Courtesy UHCougars.com
HOUSTON – Sports Illustrated revealed its 2016 college football preview covers this week, including Houston quarterback Greg Ward Jr. on one of four regional covers. The Tyler, Texas, native appears on the cover hitting subscribers and newsstands in Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas and Missouri.
In the issue, Pete Thamel writes about how Ward and Houston coach Tom Herman had to overcome serious doubts about each other to find success.
In addition to this week’s cover, Ward has also appeared on preseason watch lists for the Walter Camp Player of the Year Award, the Davey O’Brien Award, the Maxwell Award, the Wuerffel Trophy and the Johnny Unitas Award.
Ward enters the 2016 season after claiming the Earl Campbell Award, presented annually to the top player from the state of Texas, last season as he and Clemson’s Deshaun Watson were the only two players in the nation to rush for at least 1,000 yards and pass for at least 2,000 yards. He became the first Houston quarterback to rush for 1,000 yards in a season, finishing the year with 1,108 rushing yards and 21 touchdowns to go along with 2,828 passing yards with 17 touchdowns.
Ward ranked ninth nationally in completion percentage, completing 232-of-345 passes on the year, while throwing just six interceptions, seventh-best nationally among quarterbacks with at least 300 attempts, and broke the UH single-season record for rushing yards by a quarterback of 656 yards set by Lionel Wilson in 1981. The record was one of 14 Houston or The American records broken by Ward last season, while tying three others including the Houston single-season rushing touchdowns record with his 21 scores. He was eighth nationally with 16 rushing attempts of at least 20 yards and nine rushing attempts of at least 30 yards. His 16 rushing attempts of 20+ yards led all FBS quarterbacks, and all players in The American regardless of position.
In addition to Earl Campbell Award winner, Ward was also a Manning Award finalist, The American Championship MVP and Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl Offensive MVP. Entering 2016, he ranks fourth on the Houston career rushing TDs chart with 29 and ranked fourth nationally in 2015 in percentage of rush plays that gained five or more yards among ball carriers with 150 or more carries (51.4 percent).
He has been responsible for a touchdown, either passing or rushing, in 20 of his last 22 games and won his 19th game as Houston’s starting quarterback with the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl win over Florida State, the fifth-best total on the Houston career victory chart. He leads Houston with a .905 (19-2) career winning percentage as a starting quarterback. His 21 rushing TDs in 2015 rank second nationally among all returners behind just the 22 from LSU’s Leonard Fournette.