College football’s National College Football Awards Association (NCFAA) handed out nine major awards Thursday — pretty much all the national biggies, except for the Heisman and the All-American teams.
College Football Awards 2016: Lamar Jackson, Deshaun Watson, Jonathan Allen win big
Here’s the full list of Thursday night college football award winners
Logan Bowles-USA TODAY Sports
The Heisman ceremony is two nights later on ESPN, on Saturday at 8 p.m. ET. Each of the five Heisman finalists is up for at least one award on Thursday, too, making for a busy couple of days. Louisville quarterback Lamar Jackson has a great chance to end the week with the Maxwell, O’Brien, and Heisman all sitting on his desk.
Highlights of the show itself included Steve Spurrier trying for 30 seconds to take a selfie with a trophy, Nick Saban scowling at art, and Pitt’s James Conner bringing the house down after his unbelievably inspirational year.
Here’s your list of award winners from the show:
Maxwell Award – national player of the year
Lamar Jackson, Louisville QB
And so Jackson’s journey from upper-three-star recruit to college superstar adds another chapter, as he beats out Oklahoma’s Baker Mayfield and Michigan’s Jabrill Peppers. He’s the big favorite to win another pretty big award on Saturday. Enjoy this chronicle of all of his touchdowns this year by Spencer Hall, because, like Jackson, it is good.
Chuck Bednarik Award – defensive player of the year
Jonathan Allen, Alabama DE
Allen is a force of nature for Alabama’s dominant defensive front. He’ll lead the Tide defensive line against Washington in the Peach Bowl Playoff semifinal, after beating out Texas A&M’s Myles Garrett and Michigan’s Jabrill Peppers for the Bednarik.
Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award
Deshaun Watson, Clemson
Watson takes his second-straight O’Brien. He threw for 3,914 yards and 37 touchdowns, leading Clemson to the College Football Playoff for the second year in a row. Watson had some interception problems, tossing 15 of them, but Clemson lost just once and Watson had an altogether brilliant season.
Jackson and Mayfield were the other finalists.
Doak Walker Award – premier running back
D’Onta Foreman, Texas
Florida State’s Dalvin Cook and San Diego State’s Donnel Pumphrey joined Foreman as finalists. Either could’ve made a case, but Foreman earned this. He went over 2,000 yards in 11 games on a lousy Texas team that didn’t have a great passing game to boost him. He ran for well over 100 in every game he played, and he was consistently dominant. He’s off to the NFL next season.
Biletnikoff Award – outstanding receiver
Dede Westbrook, Oklahoma
Westbrook had 16 touchdowns and just under 1,500 receiving yards for Big 12 champion Oklahoma. He made magic all year with OU quarterback Baker Mayfield, and the two are also headed to New York this weekend for the Heisman ceremony. They had a cool moment together after finding out.
The other finalists were East Carolina’s Zay Jones and Northwestern’s Austin Carr.
Jim Thorpe Award – best defensive back
Adoree’ Jackson, USC CB
The Thorpe a deserved honor for Jackson, USC’s electrifying honor. (I would’ve picked Jourdan Lewis, but it’s hard to gripe about Jackson.) Jackson is an athletic marvel, and he paired four interceptions with 11 pass breakups. He also had a couple of contributions on offense, though those shouldn’t factor in here.
The other finalists were Michigan’s Lewis and LSU’s Tre’Davious White.
Outland Trophy – outstanding interior lineman
Cam Robinson, Alabama LT
Allen is the left tackle on Alabama’s dominant line, which paved the way for a brilliant freshman season for quarterback Jalen Hurts. He beat out Ohio State center Pat Elflein and Washington State guard Cody O’Connell.
Lou Groza Award – outstanding placekicker
Zane Gonzalez, Arizona State
Gonzalez hit 23 of 25 field goals this year for Arizona State, giving the Sun Devils some consistency in a year when the rest of the team sorely lacked it. He was also 39 of 40 on extra points. The other finalists were Auburn’s Daniel Carlson and Georgia Southern’s Younghoe Koo.
Ray Guy Award – punter of the year
Mitch Wishnowsky, Utah
The other finalists were Ohio State’s Cameron Johnston and Texas’ Michael Dickson. All three are products of the Australian punter pipeline that’s served college teams (and some pro teams) so well. It’s the fourth year in a row an Australian has won the Guy, with Memphis’ Tom Hornsey and Utah’s Tom Hackett (twice) winning it prior.
A few awards have been revealed earlier on and elsewhere.
SB Nation’s All-America Team came out Wednesday, with Jackson and Allen the leading vote-getters and Colorado’s Mike MacIntyre our Coach of the Year. Ours also includes Play of the Year (sorry, Oklahoma State) and some other fun stuff.
Jackson won the Walter Camp Award, which, like the Maxwell and Heisman, is a sort of national player of the year award.
MacIntyre, who led the Buffs to a sort of dream season, has been named National Coach of the Year elsewhere as well.
The Broyles Award, for the country’s top assistant coach, went to Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables. He beat out Michigan defensive coordinator Don Brown, Alabama defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt, Colorado defensive coordinator Jim Leavitt, and Pitt offensive coordinator Matt Canada.
The Johnny Unitas Award, for the top fourth- or fifth-year quarterback, went to Clemson’s Watson, a redshirt junior.
Michigan’s Jake Butt won the Mackey Award (for tight ends).
Ohio State’s Pat Elflein won the Rimington (for centers).
Michigan’s Garrett Moores won the award for Holder of the Year, which was made up last year by Minnesota’s holder.
Also, SB Nation’s Piesman Trophy goes out Friday night on Facebook Live, awarding the best non-lineman play by a lineman. The finalists are Monmouth’s Kolton Koch, Pitt’s Brian O’Neill, and Oklahoma State’s Vincent Taylor.
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