Texas Tech University athletic director Kirby Hocutt detailed the enforcement plan for the school’s recently announced ban on tortilla tossing at football games, stating that fans caught throwing tortillas onto the field will face ticket suspensions for the remainder of the academic year.
“We will encourage and remind fans at the gate not to bring tortillas in,” Hocutt said at a press conference. “If they brought them, we’ll ask them to discard them before entering the stadium. We’re also going to have reminders in the stands before kickoff.” He continued, “If folks decide to go ahead and throw tortillas and they are caught, we will suspend their ticket privileges for the rest of the academic year.”
Hocutt’s remarks follow a directive by the Big 12 Conference imposing strict penalties on member institutions when fans throw objects onto the playing surface. Under the new policy, home teams risk in‑game yardage penalties and substantial fines if the activity continues unchecked. Texas Tech recently incurred two 15‑yard penalties in a game against Kansas for fans tossing tortillas, and the university has been fined as well.
The tradition of tossing tortillas at kickoff has been part of the game‑day culture in Lubbock for decades. Hocutt acknowledged the decision marks a significant shift. “The stakes are too high, and we need to help, not risk penalizing our team again for throwing tortillas,” he said.
He also reassured fans that the school remains committed to preserving the game‑day energy while aligning with safety and conference rules. “We control our own fate in every situation on the football field, as well as with our event operations,” Hocutt noted. “We cannot risk letting our actions penalize our team.”
Moving forward, stadium security and event staff will actively patrol entrances and work to ensure compliance. Fans still may technically bring tortillas into the stands, but once one crosses the sideline or the playing surface, the enforcement mechanism will kick in. The university emphasized that the goal is to protect the team and maintain the home‑field atmosphere without game‑day disruptions.
