July 31, 2003
Fort Worth, Texas – Notre Dame senior quarterback Carlyle Holiday was named to 2003 Davey O’Brien Award preseason watch list announced last week. Holiday was one of 42 quarterbacks named to the list and appears on it for the first time in his career.
The Davey O’Brien Award is the oldest award in the country given annually to the nation’s top quarterback. It is named in honor of the late Davey O’Brien, an All-American and Heisman Trophy winning quarterback from Texas Christian University.
Last season, Holiday passed for 1,788 yards and 10 touchdowns, both career highs. He set a Notre Dame record for touchdown passes in a game with four against Rutgers last season and for consecutive pass attempts without an interception (126). He is also the first Irish quarterback to post three 100-yard rushing games in his career, as well as in a single season.
In November, the semifinalists will be announced and then narrowed to three finalists who will be named later in the month by the Davey O’Brien National Advisory Committee. The winner of the 2003 O’Brien Award will be announced on Dec. 11, at the ESPN College Football Awards Show in Orlando, Fla. The winner will also be honored at the 27th annual O’Brien Awards Dinner in February of 2004 at the Fort Worth Club in Fort Worth, Texas.