Texas Tech looks like it has a new starting quarterback.

A week after the No. 13 Red Raiders lost their first game of the season at Cincinnati, Thomas Castellanos started in place of Will Hammond and rushed for 117 yards as Texas Tech beat No. 22 Arizona 34-26.

The former Boston College and Florida State QB's first real start of the season came just a day after a Kentucky judge refused to grant the NCAA its request for emergency relief in an ongoing court case involving fifth-year seniors. Castellanos is one of the plaintiffs in that case. Had the NCAA's request been granted, he would have been ineligible to play on Saturday.

Instead, he teamed with J'Koby Williams to be the first Texas Tech quarterback and running back to rush for at least 100 yards in the same game.

As Texas Tech could have iced the game with a first down, Williams went 64 yards for a touchdown to give the Red Raiders a two-score lead.

J'Koby Williams with the EXCLAMATION point‼️
📺 ESPN x @Big12Conferencepic.twitter.com/2qRVvXx3Ul

— CFP (@CFBPlayoff) October 31, 2026

Williams finished the game with 14 carries for 175 yards as the Red Raiders rushed for 332 yards as a team.

Texas Tech's desperation to upgrade at quarterback

The search for a quarterback has been going on for quite some time. Behren Morton had plenty of moments in 2025 as Texas Tech went undefeated, but the offense couldn't do anything in the Red Raiders' College Football Playoff loss to Oregon.

Former Cincinnati QB Brendan Sorsby was supposed to be the answer to Texas Tech's quarterback problems. But you know by now how that addition never happened — and how Texas Tech made plenty of enemies in the Big 12 in the process.

Hammond served as Morton's backup in 2025 and even made a few starts himself when Morton was injured. However, he suffered a season-ending torn ACL and missed the second half of the season.

Without Sorsby, Hammond was left as the team's starter as Castellanos was added to the team just before the season began. Castellanos had played four seasons in four years at BC and FSU, but after going undrafted, he, like many others, returned to school via the courtroom.

Until Saturday, Castellanos' involvement in the Texas Tech offense had been limited. He took the first snap of the game in Week 3 against Houston, but immediately threw an interception. Hammond had remained the team's primary quarterback but he had failed to throw multiple touchdown passes in a single game all season.

In the days after the loss to Cincinnati, head coach Joey McGuire talked about the need to simplify Hammond's passing reads after he took the snap.

Instead, Tech opted to simply change quarterbacks altogether. It was a decision that boosted the run game — Castellanos is a more dangerous runner than Hammond. However, there were mixed results in the passing game. Castellanos' touch on deep passes can be lacking and he finished 11-of-24 passing for 144 yards and two touchdowns.

With games against West Virginia, No. 24 Oklahoma State, Baylor and TCU remaining, can Castellanos be enough for Texas Tech to get back to the Big 12 title game? The Red Raiders are automatically playing for another conference title with four more wins and an Utah win over BYU.

But this is also a Texas Tech team that's shown it has far bigger aspirations than simply another Big 12 title. Its pursuit of Sorsby showed that. And, so far, this iteration of the Red Raiders doesn't look like a real national title contender.

Source: Yahoo Sports