Chuba Hubbard, a running back from Sherwood Park, Alta., reached another milestone in his NCAA football career on Friday despite Texas A & M beating him and his Oklahoma State University teammates 24-21 in the Texas Bowl.
Hubbard rushed for 158 yards on 19 carries to finish the season with 2,094 yards rushing. He became just the second player at Oklahoma State to reach 2,000 yards in a season. The other player to do so was Hall of Famer Barry Sanders who accomplished the feat in 1988, the year he won the Heisman Trophy which is handed to the most outstanding player in NCAA football.
On Friday night, Sanders offered his congratulations to Hubbard on reaching the 2,000-yard club in the form of a tweet, writing that he knows “the team effort it takes to get there.”
Hubbard’s second season in the NCAA saw him emerge as a force to be reckoned with. Earlier this month, he became the 10th player in his university’s history to earn unanimous All-America honors.
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The 20-year-old player, who played high school football at Sherwood Park’s Bev Facey Community High School, was also named The Associated Press’ Big 12 offensive player of the year.
Shortly before Christmas, Hubbard returned to Alberta to visit friends and family and the Edmonton Oilers recognized his success by having him take part in a ceremonial faceoff ahead of a game against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
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Hubbard’s future with the Oklahoma State University Cowboys is unclear. The team will now wait to see if he will return for his junior season or choose to enter the NFL draft.
Hubbard has said he will make a decision about whether to enter the NFL draft sometime after Friday’s bowl game.
–With files from The Associated Press’ Kristie Rieken