Alleged pocket knife thrown at KU staff member spurs Big 12 investigation
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Texas Tech recovered a pocket knife from KU staff; incident allegedly occurred Saturday.
- KU coach Lance Leipold alleged the pocket knife hit a staffer during the third quarter.
- Big 12 opened a formal investigation while Tech and law enforcement review video.
The Big 12 and Texas Tech are looking into allegations that a closed pocket knife was thrown at a Kansas staff member during last week’s KU-Texas Tech game. And law enforcement is reportedly involved, too.
A Texas Tech athletics official told The Star that the school “received a knife from a Kansas staff member” during last week’s college football game in Lubbock, Texas. KU coach Lance Leipold, in his postgame news conference, alleged the knife had been thrown from the crowd and hit a KU staff member.
The Red Raiders responded to an inquiry from the Big 12 Conference on Monday. It’s an ongoing investigation for the conference.
“We came up here yesterday and spent time looking — we obviously have a lot of cameras in the stadium, but not necessarily right on those spots,” Robert Giovannetti, Texas Tech senior associate athletics director, told The Star.
“We had to get our security cameras, our stadium (cameras), our creatives, our broadcast (cameras),” he continued, “and we wanted to look from all possible angles.”
Giovannetti said Texas Tech submitted information to the league Monday night and is hoping to hear back soon and “move forward.”
“Just looking forward to seeing what the league determines,” Giovannetti said.
Law enforcement is also involved.
Giovannetti said Texas Tech spoke to law enforcement the night of the game, and again on Monday to see if it was possible to enhance stadium video.
The Jayhawks lost 42-17 to Texas Tech last Saturday. That game involved multiple penalties against the Red Raiders for objects being thrown from the crowd, including as part of the “tortilla toss” tradition in Lubbock.
Leipold took exception to the tradition — which is penalized under Big 12 rules — and blasted the league office’s handling of the matter postgame.
He first mentioned the pocket knife in his postgame news conference, while a KU Athletics spokesperson reiterated a “Swiss army pocket knife” hit a Kansas staff member in the third quarter, which led to one of the penalties on the Red Raiders.
In August, Big 12 athletic directors voted 15-1 to penalize teams for objects thrown on the field. The lone opposing vote was Texas Tech.
Leipold felt the matter Saturday was “handled very poorly.”
“It’s ridiculous,” Leipold said. “It’s (the rule) supposed to be for safety and things like that. It’s a culture that’s been accepted to a point, and it hasn’t changed. Eventually, somebody is going to be seriously hurt, unfortunately.”
After the game, Leipold and Texas Tech coach Joey McGuire had a tense exchange on the field. In his postgame news conference, McGuire acknowledged that both he and Leipold were frustrated by the situation.
It is not clear if McGuire was made aware of the alleged pocket knife incident before speaking postgame.
“We got a new rule in this league and we know the rule and we didn’t follow it,” McGuire said. “We got penalized tonight, two 15-yard penalties. He was frustrated on that side. We’ve got to be better. We’ve got to find a way to do a better job as a whole — all of us. “
The Big 12 has not responded to multiple requests for comment from The Star made Monday and Tuesday.
This story was originally published October 14, 2025 at 2:14 PM with the headline "Alleged pocket knife thrown at KU staff member spurs Big 12 investigation."
