NOTE: CollegeFootballPoll.com's Dave Congrove is a voting member of the Maxwell and Bednarik Awards
Each week during the 2020 season the Maxwell Football Club recognizes outstanding individual performances with two weekly awards. The Maxwell Award Player of the Week will honor overall performance on offense, defense or special teams, and the Chuck Bednarik Award Player of the Week will honor outstanding defensive play. Players selected do not have to be represented on the Maxwell or Bednarik Award watch lists.
Max Johnson, QB, LSU
Florida’s Kyle Trask is setting records this year in Gainesville but Johnson outplayed him Saturday night… in Gainesville… as a true freshman… making his first career start. Considering the circumstances, the 6-5 lefty displayed tremendous poise while making a case to pilot the offense in 2021. Johnson helped engineer an upset of the No. 6 Gators, rushing for 52 yards and completing 21-of-36 for 239 yards, three touchdowns and no turnovers. His outstanding effort on hostile turf earned him Maxwell Award POW honors.
Talanoa Hufanga - S – USC
It has not been easy, but Troy keeps finding ways to avoid its first loss of 2020. The 5-0 Trojans came back to beat rival UCLA Saturday night for their third win of five points or less. QB Kedon Slovis once again played big late, while Hufanga hammered the Bruins for a second straight year. The junior had 17 stops, including two for loss, a forced fumble and a pick that would have been a pick-six had it not been for an illegal block. His monster performance earned him the nod as Chuck Bednarik award POW.