University of Houston Athletics
Ward Named Earl Campbell Award Semifinalist
11/30/2015 12:00:00 AM | Football
HOUSTON - Houston quarterback Greg Ward Jr. has been named a semifinalist for The Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award, the award's selection committee announced Monday.
Ward ranks in the top 15 in six of the NCAA's recognized stat categories: completion percentage (5th), passing efficiency (13th), points responsible for (12th), points responsible for per game (14th), rushing TDs (8th) and yards per pass attempt (15th). He is 12th nationally in scoring among non-kickers with 102 points.
The junior has broken 12 Houston or The American records this season while tying three others.
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The electrifying Ward is eighth nationally with 14 rushing attempts of at least 20 yards and eight rushing attempts of at least 30 yards and. Both numbers lead all FBS quarterbacks. Ward is fourth nationally this season, completing 69.3 percent of his passes, 196-of-283.
With 17 rushing touchdowns and 16 passing touchdowns, Ward is 14th nationally in points responsible per game with 16.5 points per game.
Ward set the Houston single-season record for 100-yard rushing games by a quarterback when he picked up his third with 119 yards on the ground vs. Cincinnati. With the performance, he set the Houston career record for games with 100+ yards rushing and 100+ yards passing with his third game this year.
With his four rushing touchdowns vs. SMU, Ward broke the Houston QB rushing touchdowns records for a single game and a season, snapping the previous record of nine from Case Keenum in 2007.
With one rushing touchdown vs. Vanderbilt, he took sole possession of the Houston single-season touchdown record, regardless of position, breaking the previous record of 15 set by running back Jackie Battle in 2006. Ward also took sole possession of the career rushing TDs by a quarterback record with his 24th career score, breaking a tie held with Keenum.
Ward collected his third straight game with at least three rushing touchdowns with three scores on the ground at Tulane, the third-longest streak on the FBS level over the last 10 seasons. Ward has multiple rushing touchdowns in five games this season.
The junior ranks eighth on the Houston career rushing touchdowns chart with 25 career scores, one away from seventh.
Ward broke the Houston QB career rushing yards record vs. Tulane with 77 yards as he now has 1,642 career rushing yards, surpassing the previous record of 1,338 yards set by Lionel Wilson from 1980-83.
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With 46 yards at UCF, he broke the Houston single-season record for rushing yards by a quarterback of 656 set by Lionel Wilson in 1981. Ward currently has 893 rushing yards on the season and is just 107 yards away from the 25th 1,000-yard rushing season in Houston history.
He is ninth on the Houston career passing yards chart with 4,822 yards and seventh on the UH career total offense chart with 6,464 yards of total offense.
Last Friday's win against Navy marked Ward's third career game with at least 300 yards passing and the Tyler, Texas, native has been responsible for a touchdown, either passing or rushing, in 18 of his last 20 games.
The junior won his 17th game as Houston's starting quarterback with the win over Navy to move into fifth on the Houston career victory chart.
Ward leads the Cougars with a .895 (17-2) winning percentage as starting quarterback. Gary Mullins ranks second in school history with a .833 (25-5) percentage. They are the only QBs in UH history with 10+ starts and a winning percentage over .800.
The Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award, announced in 2012 by the Tyler Chamber and SPORTyler, recognizes the top offensive player in Division 1 football who also exhibits the enduring characteristics that define Earl Campbell: integrity, performance, teamwork, sportsmanship, drive, community, and tenacity; specifically tenacity to persist and determination to overcome adversity and injury in pursuit of reaching goals.
In addition, the nominee must meet one or more of the following criteria: born in Texas and/or graduated from a Texas High School and/or played at a Texas-based junior college or four year D1 Texas college.
This year's candidates include five quarterbacks, including our 2014 winner, five running backs, and six wide receivers. Five different conferences are represented.
Ward and No. 17/18 Houston host No. 20/21 Temple this Saturday at 11 a.m. in the inaugural American Athletic Conference Championship at TDECU Stadium.
