NOTRE DAME, Indiana — University of Notre Dame graduate student quarterback Ian Book has been selected to the 2020 Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award Watch List.
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.
A 2019 team captain and Notre Dame Offensive Player of the Year, Book was named to the Davey O’Brien Award Great 8 List three times and the Manning Star of the Week twice last season. He finished the season 240-for-399 with 3,034 yards and 34 touchdowns, throwing just six interceptions. He also ran 112 times for 546 yards and four touchdowns.
With his 2019 performance, Book became the first quarterback in Notre Dame history with at least 2,500 passing yards, 500 rushing yards and 30 TD passes in a season. Oklahoma’s Jalen Hurts was the only other FBS quarterback to reach those milestones in 2019. He had five games on the year with four or more passing TDs, the most in a Notre Dame football season, and was the first Irish quarterback ever to have multiple games with five touchdown passes in the same season (vs. New Mexico, Bowling Green and Navy in 2019) — not to mention becoming the first quarterback in Irish history to throw five touchdown passes in a singular half vs. Bowling Green.
Sixteen semifinalists selected from the final watch list will be named on Tuesday, Nov. 10. The Foundation will announce the three finalists two weeks later (Tuesday, Nov. 24). The 2020 Davey O’Brien Award winner will be unveiled live on ESPN Thursday, Dec. 10, during The Home Depot College Football Awards.
The 44th Annual Davey O’Brien Awards Dinner is scheduled for Monday, Feb. 15, 2021, 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. Headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, the Davey O’Brien Foundation has awarded more than $1 million 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.
Previous Davey O’Brien Award 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), Jameis Winston (Florida State, 2013), Marcus Mariota (Oregon, 2014), Deshaun Watson (Clemson, 2015-16), Baker Mayfield (Oklahoma, 2017), Kyler Murray (Oklahoma, 2018) and Joe Burrow (LSU, 2019).
About the National College Football Awards Association
The O’Brien Award is a member of the National College Football Awards Association (NCFAA), which encompasses the most prestigious awards in college football. Founded in 1997, the NCFAA and its 25 awards now boast over 800 recipients, dating to 1935. Visit ncfaa.org to learn more about the association.
The members of the National College Football Awards Association (NCFAA) are unveiling their preseason watch lists over a 12-day period this month. Seventeen of the association’s 25 awards select a preseason watch list, and the NCFAA has spearheaded a coordinated effort to promote each award’s preseason candidates. Following is the complete 2020 preseason watch list calendar:
Monday July 13: Chuck Bednarik Award (Kyle Hamilton, Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah)
Tuesday July 14: Davey O’Brien Award (Ian Book)
Wednesday July 15: Doak Walker Award
Thursday July 16: Biletnikoff Award
Friday July 17: Mackey Award
Monday July 20: Jim Thorpe Award
Tuesday July 21: Outland Trophy & Nagurski Award
Wednesday July 22: Groza Award & Ray Guy Award
Thursday July 23: Hornung Award & Wuerffel Trophy
Friday July 24: Maxwell Award