Texas Tech Tortilla Controversy Leads To Lance Leipold Explosion

Tortillas being thrown at Texas Tech football game

Michael C. Johnson-Imagn Images

Texas Tech bested rival Kansas in Big 12 football action over the weekend, 42-17. A tense handshake exchange between Lance Leipold and Joey McGuire followed.

The Jayhawks‘ head coach was upset with a Red Raiders tortilla controversy that resulted in multiple penalties throughout the evening.

Texas Tech largely dominated the contest. It jumped out to an 18-0 lead in front of the home crowd before closing the game on a 21-0 second half run.

The fans had ample opportunity to continue a controversial tradition that’s resulted in a conference crackdown.

Texas Tech is penalized for throwing tortillas.

The backstory behind @TexasTechFB‘s tortilla toss 😅🙌 pic.twitter.com/L68sHd4Tyt

— Bleacher Report CFB (@BR_CFB) September 6, 2025

No one’s quite sure where the tradition originated, but at the start of each home game, home fans throw tortillas onto the field. Those tortillas can rain down at other moments throughout the contest, too.

The doughy wraps have now been deemed projectiles by the Big 12.

Teams voted 15-1 to ban the act during the offseason. Tortilla tosses that occur after the opening kickoff can warrant a 15-yard penalty.

The Big 12 voted 15-1 to issue 15-yard penalties to teams after a third instance of throwing items on the field.

Texas Tech was the one that voted against—and their athletic director says their tradition of throwing tortillas will not stop. pic.twitter.com/rLU14pl0lq

— Front Office Sports (@FOS) August 14, 2025

Though athletic director vowed to keep the tradition alive, Texas Tech football coach Joey McGuire begged fans to adhere to the new rule prior to the game vs. Kansas.

“I really need you guys to understand that it’s not about throwing tortillas,” he said before kickoff. “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. We don’t need anything to add to it.”

The fans did not listen.

The Red Raiders were penalized on multiple occasions.

Texas Tech fans have got to stop throwing tortillas on the field after the opening kickoff. Straight up hurting the team now.

This is ridiculous.

— Ben Golan (@BenjaminGolan) October 12, 2025

Despite those penalties, Kansas coach Lance Leipold didn’t believe the tortilla tosses were officiated strictly enough. He had the following to say after the loss.

“[It was handled] very poorly,” he said in his postgame press conference. “Our conference office… was very poor in handling it. One of the officials almost got hit and tried to throw a flag, but it got picked up, so that was disappointing.

“We have a policy put in and it wasn’t followed through.”

Leipold also alleged that a pocketknife was thrown from the stands which almost hit a staff member. He was more frustrated with the tortillas.

It led to a tense postgame handshake with McGuire.

Here’s the postgame handshake between Joey McGuire and Lance Leipold following Saturday’s game and McGuire’s comments when asked about it in the postgame press conference. https://t.co/4UknCFOODV pic.twitter.com/n7tqLTmODI

— A David Collier (@CollieronTV) October 12, 2025

“I’m frustrated,” McGuire said after the fact. “I know he’s frustrated. We’ve got a new rule in this league. We know the rule, and we didn’t follow it.”

The head coach’s pleas were not heard. Texas Tech football fans refused to follow the rules. It resulted in a few costly penalties and one postgame explosion.