To begin the 2026 season, Texas Tech will, in fact, have a quarterback other than Brendan Sorsby under center.
LUBBOCK, Texas - At the center of Texas Tech's 2026 football season is the status of transfer quarterback Brendan Sorsby, who was just granted an injunction against the NCAA that allows him to be eligible this season despite his blatant gambling faults.
Sorsby's ruling, as assigned by Judge Ken Curry in Lubbock County on Monday, says the former Cincinnati quarterback is set to serve a two-game suspension.
That was the punishment suggested by Sorsby's elite college sports lawyer, Jeffrey Kessler. Certainly better than seeing his chance of playing come to an end without reinstatement.
But what now?
Sorsby, who completed a month-long residential treatment program this spring to address his clinical gambling and anxiety disorders, will return to the Red Raiders program. He'll rejoin his teammates in their offseason work preparing for a fall season in which Tech will be considered, at the very least, a conference championship contender again, now that Sorsby's talents are included.
But Sorsby will also remain under a watchful eye - not just among the masses who disagree with the court's decision, but by Texas Tech officials who aim to preserve his mental health and the school's image amid this controversy.
"As he returns to our football program," said Texas Tech's director of athletics, Kirby Hocutt, in a statement, "we remain committed to supporting Brendan's recovery and ensuring his compliance with the court's order. A comprehensive support structure, including clinical care, monitoring, and compliance checks will remain fully in place for the duration of Brendan's time as a student at Texas Tech."
Part of that court order is Sorsby's inactivity for the Red Raiders' first two games of the 2026 season: a Sept. 5 home-opener against Abilene Christian and Sept. 12 road contest against Oregon State. He will still be allowed to practice, but won't be suiting up on gameday until Week 3, the Big 12 opener against Houston in Lubbock.
Next man up? That's not as easy as it seems for head coach Joey McGuire, at least initially.
Texas Tech's presumed backup to Sorsby, dual-threat sophomore Will Hammond, is still rehabbing from a torn ACL suffered in November of last season. With Sorsby entering his senior season, Hammond figures to be the full-time starter in 2027, but we're a ways away from that.
In the meantime, Tech's other transfer quarterback, former Tulsa QB Kirk Francis, is the most likely candidate to start in Weeks 1 and 2.
In three seasons with the Golden Hurricanes, Francis appeared in 18 games (10 starts), completed 58 percent of his passes (270/462) for 3,045 yards, and accounted for 18 touchdowns and 13 interceptions.
His best season came in 2024 when he threw for 1,585 yards and nine touchdowns. The former walk-on got redshirted his freshman year in 2023, and in 2025 he appeared in just three games as freshman Baylor Hayes took over Tulsa's offense for much of the year.
So while it's a far cry from Sorsby's high-level production at Cincinnati, Francis brings some starting experience, which Tech can find confidence in, at least more than any alternative option, during this early non-conference slate.
Joining Francis for depth in the QB room is Lloyd Jones III, a 6-4 redshirt freshman out of Hitchcock, Holden Phillips, a local product from Wolfforth Frenship, and true-freshman Stephen Cannon from Savannah, Georgia.
Francis likely thought his role would be to serve as a stop-gap third-stringer upon committing to Texas Tech. It's a position Mitch Griffis covered last year as he transferred in from East Carolina to back up Behren Morton and Hammond.
But with Sorsby getting a late start to the season and Hammond potentially still below 100 percent health, Francis is the most likely candidate to take over the offense for the defending Big 12 champions in Week 1.
