Texas Tech football: The 5 defining moments of Graham Harrell’s career
Graham Harrell is headed to the Texas Tech Hall of Fame so let’s take a look at his top five defining moments as a Red Raider.
Pat Mahomes may be the best QB to ever play for the Texas Tech football program. But Graham Harrell is the greatest. Now, he’s headed into the Texas Tech Sports Hall of Fame this fall.
The current USC offensive coordinator has been synonymous with huge offensive numbers since high school. When he graduated from Ennis High School, he held the state records for career passing yards (12,532) and career touchdown passes (167).
Of course, during his time at Texas Tech, he set more records than any player in program history. Harrell is Texas Tech’s career leader for passing yards (15,793), touchdown passes (134), pass attempts (2,062), completions (1,403), yards per game (350.9), 300-yard games (32) and 400-yard games (20). What’s more, he still ranks third all-time in NCAA history for career touchdown passes and fourth for career passing yards.
Now, he’s one of the fastest-rising offensive coordinators in the NCAA. In fact, in his first year coordinating the USC offense, the Trojans averaged 455.4 total yards (335.8 passing) and 32.5 points. That came despite losing his starting QB J.T. Daniels and having to turn to true freshman Kedon Slovis. All Slovis managed to do under Harrell’s guidance was win PAC 12 Offensive Freshman of the Year and set an NCAA record for completion percentage by a freshman (71.9%).
In other words, Graham Harrell knows offense. Of course, we knew learned that first-hand from 2006-08 when he was the face of Texas Tech football and to this day, he is the symbol of the golden age of the program.
A 4-star prospect in the class of 2004, he was the No. 22 player in Texas and the No. 8 pro-style QB in the nation. He picked Tech over offers from Arizona State, Baylor, Georgia, N.C. State, Purdue, and Wisconsin.
What’s amazing about Harrell’s career is that his 4,555-yard sophomore season was the worst of his career (at least in terms of seasons during which he was the starter). That’s the 8th-best season in the history of Red Raider football.
The next year, he passed for a career-best 5,705 yards to go along with 48 TDs and 14 picks. He followed that up with 5,111 yards, 45 TDs, and only 9 picks as a senior.
With such gaudy numbers, there were some stellar performances from the brash gunslinger along the way. So let’s pay tribute to his legacy by looking back at the five defining moments of his career starting with the other top-10 victory he engineered in 2008.