Texas Tech football: Ranking the 10 best QB seasons of “Air Raid” era

No. 8: Harrell in 2006

We come to the first of the three Graham Harrell seasons that will appear on this list.  At No. 8 is his sophomore season when he passed for 4555 yards, 38 scores, and just 11 picks.

Harrell and Kingsbury are the only players in the modern era of the program to start three full seasons.  But Kingsbury appears only once on our countdown.

Harrell, on the other hand, never had a season that we would even consider just mediocre.  Even his most pedestrian year was good enough to be included in this list.

Everyone assumed that Harrell was going to be a star when he signed with Tech out of Ennis High School.  After all, he set Texas high school passing records for single-season yards (4,825), career passing yards (12,532), single-season touchdown passes (67 in 2003), and career touchdown passes (167).

So it was thought that he might even start as a redshirt freshman in 2005 but Leach went with Hodges.  However, a year later, Harrell became the first Red Raider since Kingsbury to be named full-time starting QB as an underclassman and he didn’t disappoint.

He led the Big 12 in passing yards and passing TDs as well as leading the NCAA in completions (412).  In nine of 12 games, he surpassed 300 yards through the air.

His most prolific game that season came in a loss to Texas in which he threw for 519 yards and 3 TDs.  But it was his final game of that year that stood out most.

Throwing for 445 yards and two TDs while rushing for another, he helped the Red Raiders complete the largest comeback in NCAA bowl history.  Down at one point 38-7 in the second half, Harrell and his teammates somehow fought back to force OT where they would eventually win the game 44-41.

That wasn’t the greatest moment of Harrell’s career nor was 2006 the best season of his career.  But that comeback was the perfect exclamation point on what was a fantastic start to a legendary tenure in Lubbock.