College Football: Top 10 traditional option quarterbacks of all-time
7. Major Harris, West Virginia
Major Harris was the elite option quarterback in Morgantown, WV long before Pat White stepped foot on campus in Rich Rodriguez‘s shotgun triple option offense. When Major Harris was under center, he was dominant for the Mountaineers. Harris led West Virginia to twenty-five wins over three seasons, including an eleven win season in 1988. Eleven wins were the most in a season for the Mountaineers until 1993, both under coach Don Nehlen who gave way to Rich Rodriguez. Rodriguez won eleven games from 2005-2007 before taking the head football job at Michigan.
Harris finished the 1989 season third in Heisman Trophy voting and as an All-American. The 6-foot-1 Harris threw for 5,119 yards with forty-one touchdowns and twenty-six interceptions on 8.8 yards per passing attempt. He added another 2,058 yards on the ground with 18 touchdowns on five yards per carry as well. A member of the College Football Hall of Fame, Harris was drafted in the 12th round of the 1990 NFL Draft before playing in the NFL, CFL, and Arena Football League before retiring from playing the game.
Throwing for over 5,000 yards and rushing for over 2,000 yards in a career put Harris in the record books as he was the first to accomplish that feat. Pat White eventually pushed Harris out of the WVU record books by throwing for over 6,000 yards and rushing for over 4,000 yards and scoring 103 touchdowns on the ground and through the air.