 "Photo: Sam Grenadier")
DALLAS - Texas Tech quarterback Graham Harrell undoubtedly will go down as the best signal caller the Red Raiders ever have produced, but his superb career ended with disappointment.
Playing 35 minutes from his hometown of Ennis, Harrell could not lead his team to a comeback victory like he did in the 2007 Insight Bowl and 2008 Gator Bowl, as No. 7 Tech lost to No. 25 Ole Miss 47-34 Friday at the Cotton Bowl Classic in Dallas.
The loss kept Tech from reaching 12 wins for the first time in school history and kept the Red Raiders winless in the Cotton Bowl.
"All losses hurt, this one is no different," Harrell said. "It's unfortunate it's my last game, but it's been a fun run here."
Although a special season ended with a thud, Harrell can hold his head high with pride. He was at the forefront of the greatest season in Tech history. The only problem was there was no hardware to hoist at midfield come bowl season.
But Harrell did notch a couple passing records against Ole Miss that are capable of standing for a long time. No one has thrown more touchdown passes than him in college football history, and no one has thrown for 5,000 yards in multiple seasons.
"Graham had a great career," Tech defensive coordinator Ruffin McNeill said. "Graham is a great leader. Graham is a guy who will be missed around here, by me personally, not just on the field. I know he's worked as hard as any quarterback we've had here."
Harrell surpassed former Hawaii quarterback Colt Brennan with his 132nd career touchdown pass, which was caught by two-time Biletnikoff winner Michael Crabtree in the second quarter.
A little while later, Harrell eclipsed 5,000 yards passing for the second-consecutive season on a 26-yard shuffle pass to running back Shannon Woods.
After the game, he acknowledged the records by attributing the success to the weapons he was able to utilize throughout his three years as starter.
"That's a huge honor," said Harrell, who finished his career with 15,793 passing yards and 134 touchdowns. "I think it's a compliment to all the players I've played around. I've had some great (offensive lines) and some of the greatest receivers in the country throughout my three years here."
Although he was unavailable for comment after the game, the greatest of those receivers is Crabtree, who also may have played his last game in a Tech uniform.
In 26 career games, Crabtree had 231 receptions for 3,127 yards and 41 touchdowns.
"He'll be good wherever he goes," Harrell said of the redshirt sophomore, who had four receptions, 30 yards and one touchdown in a sub-par performance against Ole Miss.
As for Harrell, he said he hopes to keep playing football for as long as possible. Once that phase runs its course he'll move on to coaching, which is fitting considering he's a coach's son.
"We'll see," Harrell said of his immediate playing future. "Hopefully I'll get a shot at the next level. I want to stay around football forever. I want to play as long as I can."
Harrell seemed to get emotional when he was asked about his fellow senior teammates that he has become so close with during his tenure at Tech.
"It's been a special group," Harrell said. "I came in with these guys and from our first year, we knew we had a chance to be pretty special. It's a lot of guys that just love to compete. We love to win. I'm gonna miss those guys, some of those guys are my best friends."
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