Michael C. Johnson-Imagn Images
College football has spawned a number of strange traditions that define the gameday experience, which includes the tortillas that can be seen flying through the air when Texas Tech plays at home. However, that pastime has been targeted in a crackdown that had Red Raiders coach Joey McGuire going out of his way to ask fans to behave to avoid penalties triggered by the practice.
There are some college football traditions with a well-documented history that can be traced back to the moment they began; Virginia Tech and Wisconsin can both pinpoint the exact date “Enter Sandman” and “Jump Around” respectively ushered in a new era for their football teams.
However, there are others with murkier origins. No one is really sure exactly how West Virginia fans managed to make Morgantown the Couch-Burning Capital of America, and there’s no concrete explanation for why Texas Tech fans have spent decades showering Jones AT&T Stadium with tortillas.
There are some theories to explain a tradition that may have originally involved the lids to soda cups or was a response to a commentator covering a game on ESPN who asserted Lubbock’s only claims to fame were “Texas Tech football and a tortilla factory” in the early 1990s.
It’s nonetheless been a beloved practice at home games for over 30 years, but it’s also become a fairly hot topic of conversation due to the issues it now has the potential to cause.
Texas Tech coach Joey McGuire is begging fans to exercise restraint on the tortilla-tossing front so the team isn’t penalized
Texas Tech’s tortilla-tossing shenanigans firmly fall under the “cheeky and fun” umbrella, as it’s a largely harmless practice when you consider it’s virtually impossible for anyone to be seriously injured by a flying disc of thin dough.
However, they’re still classified as a projectile under the rule that the 16 members of the Big 12 firmed up by way of a 15-1 vote over th summer, as Texas Tech athletic director Kirby Hocutt was the only person who didn’t throw his support behind a measure that allows officials to hit a team with a 15-yard penalty if fans continue to throw things onto the field after ignoring two warning.
He pledged the tortillas wouldn’t be going anywhere in the wake of that development, and that has been the case during the three home games Texas Tech has played so far this season. Spectators have been urged to limit the tossing to the opening kickoff, but getting them to obey the rules has been easier said than done.
The Red Raiders have gotten off to a 5-0 start for the first time since 2013 and will be sitting at #9 (the highest they’ve been since 2008) when they host Kansas on Saturday. However, they have struggled when it comes to avoiding penalties, and according to The Daily Torador, head coach Joey McGuire is strongly urging fans not to contribute to the issue by throwing tortillas, saying:
“I really need you guys to understand that it’s not about throwing tortillas. Let’s get it out of the way right off the bat.
We are the most penalized team in the Big 12, and that’s on me and our coaching staff and our players,” McGuire said. “We don’t need anything to add to it.”
I guess we’ll have to wait and see if it ends up being an issue on Saturday.