University of Houston Athletics
Ward Named O'Brien Award Semifinalist
11/10/2016 12:00:00 AM | Football
HOUSTON -- Houston senior quarterback Greg Ward Jr. was named as one of 18 semifinalists for the Davey O'Brien Award, presented annually to the nation's top quarterback, for the second consecutive year, the award's selection committee announced Thursday.
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Ward and Louisville's Lamar Jackson are the only two quarterbacks nationally averaging over 300 yards passing per game (302.4) and over 50 yards rushing per game (54.0).
None of Houston's opponents have been able to fully lock down both elements of Ward's game the last two seasons. He has at least 200 passing yards or 100 rushing yards in every full game he has played during the last two years, missing over a half of two games with injury last season.
Despite missing Houston's game vs. Lamar, Ward ranks fourth nationally with an average of 356.4 yards of total offense per game and 13th nationally with an average of 302.4 passing yards per game. Both averages lead The American.
Showing his accuracy, Ward ranks sixth nationally in completion percentage, completing 204 of his 294 attempts. He also ranks seventh in completions per game (25.5).
This season he has five games with rushing and passing touchdowns and has 12 over the 2015-16 seasons, a number that ranks third nationally behind the 14 of Jackson and Texas Tech's Patrick Mahomes.
Ward leads The American with four games of at least 300 yards passing this season, and has seven career games over the 300-yard mark. SMU marked Ward's 13th career game and his fifth this season with multiple passing TDs, while the UCF game marked his 23rd with over 200 yards passing.
Ward is 15th nationally and leads The American with 103 of his passes accounting for at least 10 yards.
He won his 25th game as Houston's starting quarterback with the win over UCF, the third-best total on the Houston career victory chart. He needs one more win to move into a tie with Kevin Kolb for second on the list.
Ward leads Houston with a .862 (25-4) career winning percentage as a starting QB. Gary Mullins is 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.
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Ward is currently second on the Houston career rushing TDs chart with 37, two away from the UH record of 39 set by Bryce Beall. With a passing touchdown vs. UCF, Ward now has 44 career passing TDs and is sixth on the UH career list. He needs just two more to move into a tie for fifth with Jason McKinley (1997-00).
He currently has 9,856 yards of total offense in his career, ranking third on the Houston career total offense chart.
He became the 15th player in Houston history with over 2,000 career yards rushing vs. UConn, and now has 2,289 yards, ranking 13th on the Houston career rushing yards chart. He needs just 81 yards to move into the top 10.
In conjunction with ESPN, the Davey O'Brien Foundation and the Selection Committee will release the names of the three finalists on Tuesday, Nov. 22.
2016 SINGLE GAME TICKETS
Houston fans interested in purchasing single-game tickets for the Nov. 12 Homecoming showdown, starting at just $24, can do so at the following link. Houston fans can also claim a limited amount of just released standing room only tickets for the Nov. 17 game vs. Louisville, and Houston Men's Basketball season tickets, as part of the fall and Ball package for just $100 at UHCougars.com/fall.
