key contributor for the Wildcats as a true freshman, appearing in 12 games overall with five starts … his five starts were the most by a K-State true freshman defender since cornerback Duke Shelley started seven games in 2015 and the most by a Wildcat true freshman linebacker since at least 1988.
- Earned votes from the league’s head coaches for the Big 12 Defensive Freshman of the Year Award following strong debut season … totaled 22 tackles (15 solo) on the year, including 3.0 for a loss and a solo sack … credited with playing in 320 defensive snaps by Pro Football Focus with an additional 64 coming on special teams as a member of the kickoff coverage, punt return, field goal block and punt return units during various parts of the season.
- Made his first career start in the Big 12 opener against UCF (9/23)), becoming K-State’s first true freshman to start at linebacker since Tre Walker in 2010 and the first in a home game since Reggie Black in 1989 … tallied three tackles versus the Knights, including his first career one for a loss … had previously notched three stops just two weeks before against Troy (9/9), his first tackles at the collegiate level.
- The win over UCF kicked off three-consecutive games with at least a tackle for loss … followed with a season-high six tackles at Oklahoma State (10/6) and then four stops at Texas Tech (10/14), which included his first career sack … got to Behren Morton on the first play of the second quarter for a three-yard sack … combined for six tackles the rest of the season with two stops against Houston (10/28), at Kansas (11/18) and in the Pop-Tarts Bowl win versus N.C. State (12/28).
HIGH SCHOOL
- Attended Hillsboro High School in his hometown of Hillsboro, Missouri … two-way player, starring not only at linebacker but also at running back … ended his prep career as one of the best athletes in the state of Missouri before signing with Kansas State.
- Earned first team All-State honors as both a junior and senior from the Missouri Football Coaches Association … selected as the District 1-4A Most Valuable Player in 2022 after recording 117 tackles and seven sacks defensively en route to leading Hillsboro to the state quarterfinal round of the Class 4 playoffs and a 10-2 record … previously helped push Hillsboro to the second round of the playoffs his junior year as part of a 9-2 record.
- Finished with 100 tackles as a junior in 2021, including 22.0 for a loss and 8.0 sacks … play as a junior pushed him onto the recruiting radar, more as a defensive prospect even with gawky offensive numbers … totaled 3,196 rushing yards and 45 touchdowns over his prep career as one of the state’s top rushers annually.
- Consensus three-star prospect by the likes of Rivals, On3, ESPN and 247Sports … ranked as high as No. 49 among linebackers nationally by ESPN … was the No. 27 recruit from the state of Missouri by ESPN and No. 28 overall by both 247Sports and Rivals … chose to attend Kansas State over offers from the likes of Air Force, New Mexico State, Ohio, Rice, Tulane, Columbia and Harvard, among others.
PERSONAL
- Austin Romaine (roe-MANE) … born in Hillsboro, Missouri, to parents Jason Romaine and Alexia Romaine … has three siblings, Madison, Caleigh and Anthony.
- An applied personal finance major at Texas Tech.
Thursday, July 02
Tuesday, June 30
Tuesday, June 23
Friday, May 29
