Regardless of which team you were rooting for during Saturday’s contest between Kansas and Texas Tech, the electric atmosphere in Lubbock was undeniable. Red Raider fans packed Jones AT&T Stadium for the school’s Big 12 home opener and kept the Jayhawks rattled all night.
A longstanding Texas Tech tradition involves fans throwing tortillas into the air during kickoffs, and they didn’t hold back against KU. After being issued a warning in the first quarter, officials eventually flagged the Red Raiders twice for unsportsmanlike conduct, assessing a pair of 15-yard penalties later in the game when more tortillas hit the field. However, Lance Leipold wasn’t as worried about that particular issue in his postgame press conference. Instead, he expressed serious concern over a separate incident when one of Kansas’ staff members was reportedly struck by a pocket knife thrown from the stands during the third quarter.
“Say what it is, a pocket knife was thrown and hit one of our staff members. It’s ridiculous,” Leipold said. “It’s supposed to be for safety and things like that. It’s a culture that’s been accepted to a point, and it hasn’t changed. Eventually, someone is going to be seriously hurt, unfortunately.” There is no video evidence of the staff member getting hit yet, but if this were to be true, it would be extremely troubling. It is also a very serious accusation for Leipold to make, so one would have to imagine there is some truth to it…