Alabama quarterback Bryce Young won the Maxwell Award, given annually to college football’s player of the year, on Thursday.
A Heisman Trophy finalist, Young also took home the Davey O’Brien Award for the best quarterback in the country. The Heisman will be awarded Saturday in New York.
Young passed for 4,322 yards, 43 touchdowns and four interceptions as the Crimson Tide’s starting quarterback in 2021. Alabama beat Georgia in the SEC championship game to land the No. 1 seed in the College Football Playoff.
In that showdown with the then-top-ranked Bulldogs, Young set an SEC title game record with 421 passing yards.
Michigan State running back Kenneth Walker III, considered a snub for the short list of Heisman finalists, also collected two awards Thursday. He won the Walter Camp Award for the most outstanding player in college football and the Doak Walker Award for the nation’s top running back.
Walker became the first player to win the Walter Camp Award while not being named a Heisman finalist in the same year.
Walker amassed 1,636 rushing yards and 18 touchdowns with an average of 6.2 yards per carry. He scored five of his touchdowns in the Spartans’ win over playoff-bound Michigan, the Wolverines’ only loss of the year.
Pitt wide receiver Jordan Addison won the Biletnikoff Award for most outstanding FBS receiver regardless of position. He teamed up with Heisman and Maxwell finalist Kenny Pickett for 17 touchdown catches, which led FBS.
San Diego State punter Matt Araiza won the Ray Guy Award for best punter after a breakout season in which he’s on pace to set an NCAA record for net average per punt (51.3 entering the Aztecs’ bowl game; the record is 50.3).
And Georgia defensive tackle Jordan Davis earned the Chuck Bednarik Award for defensive player of the year and the Outland Trophy for most outstanding interior lineman.
–Field Level Media