MEMPHIS, Tenn. — University of Memphis junior quarterback Paxton Lynch has been named a semifinalist for the 79th Maxwell Award for the Collegiate Player of the Year and the Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award.
Committees for both awards announced semifinalists for their respective awards on Monday.
Through eight games, Lynch has completed 200-of-285 passes for 2,709 yards and 18 touchdowns in leading the Tigers to an 8-0 record and a No. 15 national ranking. Lynch’s 2,709 passing yards ranks 10th in NCAA FBS Football. His .702 completion percentage ranks sixth. In terms of passing yards per game, Lynch is averaging 338.6 yards per game which ranks seventh in FBS Football.
With 291 more passing yards, Lynch can record just the fourth, 3,000-yard passing season in school history. He would become the only player to pas for 3,000 yards in multiple seasons at Memphis.
Over his career, Lynch has thrown for 300+ yards 11 times including the team’s last seven games. He has thrown at least one touchdown pass in each of Memphis’ last 13 games, dating back to the final five games of the 2014 season.
After tabulating the results of the Davey O’Brien National Selection Committee’s ballots as well as the more than 2.5 million votes cast courtesy of the award’s fan vote, the semifinalists for the Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award was determined.
The Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award is presented annually to the best college quarterback, and is the nation’s oldest and most prestigious national quarterback award.
The 2105 semifinalists, in alphabetical order, are: Trevone Boykin (TCU), Connor Cook (Michigan State), Brandon Doughty (Western Kentucky), Luke Falk (Washington State), Jared Goff (California), Kevin Hogan (Stanford), Matt Johnson (Bowling Green), Cody Kessler (USC), Paxton Lynch (Memphis), Patrick Mahomes (Texas Tech), Baker Mayfield (Oklahoma), Dak Prescott (Mississippi State), Keenan Reynolds (Navy), Josh Rosen (UCLA), Seth Russell (Baylor), Greg Ward Jr. (Houston) and Deshaun Watson (Clemson).
In all, 17 names appear on the semifinalist list, but 16 will be eligible to win the Davey O’Brien Award. Russell was voted into the semifinalist group, but will miss the remainder of the season because of injury. Foundation guidelines allow for an injured player to be honored as a semifinalist and the quarterback with the next highest vote total also included.
The collection of semifinalists is comprised of eight seniors, five juniors, three sophomores and one freshman. The 17 teams own a combined record of 112-24 (.824) this season.
Three players-Boykin, Cook and Prescott-are semifinalists for the second consecutive year. Boykin and Prescott both became finalists in 2014. In addition, 10 were named to the 2015 preseason watch list: Boykin, Cook, Doughty, Goff, Hogan, Kessler, Lynch, Prescott, Reynolds and Watson.
Schools from eight conference affiliations (American, ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, C-USA, MAC, Pac-12 and SEC) make up the list. Three leagues have multiple honorees, led by the Pac-12 with five. The Big 12 (four) and the American (three) are next.
After clearing the first round totals, the fan vote at VoteOBrien.org will reopen Tuesday, Nov. 3 and remain open until noon (CT) on Sunday, Nov. 22, for the second round of balloting. Fans are invited to cast their vote for the nation’s best college quarterback as often as they wish.
The Fan Vote counts as five percent during each round of the voting process, and is combined with the results from the Davey O’Brien National Selection Committee, which is comprised of journalists, broadcasters, commentators and former winners.
In conjunction with ESPN, the Davey O’Brien Foundation and the Selection Committee will release the names of the three finalists on Tuesday, Nov. 24. The 2015 Davey O’Brien winner will be announced live on The Home Depot College Football Awards Thursday, Dec. 10.
Maxwell Football Club President, Ron Jaworski, announced the 2015 semifinalists for the 79th Maxwell Award for the Collegiate Player of the Year and the 21st Chuck Bednarik Award for the Outstanding College Defensive Player of the Year. The respective lists include a field of 20 candidates for the Maxwell and Bednarik Awards, as selected by the Maxwell Football Club National Selection Committee.
A strong field of Maxwell Award semifinalists includes a representative from every Power Five conference. Quarterbacks Trevone Boykin (TCU) and Dak Prescott (Mississippi State) are repeat semifinalists from 2014 and Prescott was a Maxwell Award finalist last season.
In addition to Lynch, Boykin and Prescott, the Maxwell Award semifinalists are running backs Devonte Booker (Utah), Dalvin Cook (Florida State), Ezekiel Elliott (Ohio State), Leonard Fournette (LSU), Royce Freeman (Oregon), Derrick Henry (Alabama), Christian McCaffrey (Stanford) and C.J. Proisise (Notre Dame); wide receivers Corey Coleman (Baylor) and Josh Doctson (TCU) and quarterbacks Connor Cook (Michigan State), Brandon Doughty (Western Kentucky), Cody Kessler (USC), Baker Mayfield (Oklahoma), Kennan Reynolds (Navy), Greg Ward Jr. (Houston) and Deshaun Watson (Clemson).
On the defensive side of the ball, the field of contenders is comprised of fresh faces, 16 of whom are making their debuts as Bednarik Award semifinalists. Defensive ends Joey Bosa (Ohio State) and Shilique Calhoun (Michigan State) join cornerback Vernon Hargreaves III (Florida) and linebacker Jaylon Smith (Notre Dame) as repeat semifinalists from a season ago.
Last season, the Maxwell Award went to Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota, while the Bednarik Award was earned by linebacker Scooby Wright of Arizona. This was the first time an Oregon player took home the Maxwell Award, and the first time that Arizona captured the Bednarik Award. Mariota is now the starting quarterback for the Tennessee Titans and Wright is a junior at Arizona who is sidelined this fall with a knee injury.
The winners of the 79th Maxwell Award and the 21st Chuck Bednarik Award will also be announced as part of The Home Depot College Football Awards on ESPN on Dec. 10 from the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta. Three finalists for each award will be announced on Nov. 24, 2015 and a second round of voting will take place at that time.
The formal presentation of these awards will be made at the Maxwell Football Club’s 79th Awards Gala on Friday, March 11, 2016 at the Tropicana Resort & Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Semifinalist voting for both of the collegiate awards presented by the Maxwell Football Club will begin on Thursday, November 5th and close on Sunday November 22nd. Eligible voters include Maxwell Football Club members, NCAA Head Football Coaches, Sports Information Directors and selected national media. All Semifinalists are listed in alphabetical order with the player’s school, position and class designated.
