Texas Tech’s path to a Big 12 title runs straight through Will Hammond’s decision-making.
The Red Raiders can live with some growing pains from a first-year starter. They cannot live with the kind of turnover habit Hammond has shown through four games, and Saturday’s win over Sam Houston made that impossible to ignore. Texas Tech’s offense still isn’t humming the way it needs to, and Hammond’s three first-half interceptions were the biggest reason the game’s momentum swung toward the visitors.
That was only the latest chapter in a season-long issue. Hammond has now given the ball away in every game this year.
In the opener against Abilene Christian, his only notable mistake came on a risky throw along the sidelines while rolling right, a play that should have ended with a scramble for the first down instead of an interception. At Oregon State, he avoided a pick but coughed up a fumble while being tackled after trying to scramble.
Against Houston, he threw a costly interception just before halftime while Tech was driving to take the lead, trying to hit Micah Hudson on a go route. Hudson slipped, couldn’t battle for the ball, and a Houston defensive back came away with a one-handed interception.
Then came Saturday, when Hammond set a career high with three picks. Two were straight-up bad decisions. The third came when his arm was hit as he tried to throw from his own end zone.
The numbers tell the same story. Hammond has four touchdown passes and five interceptions through four games.
He has the most interceptions in the Big 12, and those five picks have come on only 112 passes - one every 23.2 attempts. For comparison, Behren Morton threw six interceptions on 332 passes last season, or one every 55.3 attempts.
This isn’t a one-week problem, either. Hammond has been turnover-prone throughout his short college career.
In 16 career appearances, he has thrown ten interceptions and lost two fumbles. He has started seven games and turned it over in all but one of them.
The lone exception was last season’s Oklahoma State game in Lubbock, when he exited early after tearing a ligament in his knee.
Texas Tech can’t afford that kind of production if it wants to win the Big 12. The margin for error is tighter this year because the 2026 team is not as dominant as the 2025 group was.
Last season, the Red Raiders’ giveaways were often softened by a defense that led the nation in takeaways, which meant the offense could survive some mistakes. This year, that cushion isn’t there.
Last fall, Tech won the turnover battle in seven games. This season, it hasn’t done it once, and it has lost that battle in each of the last two weeks. The Red Raiders are 127th out of 138 teams in interceptions thrown per game at 1.7, and while backup Tommy Castellanos is responsible for one of those picks, Hammond has been the main source of the problem.
There are reasons to expect some unevenness. Hammond is still a green starter, and he missed all of spring practice while rehabbing his knee, which cost him valuable reps.
But that only goes so far. If Texas Tech is going to make good on its 2026 title hopes, Hammond has to start protecting the football.
He still needs to play with enough aggression to make the offense dangerous, but the giveaways have to come way down.
That’s the balance the Red Raiders need from him now, and it’s the one he has to find fast.
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