Hurts Named Davey O'Brien Semifinalist

NORMAN — Oklahoma quarterback Jalen Hurts was named one of 16 semifinalists Wednesday for the 2019 Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award, which is presented annually to the best college quarterback and is the nation's oldest national quarterback award.

This marks Hurts' third Davey O'Brien Award semifinalist honor (2016 and 2017 at Alabama) and he is looking to become OU's third consecutive winner of the award. Baker Mayfield won it in 2017 and Kyler Murray followed in 2018. OU's Sam Bradford (2008) and Jason White (2003 and '04) also won the Davey O'Brien Award, as did running back Billy Sims (1978) before it was limited to quarterbacks.

Hurts is joined on the list of 2019 semifinalists by Charlie Brewer (Baylor), Shane Buechele (SMU), Joe Burrow (LSU), Sam Ehlinger (Texas), Justin Fields (Ohio State), Jake Fromm (Georgia), Anthony Gordon (Washington State), Justin Herbert (Oregon), Tyler Huntley (Utah), Jalen Hurts (Oklahoma), Trevor Lawrence (Clemson), Tanner Morgan (Minnesota), Malcolm Perry (Navy), Brock Purdy (Iowa State), Tua Tagovailoa (Alabama) and Brady White (Memphis).

Hurts, who is averaging 304.7 passing yards per game and 96.6 rushing yards per contest, leads the country in passing efficiency rating (219.7; FBS single-season record is 199.4), yards per pass attempt (13.3; FBS single-season record is 11.6), yards per completion (18.2; FBS single-season record is 17.5) and points responsible for per game (26.2). He ranks second nationally in total offense (401.2 yards per game), third in completion percentage (73.3), fourth in yards per rush (7.0), fifth in rushing touchdowns (15) and ninth in passing touchdowns (24).

The senior from Houston, who recorded a 148.8 passing efficiency rating over his three seasons at Alabama, has produced five ratings of at least 245.0 this year and is the only FBS player since at least 1996 to record more than three such outings (min. 15 attempts) in a season. He owns five of the nation's top 21 figures this year (national-best 308.5 vs. West Virginia, 253.6 vs. South Dakota, 251.3 vs. Houston, 249.0 vs. Texas Tech and 245.9 at UCLA).

Hurts is a big reason why the Sooners lead the nation in total offense (587.3 ypg; next highest average is 545.8 by Clemson) and yards per play (would-be FBS record of 9.3; next highest average this year is 7.8 by Alabama). OU also paces the country in yards per pass attempt (12.6; FBS record is 11.7) and ranks second in yards per rush (6.86; Clemson averages 6.87).

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 Davey O'Brien 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 will reopen today (Nov. 13) and remain open until 9 p.m. CT on Sunday, Nov. 24, for the second round of balloting. Fans are invited to cast their vote for the nation's best college quarterback once daily per email address.

In conjunction with ESPN, the Davey O'Brien Foundation and its National Selection Committee will release the names of the three finalists on Monday, Nov. 25. The 2019 Davey O'Brien winner will be announced live on The Home Depot College Football Awards on Thursday, Dec. 12.

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.