Updated 4:01 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2025:
The Big 12 Conference has fined Kansas $25,000 for “disparaging comments about the Conference and a member institution, and an inaccurate statement regarding a pocketknife by head coach Lance Leipold,” in the wake of Saturday’s game against Texas Tech.
Leipold had alleged after the game that amid Tech fans’ tortilla-throwing tradition, which led to a pair of 15-yard penalties during the game, someone had also thrown a pocketknife that hit a KU staff member. A KU spokesperson said at the time that the second penalty was a result of the pocketknife.
“Coach Leipold’s comments questioned the integrity and professionalism of both the Conference and a member institution,” Commissioner Brett Yormark said in a press release on Wednesday. “Both actions warranted a financial penalty. The Big 12 Conference prioritizes integrity and will have no further comment on the matter.”
The Journal-World asked the Big 12 for clarification on specifically which comment of Leipold’s was inaccurate but had not received a response as of Wednesday afternoon.
Texas Tech provided the Journal-World a letter it sent to the Big 12 in which athletic director Kirby Hocutt wrote that video footage shows a KU athlete picking up a pocketknife “on the field apron near the 38-yard line and immediately (handing) the object to a KU staff member.”
“We believe this video makes it clear where the pocketknife originated, which will disprove all claims that it may have been thrown from the stands, and certainly makes it clear that it did not hit any member of KU’s staff on the sideline,” Hocutt wrote. “There also did not appear to be any reaction by anyone on KU’s sideline of it being thrown onto the field prior to it being picked up.”
The letter also characterizes Leipold’s assertion that the knife hit a KU staffer as “conflicting” with a message sent in a Big 12 WhatsApp group by KU sport administrator Collin Sexton that said it “landed on the 45 yard line.”
In response to Wednesday’s ruling, KU athletic director Travis Goff said in a statement that Leipold should have handled the matter privately rather than “in the heat of the moment when we did not have all the facts.”
“I appreciate the Big 12 Conference’s thorough review of events that took place during our game last Saturday at Texas Tech,” Leipold said. “I accept their findings and ultimate ruling. I had an emotional reaction in the aftermath of the game and acknowledge that I need to be better. We are excited to move forward and finish our season strong.”
Texas Tech also received an equal fine of $25,000 for “repeated instances of objects being thrown onto the playing surface.”
“After a formal review, Texas Tech did not take sufficient steps to prevent and deter the repeated throwing of objects onto the field and team bench areas,” Yormark said.
The two penalties arose as part of what is reportedly a three-strikes policy, newly enacted by the Big 12 this season, in which teams are penalized beginning with the third instance in which objects are thrown onto the field. Texas Tech showed several messages on its video board over the course of Saturday’s game discouraging fans from throwing tortillas.
After the game, Leipold and Tech coach Joey McGuire exchanged words about thrown objects. Their conversation was captured in a video from KAMC News in which, in part, Leipold says multiple times, “That’s (expletive),” and McGuire responds, “Coach, I can’t do anything about it. You want me to do something (expletive) about it?”
Leipold then went to his postgame press conference and criticized the conference’s handling of the thrown-objects rule. Beyond his accusation about the pocketknife, he also said that referees picked up a flag they had initially thrown after one official “almost got hit” by something.
McGuire, meanwhile, used his own postgame presser to say that Tech has to do a better job of getting the point across about the new rule, because the penalties could end up costing the Raiders in the long run.
The Journal-World learned on Sunday that the Big 12 had initiated a review of what took place, and on Monday that Texas Tech had sent in its report to the league. KAMC News also reported that Tech had confirmed the existence of a knife found on the Jayhawks’ sideline, which was turned over to Texas Tech police.
