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FORT WORTH, Texas – LSU senior Joe Burrow, Ohio State sophomore Justin Fields and Oklahoma senior Jalen Hurts have been selected as the three finalists for the 2019 Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award, the Davey O’Brien Foundation has announced.
After totaling the ballots from the Davey O’Brien National Selection Committee as well as fan votes recorded over the past two weeks at VoteOBrien.org, the 16 semifinalists were narrowed down to the trio of signal callers. All three are first-time finalists for the award.
On the year, Burrow has completed 291 of 369 passes for 4,014 yards and 41 touchdowns against six interceptions. He has added 239 rushing yards and three scores. His completion percentage (.789) leads the nation and is on pace to break the NCAA record.
The native of Athens, Ohio, ranks second in the country in passing yards, touchdown passes and passing efficiency (203.7). He also ranks third in points responsible for (266), total offense per game (386.6) and total quarterback rating (92.9).
Burrow has established single-season school records in completions, yards and touchdown passes. He has thrown for more than 300 yards in nine of 11 games this year and also has nine games with at least three passing touchdowns.
The Tigers are 11-0 and ranked No. 1 in both the Associated Press and Coaches Polls. Burrow’s LSU offense is tied for second nationally in scoring at 48.5 points per game. LSU has never had a Davey O’Brien National Quarterback winner, and had not had a finalist since 1987.
In his first season directing Ohio State, Fields has connected on 175 of 252 passes for 2,352 yards with 33 touchdowns against just one interception. He also has 445 yards on the ground and has scored 10 rushing touchdowns.
Nationally, Fields ranks second in quarterback rating (93.2), tied for third in passing touchdowns, fourth in passing efficiency (190.3) and fourth in points responsible for (258). He also is among the top 10 in completion percentage (9th, .694).
The native of Kennesaw, Ga., has totaled at least four touchdowns eight times on the year and has posted a total quarterback rating above 90.0 seven times. His 33-to-1 touchdown to interception ratio is the best in NCAA history.
The Buckeyes remain undefeated (11-0) and are listed second in the Associated Press and Coaches Polls. Ohio State is the highest scoring team in the country at 49.4 points per game. Troy Smith (2006) is the Buckeyes’ previous Davey O’Brien Award winner.
For the year, Hurts is 192-for-269 for 3,184 yards and 30 touchdowns with six interceptions. He also has rushed for 1,156 yards and 17 touchdowns, and his 47 total touchdowns are the most in the nation.
The Houston, Texas, product has accounted for four or more touchdowns in 10 of 11 games. He also has topped the 100-yard rushing mark five times and has passed for at least 250 yards on eight occasions.
Nationally, he ranks first in points responsible for (284), second in total offense (394.5) and third in passing efficiency (203.1). In addition, he is in the top 10 in quarterback rating (4th, 92.1), completion percentage (6th, .714), rushing touchdowns (6th), passing touchdowns (T-6th) and passing yards (9th).
Oklahoma sports a 10-1 overall record and is ranked seventh in both the AP and Coaches Polls. The Sooners lead the nation in yards per game (574.4) and yards per play (8.4). Oklahoma has had four previous players win the Davey O’Brien Award a total of five times–Jason White (2003, 2004), Sam Bradford (2008), Baker Mayfield (2017) and Kyler Murray (2018). In addition, this is the fifth straight season that Oklahoma has a Davey O’Brien finalist.
Burrow, Fields and Hurts were selected among the list of semifinalist contenders that also included Baylor’s Charlie Brewer, Shane Buechele of SMU, Texas’ Sam Ehlinger, Jake Fromm of Georgia, Washington State’s Anthony Gordon, Justin Herbert of Oregon, Utah’s Tyler Huntley, Trevor Lawrence of Clemson, Minnesota’s Tanner Morgan, Malcolm Perry of Navy, Iowa State’s Brock Purdy, Tua Tagovailoa of Alabama and Memphis’ Brady White.
The Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award is presented annually to the best college quarterback, and is the nation’s oldest and most prestigious national quarterback award.
The Davey O’Brien Fan Vote counts as five percent during each round of the voting process, and is combined with the results from the foundation’s national selection committee, which is comprised of journalists, broadcasters, commentators and former winners.
After clearing the first round totals, the fan vote at VoteOBrien.org has reopened and will remain open until 5 p.m. (CT) on Sunday, Dec. 8, for the final round of balloting. Fans are invited to cast their vote for the nation’s best college quarterback as often as once daily per email address.
The 2019 Davey O’Brien winner will be announced live on The Home Depot College Football Awards Thursday, Dec. 12. All three finalists will attend the festivities that day in Atlanta, Ga.
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), Jameis Winston (Florida State, 2013), Marcus Mariota (Oregon, 2014), Deshaun Watson (Clemson, 2015-16), Baker Mayfield (Oklahoma, 2017) and Kyler Murray (Oklahoma, 2018).
The 43rd Annual Davey O’Brien Awards Dinner will be held Monday, Feb. 17, 2020, at The Fort Worth Club in Fort Worth, Texas.