FRISCO, Texas - Lamar University junior running back Kade Harrington finished second to Eastern Washington's Cooper Kupp for the 2015 STATS FCS Offensive Player of the Year Award released by STATS LLC at the awards banquet in Frisco Friday evening. In one of the closest votes in award history, Harrington was edged out by just 29 points, 378-349. Harrington finished with 26 first-place votes.

Harrington was seeking to become just the second player in the history of the Southland Conference, and just the 10^th running back ever to win the award.

"Just to have the ability to come to Frisco and represent Lamar University as a finalist for this award is a huge honor," said Harrington. "It is something I will remember for the rest of my life. It would be a lie to say I'm not disappointed, but Cooper (Kupp) had an incredible season and I'm happy for him. I'm disappointed more for my teammates and for my coaches. They all worked so hard to get me here and I felt like I owed it to them to bring this award back to Beaumont.

"I had the honor of running behind a great offensive line. They never seem to get the credit they deserve for the work they do. My job is made easy because of them, and yet I'm here tonight. I felt like I owed this coaching staff. They saw something in me when no one else was willing to take a chance on me," added Harrington.

Harrington recorded one of the more special seasons in the history of NCAA Division I football when he became just the seventh back ever to rush for 2,000 yards in only 10 games, joining a list that includes Barry Sanders and Marcus Allen. By year's end, Harrington led the nation in total rush yards (2,092), rushing yards per game (190.2 ypg), rushing touchdowns (21), all-purpose yards (213.36 ypg), finished second in scoring (12.5 ppg) and third nationally in yards per carry (7.86 ypc).

A unanimous first-team All-America selection, Harrington set numerous school and conference records throughout the season. The school's all-time leading rusher - with another year of eligibility remaining - Harrington set the Southland single-season and single-game records for rushing yards this year.

In addition to the conference records set in 2015, Harrington became the first back in program history to rush for at least 100 yards in eight consecutive games. During that stretch, Harrington recorded six games of at least 200 yards - including a conference record 347 against Abilene Christian.

A big-play threat every time he touched the ball, Harrington recorded 63 rushes of at least 10 yards on the season. He also recorded eight runs of 50 yards and three of at least 70, including a season long of 80. He also posted touchdown catches of 77 and 29 yards on the year.

"There are a lot of great players across the country, and Kade is one of them," said LU head coach Ray Woodard. "He had an outstanding year and we are all very proud of him. I hope everyone associated with our program that had the chance to see Kade compete this year understood how special of a season it was. I'm so glad I had the best seat in the house to watch him."

Harrington closed out the season by becoming the first player in program history to earn Southland Player of the Year honors, just two seasons after becoming the first LU player to receive the SLC Freshman of the Year recognition.