Texas Tech will not 'encourage or permit' tortilla throw amid Big 12 rule change

The Texas Tech tradition of tossing tortillas onto the field appears to be dead. At the very least, the school will no longer “encourage or permit” the act amid a new Big 12 rule change regarding objects being tossed onto the field.

Texas Tech AD Kirby Hocutt joined head football coach Joey McGuire at his weekly press conference on Monday. There, he opened with the policy change regarding the tortilla toss. They had previously been thrown during the opening kickoff during home games.

“Just a couple of quick updates on an ongoing game event management situation that we have related specifically to tortillas, as well as the Big 12 Conference sportsmanship and fan behavior policy,” Hocutt said. “I would like to just share with the Red Raider Nation, that as we move forward, we are no longer going to encourage nor permit the throwing of tortillas at the opening kickoff for our home football games.”

This comes on the heels of an awkward situation in the recent Texas Tech-Kansas game. Following that game, Texas Tech was fined $25,000 for objects, or the tortillas, repeatedly being thrown onto the field throughout the game. Kansas was publicly upset, and would itself be fined for “disparaging comments” about the league and a member institution.

That was, in particular, a comment Lance Leipold made about a knife being thrown onto the field. Video would later reveal it was a Kansas staffer who dropped a closed pocket knife before a player found it.

This offseason, Big 12 members voted 15-1 to implement a new rule where a team can be penalized for fans throwing items on the field if they continue to do so following two warnings. Texas Tech was the lone dissenting vote. Hypothetically, that rule should have allowed tortilla tossing at the opening kickoff, a warning, and then an end to the throwing for the rest of the game still.

Now, the Big 12 has gone well beyond that and increased the penalty. There is going to be a $100,000 fine for a second offense. After a second offense, multiple punishments are now in play. That includes a potential 15-yard penalty, having the field or a section of the stadium cleared, and a stoppage in play.

“It is the responsibility of each Big 12 member institution to maintain a secure venue for the safety of the participants, staff, fans, and game officials. … As such, please be informed that the Conference is refining its Sportsmanship Policy to address objects being thrown onto the playing enclosure (which includes team benches and playing surface,” Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark wrote in the memo, dated Oct. 13.

Texas Tech has been throwing tortillas for decades. While the exact start date is unclear, it goes back to either the late 1980s or the early 1990s. Now, the Red Raiders are going to need to move on from that tradition.