Texas Tech Snubbed in Big 12 Week 1 Awards After 33-10 Win
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No. 12 Texas Tech football opened its 2026 season with a 33-10 victory over Abilene Christian, but apparently that wasn’t enough to earn the Red Raiders a spot among the Big 12’s first weekly award winners.
The conference announced its Week 1 honors Monday, recognizing players from Arizona State, West Virginia, Colorado, Iowa State and BYU while Cincinnati and Colorado claimed the offensive and defensive line awards.
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Texas Tech was nowhere on the list.
That’s notable considering several Red Raiders delivered performances worthy of consideration.
Quarterback Will Hammond returned from the ACL injury that ended his 2025 season and completed 26 of 33 passes for a career-high 298 yards and one touchdown.
Hammond started the game by completing his first 14 passes before eventually throwing an interception.
Arizona State quarterback Cutter Boley shared Offensive Player of the Week honors after an admittedly difficult-to-ignore debut: 387 passing yards, six touchdowns and a 77.8 percent completion rate.
West Virginia running back Cam Cook shared the award after rushing for 142 yards and two scores.
The more interesting Texas Tech omission might be Jamond Mathis.
The Kent State transfer produced a career-high 2.5 sacks against Abilene Christian while helping Texas Tech hold the Wildcats under 200 total yards.
Colorado defensive lineman Lamont Lester Jr. and Iowa State defensive end Isaac Terrell split Defensive Player of the Week honors after each recorded three sacks.
Then there's kicker Stone Harrington, who quietly had one of Texas Tech's most valuable performances of the night.
Harrington went a perfect 4-for-4 on field goals, connecting from 23, 28, 33 and 45 yards as the Red Raiders repeatedly stalled before reaching the end zone.
Special teams honors instead went to Colorado's Boo Carter, who blocked a potentially game-winning field goal against Georgia Tech, and BYU's Cannon DeVries, who returned a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown.
So was Texas Tech snubbed?
Maybe. But this wasn't a case of obvious bad voting. The Big 12 produced several monster individual performances across opening weekend.
The better takeaway for Joey McGuire is that Texas Tech won by 23 points without needing one player to completely take over the game.
MORE: Texas Tech Knows What to Expect at Oregon State in Week 2
Hammond returned successfully. Mathis emerged as another pass-rushing weapon. Harrington was automatic.
No trophies came Monday, but if those performances continue, the weekly awards eventually will.
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