Aug. 28, 2006

The Davey O'Brien Foundation today announced its preseason watch list for the 2006 Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award, presented annually to the nation's best college quarterback. The 2006 watch list is made up of 34 candidates, including 19 seniors, 12 juniors and three sophomores representing 11 conferences. Conference USA is represented by Houston senior Kevin Kolb, Tulsa junior Paul Smith and UTEP senior Jordan Palmer.

Celebrating 30 years, 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. O'Brien led the TCU Horned Frogs to the 1938 national championship and was the first player to win the Heisman, Walter Camp and Maxwell awards in one season.

Kolb continues to make an assault on the Cougars career passing charts. Having made a nation-leading 36 consecutive starts going into 2006, Kolb is the school's all-time leader in total offense with 9,752 yards, ranks third in TD passes (55), second in passing yards (9,155) and fourth in pass completions (672) and pass attempts (1,133). Kolb also holds the UH record for rushing touchdowns by a quarterback with 19.

Smith completed his first season as a starter by leading the Golden Hurricane to a win in the inaugural C-USA Championship Game and a victory in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl, where he was named Most Valuable Player. He completed 62 percent of his passes for 2,847 yards, 20 touchdowns and just six interceptions on the season. Smith passes for 200+ yards in 10 games, becoming the first TU quarterback to accomplish that feat since Gus Frerotte in 1993.

Palmer enters his senior year already holding all of the Miners all-time passing records. He ranks first in yards (7,532), touchdown passes (62), completions (569), attempts (998), passing efficiency (130.53) and 300-yard games (10). He will open the season having thrown for at least one TD in each of his last 20 games, tossing two or more scoring strikes in 16 of those outings.

Semifinalists will be announced in early November as voted on by the O'Brien Selection Committee, made up of a nationwide panel of sportswriters, commentators and former O'Brien Award winners. The committee will then narrow the field to three finalists before announcing a winner on ESPN's Home Depot College Football Awards Show scheduled for Dec. 7, at 7 p.m. EST. The winner will then be honored on Feb. 19, 2007, at the 30th annual Davey O'Brien Awards Dinner at The Fort Worth Club in downtown Fort Worth, Texas.

Last year's winner was Vince Young from The University of Texas who led the Longhorns to their first Big 12 Championship since 1996 and their fourth National Championship. With the national title down to a final play, Young scrambled untouched for an 8-yard touchdown stunning No. 1 Southern California with a 41-38 Rose Bowl victory. He was the third overall pick by the Tennessee Titans in the 2006 NFL draft.

The Davey O'Brien Foundation was established in 1977 to present the O'Brien Memorial Trophy, recognizing an outstanding college football player in the five southwestern states of Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma and New Mexico. In 1981, the award was redirected to be national in scope but limited to quarterback, the favorite position of the award's namesake, Davey O'Brien. The award carries with it a $10,000 grant to the scholarship program of the university in which the winner is enrolled. A high school scholarship program began in 1986, awarding a $20,000 college scholarship to an outstanding senior student-athlete in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex each year. Since 1977, the Davey O'Brien Foundation has awarded more than $250,000 to the various O'Brien winners' universities and more than $400,000 to deserving high school students.

The 34 Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award watch list candidates, in alphabetical order, are:

(Name, School, Year, Conference)

Jerry Babb, Louisiana-Lafayette, Sr., Sun Belt
Jeff Ballard, TCU, Sr., MWC
John Beck, BYU, Sr., MWC
John David Booty, USC, Jr., Pac-10
Colt Brennan, Hawai'i, Jr., WAC
Alex Brink, Washington State, Jr., Pac-10
Brian Brohm, Louisville, Jr., Big East
Shaun Carney, Air Force, Jr., MWC
Brandon Cox, Auburn, Jr., SEC
Trent Edwards, Stanford, Sr., Pac-10
Luke Getsy, Akron, Sr., MAC
Graham Harrell, Texas Tech, So., Big 12
Omar Haugabook, Troy, Jr., Sun Belt
Phil Horvath, Northern Illinois, Sr., MAC
Brian Johnson, Utah, Jr., MWC
Kevin Kolb, Houston, Sr., C-USA
Chris Leak, Florida  Sr., SEC
Clint Marks, Middle Tennessee, Sr., Sun Belt
Bret Meyer, Iowa State, Jr., Big 12
Josh Padrick, Florida International, Sr., Sun Belt
Tyler Palko, Pittsburgh, Sr., Big East
Jordan Palmer, UTEP, Sr., C-USA
Brady Quinn, Notre Dame, Sr., Ind.
Jeff Rowe, Nevada, Sr., WAC
JaMarcus Russell, LSU, Jr., SEC
Paul Smith, Tulsa, Jr., C-USA
Troy Smith, Ohio State, Sr., Big Ten
Drew Stanton, Michigan State, Sr., Big Ten
Drew Tate, Iowa, Sr., Big Ten
Zac Taylor, Nebraska, Sr., Big 12
Drew Weatherford, Florida State, So., ACC
Pat White, West Virginia, So., Big East
Kyle Wright, Miami,  Jr., ACC
Jared Zabransky, Boise State, Sr., WAC