University of Houston Athletics
Ward Earl Campbell Award Semifinalist
11/21/2016 12:00:00 AM | Football
HOUSTON -- The winner of the Earl Campbell Award in 2015, Houston quarterback Greg Ward Jr. was named a semifinalist for the award on Monday. The award is presented annually to the nation's top FBS offensive player who is from or competes in the state of Texas.
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Ward and Louisville's Lamar Jackson are the only two quarterbacks nationally averaging over 280 yards passing per game (284.1) and over 45 yards rushing per game (45.3). He ranks third nationally with 13 games with a passing and rushing touchdown over the last two seasons, trailing just Jackson (14) and Texas Tech's Patrick Mahomes (15).
He won his 27th game as Houston's starting quarterback with the win over Louisville, the second-most wins in Houston history. Ward trails just Case Keenum who had 37 wins in his career. Ward leads Houston with a .871 (27-4) 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.
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 at least a full quarter in three games with injury.
Despite missing Houston's game vs. Lamar, Ward ranks 12th nationally with an average of 329.4 yards of total offense per game and 18th nationally with an average of 284.1 passing yards per game. He leads The American in passing and is second in total offense.
Showing his accuracy, Ward ranks 10th nationally in completion percentage, completing 247-of-368 attempts. He also ranks seventh in completions per game (24.7).
Ward is currently second on the Houston career rushing TDs chart with 38, one away from the UH record. With two passing TDs vs. Louisville, Ward now has 48 career passing TDs and is fifth on the UH career list.
Louisville marked Ward's 15th career game, and his sixth this season, with multiple passing TDs, while it marked his 24th with over 200 yards passing. The Tyler, Texas, native has been responsible for a touchdown, either passing or rushing, in 29 of his last 32 games.
He became the 15th player in Houston history with over 2,000 career yards rushing vs. UConn and now has 2,310 yards, ranking 13th on the Houston career rushing yards chart. He needs just 60 yards to move into the top 10.
He now has 10,299 yards of total offense in his career, ranking third on the Houston career chart.
Ward is sixth on Houston's career passing yards list with 7,989 yards and needs 213 yards to move into the top five.
Finalists for the award will be announced on Dec. 7, 2016, with the winner announced in Tyler, Texas on Jan. 11, 2017.
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