Texas Tech football safety A.J. McCarty got cornerback Bralyn Lux into golf this off-season. Lux estimates he went out eight or 10 times to three public courses in Lubbock, enjoying the game and the peace he felt on the course.

He liked it so much he even bought an inexpensive set of clubs.

"I want to get good at it," Lux said. "It's a fun game to play. Whatever I do, I compete, so I want to be good at it."

That probably comes as no surprise to Texas Tech coaches. Being competitive and wanting to excel has helped Lux at cornerback where, at 5-foot-11 and 180 pounds, he frequently operates at a size disadvantage.

The Red Raiders need the sixth-year senior from San Jose, California, to be a lead dog this season. Malik Dunlap and Rayshad Williams, a pair of 6-foot-3 corners, exhausted their eligibility last season. Williams started 40 college games, Dunlap 33 and Lux 30.

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Now Lux is the Red Raiders' most experienced corner and their acknowledged No. 1. He'll likely cover opposing teams' best receiver. That's a subtle difference to the approach the Red Raiders have used the past couple of seasons, when they preferred to deploy Dunlap into the boundary more because of his 220-pound size.

"With these guys, it's more like left and right," Tech coach Joey McGuire said, referring to Lux, Maurion Horn and Jalon Peoples. "They're really similar-sized bodies, they can all really run, so it (their deployment) would be a game-plan situation.

"If we were playing a really good outside receiver — he's the guy — probably Lux would be wherever he (is). If he has a spot that he lines up on, Lux would go with him. We feel like Lux is our best cover guy, but Horn had a really, really good spring."

Last year was Lux's first with the Red Raiders after four years at Fresno State. He was credited with 40 tackles, including 3 1/2 tackles for loss, broke up eight passes and intercepted one.

"I feel like personally I need to get better at everything," he said, "but one thing from last year's tape, I wanted to work on my press technique a lot more. I feel like my off (coverage) is pretty good. I still work on it.

"But my press is a big thing. (Defensive backs) coach (Marcel) Yates harps on that. He wants us to press majority of the time, so that's one thing that's improved a lot."

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Among Lux's individual goals is making at least five interceptions and returning a couple for touchdowns. No wonder. At Fresno State, he started games across from DaRon Bland, the Dallas Cowboys corner who set an NFL record last season with five interception-return TDs.

"I haven't scored a touchdown in college yet," Lux said, "so that's one of my big goals."

DeRuyter doesn't see much being beyond Lux's capability. He went to Fresno State as a walk-on and has achieved well beyond that.

"I think Bralyn's got a trait all great corners have: He's got tremendous confidence in his ability," DeRuyter said. "As a corner, you've got to have the ability to turn off a bad play in your mind and go on to what's next. 'Hey, you may have caught one. I'm getting the next one.'

"I think he's more physical than our two corners were before. Now, he does lack the length of those guys, but he does go up like he did against Texas and compete for footballs. You throw one up, he's got tremendous ball skills. He can take it away. ... I think he's got a chance to have an outbreak year."

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: What makes Bralyn Lux Texas Tech football team's No. 1 cornerback