CINCINNATI, OHIO – OCTOBER 24: Will Hammond #15 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders is sacked by Patrick Bauer #10 of the Cincinnati Bearcats during the second half at Nippert Stadium on October 24, 2026 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Tanner Pearson/Getty Images)
Tanner Pearson/Getty Images
LUBBOCK — No. 13 Texas Tech was 59 seconds away from not scoring an offensive touchdown for the first time this season in its 37-24 loss to Cincinnati on Saturday.
Aside from four field goals and the late-game touchdown, the Red Raiders’ drives resulted in three punts, two lost fumbles, an interception and a missed field goal. Will Hammond — 24-of-37 passing for 227 yards and an interception — recorded his lowest quarterback rating of the season at 41.8 as Tech struggled to finish drives. Tech ranks in the bottom half at No. 73 nationally in team passing efficiency, averaging a score of 137.11 per game.
Head coach Joey McGuire, who acknowledged Saturday that he was as frustrated as he’s been in 32 years of coaching after the loss to the Bearcats, said Monday the Red Raiders’ coaching staff needs to simplify its offensive efforts. Those simplified efforts, McGuire said, start with assisting Hammond.
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“We as coaches have to do a really good job of if we’re putting too much on him then find a way to simplify it, and then he has to do a good job of responding with the stuff that we’re asking him to do,” McGuire said.
A week before facing Cincinnati, McGuire said Hammond’s first-half performance against Arizona State was the best half of football he’s seen him play. The Austin native had posted his highest QBR of the season (90.2) against the Sun Devils.
Going forward, McGuire said the coaching staff will lessen the amount of reads Hammond is expected to make during his natural progression in order to boost his effectiveness.
“You do start cutting full-field reads down to a lot of half-field reads, which is a lot of college football,” McGuire said. “One thing that he does well is like our double slants and different things where he gets the ball out fast, he’s done really well at that.”
Hammond was sacked four times against the Bearcats, tying his season-high set against Oregon State. McGuire attributed three of those sacks to not releasing the ball quickly enough since there was no pressure around Hammond.
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Offensive coordinator Mack Leftwich said Monday that a majority of Hammond’s drills during in-week practice are catered toward pocket presence. He feels Hammond has been successful against blitz’s this season, especially against Arizona State.
“Most of our drills really during practice are revolved around pocket movement and pocket feel,” Leftwich said. “Just because that’s what a lot of the game ends up being at quarterback. There’s very few times where you sit back there and you got a perfectly clean pocket.”
As a whole, Leftwich described Hammond’s season through seven games as a series of ups and downs.
“I think his highs have been high and his lows have been low,” Leftwich said. “We’ve just been a little bit inconsistent at times, and that’s something we’ve talked about and are trying to work through, finding the right process and the right frame of mind that he needs to be in to go play well on Saturday.”
LUBBOCK, TEXAS – OCTOBER 17: Thomas Castellanos #4 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders runs the ball during the second half of the game against the Arizona State Sun Devils at Galaxy Stadium on October 17, 2026 in Lubbock, Texas. (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images)
John E. Moore III/Getty Images
The Red Raiders’ backup quarterback is Thomas Castellanos, who has primarily been used in red-zone situations this season. He didn’t see the field once against Cincinnati. McGuire said he should have utilized Castellanos while Tech’s offense was struggling but felt the quarterback was still reacclimating to in-game scenarios after again regaining his eligiblility through a Kentucky court ruling.
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Leftwich said that while hindsight is 20/20, he agreed the Red Raiders’ offensive unit should have come up with some packages for the Miami native.
“Definitely when you have struggles like that you sit back on Sunday and wish you probably had used him [a] little bit more or game plan for him,” Leftwich said. “Really a lot of that had to do with him not being there for the two weeks with Colorado and Arizona State and the uncertainty there.”
The Red Raiders will look to capture some offensive consistency at 11 a.m. Saturday against No. 22 Arizona at Galaxy Stadium in Lubbock.