Texas Tech football: Graham Harrell; Michael Crabtree selected to Texas Tech Hall of Fame

FIttingly, Texas Tech football legends and former teammates Graham Harrell and Michael Crabtree will be going into the Texas Tech Sports Hall of Fame together this fall.

All you have to do is type “Harrell to…” in a search engine and the auto-fill will provide the word “Crabtree” for you.  That’s how linked Graham Harrell and Micheal Crabtree are in the annals of college football thanks to one magic night, November 1, 2008.

Thus, it is only fitting that the two Red Raider icons will go into the Texas Tech Sports Hall of Fame together this fall.

That announcement was made Thursday by the Double-T Varsity Club.  In all, seven former Texas Tech greats from across the athletic landscape will be enshrined this fall.

But without a question, Harrell and Crabtree will headline the class.  After all, they were the two best players on what many consider the best Red Raider football team of all-time.

In 2008, Harrell and Crabtree helped lead Texas Tech to as high as No. 2 in the national polls. That year, Harrell finished fourth in the Heisman Trophy voting while Crabtree won his second-straight Biletnikoff Award and was named a first-team All-American for the second-consecutive season.

Amassing 15,793 career passing yards, Harrell remains Tech’s all-time leader in most QB categories.  The Ennis, Texas native was a three-year starter who set school records for touchdown passes (134), pass attempts (2,062), completions (1,403), yards per game (350.9), 300-yard games (32) and 400-yard games (20).  Additionally, Harrell’s numbers still rank third all-time in NCAA history for career touchdown passes and fourth for career passing yards.

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As for Crabtree, an argument could be made that he was the most dominant college wide receiver of the last 20 years.  The Dallas native holds Texas Tech single-season records as well as the NCAA freshman records for receptions (134), receiving yards (1,962) and receiving touchdowns (22), all of which he set in 2007 as a redshirt freshman. What’s more, his 2007 receiving yardage total remains the most ever by a receiver that played in a Power 5 conference.

Crabtree was also the first freshman in history to win the Biletnikoff Award (given to the nation’s top receiver) as well as becoming the first two-time winner of the award a year later.

Despite playing just two seasons as a Red Raider, he is second in school history with 3,127 yards and tops in receiving touchdowns (41).  Had he played four years and kept that pace, he would have had 6,254 yards and 82 TDs.

Along the way, this duo gave us the most unforgettable moment in the history of Texas Tech football.  Trailing No. 1 Texas 33-32 with just seconds to play in 2008, Harrell hit Crabtree along the sideline for a 29-yard TD with one second left on the clock sparking the most uproarious celebration Jones Stadium has ever witnessed.

A year earlier, that duo was tremendous in a 34-27 upset of No. 4 OU in Lubbock.  That night, Harrell passed for 420 yards and two TDs.  Meanwhile, 154 of those yards and one of those scores went to his favorite target, Crabtree.

Together, Harrell and Crabtree led Tech to an overall record of 20-6 in what were the two most exciting and successful years in program history.  Now, that duo will be side by side forever in the Texas Tech Sports Hall of Fame, just as it should be.