38 Players Including Big 12 QB Ruled Ineligible by Court Just Hours Before Week 5 Game
from Essentially College Football
The first touchdown Texas Tech scored in Corvallis didn’t come from Will Hammond. It came from the quarterback who was supposed to be standing behind him. Thomas Castellanos took off for a 7-yard score against Oregon State, then later found freshman tight end Matt Ludwig for another touchdown as the Red Raiders escaped with a 35-24 win.
That was becoming the point of Castellanos’ presence in Lubbock. Hammond remained Texas Tech’s starter, but the Red Raiders had begun carving out situations for the former Florida State quarterback, using his legs and experience to give defenses another problem to solve. Even Colorado’s preparation for Saturday’s game had to account for the different looks Texas Tech could create with the two quarterbacks. Then, on Friday afternoon, the Red Raiders lost that option.
As On3’s Pete Nakos reported, the Kentucky Court of Appeals ruled Friday in favor of the NCAA. The ruling dissolved a temporary injunction that had allowed a group of Class of 2022 athletes to compete for a fifth season. Per reports, 38 athletes were affected by the ruling, including Thomas Castellanos. And just like that, Texas Tech had a decision to make. But for Castellanos, this was no longer just a question about Saturday’s depth chart.
The Red Raiders ultimately made a decision Friday afternoon. Thomas Castellanos will not be eligible to play against Colorado, according to Texas Tech, as reported by KCBD 11 and ESPN’s Pete Thamel. And the timing leaves Texas Tech without a quarterback who had quietly become more than a conventional backup.
Thomas Castellanos wasn’t brought to Lubbock to sit around and watch. He arrived late in the process after Brendan Sorsby’s departure left Texas Tech needing experienced insurance behind Will Hammond. The former UCF, Boston College, and Florida State QB had started 32 games during his college career and entered 2026 with plenty of big-game experience.
At Florida State in 2025, Thomas Castellanos threw for 2,760 yards and 15 touchdowns while adding 557 rushing yards and nine scores. He also helped the Seminoles stun Alabama in Week 1. That resume made him a pretty useful No. 2. But his value in Lubbock was less about replacing Hammond and more about giving Texas Tech another way to attack a defense.
Through four games, Castellanos had completed two of four passes for 35 yards and two touchdowns, thrown one interception and rushed 10 times for 44 yards and two scores. He had scored in three different games after making his Red Raider debut in the season opener against Abilene Christian.
Oregon State showed why that package could matter. Castellanos’ 7-yard run put Texas Tech on the board first, and with just over a minute left, he returned to the field and hit Matt Ludwig for an 8-yard touchdown that sealed the 35-24 win. Two weeks later against Houston, he started in place of Hammond and took only one pass attempt before throwing an interception on the opening play; against Sam Houston the following week, he came in for two passes and hit Malcolm Simmons for a 27-yard touchdown.
That made Castellanos an unusual kind of No. 2. He wasn’t simply waiting for an injury to give him the job. Texas Tech was already finding snaps for him, and his dual-threat ability gave the offense a different wrinkle without forcing the Red Raiders to move away from Hammond as their primary quarterback.
Texas Tech is one option less against Colorado
Now that wrinkle is gone for Saturday. The Kentucky Court of Appeals dissolved the temporary restraining order that had protected Castellanos and the other Kentucky plaintiffs, leaving Texas Tech without its second quarterback option against Colorado. The ruling affects the athletes who pursued the Kentucky case; it does not mean every Class of 2022 player around college sports was suddenly declared ineligible.
The lawsuit originally claimed the NCAA unfairly excluded the 2022 high school class when introducing its new five-year playing rule. A local judge temporarily allowed the athletes to play, but the appeals court struck that down. The important distinction is that Friday’s decision dissolved the temporary protection; it did not end the underlying lawsuit. A hearing in the case is scheduled for Oct. 9, according to On3.
The dispute stems from the NCAA’s move to an age-based eligibility system. The organization approved a new framework in 2026 that generally gives eligible athletes a continuous five-year window, replacing the older system built around seasons of competition, redshirts and various waiver rules. But athletes who had already completed their fourth season by the end of the 2025-26 academic year were not simply folded into that new framework, creating the legal fight involving the Class of 2022.
The August lawsuit covered 38 athletes fighting for another season. Basketball players Seth Trimble and Mark Mitchell were among them, while Kentucky football linebacker Alex Afari was another prominent plaintiff. Unlike Castellanos, however, Trimble and Mitchell had not yet begun their seasons, meaning the ruling did not pull them out of a game already on the schedule. Afari, who had recorded 11 tackles through four games, was hit by the decision while Kentucky’s season was already underway.
Castellanos’ situation is more unusual because he had already crossed the line from eligibility dispute to actual participation. Texas Tech had used him in all four games, and he had already produced four touchdowns in his limited role. Yet the court ruling suddenly removed the legal protection under which those appearances had taken place.
His attorney, Ryan Downton, has continued to argue that Castellanos should be certified under the NCAA’s existing rules. “They should certify him as eligible under the NCAA Manual as it exists today. And play him,” Downton told On3.
For Texas Tech, though, the immediate decision was simpler. The program confirmed that Castellanos will not play at Colorado. The ruling also is not expected to retroactively change the results of games in which he appeared, meaning the Red Raiders’ 4-0 start is not being wiped away simply because his eligibility protection was dissolved.
The timing matters because Texas Tech’s quarterback room was already coming off a strange September.
What Castellanos’ absence changes for Texas Tech
Hammond had remained the primary starter, but Castellanos had provided a second look when the Red Raiders wanted to change the rhythm of the offense. Now that option disappears just as Big 12 play moves to the road.
Hammond also enters the Colorado game after a rough outing against Sam Houston. He threw three interceptions in the first half of Texas Tech’s 49-14 win before settling down, while Castellanos later came in and threw a 27-yard touchdown to Malcolm Simmons. The final score masked how messy that first half had been.
That doesn’t make Castellanos a replacement for Hammond, nor does it suddenly turn Saturday into a one-quarterback story. But it does remove a player Texas Tech had already shown it trusted enough to put into the game plan.
And there is still no final answer on whether Friday’s ruling ends Castellanos’ Texas Tech stint altogether. His next hearing is scheduled for Oct. 9, leaving open the possibility that his eligibility situation could shift again after the Colorado game. For now, though, Texas Tech has to move forward without him.
Colorado and Texas Tech kick off Saturday at Folsom Field in Boulder. For the Red Raiders, the legal fight has already changed the personnel they will take into that matchup.