Oct. 24, 2005
Junior QB Brady Quinn has been nominated for two player-of-the-week awards after his sterling performance against BYU on Saturday, Oct. 22. Quinn enjoyed possibly the finest day ever for a Notre Dame quarterback, completing 31 of 42 passes for 467 and a school-record six touchdown passes.
Since Monday, USA Today has selected its player of the week, Missour’s Brad Smith. Quinn earned the popular vote, with 43 percent of the site visitors voting for the Irish signalcaller, but Smith garnered the other two votes in the poll (from two different sports writers).
Quinn is a nominee for both the Cingular/ABC Sports All-American Player of the Week (nominated by ABC Sports and ESPN analysts) and the USA Today College Football Player of the Week.
Both winners will be determined by voting, which can be accessed at:
ABC Sports/Cingluar All-American voting
USA Today College Football Player of the Week Voting Closed
The official relese for the Cingular/ABC Sports All-America Player of the Week follows:
The national player of the week nominations are in and the polls are open. Fighting Irish fans can cast their votes for Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn for the Cingular Wireless/ABC Sports All-America Player of the Week, the only major college football honor determined exclusively by fans. Quinn was nominated for the award for the second time this season with 467 total yards, recording a school record of six touchdowns and a single-season touchdown record of 20 in the Irish’s 49-23 win over BYU.
Quinn is one of four candidates for the All-America Player of the Week, who are selected by a panel of ABC Sports and ESPN college football analysts. The other finalists are: University of Missouri quarterback Brad Smith, who was nominated for the first time in his career after passing for 234 yards and one touchdown and rushing for 246 yards and three touchdowns – making him only the sixth player in NCAA history to rush and pass for over 200 in a game – in the Tigers’ 41-24 win over Nebraska; UCLA quarterback Drew Olson, also set a school record with 6 passing touchdowns in the Bruins’ 51-28 victory over Oregon State; and University of Memphis running back DeAngelo Williams, who had a career-high of 39 carries, 226 yards and two touchdowns in the Tigers’ 27-24 win over East Carolina.
Previous Cingular/All-America Player of the Week winners this season include Georgia quarterback D.J. Shockley, Texas quarterback Vince Young, Texas A&M quarterback Reggie McNeal, Minnesota running back Laurence Maroney, Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn, and UCLA running back Maurice Drew.
Who will be this week’s winner now rests solely in the hands of college football fans nationwide. Fans have until Wednesday, October 26 at 11:59 p.m. EST to submit their votes via wireless text messaging.* The winner will be announced October 27 in the first half of the ESPN Thursday Night College Football Game between Boston College and Virginia Tech. Fans can learn more about this week’s nominees online at www.abcsportsallamerica.com or at www.cingularallamerica.com.
Here’s how fans can register to vote for the Cingular/ABC Sports All-America Player of the Week this week and every week throughout the 2005 season:
- Text “VOTE” to “87654” on yourwireless phone
- Follow the prompt to vote for your All-America selection
- Cingular/ABC Sports Player of the Week candidates will be automatically sent out via text messaging each week
Each time fans vote, they are entered into a sweepstakes to win a trip to the Bowl Championship Series game of their choice. Fans can vote as often as they like.
In December, fans will get a chance to say who the best player in the nation is by voting for the Cingular/ABC Sports All-America Player of the Year. The selection process will culminate in December in a one-hour special on ABC Sports when the Cingular/ABC Sports Player of the Year and the Football Writers Association of America All-America team will be announced. Last year, Texas running back and Chicago Bears first round draft pick Cedric Benson was selected by fans as the Player of the Year.