July 16, 2014

2014 Davey O'Brien Award Watch List

FORT WORTH, Texas – Ole Miss’ Bo Wallace (Pulaski, Tennessee) has been named to the 2014 Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award® Watch List, the Davey O’Brien Foundation announced Wednesday.

This year’s list of the nation’s top returning quarterbacks, which was compiled by a subset of the Davey O’Brien National Selection Committee, was selected based on player performance during the previous year and expectations heading into the 2014 college football season.

This is the second preseason watch list for Wallace, who was included on the Maxwell Award’s list last week.

Entering his third season as the Rebels’ starting quarterback, Wallace ranks second in school history in total offense (7,085 yards) and passing (6,340 yards) and first in passing efficiency (140.2) and completion percentage (64.3). He is the SEC’s top returning passer after throwing for 3.346 yards last year (second-most in the league behind Texas A&M’s Johnny Manziel). He has claimed bowl game MVP honors each of the last two seasons and has also been named preseason All-SEC by Phil Steele, Athlon and Lindy’s.

Jameis Winston of Florida State, the 2013 Davey O’Brien winner, is bidding to become the fourth quarterback ever to win the award twice, joining BYU’s Ty Detmer (1990-91), Florida’s Danny Wuerffel (1995-96) and Oklahoma’s Jason White (2003-04).

Nearly half (19 of 39) of the players on the watch list are seniors. Thirteen juniors and seven sophomores round out the contingent. Among conferences, the Pac-12 leads the way with eight signal callers on the list. The Big Ten, Big 12 and SEC are all represented by five players.

Appearing on the Watch List is not a requirement for a player to win the Davey O’Brien Award. Quarterbacks from all 125 NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) schools are eligible for the award until the field is narrowed to 16 semifinalists on Monday, Nov. 3. The Foundation and the Selection Committee will announce three finalists on Monday, Nov. 24. The 2014 Davey O’Brien winner will be announced on The Home Depot College Football Awards on Thursday, Dec. 11.

Previous winners include: Jim McMahon (BYU, 1981), Todd Blackledge (Penn State, 1982), Steve Young (BYU, 1983), Doug Flutie (Boston College, 1984), Chuck Long (Iowa, 1985), Vinny Testaverde (Miami, 1986), Don McPherson (Syracuse, 1987), Troy Aikman (UCLA, 1988), Andre Ware (Houston, 1989), Ty Detmer (BYU, 1990-91), Gino Torretta (Miami, 1992), Charlie Ward (Florida State, 1993), Kerry Collins (Penn State, 1994), Danny Wuerffel (Florida, 1995-96), Peyton Manning (Tennessee, 1997), Michael Bishop (Kansas State, 1998), Joe Hamilton (Georgia Tech, 1999), Chris Weinke (Florida State, 2000), Eric Crouch (Nebraska, 2001), Brad Banks (Iowa, 2002), Jason White (Oklahoma, 2003-04), Vince Young (Texas, 2005), Troy Smith (Ohio State, 2006), Tim Tebow (Florida, 2007), Sam Bradford (Oklahoma, 2008), Colt McCoy (Texas, 2009), Cam Newton (Auburn, 2010), Robert Griffin III (Baylor, 2011), Johnny Manziel (Texas A&M, 2012) and Jameis Winston (Florida State, 2013).

The 38th Annual Davey O’Brien Awards Dinner will be held Monday, Feb. 16, 2015, in Fort Worth, Texas.

About the Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award®
The Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award is presented annually to the nation’s best college quarterback and is the oldest and most prestigious national quarterback award. The Davey O’Brien Award honors candidates who exemplify Davey O’Brien’s enduring character while exhibiting teamwork, sportsmanship and leadership in both academics and athletics. The award is overseen by the Davey O’Brien Foundation, which is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, and has given away more than $900,000 in scholarships and university grants to help high school and college athletes transform leadership on the field into leadership in life. For more information, visit www.DaveyOBrien.org.

About the National College Football Awards Association
The Davey O’Brien Award is a member of the National College Football Awards Association (NCFAA) which encompasses the most prestigious awards in college football. The 21 awards boast 678 years of tradition-selection excellence. Visit www.NCFAA.org to learn more about our story.

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Rebels on 2014 award watch lists:
Serderius Bryant – CFPA Linebacker Trophy
Evan Engram – Mackey Award, CFPA Tight End Trophy
Robert Nkemdiche - Nagurski Trophy, Outland Trophy, Lombardi Award
Cody Prewitt - Bednarik Award, Nagurski Trophy, Thorpe Award, CFPA Defensive Back Trophy
Deterrian Shackelford - Lott IMPACT Trophy
Laquon Treadwell – Biletnikoff Award, CFPA Wide Receiver Trophy
Laremy Tunsil – Outland Trophy
Bo Wallace - Maxwell Award, O’Brien Award, CFPA Quarterback Trophy