Kalani Sitake expresses disappointment for Texas Tech's tortilla tradition to end

The Big 12 had tweaked its rules on throwing objects onto the field, in large part to stem the prolific tortilla tossing activity of the Texas Tech faithful. But BYU coach Kalani Sitake is hoping his team still gets to experience the unique tradition this weekend in Lubbock anyway.

BYU and Texas Tech will square off in a game with massive College Football Playoff implications. Ahead of it, Sitake joined The Triple Option podcast.

“I mean I’m always about embracing college football together,” Sitake said of the tortilla throwing tradition. “So that’s even the environment where you go on the road and you get to see these awesome venues and you get to see fans that love their team so much. So I’m asking our guys to embrace the whole thing. We’ve done that every time we go on the road, to have fun in that environment.”

Of course, the Big 12 implemented a new policy midseason to further discourage the tortilla throwing tradition following much publicized incidents in a game against Kansas. The league announced a fine of $100,000 for a second offense (meaning if a team is flagged) for throwing objects on the field. The new rule also allows officials to pause the game or “clear” a section of the stadium.

For his part, Sitake seemed dismayed at that. He likes the tortilla throwing tradition.

“I don’t have anything personally against what they do,” Sitake said. “For me it’s sad because I want to see everything. I want to see the whole… I mean, when you’re at BYU, there’s a guy named Mike Leach that coached out at Texas Tech, we all followed him, because he was a BYU guy. I mean I loved him so much, he was a great friend of mine. Then I had his son Cody, Bubba, over here with us, working for me on our staff for a few years before he went back to work with his dad at Mississippi State.

“So we always followed Texas Tech and always cheered for them. I had a lot of former teammates that played for him. So we always saw those games, it’s a really cool environment. All our guys know about it. We’re looking forward to the game.”

The tortilla torrent likely won’t continue on Saturday. Texas Tech announced that it will no longer “encourage or permit” the act following the Big 12 rule change. Still, for a big game, it wouldn’t be terribly surprising to see a few fly anyway.

Sitake will be there waiting. Hungrily.

“You know me, I’m a fullback,” he joked. “Tortillas flying in the air, give me some food so I can put it in that. Let me get after it. I’m just looking forward to the fans and the overall environment. It’s going to be a lot of fun, and I think our guys should just be honored that they get to be in this position.”