North Texas cornerback Ridge Texada has been one of the most productive defensive playmakers in college football this season. Yet, when the list of semifinalists for the Jim Thorpe Award honoring the top defensive backs in the nation was revealed, he wasn’t on it.
Texada is used to being overlooked, but despite this, faith in his own ability leaves him with no doubt that national respect is coming. After all, it’s carried him this far in his journey.
Ridge Texada Is One of the Most Productive Playmakers in College Football
“It definitely motivates me because I know what I’m capable of,” Texada begins while discussing his absence from the list of the top defensive backs in college football with Pro Football Network.
“I know that I’m a top DB in the nation. But, I’m not going to let that anger me. I know that if I keep working, keep making plays, my recognition is going to come, and I’ll get the respect that I deserve.”
Fifteen pass breakups. Three interceptions. Eighteen total passes defensed that ranks second in the nation. For the longest time this season, Texada led the nation in passes defensed per game. Ahead of North Texas’ crucial Conference USA clash with Rice this season, their productive defensive playmaker ranks second nationally with 1.64 passes defensed per game.
The use of “playmaker” is intentional. Statistics can be misleading, particularly, at the cornerback position. However, you only have to turn on the North Texas tape to see that Texada is making those plays rather than them being a byproduct of volume or simply relying on fortune. Instincts, fast feet, and ball skills that belies his diminutive stature hit you as instantaneously as he turns an interception into a sizeable yardage gain.
The production has been as impressive as Texada’s journey has felt improbable. Under-recruited out of Centennial High School, the brother of Ranthony and Raleigh Texada — standouts at TCU and Baylor — trod the FCS path before turning to the portal to make his way back to his home state with the North Texas Mean Green. Many of the steps on this journey have been heavy, but trusting in himself is beginning to pay off for the playmaker.
“Last year I struggled,” Texada reflects on the difference between his first season in Denton and a campaign in 2022 that has seen him emerge as one of the most productive defensive playmakers in the whole of college football. “I didn’t trust myself, my technique, and my footwork — and it showed. This offseason, that’s what I focused on. So now, when I go out and play, I trust myself, and the technique and footwork will do the rest.”
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Texada made three starts in 13 appearances last fall. By his own admission, those weren’t his finest hours on a football field. That play even seeped into the start of the 2022 campaign.
The North Texas cornerback is as open about his deficiencies as he is confident in his ability right now. Texada’s transition from being a struggling sophomore to a defensive juggernaut as a junior comes down to three words. “Trust” and “work ethic.”
“The first few games, I didn’t play my best, and I had to turn it up another notch. It’s been a great season. It’s all just a show of my work ethic. I put a lot of work in during the offseason, and now it’s showing off. I trained with a lot of trainers in the offseason, taking that next step. Last year, I didn’t perform to the best that I could play. I knew I had to train hard in the offseason to get to where I wanted to be. It’s finally paying off.”
Those first few games saw some small production. A pass breakup against both UTEP and SMU was followed by two games with zero production. Then came a turning point, an intersection where trust and hard work met, resulting in a coming out party in conference play.
With four pass breakups and two interceptions against Florida Atlantic, Texada earned C-USA recognition as Defensive Player of the Week while becoming just the 13th player in North Texas program history to register two interceptions in one game.
“It was a big turnaround for me,” Texada reflected on his performance in that FAU game. “It just let me know that I was supposed to be there. It was something that I didn’t think that I could do until I did it. That bought a whole new confidence for me. It was a big deal. I tried not to make a big deal of it, but it was definitely a big accomplishment for me, and it showed what I’m capable of.”
Football Is Family for Texada
Centennial High School lies 35 miles east of the University of Texas. The quest for national recognition began for Texada on the Titans football team. However, his football journey goes even further back than that.
The third son of former Louisiana Tech receiver Ranthony and Nerissa, Texada was born with football in his blood. The desire to further himself in the family business was fueled by watching his brothers play on the biggest stage.
“I’ve been playing football my whole life. Seeing my brothers play just inspired me. Seeing them at TCU and Baylor, it motivated me to go out and play D1 football. I couldn’t thank them enough for what they’ve done for me and the path they brought me on.”
The Frisco native was a two-way player who earned first-team All-District honors at both wide receiver and cornerback. Leading the team in receiving yards and total touchdowns as a senior, Texada also picked off four passes — a precursor to the defensive production that would see him become a national leader in his junior season for North Texas.
Even then, national recognition would evade the playmaking cornerback. Unranked by the major recruiting sites, Texada struggled to make a significant impression in a talent-rich state. Unlike with his brothers, there were no FBS offers, just a flurry of FCS opportunities.
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“It was definitely hard,” Texada reflected on his path from Centennial High School to college football. “Especially my size playing a factor. A lot of teams don’t want to recruit smaller corners. Texas football has a lot of guys, so it’s definitely tougher getting recruited. Especially coming from a high school where you don’t get a lot of recognition. I’ve always had a chip on my shoulder; a lot of people have doubted me.”
So it came to pass that the Texas native would find himself over six hours and nearly 400 miles from home at McNeese State. A freshman in the disrupted 2020 season, Texada saw little production for the Cowboys in what he describes as a “great experience” where he “built a lot of relationships.”
However, a desire to be back closer to home saw him enter the transfer portal and land a little over 30 minutes from the high school he’d left a year before. While enthusing about the level of FCS football, Texada acknowledges that there was a clear step-up, a defined learning curve to climb making the leap to the FBS level. Thankfully, there were familiar inspirations and motivations to help guide that transition.
“The game is a lot faster,” Texada explains the differences between the FCS and FBS levels. “It took me some time. I started in three games, but I struggled.
“It took me time to adjust, to know it’s a different level and takes different preparation. It takes a whole lot to perform at the FBS level. My brothers, they really taught me that it takes a different type of preparation to play at this level, and I thank them for that. They helped my mindset change.”
Texada Embodying a ‘Size Doesn’t Matter’ Mentality
That mindset is now rooted in trust and belief in his own ability. Texada’s overcome his lowly recruiting status to become one of the most productive defensive playmakers in the nation.
If there are questions about his size, Texada doesn’t listen to them, preferring to let his play on the field do the talking. The North Texas CB points to Asante Samuel and Marshon Lattimore as examples of smaller defensive backs who prove that size doesn’t matter when it comes to playing at the next level.
Those are his aspirations. Alongside his brothers as inspiration and motivation, Texada grew up watching Tyrann Mathieu flying around “making a bunch of plays” and saw in him the player he wants to be. “That’s exactly what I want to do. Play defense, strip the balls, make picks.”
There’s work to be done before those next-level dreams come to fruition. Yes, he’s eligible for the 2023 NFL Draft. No, he isn’t thinking about that right now.
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North Texas has the potential to finish the season with their best record since 2018. The Mean Green are already bowl eligible, and they have Conference USA Championship Game destiny in their own hands. A win against Rice will see them take on UTSA in their first title game since 2017.
Like their playmaking cornerback, North Texas was overlooked this season as a C-USA contender. They stand just two wins away from a title that no one thought possible. National recognition for the program and the player has been hard to come by, but Texada’s faith in his ability and that of the team around him continues to fuel him and his Mean Green team.
“Right now, my focus is finishing out this season strong. I’ve still got some big games to play, a lot of plays to be made. The expectation is to be a conference champion; that’s the main goal at the end of the season. Keep making plays, keep that chip on my shoulder, keep showing what I can do on that field, and keep proving people wrong.”