Now that Brendan Sorsby’s name no longer echoes in Lubbock, the Texas Tech Red Raiders have finally decided to make their new QB1 official. Sorsby’s exit left a massive, multi-million-dollar gap in the QB room, but head coach Joey McGuire has placed his faith fully in Will Hammond to take over the reins for the upcoming season.

Pete Nakos of On3 confirmed it earlier today.

Hammond beat out Lloyd Jones III and Kirk Francis in camp, which is a win that mattered because Texas Tech needed stability, not hype. The path to this decision was completely unpredictable, to say the least. Texas Tech originally brought Brendan Sorsby on a $5 million NIL deal to lead the team and make another playoff run.

However, Sorsby’s gambling issues led to his permanent NCAA ban, derailing those plans. The Red Raiders weren’t ready to let their No. 1 overall player go until the Big 12 and other programs decided to threaten them with lawsuits.

With Sorsby out of the picture for good, all eyes naturally turned back to Hammond, a homegrown consensus four-star recruit from Hutto High School. Back in Hutto, Hammond was known as the kind of quarterback who could flip a game in one drive. He led all Texas quarterbacks in his senior year with 3,901 passing yards, 35 passing touchdowns, 1,077 rushing yards, and 19 rushing touchdowns. That track record made him a natural fit for this job once Texas Tech needed someone steady.

His comeback has been the real story. After the ACL injury he suffered last October against Oklahoma State, Hammond worked his way back step by step, and getting cleared earlier than expected gave Texas Tech a real lift before camp ended. Nine months after his November surgery, Hammond threw in player-led 7-on-7 drills throughout the summer.

The coaching staff wanted him to be medically cleared by August 21 for Week 1, but Hammond was cleared earlier than all expected.

Hammond has shown he can execute at a high level when healthy. In 12 career games, including four starts over the last two seasons, he has completed about 104 of 166 passes for 1,151 yards and nine touchdowns. His 62.7% completion rate shows clinical accuracy. Interestingly, Hammond is quite useful as a runner, too. He has 60 career rushing attempts for 348 yards and seven scores, including a brilliant run against Utah.

Texas Tech will kick off its highly anticipated new season on September 5 against the Abilene Christian Wildcats. Entering the year, The Athletic ranks Hammond as the No. 35 projected starting quarterback nationwide, placing him squarely in Tier 4 of all college passers.

Coach McGuire plans to ease Hammond into the season to protect his knee before Big 12 play, and a potential repeat run at the conference championship comes around.

The projection with Will Hammond as QB1

Coming off a stellar 12-2 run last year that included a Big 12 Championship and a trip to the College Football Playoff, expectations are sky-high in Lubbock regardless of who their QB is.

Many analysts believe that the Red Raiders have the talent to easily clear a nine-win floor and push for a repeat conference title.

The schedule starts with a very manageable non-conference stretch where the Red Raiders should easily coast to a 3-0 start: Abilene Christian on September 5, followed by Houston and Sam Houston State in Lubbock.

The schedule from then on will ease up, although Oklahoma State is a team Texas should be wary of. Meanwhile, ASU, whom they’ll face on October 17, doesn’t look nearly as strong as it did last season.

If all goes well and Hammond plays up to his talents, Texas Tech has a real chance to finish 11-1 and get back into the playoffs easily. On the other hand, the worst-case scenario is probably a 9-3 record. That would likely happen only if Hammond struggles early after returning from injury or if the Red Raiders lose a couple of close road games.

The Red Raiders fanbase should be in for a fun season this fall.