BY ADAM ZUVANICH l AVALANCHE-JOURNAL

Mike Crabtree and Graham Harrell, both injured in Texas Tech’s regular-season finale against Baylor on Saturday, aren’t expected to miss the Red Raiders’ bowl game.

According to Tech spokesman Chris Cook, they also would have been ready for Saturday’s Big 12 Conference championship game had the Red Raiders qualified. Tech finished in a three-way tie with Oklahoma and Texas for first place in the South Division, but the Sooners got the nod based on their No. 2 ranking in the BCS standings released Sunday.

Texas Tech quarterback Graham Harrell looks at his hand after being hit by Baylor's Nicolas Jean-Baptiste(right) and Vincent Rhodes during Saturdays game. Harrell was injured on the play had surgery Monday to repair two shattered fingers on his left non-throwing hand. (Zach Long/Lubbock Avalanche-Journal)

“Both of them would have played this weekend if we would have played,” Cook said Monday. “They’re not too severe.”

As The A-J first reported after Saturday’s game, a 35-28 victory for Tech, Harrell underwent surgery Sunday on his left (non-throwing) hand. ESPN.com, citing an unnamed source, reported Sunday night that Harrell had 17 pins and two plates inserted in his hand to repair nine separate breaks in his pinkie and ring fingers.

Cook confirmed the details of the ESPN report, which also said Harrell had X-rays taken at halftime and insisted on playing despite being advised by the Tech medical staff that he could not return.
Harrell, a senior who was injured during the second quarter, played the second half with the fingers wrapped in black tape and finished with 309 yards and two touchdowns passing as Tech rallied from a 14-point deficit.

“It’s further evidence on why he should get the Heisman (Trophy),” Tech coach Mike Leach told The Associated Press on Monday, “and to me it’s a no-brainer because I thought he should have gotten it last year.”

Harrell, who on Monday was named as a finalist for the Manning Award given to the nation’s top quarterback, is second in the nation with 4,747 passing yards. He’s thrown for 41 TDs with only seven interceptions.

Crabtree, a sophomore flanker with 1,135 yards and 18 TDs receiving, also was injured Saturday. He suffered an apparent right ankle sprain while making a leaping catch near the end zone midway through the second quarter and did not return.

Crabtree, who had been playing through a left ankle injury suffered in the Texas A&M game on Oct. 18, spent the second half on the sidelines wearing street clothes and a protective boot on his right foot.

Unlike Harrell, Cook said Crabtree’s injury would not require surgery.