Chaos Erupts at Texas Tech Game: Pocketknife Thrown From Stands Strikes KU Staffer—What Sparked the Incident?

It was a Saturday night showdown at Jones AT&T Stadium that got way more heated off the field than on it. During No. 9 Texas Tech’s decisive 42-17 victory over Kansas, a disturbing incident unfolded when a pocketknife was hurled from the stands — striking a Kansas staff member. Coach Lance Leipold didn’t hold back, pointing out that this alarming act happened alongside fans tossing tortillas, a long-standing Texas Tech tradition now clashing painfully with the Big 12’s strict new rules against throwing objects. The unsettling event raises serious questions about fan culture and safety protocols, with Leipold warning that it’s only a matter of time before someone gets hurt badly. Meanwhile, the game itself saw twists with injured quarterbacks and powerful runs, but the real drama spiraled from the crowd’s antics. Talk about a wild evening that’s sure to spark debate around stadium conduct and game-day traditions! LEARN MORE

Kansas coach Lance Leipold said a pocketknife was thrown from the stands at Jones AT&T Stadium and hit a KU staffer during No. 9 Texas Tech’s win over the Jayhawks on Saturday night.

Leipold said the knife was thrown in the third quarter of Tech’s 42-17 win. Texas Tech fans were flagged twice for throwing tortillas on the field during kickoffs during the game as part of the Big 12’s new rule against throwing objects. He did not say that the staffer was injured in the incident.

“It’s supposed to be for safety and things like that, and it’s a culture that’s been accepted to a point and hasn’t changed. Eventually somebody’s going to be seriously hurt, unfortunately,” Leipold said.

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The Lawrence Journal-World cited a KU spokesperson who said that Texas Tech’s second penalty for thrown objects “was a direct result of the thrown pocketknife, which he referred to as a Swiss Army-style knife.” Tech’s second penalty of the game came in the fourth quarter.

Texas Tech’s tortilla tradition has been at odds with the Big 12’s new push. Schools are given a warning before flags are thrown if objects come from the stands. In his postgame news conference, Leipold said the situations were handled “very poorly.”

The tortilla tradition has been around for decades at Texas Tech after a group of students were looking for a unique way to celebrate. Coach Joey McGuire spent the days ahead of the KU game explaining that his team could get penalized if tortillas continued to get thrown on multiple occasions against the Jayhawks.

Until Saturday, Tech had escaped any penalties for tortilla throwing in 2025. But the first came in the first half as Kansas cut an early three-score Texas Tech lead to four points at halftime.

“We’ve got two weeks to have a better plan and get the point across of you know what the rule is,” McGuire said after the game via the AP. “Because it’s gonna catch up with us. The first one nearly did because the game was a little bit tighter than what you wanted. But it’s gonna catch up with us.”

Tech again needed to play two quarterbacks against the Jayhawks after Behren Morton suffered a lower-leg injury and was unable to return. Morton was knocked out of the Red Raiders’ win at Utah in September and replaced by Will Hammond.

Hammond replaced Morton Saturday night too and rushed for two touchdowns in the second half. RB Cameron Dickey rushed 21 times for 263 yards and two scores, as Tech ran the ball 40 times for 372 yards. Kansas had just 245 yards of total offense on 77 plays.