APWe’ re past the halfway point of the 2012 season, so you know what that means, right?
That’d be correct. The ever-popular and always-illuminating release of semifinalists for awards that you may or may not care about. One of the first to release such a list? The Davey O’Brien Award, given annually to the top quarterback in the country.
There are, as always, 16 QBs on the midseason list, including a handful of players who a year ago were in the same position — Matt Barkley (USC), Tajh Boyd (Clemson), Seth Doege (Texas Tech), Landry Jones (Oklahoma) and Denard Robinson (Michigan). And why Arizona State’s Taylor Kelly (no relation) or ULM’s Kolton Browning or Ohio’s Tyler Tettleton or Marshall’s Rakeem Cato or a handful of others weren’t selected over the likes of Jones and Robinson is a mystery to me as well.
It should be noted that, aside from Louisiana Tech’s Colby Cameron, every other O’Brien semifinalist hails from a “BcS” conference, which pretty much answers the rhetorical question in the previous paragraph as most of these awards suffer from an acute case of Big Six nearsightedness.
Anyway, below is the complete list of O’Brien 2012 semifinalists.
Matt Barkley, USC, Pac-12
Tajh Boyd, Clemson, ACC
Teddy Bridgewater, Louisville, Big East
Colby Cameron, Louisiana Tech, WAC
Seth Doege, Texas Tech, Big 12
Nick Florence, Baylor, Big 12
Landry Jones, Oklahoma, Big 12
Collin Klein, Kansas State, Big 12
EJ Manuel, Florida State, ACC
Johnny Manziel, Texas A&M, SEC
Marcus Mariota, Oregon, Pac-12
AJ McCarron, Alabama, SEC
Braxton Miller, Ohio State, Big Ten
Aaron Murray, Georgia, SEC
Denard Robinson, Michigan, Big Ten
Geno Smith, West Virginia, Big 12
Go, AJ!!!!
I’m in!!!! Hey, John … I got in
Denard Robinson is a quarterback? Who knew?
So Denard Robinson a “QB” who is almost last in his conference for passing yards, has the same number of INT’s as TD’s, and only has 364 yards more passing than he does rushing yards is a semifinalist for the best QB Award. Makes perfect sense! The young man is a great athlete, not a great QB.
Well at least this is one thing the SEC doesn’t dominate
@phreakin …
That’s probably because SEC football, at least from my perspective, puts more emphasis on defense. As a Bama fan, I’m thrilled to see AJ McCarron on the list. It’s only been recently that we’ve again started seeing SEC quarterbacks making an impact in the NFL (the Manning brothers, Stafford, Cutler).
Nice to see Johnny Football getting some love even though he is a Freshman. If he puts up these numbers next year… He’ll be on the Heisman finalist list.