Before he was the face of the NFL, a three-time Super Bowl champion, and the man with a half-billion-dollar contract, Patrick Mahomes was just a kid in West Texas with a rocket for an arm and a penchant for "scary" improvisational plays. If you've ever wondered where did Patrick Mahomes play college football, the answer is Texas Tech University.
But saying he "played" there is a massive understatement. He basically broke the sport of football for three years in Lubbock.
Honestly, the Mahomes we see today—the sidearm throws, the no-look passes, the refusal to let a play die—wasn't born in Kansas City. It was forged under the blistering sun at Jones AT&T Stadium. Back then, most scouts thought he was "too reckless." They called his style "Air Raid fluff." They were wrong.
The Lubbock Years: Why He Chose Texas Tech
Mahomes wasn't exactly the "blue-chip" prospect you'd expect. He was a three-star recruit out of Whitehouse High School. Think about that for a second. There were eleven "dual-threat" quarterbacks ranked higher than him in the 2014 class.
He didn't have offers from Alabama or Ohio State. His primary options were Texas Tech, Rice, and Houston.
So, why Tech?
It mostly came down to two things: Kliff Kingsbury and baseball. Kingsbury, the Red Raiders' head coach at the time, was a former record-setting QB himself and ran a system that essentially told quarterbacks, "If you see an opening, rip it." Mahomes loved that freedom. Plus, Texas Tech let him play baseball, which was a huge deal for a kid whose dad, Pat Mahomes Sr., had pitched in the Big Leagues for over a decade.
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A Rocky Start and a Statistical Explosion
Mahomes didn't walk onto campus as the starter. He spent the first half of his 2014 freshman season sitting behind Davis Webb. It wasn't until Webb went down with an injury against Oklahoma State that we got our first glimpse of the "Showtime" era.
His first actual start was a rough 34-13 loss to Texas, but he ended that freshman year by hanging 598 yards and six touchdowns on Baylor.
That was the "Oh, okay, this guy is different" moment.
In his sophomore year (2015), he officially took the keys to the offense. He led the Big 12 with 4,653 passing yards and 36 touchdowns. But the team went 7-6. This became a recurring theme: Mahomes would play like a literal god, and the Texas Tech defense would give up points like they were participating in a charity giveaway.
That Mind-Blowing Night Against Oklahoma
If you want to understand the peak of where Patrick Mahomes played college football, you have to look at October 22, 2016. Texas Tech vs. Oklahoma.
This game was pure insanity.
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Mahomes went up against Baker Mayfield in a shootout that looked more like a Madden game on "Rookie" difficulty. Mahomes threw the ball 88 times.
88!
He finished with:
- 734 passing yards (tied an NCAA record)
- 819 yards of total offense (broke the NCAA record)
- 5 passing touchdowns
- 2 rushing touchdowns
Texas Tech still lost 66-59. Mahomes put up over 800 yards of offense and lost. It's almost hard to wrap your head around, but it perfectly summarizes his college career: a brilliant, high-velocity quarterback trying to outrun a defense that couldn't stop a light breeze.
The "Air Raid" Stigma and the Draft
By the time Mahomes finished his junior year, his stats were comical. He led the nation in passing yards (5,052) and total offense. He won the Sammy Baugh Trophy. He was an Academic All-American.
Yet, the NFL was skeptical.
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Critics said he was a "system QB." They worried he couldn't play in a "pro-style" offense. Because where Patrick Mahomes played college football used the Air Raid system, people assumed he just threw to wide-open guys in space. They didn't see that he was actually making NFL-level reads while running for his life.
The Baseball Pivot
During his time at Tech, Mahomes was also a relief pitcher. He had a 95-mph fastball, but his collegiate baseball career was... well, let's call it "brief." He famously finished with an "infinity ERA" after a disastrous appearance where he failed to record an out.
Thankfully for the Kansas City Chiefs, he decided to quit baseball after his sophomore year to focus entirely on football. It worked out.
Actionable Insights: Lessons from the Mahomes College Era
Looking back at his time in Lubbock, there are a few things every football fan or aspiring athlete should take away from his journey.
- System doesn't define talent: Don't write off a player just because they play in a high-tempo college system. Mahomes proved that elite traits—arm talent, vision, and competitiveness—translate anywhere.
- Multi-sport backgrounds matter: Mahomes credits his no-look passes to basketball and his arm angles to his days as a shortstop and pitcher. If you're a young athlete, don't specialize too early.
- Find the right fit: Mahomes chose Texas Tech because Kliff Kingsbury didn't try to change him. He leaned into Mahomes' unconventional style rather than forcing him into a "pocket passer" box.
Patrick Mahomes left Texas Tech with 11,252 passing yards and 93 touchdowns in just roughly two-and-a-half seasons of starting. While he didn't win a National Championship in Lubbock, he proved that he was a generational talent. If you want to see where the magic started, go back and watch his 2016 highlights. It’s exactly the same player we see on Sundays—just wearing a different shade of red.
If you are tracking Mahomes' legacy, the best way to appreciate his current success is to dive into the archives of those 2016 Big 12 games. You'll see that the "magic" wasn't coached into him; it was always there, waiting for the world to notice.