Well, it's bad enough that Texas Tech fell from the unbeaten ranks this past weekend, but now the Big XII is trying to take all the fun away.
Red Raiders athletic director Kirby Hocutt announced that the university will no longer allow fans to throw tortillas during the opening kickoff of home games. It's a tradition that's been part of Red Raider football since the late 1980s.
For over 30 years, Texas Tech fans have thrown tortillas on the field.
— Front Office Sports (@FOS) October 20, 2025
Now, the Red Raiders are asking them to stop after the Big 12 upped potential fines for repeat incidents of tortillas being thrown to $100,000.
"The stakes are too high," AD Kirby Hocutt stressed to fans. pic.twitter.com/r9gdp9ADNY
Hocutt sees the big picture
This fallout comes from the Red Raiders' last home game, a 42-17 win against Kansas. The school was fined $25,000 from the Big XII for repeated instances of throwing objects on the field. Kansas coach Lance Leipold also claimed that a staffer was hit by a weapon, but that claim was found to be inaccurate and Kansas was subsequently fined for making a false statement.
With the conference threatening the next level of fines would be $100,000 and could include in-game penalties, Hocutt decided that it was time to step in.
"Just a couple of quick updates on an ongoing game-event management situation that we have related specifically to tortilla as well as the Big XII sportsmanship and fan behavior policy. I would just like to share with the Red Raider nation that as we move forward, we are no longer going to encourage or permit the throwing of tortillas at the opening kickoffs for home football games.Kirby Hocutt, Texas Tech AD
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The tradition is definitely exclusive to Texas Tech and something that the Red Raiders fanbase has seemed to enjoy for years without too many problems. It even made its way into the EA College Football video game presentation.
Tortillas: They're in the game. 🎮#CFB26 | @EASPORTSCollege pic.twitter.com/VjV9EA9Oyn
— Texas Tech Football (@TexasTechFB) July 7, 2025
But Hocutt knows that things are different now. Texas Tech wants to be a power in football and they are investing a large amount of resources to make that happen. The attention needs to be completely on the product on the field.
"We know as Red Raiders no one tells us what to do. We make our own decisions and encourage actions because they are the right thing to do. We have the opportunity, and we're on the cusp of a very special football season," Hocutt explained. "I ask the Red Raider nation to continue to give these players, this team and all of our Red Raiders all of our support and energy to make sure we give them every possible chance to accomplish our goal of getting to Arlington for the Big XII conference championship and the college football playoff."