BEAUMONT, Texas – The recent decisions to cancel the remainder of the 2020 spring athletics schedule has left a void for sports fans across the country. LamarCardinals.com thought it would be a great time to take a look back at some of the great moments, athletes and coaches that have help Lamar University stand out in the competition arena. Over the course of the coming days and weeks, LamarCardinals.com will be posting stories – in no particular order – reliving some of these great moments.
KADE HARRINGTON
There are times in sports when fans witness accomplishments by teams or individuals and they realize this may be a once in a lifetime experience. Former LU running back Kade Harrington's junior season provided one of those moments. A marginally recruited, often overlooked football player who spent the majority of his first two seasons hampered by injury, no one could have guessed the heights Harrington would rise to in 2015.
Standing a generous 5-9, Harrington was overlooked by every NCAA Division I school – both FBS and FCS – other than Lamar University. Harrington's first two seasons were hampered by injuries but he still managed to rush for more than 1,400 yards and set an LU freshman rushing record despite being hurt. Entering 2015, Harrington was finally healthy and he began his onslaught on the LU, SLC and NCAA record books.
Harrington took center stage when he led the Cardinals to Huntsville, Texas to take on nationally ranked Sam Houston State. Harrington rushed for 230 yards, 313 yards all-purpose yards and three touchdowns to be named STATS FCS Offensive Player of the Week. Two weeks later, Harrington would set an LU and Southland Conference rushing record with 347 yards against Abilene Christian. It would be one of seven games that saw Harrington rush for at least 200 yards in a single game. He missed an eighth game by just one yard.
Harrington finished the year setting single-game school records for rushing yards and points, the LU single-season record for consecutive 100-yard rushing performances, rushing yards and became the school's all-time rushing leader. Harrington eclipsed the 2,000-yard mark for the season at Incarnate Word – LU's 10th game of the season – becoming just the seventh player in NCAA Division I history to rush for 2,000 yards in just 10 games.
Harrington ended the 2015 season with 266 carries for 2,092 yards (7.9 ypc) and 21 rushing touchdowns. He averaged 190.2 rushing yards per game. His 2,092 rushing yards were the eighth-best single-season mark in NCAA FCS (formerly I-AA) history.
A 2015 consensus All-American, Harrington led the nation in all-purpose yards per game, total rushing yards, rush yards per game and rushing touchdowns. He also finished the season ranked among the nation's top three in points per game (2nd) and yards per carry (3rd) and was a three-time Southland Conference Offensive Player of the Week and a two-time STATS FCS National Offensive Player of the Week.
Harrington recorded 63 runs of at least 10 yards during the 2015 campaign and eight of 50 or more, including three 70-plus yard scampers. He was named SLC Player of the Year and named to six All-America squads. His accomplishments on the field put him in the running for the Walter Payton Award – FCS football's version of the Heisman Trophy – but Harrington came in second in one of the closest votes in award history.
Although he didn't receive FCS football's most prestigious award, Harrington left Cardinal fans with a lifetime of memories – big-time success for a program that was just in its sixth season back on the gridiron.
Continue to check back to LamarCardinals.com for moment great moments in Cardinals history.
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