Texas Tech football news: Will Hammond sends special message to Red Raider Nation after huge home win

Texas Tech football news: Will Hammond sends special message to Red Raider Nation after huge home win appeared first on ClutchPoints. Add ClutchPoints as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

Will Hammond grabbed a microphone on the field at Galaxy Stadium and made sure Texas Tech’s crowd heard him. Minutes after the No. 13 Red Raiders survived No. 22 Houston 28-26 on Friday night, the quarterback thanked a stadium that had just given him something he had never experienced.

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“Red Raider Nation, thanks for coming out. Got the win, all black unis,” Hammond said in a video posted by the team’s X, formerly Twitter, account. “This is the best environment I’ve ever been a part of. Wreck, I’ll see y’all next week at 11.”

The atmosphere had history behind it. Friday marked Texas Tech’s first Friday home game since 1941, and the program leaned into the occasion with black uniforms for a matchup between two ranked, undefeated Big 12 contenders.

The start was rough. Hammond did not take the opening snap, as Tommy Castellanos got the first two plays in a designed package, and his sideline throwaway under pressure was intercepted by Will James. Houston converted that into Amare Thomas’ 11-yard touchdown catch, and the Red Raiders found themselves down 10-0 with just one offensive snap of their own nearly 10 minutes into the game.

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Hammond steadied things from there. He hit Kenny Johnson for 28 yards on third-and-12 before connecting with him again for a 35-yard touchdown a minute into the second quarter. He finished 17-of-27 for 257 yards and a score, with Johnson hauling in four catches for 113 yards.

The second half belonged to the ground game. J’Koby Williams, held to five yards on two first-half carries, ripped off runs of 19, 5 and 29 yards, the last untouched into the end zone for a 21-17 lead. Cameron Dickey added a one-yard score with 7:36 left.

Houston nearly forced overtime. Conner Weigman‘s third touchdown pass, a 10-yarder to Patrick Overmyer with 49 seconds remaining, set up a two-point try to tie. Weigman rolled left and lunged, but his knee hit before the ball crossed the plane.

For Hammond, the night carried extra weight after an ACL injury last October cost him the job he was expected to hold. Texas Tech is 3-0 and back in action next Saturday at 11 am.