Five Big 12 quarterbacks selected as O'Brien semifinalists, most from any conference

Five quarterbacks from Big 12 schools have been selected among the 16 finalists for the 2011 Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award, the highest total from any conference.

The list, announced today by the Davey O’Brien Foundation, includes Baylor’s Robert Griffin III, Oklahoma’s Landry Jones, Oklahoma State’s Brandon Weeden, Texas A&M’s Ryan Tannehill and Texas Tech’s Seth Doege.

The list of semifinalists includes two of last year’s O’Brien finalists: Stanford’s Andrew Luck, a frontrunner in the Heisman Trophy race, and Boise State’s Kellen Moore, who tied an NCAA record with his 45^th career victory as a starting quarterback in last week’s 37-26 victory over Air Force.

Also included is Houston’s Case Keeneum, a 2009 O’Brien finalist who received a medical redshirt for the 2010 season after undergoing reconstructive knee surgery.

On a conference-by-conference basis, the 2011 O’Brien semifinalists come from the following leagues: Big 12 (5), Pac-12 (4), Big Ten (3), ACC (1), Conference USA (1), Mountain West (1) and SEC (1).

Members of the O’Brien selection committee narrowed the field from a list that included all 120 starting quarterbacks from FBS schools. An online fan vote also contributed five percent of the total vote.

The list of semifinalists will be trimmed to three finalists on Nov. 21, with a live announcement of the winner during the The Home Depot College Football Awards Show, Dec. 8 on ESPN.

Fans can vote for finalists at www.VoteOBrien.org., with the deadline for fan voting at noon on Nov. 20. The winner will be honored at the Davey O’Brien Awards Dinner, Feb. 20, 2012 at the Fort Worth Club.

 

The full list of O’Brien semifinalists, in alphabetical order:

 Matt Barkley JR USC Pac-12

Tajh Boyd SO Clemson ACC

Kirk Cousins SR Michigan State Big Ten

Seth Doege JR Texas Tech Big 12

Robert Griffin III JR Baylor Big 12

Landry Jones JR Oklahoma Big 12

Case Keenum SR Houston C-USA

Andrew Luck SR Stanford Pac-12

Kellen Moore SR Boise St. MWC

Keith Price SO Washington Pac-12

Denard Robinson JR Michigan Big Ten

Ryan Tannehill SR Texas A&M Big 12

Darron Thomas JR Oregon Pac-12

Brandon Weeden SR Oklahoma State Big 12

Russell Wilson SR Wisconsin Big Ten

Tyler Wilson JR Arkanasas SEC

 

 _ Jimmy Burch