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How a 2002 change to NCAA protocol shapes Tahj Brooks's Texas Tech football record chase
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- How a 2002 change to NCAA protocol shapes Tahj Brooks's Texas Tech football record chase
Thirty-five years ago, Texas Tech football star James Gray produced one of the most memorable seasons by a Red Raiders running back, knocking out nine 100-yard rushing performances on a 9-3 bowl winner and earning second-team all-America recognition.
Gray plans to be back at Jones Stadium this weekend, and he hopes to be on the field to congratulate Tahj Brooks if Brooks can break the school career rushing record Saturday against Colorado . A Fort Worth resident, Gray's normally tied up on Saturdays as executive director of the Miracle League of Parker County, a non-profit sports outlet for special-needs youngsters.
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"But I thought, this will be a special deal," he said this week, "and I don't want to miss it."
In 1989, Gray rushed for 280 yards in the All American Bowl as the Red Raiders routed Duke, 49-21. That stood as the most rushing yards by an individual in any bowl game until January 2004.
Six years later, Byron Hanspard ran for a Copper Bowl record 260 yards in Texas Tech 's 55-41 victory over Air Force.
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Tahj Brooks (28) breaks loose for a touchdown during Texas Tech's Oct. 19 home game against Baylor. Brooks is 120 yards away from Byron Hanspard's Tech career rushing record of 4,219 yards, though Hanspard's total does not include 360 yards he amassed in three bowl games from 1994-96.
Taj Brooks is approaching the Texas Tech football rushing record
Brooks is in position to break the Tech career rushing record. Officially, Hanspard rushed for 4,219 yards, Brooks for 4,099 and Gray for 4,066. Before the 2002 season, however, statistics compiled in postseason games didn't count in NCAA records. So Hanspard and Gray's career totals don't include more than 300 yards apiece they ran for in bowls.
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"I did not know that, or I did not think about that," Gray said. "Well, I might have known it and forgot it, but it's been a while."
Had bowl stats counted toward records all the way back, Hanspard would have 4,579 rushing yards and Gray 4,371. Brooks would have a shot at the Tech record, but he'd need to stay healthy and productive all season.
"I think it's great, though, regardless," said Gray, who complimented Brooks at length. "I think he's a real good back. I enjoy watching him run. If he's running for over 100 yards in a game, that gives you a chance to win. I'm 150 percent in on Texas Tech winning, so hopefully he can go for 200-something this week."
Byron Hanspard, a Doak Walker Award winner during his days as a Texas Tech running back, takes part in a panel discussion of former Tech all-Americans at a Red Raider Club kickoff luncheon. Hanspard is on the ballot for the College Football Hall of Fame.
How a major change in NCAA record keeping came about
Jim Wright retired in 2013 as the NCAA's director of statistics after 38 years in its stats department. When Wright started in 1975, it struck him as odd that postseason football stats weren't included in records. At the time, he said, the NCAA compiled records for only three sports — football, basketball and baseball — and postseason numbers counted in the other two sports.
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In 1975, teams played 11 regular-season games, and there were only 11 bowls. Wright said the NCAA's old-guard statisticians believed including numbers from bowls would give unfair advantage to the select players who got to play in several. Example: Two-time Heisman Trophy winner Archie Griffin's Ohio State teams from 1972-75 played in four consecutive Rose Bowls.
"Those guys, the veterans," Wright said, "felt that unlike basketball and baseball, where there were a lot more games, they thought that it would skew some of the records if you added in the bowl games, especially for certain teams and players who had the opportunity to play in multiple bowl games."
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According to Wright's recollection, the NCAA polled the member schools from all four divisions twice in the 1990s. In the mid-1990s, the feedback was too evenly split. In the late 1990s, a growing consensus triggered the 2002 change.
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A couple of points were expressed when the surveys went out, Wright said: Including postseason numbers needed approval from a "clear majority." And, even if approved, the national staff would not add stats from bowl games past that would change records.
"We wanted to be clear that we felt very strongly — and this was unanimous, both from the senior stat guys and the rest of us — that we would not go back and retroactively add bowl games prior to 2002," Wright said. "The logic to that was ... if you start doing that, you are essentially screwing with history. And whether or not some of us, like me, thought bowl games should always have counted, the reality is they did not."
Sep 7, 2024; Pullman, Washington, USA; Texas Tech Red Raiders running back Tahj Brooks looks on during a game against the Washington State Cougars in the second half at Gesa Field at Martin Stadium. Washington State Cougars won 37-16. Mandatory Credit: James Snook-Imagn Images
The problem with updating the NCAA football records
Revamping the record book from the beginning could take months or years of research, Wright said. Play-by-play accounts required for some records — consecutive passes completed in a game, for example — likely no longer exist.
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"Lots of luck trying to find, you know, play-by-play of the 1939 Cotton Bowl," he said, "because that's what you would need to do many of the records that both the NCAA and maybe Texas Tech has. In the NCAA records, we'll have most yards rushing in a half, most yards passing in a half, so if all you've got for the '39 Cotton Bowl is the final stats, you wouldn't know that."
Wright said it also would be wrong to "cherry pick various records."
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David Worlock, the current NCAA director for media coordination and statistics, expressed similar views in an email conversation for this story.
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"We don't think it's right that for several decades Team X was recognized as the nation's leader in total offense or that Player Y was recognized as the nation's leader in rushing, but then we rewrite the records book when we factor in past bowl game statistics," Worlock said in an email conversation for this story.
"Aside from that, there are countless data points that likely don't exist. We don't feel it's prudent to add in stats for some players and not others, or some categories and not others."
Hanspard played in 36 games over three seasons, Gray in 46 games over four seasons. Brooks has played 53 games in five seasons. Their totals for career carries, counting bowls, are now close to identical: Hanspard 811, Gray 799, Brooks 797.
Asked how he regarded a modern player breaking the record of a player whose postseason numbers were not included in his stats, Worlock said, "If a current player breaks a record, we note it. Simple as that.
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"There are several factors that are in play now that players from previous eras didn't benefit from, such as more regular season contests, conference championship games and multiple bowl/playoff games (not to mention new redshirt rules and an added COVID season). This is a big reason why we have records for totals, as well as per-game records."
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: How an NCAA change helped Tahj Brooks' Texas Tech football record chase
