Award Watch Lists Take On New Shape With Outstanding September Performances

September 27, 2019 by Compiled by Scott Farrell of collegepressbox.com

With September nearly in the books, the nation's top awards have seen additions to their preseason watch lists.

NOTE: CollegeFootballPoll.com's Dave Congrove has a vote in many of these awards, and is a member of the nominating committee for several more.

Bednarik Award – Nation’s defensive player of the year (Next key date: Semifinalists named Tues., Oct. 29)
Auburn DT Derrick Brown (Sugar Hill, Ga.) returned from an injury to post three tackles for loss, two sacks, two pass breakups, a forced fumble and four tackles in a 28-20 win at Texas A&M and earn the award’s Player of the Week. The senior is first Auburn player since 2012 to record a sack, tackle for loss, forced fumble and pass breakup in one game.

Biletnikoff Award – Nation’s outstanding receiver regardless of position (Next key date: Semifinalists announced Mon., Nov. 18)
Texas WR Devin Duvernay (Sachse, Texas) was one of eight players added to the watch list following a second 12-reception game (12 rec., 108 yds., TD) against Oklahoma State. Duvernay leads the nation with both 39 receptions and 9.8 receptions per game and is the only WR in the nation with two 12-catch games. Also added was LSU WR Ja’Marr Chase coming off his 10-229-4 TD day at Vanderbilt, the FBS’ second-highest single-game total this season, and Washington State WR Easop Winston Jr., the nation’s current TD leader with eight.

Bronko Nagurski Trophy – Nation’s top defensive player (Next key date: Finalists named Wed., Nov. 20)
The Player of the Week had a historic effort for Appalachian State in its 34-31 win at North Carolina. Defensive end Demetrius Taylor (Miami, Fla.) became the first FBS player this millennium to have 2.5 sacks, two forced fumbles, a fumble return for a touchdown and an interception in the same game. Taylor is in the top 10 nationally in forced fumbles per game (1st, 1.0), tackles for loss per game (4th, 2.0) and sacks per game (8th, 1.17).

Burlsworth Trophy – Most outstanding player who began his career as a walk-on (Next key date: Semifinalists named Tues., Nov. 12)
The best walk-on story of the season so far is Nevada kicker Brandon Talton (Vacaville, Calif.), who nailed a 56-yard field goal to give the Wolf Pack a 34-31 comeback win over Purdue on Aug. 30. Talton was a walk-on freshman who earned the starting job over a fifth-year senior and also made a 35-yarder to tie the score with 52 seconds left. Nevada coach Jay Norvell awarded Talton a scholarship in the post-game locker room which was caught on a video that went viral.

Butkus Award – Nation’s best linebacker (Next key date: Semifinalists named Mon., Nov. 4)
Cal LB Evan Weaver (Spokane, Wash.) is more than one full tackle per game (15.8) ahead of the No. 2 position in this week’s statistics. The senior is 1.1 tackles per game ahead of San Jose State’s Ethan Aguayo (14.7) and only TCU’s Garrett Wallow is averaging as many as 14.0 per game. Weaver’s 40 tackles also lead the nation by 10 tackles.

Davey O’Brien Award – Nation’s best Quarterback (Next key date: Semifinalists named Wed., Nov. 13)
Washington State’s Anthony Gordon (Pacifica, Calif.) padded his national lead with a 9-TD game despite last week’s 67-63 loss to UCLA, setting new WSU and Pac-12 records. Gordon leads the nation in passing touchdowns (21), passing yards (1,894, after 570 yards against UCLA) and yards per game (473.5 ypg). He is tied for national lead with 7 passing TD’s when making throws of 20-plus yards. This is Gordon’s fourth year at WSU having played in only three games in 2018, completing 3-of-5 passes for 17 yards.

Doak Walker Award – Nation’s premier Running Back (Next key date: Semifinalists named Wed., Nov. 20)
Who has carried the ball the most times this season? It’s Chuba Hubbard of Oklahoma State, who has 103 carries in four games. The redshirt sophomore from Alberta, Canada, is the current FBS leader in rushing yards (642), rushing touchdowns (9) and rushing yards per game (160.5) and is second in total touchdowns (9) and third in all-purpose yards (174.5). He averages 6.23 yards per carry, 36th nationally. Hubbard owns two of the five top single-game rushing performances to date this season.

Heisman Trophy – Nation’s most outstanding player (Next key date: Finalists announced. Dec. 9)
The Nissan Heisman House Tour is at Nebraska this week with appearances by former Huskers winners Johnny Rodgers and Eric Crouch. The House is off the road on Sat., Oct. 5, but will return Sat., Oct. 12, at Notre Dame when the Irish host USC.

John Mackey Award – Nation’s most outstanding tight end    Next key date: Semifinalists announced Mon., Nov. 18)
Cole Kmet of Notre Dame won the Tight End of the Week award after posting a career-best game despite a loss at Georgia. In his first game since returning from injury, the junior from Lake Barrington, Ill., got his first catch of 2019 on the Irish’s first play, and ended up leading the Irish in receiving and tied the program record for catches by a tight end in a single game with nine, breaking Ken MacAfee’s record vs. Purdue in 1977.

Lou Groza Award – Nation’s top placekicker (Next key date: Semifinalists announced Thu., Nov. 7)
Two of the Big Ten’s top kickers own four of the 14 longest field goals this season. Illinois junior James McCourt (Parkland, Fla.) booted a 57-yarder against Eastern Michigan on Sept. 14, and Penn State sophomore Jordan Stout (Cedar Bluff, Va.) matched it later that day against Pitt – two of the three national-best 57-yarders this season. McCourt’s 57-yarder broke the Illini record, and he also had a 53-yarder against UConn.

Maxwell Award – Nation’s player of the year (Next key date: Semifinalists named Tue., Oct. 29)
Scoring every 6.4 times you touch the ball as a running back is, well, impressive. That’s what Wisconsin’s Jonathan Taylor (Salem, N.J.) is averaging after a 23-carry, 203-yard day last Saturday against Michigan to earn the award’s Player of the Week nod. The junior had 143 yards and two touchdowns in the first quarter alone and is the nation’s TD leader with 10.

Outland Trophy – Nation’s most outstanding interior lineman (Next key date: Semifinalists named Wed., Nov. 20)
Georgia’s pass protection in its 23-17 win over Notre Dame last Saturday stood out behind the efforts of left tackle Andrew Thomas (Lithonia, Ga.), left guard Solomon Kindley (Jacksonville, Fla.) and right tackle Isaiah Wilson (Brooklyn, N.Y.), each of them a watch list member. Together with Trey Hill and Cade Mays, they make up the bulkiest starting offensive line ever at Georgia – averaging 6-5 and 328.6 pounds – and have only allowed one sack this season for the 19th-best rushing offense in the country and second in the SEC.

Paul Hornung Award – Most versatile player in college football (Next key date: Finalists announced Thu., Nov. 14)
Southern Miss receiver and special teams player Jaylond Adams (Adamsville, Ala.) had a momentous opening to the 2019 season. The nation’s second-leading all-purpose player (199.0 ypg) returned the opening kickoff 89 yards for a touchdown against Alcorn State and later tallied an 80-yard score on a punt return to become USM’s first player with two special teams touchdown returns in the same game since the 1988 Independence Bowl. Adams leads the nation in kick-return average with 47.4 yards on five returns, second in punt return average at 25.0 on four punts and has 257 receiving yards.

Paycom Jim Thorpe Award – Nation’s best defensive back (Next key date: Semifinalists announced Mon., Oct. 21)
Eastern Michigan senior rover back Vince Calhoun (Middletown, Ohio) is currently the top tackler from the secondary with 31 total tackles and a 10.3 per-game average. The 31 tackles tie him for 18th nationally. Four players have three interceptions on the season to lead the FBS – Jace Whitaker of Arizona, Mikial Onu of Colorado, Chandler Kryst of Coastal Carolina and Daniel Brown of Nevada.

Ray Guy Award – Nation’s best punter (Next key date: Final candidates list announced Tue., Nov. 5)
Adam Korsak of Rutgers (Melbourne, Australia) won his second Ray Guy Award Punter of the Week award in four weeks after a 44.2-yard average against Boston College. The junior owns a string where 12 of his 16 punts this year have ended up inside the opponents’ 20-yard line. Korsak helped Rutgers to its best punt mark in school history at 40.1 yards in 2018 in his first season playing football at any level and set the school record with a 79-yarder against Northwestern.

Rimington Trophy – Nation’s premier center (Next key date: Finalists named Mon., Dec. 9)
Wisconsin leads the nation in time of possession at 37:13, or 60 percent more time than their opponents (22:47). Directing that offense is center Tyler Biadasz (Amherst, Wis.), the lone returning starter for the Badgers up front. Wisconsin is 12th nationally in rushing offense at 264.0 ypg and is seventh in third-down conversions (.564, 22 of 39). The Badgers were the first FBS team since South Carolina in 1980 to score at least 100 points and not allow a point in their first two games before last week’s 35-14 win over Michigan.

Walter Camp Award – Nation’s most outstanding player (Next key date: Semifinalists announced Thurs., Nov. 21)
Score 50 points in a half, and your offensive numbers should stand out. That’s the case for UCLA quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson (Las Vegas, Nev.), who set a career-best with 507 passing yards and five touchdowns as the Bruins erased a 32-point deficit to win 67-63 at Washington State. One of the bright spots for Virginia’s 4-0 start to the season has been linebacker Charles Snowden (Silver Springs, Md.), who made a career-best 15 tackles with 3.5 tackle for loss and two sacks in last week’s win over Old Dominion. Both were the awards’ offensive and defensive players of the week.

William V. Campbell Trophy – Nation’s premier scholar-athlete (Next key date: Finalists announced Wed., Oct. 30)
The National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame announced the 185 semifinalists for the William V. Campbell Trophy presented by Mazda. To view the full release and list of semifinalists, visit http://bit.ly/2019CampbellSemifinalists. This college football season, Mazda proudly launched its Power of Potential platform, a program developed to honor individuals making a difference, pushing to their potential and inspiring others. The platform kicked off with a three-year partnership with the award.

Wuerffel Trophy – Exemplary community service and acdemic achievement (Next key date: Semiinalists announced Tues., Nov. 5)
The Kentucky Wildcats, home of 2017 Wuerffel Trophy recipient Courtney Love, travel to Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia on Saturday for an SEC East matchup with South Carolina. Representing the Wuerffel Trophy on the field will be junior OL Landon Young for the Wildcats and junior LB Spencer Eason-Riddle for the Gamecocks.