Who is Will Hammond? Meet the Texas Tech backup QB that led the Red Raiders to a 34-10 win over Utah

It’s still early in the season, but one team already looks ahead of the pack in the Big 12 race: the Texas Tech Red Raiders. Tech went on the road to face Utah in Salt Lake City and took control of the conference picture with a dominant 34-10 victory.

Tech’s defense held strong for most of the afternoon, but the clear star of the day was backup quarterback Will Hammond, who entered in the second half.

Starter Behren Morton opened the game under center, but a hard third-quarter hit knocked him out of action. That’s when Hammond, a redshirt freshman, came off the bench and stole the show.

He delivered two touchdown passes and led four scoring drives in the fourth quarter, sparking Tech’s decisive pull-away.

Who is Will Hammond?

Hammond is a redshirt freshman out of Austin, Texas. He served as Morton's backup in 2024 as well, but he saw action in four games. He came off the bench for Morton last season against Arkansas in the Liberty Bowl, and finished throwing for 280 yards passing with a touchdown and two interceptions. Tech fell 39-26 in the loss. 

After his redshirt season, Hammond started the 2025 season again as Morton's No. 2 quarterback. After Hammond's strong performance after the bench, it'll be interesting to see if head coach Joey McGuire makes a change under center moving forward. 

Will Hammond stats against Utah

Hammond had himself a day. He missed on just three of his passes, throwing for 169 yards and two touchdowns. He was throwing some dimes, too: 

Backup QB Will Hammond is out here throwing dimes for @TexasTechFB 🎯 pic.twitter.com/TQhykjhNhn

— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) September 20, 2025

His two fourth-quarter touchdown passes were both a great throws too: 

WILL. HAMMOND.@TexasTechFB collects some major insurance as the redshirt-freshman connects with a wide-open Terrance Carter Jr.#Big12FB | 📺 @CFBONFOX pic.twitter.com/fJe8V02b8P

— Big 12 Conference (@Big12Conference) September 20, 2025— Max Olson (@max_olson) September 20, 2025

Where did Will Hammond go to high school? 

Hammond was a former 4-star quarterback prospect from the class of 2024. He played high school football at Hutto High School in Texas, and was the No. 13 rated overall signal-caller in his class per 247Sports.

According to MaxPreps, he threw for 4,825 yards with 49 touchdowns and 12 interceptions over three seasons at Hutto. He rushed for another 1,267 yards with 18 touchdowns in the ground, too.   

Texas Tech QB Depth Chart

Here's a look at Tech's depth chart entering Saturday's game. As we mentioned, Hammond's performance could be good enough to cause McGuire to make a change at quarterback: 

• QB No. 1: Behren Morton 
• QB No. 2: Will Hammond
• QB No. 3: Mitch Griffis