Bowling Green State University Athletics
Johnson Named To O'Brien Watch List
July 16, 2014 | Football
Davey O'Brien Award honors Nation's top quarterback
FORT WORTH, Texas – The Davey O'Brien Foundation announced the 2014 Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award® Watch List today, a group that includes 39 of the nation's top college quarterbacks. Among those listed is Bowling Green redshirt junior quarterback Matt Johnson. Johnson is the only Mid-American Conference quarterback to be named to the list.
This year's list, 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. All nominees were required to have started at least one college game previously.
Johnson started the final 13 games for Bowling Green last season, leading them to their first Mid-American Conference Championship since 1992. In that MAC Championship Game, Johnson threw for a career-high 393 yards and a MAC Championship Game record five touchdowns. Johnson passed for 3,467 yards and 25 touchdowns in 2013.
The signal caller finished the 2013 season inside the top 10 in school history for single-season passing yards (4th – 3,467), touchdown passes (6th – 25), yards per completion (4th – 14.6), completions (9th – 237), and completion percentage (t5th – 64.2). He was named MAC Player of the Week three times.
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.
2014 Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award® Watch List
Anthony Boone (Duke, Senior)
Terrance Broadway (Louisiana, Senior)
Shane Carden (East Carolina, Senior)
Rakeem Cato (Marshall, Senior)
Connor Cook (Michigan State, Junior)
Jeff Driskel (Florida, Junior)
Cody Fajardo (Nevada, Senior)
Devin Gardner (Michigan, Senior)
Jared Goff (California, Sophomore)
Everett Golson (Notre Dame, Junior)
Garrett Grayson (Colorado State, Senior)
Christian Hackenberg (Penn State, Sophomore)
Connor Halliday (Washington State, Senior)
Grant Hedrick (Boise State, Senior)
Taylor Heinicke (Old Dominion, Senior)
Taysom Hill (BYU, Junior)
Kevin Hogan (Stanford, Junior)
Brett Hundley (UCLA, Junior)
Matt Johnson (Bowling Green, Junior)
Chuckie Keeton (Utah State, Senior)
Taylor Kelly (Arizona State, Senior)
Cody Kessler (USC, Junior)
Trevor Knight (Oklahoma, Sophomore)
Sean Mannion (Oregon State, Senior)
Marcus Mariota (Oregon, Junior)
Nick Marshall (Auburn, Senior)
Hutson Mason (Georgia, Senior)
Braxton Miller (Ohio State, Senior)
John O'Korn (Houston, Sophomore)
Bryce Petty (Baylor, Senior)
Dak Prescott (Mississippi State, Junior)
Keenan Reynolds (Navy, Junior)
Joel Stave (Wisconsin, Junior)
P.J. Walker (Temple, Sophomore)
Bo Wallace (Ole Miss, Senior)
J.W. Walsh (Oklahoma State, Junior)
Jake Waters (Kansas State, Senior)
Davis Webb (Texas Tech, Sophomore)
Jameis Winston (Florida State, Sophomore)
By Conference: Pac-12 (8), Big Ten (5), Big 12 (5), SEC (5), Mountain West (4), American Athletic (3), Independents (3), ACC (2), Conference USA (2), Mid-American (1), Sun Belt (1).
By Class: Senior (19), Junior (13), Sophomore (7).
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.
The members of the NCFAA are unveiling their preseason watch lists over a 12-day period this month. Fifteen of the association's 21 awards select a preseason watch list and the NCFAA has spearheaded a coordinated effort to promote each award's preseason candidates.
This year's list, 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. All nominees were required to have started at least one college game previously.
Johnson started the final 13 games for Bowling Green last season, leading them to their first Mid-American Conference Championship since 1992. In that MAC Championship Game, Johnson threw for a career-high 393 yards and a MAC Championship Game record five touchdowns. Johnson passed for 3,467 yards and 25 touchdowns in 2013.
The signal caller finished the 2013 season inside the top 10 in school history for single-season passing yards (4th – 3,467), touchdown passes (6th – 25), yards per completion (4th – 14.6), completions (9th – 237), and completion percentage (t5th – 64.2). He was named MAC Player of the Week three times.
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.
2014 Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award® Watch List
Anthony Boone (Duke, Senior)
Terrance Broadway (Louisiana, Senior)
Shane Carden (East Carolina, Senior)
Rakeem Cato (Marshall, Senior)
Connor Cook (Michigan State, Junior)
Jeff Driskel (Florida, Junior)
Cody Fajardo (Nevada, Senior)
Devin Gardner (Michigan, Senior)
Jared Goff (California, Sophomore)
Everett Golson (Notre Dame, Junior)
Garrett Grayson (Colorado State, Senior)
Christian Hackenberg (Penn State, Sophomore)
Connor Halliday (Washington State, Senior)
Grant Hedrick (Boise State, Senior)
Taylor Heinicke (Old Dominion, Senior)
Taysom Hill (BYU, Junior)
Kevin Hogan (Stanford, Junior)
Brett Hundley (UCLA, Junior)
Matt Johnson (Bowling Green, Junior)
Chuckie Keeton (Utah State, Senior)
Taylor Kelly (Arizona State, Senior)
Cody Kessler (USC, Junior)
Trevor Knight (Oklahoma, Sophomore)
Sean Mannion (Oregon State, Senior)
Marcus Mariota (Oregon, Junior)
Nick Marshall (Auburn, Senior)
Hutson Mason (Georgia, Senior)
Braxton Miller (Ohio State, Senior)
John O'Korn (Houston, Sophomore)
Bryce Petty (Baylor, Senior)
Dak Prescott (Mississippi State, Junior)
Keenan Reynolds (Navy, Junior)
Joel Stave (Wisconsin, Junior)
P.J. Walker (Temple, Sophomore)
Bo Wallace (Ole Miss, Senior)
J.W. Walsh (Oklahoma State, Junior)
Jake Waters (Kansas State, Senior)
Davis Webb (Texas Tech, Sophomore)
Jameis Winston (Florida State, Sophomore)
By Conference: Pac-12 (8), Big Ten (5), Big 12 (5), SEC (5), Mountain West (4), American Athletic (3), Independents (3), ACC (2), Conference USA (2), Mid-American (1), Sun Belt (1).
By Class: Senior (19), Junior (13), Sophomore (7).
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.
The members of the NCFAA are unveiling their preseason watch lists over a 12-day period this month. Fifteen of the association's 21 awards select a preseason watch list and the NCFAA has spearheaded a coordinated effort to promote each award's preseason candidates.
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