The Texas Tech Red Raiders had to feel they were in a good position to make a run at a national championship in year five of Joey McGuire’s tenure as head coach.
The Red Raiders have become legit under McGuire because of his coaching, but the school has also poured a ton of resources into NIL and the transfer portal.
To that point, Tech picked up a massive transfer portal commitment this offseason from former Cincinnati quarterback Brendan Sorsby. His addition catapulted the Red Raiders to the top of the contenders list for 2026, but his availability for next season is now in question.
The school announced on Monday that the quarterback is checking into a residential rehab for a gambling addiction. Not only is there no timetable for his return with Tech, but he’s also being investigated by the NCAA for reportedly “making thousands of online bets on a variety of sports via a gambling app,” according to Pete Thamel of ESPN.
Thamel is also reporting that Sorsby bet on Indiana football while he was a redshirt with the Hoosiers in 2022. That could cost him his eligibility.
This is not a good look for Sorsby, a redshirt junior, and there’s reason to believe he won’t be able to play college ball in 2026, or perhaps ever again.
Texas Tech Red Raiders now have a serious QB issue
What that means for Tech is that backup quarterback Will Hammond is on deck if not straight up in the batter’s box. The problem for Tech, and Hammond is that he’s coming off an ACL tear he suffered in October of 2025.
He missed all of the spring period, and one would imagine that his availability for the start of the 2026 season is firmly up in the air. Thamel is saying that Hammond may not be available until Week 3 in the best-case scenario.
Texas Tech could turn to Tulsa transfer quarterback Kirk Francis if neither Sorsby nor Hammond is available. The problem with Francis is that he was brought into Lubbock to be a backup, and he has a bit of a turnover problem. In three seasons at Tulsa, he threw for 18 touchdowns, but he also threw 13 interceptions.
The Red Raiders do have a few young quarterbacks, led by former 4-star recruit Lloyd Jones III, but those are all developmental players who are early on in their college careers. None should be expected to take over for a program with College Football Playoff aspirations.
The long and short of it is that Texas Tech is in trouble at quarterback if Sorsby is ruled ineligible.
