Fannin breaks the record previously belonging to Texas Tech TE Jace Amaro from 2013.
Records were made to be broken, and two of the most important ones for a certain position were shattered in Mobile, AL on Thursday night.
Bowling Green tight end Harold Fannin Jr. now stands alone on a historic mountain. In the 2024 68 Ventures Bowl, Fannin shattered the record for most receptions and receiving yards by a tight end in a single season.
Fannin entered the game with 1,342 yards — 10 short of the 2013 record set by Texas Tech Jace Amaro. On a 23-yard delivery from quarterback Connor Bazelak in the first quarter, Fannin set his season total at 1,370 yards to pass Amaro and claim the single greatest season in history by any player at the position.
In the third quarter, Fannin set another major collegiate record. With his 12th reception of the game and 112th of the season, he broke the single-season tight end receptions record. The previous holder was Rice tight end James Casey who hauled in 111 catches in 2008.
Fannin became Bowling Green’s first-ever consensus All-American in the weeks leading up the 68 Ventures Bowl, and the junior from Canton, OH further solidified his spot as one of the all-time great college football tight ends in possibly his final collegiate game. He recorded 125+ receiving yards in seven games during the regular season and entered Bowl Season as one of two FBS players with 100 receptions.
Fannin also became the 2024 FBS leader in receiving yards during the contest, claiming the No. 1 spot from San Jose State wide receiver Nick Nash. By winning the Vern Smith Leadership Award from the Mid-American Conference, Fannin became the first tight end ever to win a conference MVP and joined former Rutgers tight end Marco Battaglia (1995) as the only tight ends to win a conference’s Offensive Player of the Year award. The Bowling Green star can make further tight end history if he maintains his spot as the FBS leader in receiving yards, becoming the first player at the position to do so.