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One of college football's strangest, yet long-lasting, traditions appears to be meeting an end.
For decades, fans at Texas Tech have thrown tortillas onto the field pregame, a fairly harmless tradition It's been a while since the Red Raiders were considered one of the best teams in the country though -- their Week 8 AP Poll ranking of No. 7 was the program's highest since 2008, before dropping to No. 14 in Week 9.
As Texas Tech contends for its potential first College Football Playoff spot though, there will be no more tortilla-throwing. On Monday, Texas Tech athletic director Kirby Hocutt officially announced an end to the tradition, saying the "stakes are too high" for the team.
Here's why Texas Tech is putting an end to its tortilla-throwing tradition.
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Texas Tech tortilla throwing tradition
Fans in the stands at Texas Tech's home football games have been throwing tortillas onto the field at kickoff for decades. Until this point, it's been viewed as a harmless, even if bizarre, tradition.
Tortillas flying from the Texas Tech section. Don’t think any made it to the field. pic.twitter.com/KcJegXEcBo
— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) September 20, 2025There is no firm answer out there on why Texas Tech fans began throwing tortillas onto the field. The tradition is believed to have started in the 1990s.
According to the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, there are various theories out there for the origin of the tortilla toss. One is that in 1989, students began to throw tortillas because they were no longer able to throw soda lids onto the field, so they resorted to tortillas.
Another theory connects the tradition to the Texas A&M-Texas Tech rivalry. The theory states that before a Texas Tech-Texas A&M football game in 1992, an ESPN announcer joked that the city of Lubbock had "nothing but Texas Tech football and a tortilla factory." In response, fans started throwing tortillas.
The tradition was so well-known that it even made an appearance in the "College Football 26" video game.
Texas Tech’s tortilla tradition in CFB26 🌵 pic.twitter.com/RcvMNFieQc
— CFB Kings (@CFBKings) July 3, 2025Regardless of how the unique tradition started, Red Raiders fans have been throwing tortillas for decades at football games.
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Why is tortilla throwing at Texas Tech banned?
In the past 2025 offseason, the Big 12 voted 15-1 to make throwing any object onto the playing surface, including the bench area, an automatic 15-yard penalty following warnings. The one athletic director to vote against the rule was Kirby Hocutt, Texas Tech's AD.
Originally, Hocutt spoke out against that vote and rule change, saying "the rules can change, but our tradition will not."
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
The rule change was on display in Texas Tech's recent win over Kansas during the 2025 season. The team was penalized multiple times for fans throwing tortillas onto the field, and the school was then fined $25,000.
In the wake of that game, the Big 12 then amended its offseason rule so that teams would get just one warning for objects being thrown on the field, which would then be followed by a 15-yard penalty and $100,000 fine if it happened again.
Hocutt recently shared the news of the Big 12's change to the rule, telling fans that a warning would go over the PA at the stadium the first time a tortilla is thrown. The second time, it's a 15-yard penalty and $100,000 fine.
"It's not the field, it's the playing enclosure. So even if it hits the sideline, if it hits behind the endzone," Hocutt said.
Woah. #TexasTech AD Kirby Hocutt just announced that starting this week, the first time a tortilla is thrown on the field at Jones AT&T Stadium, there will be a warning... the second time, a 15-yard penalty AND a $100,000 fine. pic.twitter.com/cd0dMQ0BNv
— Cole Banker (@colebankertv) October 16, 2025%3Cscript%20async%20src%3D%22https%3A%2F%2Fplatform.twitter.com%2Fwidgets.js%22%20charset%3D%22utf-8%22%3E%3C%2Fscript%3E
On Monday, Hocutt and Texas Tech head coach Joey McGuire officially addressed fans, telling them to stop throwing tortillas.
"The stakes are too high, and we need to help -- not risk penalizing our team again for throwing tortillas. Simply, let's not do it," Hocutt said. "The situation is on me. I leaned into this of throwing tortillas at the beginning of the football season. Now, I must ask everyone to stop, and I must ask our staff to enforce it on game days."
"We need to help not risk penalizing our team for throwing tortillas, simply let's not do it."
Texas Tech AD Kirby Hocutt announces official tortilla ban admitting he leaned into it but recognizes the "stakes are too high" and it's time to move forward. pic.twitter.com/IxtSsEJsIa
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Hocutt also said that event staff will be encouraging fans to not bring tortillas into games, and if fans do continue to throw tortillas, the stadium will have event personnel and security cameras to discipline those fans if necessary.
"We will suspend their ticket privileges for the remainder of the academic year," Hocutt said.
For Texas Tech fans wondering what the punishment could be for throwing tortillas inside Jones AT&T Stadium, here is Kirby Hocutt's response to that.
"We will suspend their ticket privileges (for all sports) for the remainder of the academic year."@KCBD11 @pchristy11… pic.twitter.com/KdKEkxJDqI
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With the Red Raiders firmly in the College Football Playoff race and making national noise, they're putting an end to a longtime fan tradition to avoid the drastic consequences that now come with objects thrown onto the field in the Big 12.
Tortilla throwing penalty
There is one warning in Big 12 games before a penalty is assessed for fans throwing things onto the field, including tortillas. After that one warning, the home squad is given a 15-yard penalty.
So, if Texas Tech fans throw tortillas onto the field after the one warning from the PA announcer, the Red Raiders would be assessed a 15-yard penalty.
Tortilla throwing fines
There is also a fine for when Big 12 teams' fans throw things onto the field. Originally, it was a $25,000 fine to the school along with the 15-yard penalty. But recently, that rule change was made more severe.
Now, if Texas Tech fans continued to throw tortillas after the warning, it's a $100,000 fine to the school along with the yardage penalty.
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