Texas Tech football honoring the late Joe Hornaday before UH game - Lubbock Avalanche-Journal

Hornaday spent three decades publicizing Red Raiders football and other Tech sports. He died September 9 at age 79, two weeks after a fall at his Lubbock home left him with a head injury.

The press box tribute included a card reading "In Memory of Joe Hornaday," set alongside the usual media flip cards listing team rosters and depth charts. Tech also held a moment of silence before kickoff in his memory.

For the reporters, staff, and longtime Tech football watchers who worked alongside Hornaday, Friday's game carried extra weight before the ball was even snapped. He spent his career on the other side of the press box glass, feeding information to the same media that now remembered him, a quiet exit for someone who spent decades making sure everyone else got the story right.