Five C-USA Players Named to O'Brien Award Watch List

Stefan LeFors

Five Conference USA players are among the 42 preliminary candidates for the 2004 Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award, given annually to the nation's top college quarterback. Cincinnati’s Gino Guidugli, Houston’s Kevin Kolb and Louisville’s Stefan Lefors are joined by Danny Wimprine of Memphis and Darrell Hackney of UAB on the preseason watch list.

Guidugli begins his senior campaign as Cincinnati’s all-time leader in pass completions (670), pass attempts (1,214), passing yardage (8,822) and passing touchdowns (53). He ranks among the top six in C-USA history in all four categories. Last season, Guidugli completed 53 percent of his passes for 2,704 yards and 14 touchdowns.

Kolb, the 2003 Conference USA Freshman of the Year, closed out his rookie campaign by passing for 3,131 yards and 25 touchdowns with just six interceptions in leading Houston to its first bowl game in seven years. Nine times he threw two or more touchdown passes in a game and three times he ran for at least two scores, finishing with seven rushing TDs.

LeFors, a first team All-Conference selection last season, threw for 3,145 yards and 17 touchdowns in 13 games in his first season as Louisville’s starter. The senior left-hander from Baton Rouge, La., completed 61.3 percent of his passes and accounted for 3,550 yards of total offense, which was the second most in school history.

In 30 career starts, Wimprine has set 25 Memphis records and he will enter his senior season as the school’s all-time leader in pass completions (583) and attempts (1,071), passing yards (7,323) and TD passes (59). In 2003, he set new school single-season marks in completions (246), attempts (440) and passing yardage (3,174) while leading the Tigers to their first bowl game since 1971.

Hackney was off to a good start for UAB last season before missing the final five games of the season with a broken thumb. Prior to the injury, he had completed 51 percent of his passes for 1,659 yards and nine touchdowns.

The O'Brien Award is the oldest and most prestigious award in the country for college quarterbacks and is named in honor of the late Davey O'Brien, the All-American and Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback for Texas Christian University who led the Horned Frogs to the 1938 national championship.

Semifinalists will be announced in early November and narrowed to three finalists later in that month by the O'Brien National Advisory Committee. The committee is comprised of nationally known sportswriters, commentators and other members of the media. The winner of the 2004 O'Brien Award will be announced Dec. 9 on the ESPN College Football Awards Show from Orlando, Fla. The winner will be honored at the 28th Annual O'Brien Awards Dinner in February 2005, at The Fort Worth Club in Fort Worth, Texas.


2004 DAVEY O’BRIEN AWARD WATCH LIST
(prelimimary list as of 7/13/04)

Name Yr. School
Derek Anderson Sr. Oregon State
Reggie Ball So. Georgia Tech
Brock Berlin Sr. Miami (Fla.)
Jon Beutjer Sr. Illinois
Timmy Chang Sr. Hawaii
Kellen Clemens Jr. Oregon
Brodie Croyle Jr. Alabama
Jay Cutler Jr. Vanderbilt
Darian Durant Sr. North Carolina
Charlie Frye Sr. Akron
Bruce Gradkowski Jr. Toledo
David Greene Sr. Georgia
Gino Guidugli Sr. Cincinnati
Darrell Hackney Jr. UAB
Josh Haldi Sr. Northern Illinois
Scott Hall Jr. North Texas
Stan Hill Sr. Marshall
Matt Jones Sr. Arkansas
Stefan LeFors Sr. Louisville
Chris Leak So. Florida
Matt Leinart Jr. USC
Matt LoVecchio Sr. Indiana
James Kilian Sr. Tulsa
Joel Klatt Jr. Colorado
Kevin Kolb So. Houston
Reggie McNeal Jr. Texas A&M
R. Marshall Sr. West Virginia
Zack Mills Sr. Penn State
Kyle Orton Sr. Purdue
Dan Orlovsky Sr. Connecticut
Brady Quinn So. Notre Dame
Paul Pinegar Jr. Fresno State
Bryan Randall Sr. Virginia Tech
Chris Rix Sr. Florida State
Aaron Rodgers Jr. California
Alex Smith Jr. Utah
Brad Smith Jr. Missouri
Andrew Walter Sr. Arizona State
Jason White Sr. Oklahoma
Charlie Whitehurst Jr. Clemson
Danny Wimprine Sr. Memphis
Vince Young So. Texas