Harrell Receives Honors Following Win Over Oklahoma
November 19, 2007 | Football
Nov. 19, 2007
LUBBOCK, Texas - Texas Tech QB Graham Harrell (Ennis, Texas) and the Red Raiders closed out the regular season on a high note, knocking off No. 3 Oklahoma, 34-27, Saturday night at Jones AT&T Stadium. For his efforts in the victory, Harrell has garnered honors from around the country.
Harrell has been nominated for AT&T All-America Player of the Week honors, was awarded co-offensive player of the week honors by the Big 12 Conference and received an MCS Nike Game Ball from Master Coaches (www.mcspoll.com) as the national offensive player of the week.
The junior gunslinger for the Red Raiders completed 47 passes for 420 yards and two touchdowns and also ran for another as his scoring rush in the second quarter put the Red Raiders ahead for good. Harrell also attempted a school-record 72 passes, breaking the previous mark of 70, set by Kilff Kingsbury against Missouri in 2002 and matched by Sonny Cumbie at New Mexico in 2004.
Harrell's nomination for AT&T All-America Player of the Week, an award that is voted on by the fans through text messaging, is his third this season. He won the previous two following performances against Oklahoma State and Iowa State. Fans can determine the winner by text messaging VOTE to 87654 on their wireless phone.
Harrell, who holds the school career record with 13 400-yard passing games and has three straight, shares his second Big 12 Conference Offensive Player of the Week honor with Kansas QB Todd Reesing. The Jayhawk leader connected on 21-of-26 passes for 253 and four touchdowns in three quarters of action in Kansas' 45-7 win against Iowa State. Harrell previously won the honor following the Oklahoma State game.
With 5,298 passing yards this season, Harrell has become only the sixth player in NCAA history, and third Red Raider, to pass the 5,000-yard mark in a season. He joins NCAA single-season record holder and former Tech quarterback B.J. Symons (5,833 in 2003) and Kliff Kingsbury (5,017 in 2002) on the list. He needs 252 yards in the bowl game to pass Hawaii's Colt Brennan, who sits in second after passing for 5,549 yards last season.
The Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award and Heisman Trophy candidate leads the nation with 45 passing touchdowns and is tied in seventh place with Kingsbury on the NCAA single-season list. Brennan holds the record with 58. Additionally, Harrell's 86 career scoring strikes are tied in 19th place on the NCAA career list with former Miami quarterback Ken Dorsey. He also is currently third on the NCAA season total offense yardage list with 5,235.
While the regular season has ended, the Red Raiders have one game to play and will realize their holiday and bowl destination Sun., Dec. 2, when bowl invitations are officially extended.
