Handed out annually since 1937 to the nation’s top college football player, the Maxwell Award has become one of the most prestigious honors in the game.
Today, the Maxwell Football Club announced it 16 semifinalists for the 2010 award, featuring 12 quarterbacks, two running backs and two wide receivers. Nine of the past 10 awards have gone to quarterbacks, including last year’s winner Colt McCoy of Texas.
The Big 12 leads all conferences with five semifinalists, followed by the Big Ten with three, the WAC, Pac-10 and SEC with two apiece, and the Mountain West and ACC with one each. Oklahoma State is the only school with two players.
The field of semifinalists will be reduced to three finalists on Nov. 22, and the award will be presented Dec. 9. Here is the complete list of semifinalists:
Justin Blackmon (Oklahoma State)
Ryan Broyles (Oklahoma)
Andy Dalton (TCU)
Robert Griffin III (Baylor)
Kendall Hunter (Oklahoma State)
LaMichael James (Oregon)
Colin Kaepernick (Nevada)
Andrew Luck (Stanford)
Ryan Mallett (Arkansas)
Taylor Martinez (Nebraska)
Kellen Moore (Boise State)
Cam Newton (Auburn)
Terrell Pryor (Ohio State)
Denard Robinson (Michigan)
Ricky Stanzi (Iowa)
Tyrod Taylor (Virginia Tech)