It’s hard to ask for a much better first season as a starting quarterback than what the Texas Tech Red Raiders got from Graham Harrell during the 2006 season. We’re talking about a year in which the sophomore quarterback took over on offense and then went out and threw for well over 4000 yards for Mike Leach and the Red Raiders.
Again, it’s hard to ask for a much better first season from your starting QB.
Once Harrell hit the field as the full time starter for Leach’s Air Raid, Texas Tech managed to move the ball up and down the field. And the 2010 season certainly set a high standard for Harrell and the Red Raiders offense (that they would certainly surpass with ease over the next two seasons).
Texas Tech football history: Graham Harrell’s first season starting for TTU could have been more productive for the Red Raiders
During the 2006 season, the Red Raiders managed to average 32.5 points per game. That’s definitely a lot at the time, but we’ve seen offenses evolve considerably in the 19 seasons since then. At the time, that was the No. 13 scoring offense in the country. In 2024, that would have been the No. 33 scoring offense in the country.
Can we chalk that up to inflation or something?
Anyways, the Red Raiders got 4555 yards and 38 touchdowns out of Harrell in 2006 while he completed 66.8 percent of his passes and threw 11 interceptions. Those would still be great stats in today’s day and age, by the way.
At receiver, Harrell was able to connect with Joel Filani 91 times and Filani turned all of that into 1300 yards and 13 touchdowns. Robert Johnson snagged 89 receptions and racked up 871 receiving yards and 11 touchdowns.
And then there’s Shannon Woods at running back. Texas Tech didn’t have anyone break the 1000 yard rushing mark, but Woods had 1498 yards from scrimmage (926 yards on the ground and 572 yards receiving) as well as 10 rushing scores and two touchdown receptions.
The offense was pretty good and pretty effective, but we’ve seen more complete groups come out of Lubbock in more recent years.