Happy New Year to all of you! I am proud to announce the finalists for our John W. Conlon Offensive Players of the Year Award for FBS, FCS, and Division 2 football. Here are the finalists for the award:
FBS
QB Baker Mayfield, Oklahoma
The Heisman winner, Mayfield was, by far, the predominant college football QB in 2017. He passed for 43 TDs, while being picked just 6 times on the season, and came up one game short of taking an Oklahoma team that had changed coaches right before the start of the season to a national title game. Mayfield passed for 4627 yards on the year, completed 70.5% of his passes, and topped the nation with a QBR of 198.92.
RB Rashaad Penny, San Diego State
Penny led the nation with 2248 yards rushing in 2017, and finished the season with 5 consecutive 200 yard rushing games, the first player in college football history to ever accomplish that feat. Penny's 172.92 yards rushing per game led the nation, and he finished by averaging 7.78 yards per carry on 22.23 carries per game. He scored 23 TDs on the ground as well. Penny scored two more times on passing plays, one more time on a punt return, and averaged 30.65 yards per kick return, scoring two more times, piling up 521 yards in the kick return game.
RB Bryce Love, Stanford
Love replaced Christian McCaffrey in the Stanford run game, and never missed a beat in doing so in 2017. Love rushed for 2118 yards on the season, averaging 162.92 yards per game, which was second to only Penny. Love rushed for 19 scores on the season, and averaged 8.05 yards per carry on 20.23 carries per game.
RB Devin Singletary, Florida Atlantic
Singletary, a sophomore, was the mainstay offensive weapon for Lane Kiffin and the Owls in a season that transformed football in Boca Raton. Singletary wished for 1920 yards on the year, which was good for 4th nationally. He led the nation, by far, with 32 rushing TDs on the season, which led the nearest player in that category by 9. He averaged 6.32 yards per carry, and 137.14 yards rushing per game on 21.5 carries per game. He caught 19 passes, scoring once.
FCS
QB Jeremiah Briscoe, Sam Houston State
Briscoe led the nation in 2017 with 5003 yards passing. He tossed 45 TD passes on the season in leading the Bearkats to the national semifinals. Briscoe averaged 357 yards passing per game, and led the nation with 288 points scored. He averaged 14.93 yards per completion.
QB Chris Streveler, South Dakota
Streveler was a huge piece during a resurgent season for the Coyotes, driving them to an FCS playoff birth. He passed for 4134 yards on the season with 32 TD passes, while completing 316 passes. He managed to pass for 318 yards per game.
WR Nathan Stewart, Sam Houston State
Great QBs are sometimes made by great receivers, and vice versa. Such was the case with the Bearkats in 2017. Stewart led the nation with 1648 yards on 72 receptions in 2017, and finished with 14 TD receptions, which was second on his own team. That said, Stewart was the best player in the nation when it came to his ability to stretch defenses and make big plays, averaging 22.49 yards per catch.
QB Devlin Hodges, Samford
The SoCon offensive MVP, Hodges had a huge season for the Bulldogs in 2017. He finished 3rd in passing in FCS football with 3983 yards, and managed to pass for 31 TDs in 12 games this season. He completed 347 passes on the year, and averaged 331.9 yards passing per game.
Division 2
QB Luis Perez, Texas A&M Commerce
Perez played his biggest season for the national champion Lions, passing for 4999 yards and 46 TDs this season, and completed 421 passes on the year. He led the nation with 333 yards passing per game.
QB Connor Jessup, Shepherd
Jessup finished with 3532 yards passing, which was good for third nationally. He was one of just three QBs on the D2 level with 40+ TD passes on the season, finishing with 40 exactly to just nine picks in 11 games for the Rams.
QB Amir Hall, Bowie State
Hall had a huge season when it comes to efficiency, passing for 41 TDs to just four INTs on the year. He passed for 3519 yards in 11 games, completing 249 passes on the season, and averaged 14.13 yards per completion on the season. Hall led Division 2 with 294 total points scored in 2017.
RB Marc Jones, Gannon
Jones had one of the all time great seasons for a RB in Division 2 history in 2017, as he rushed for 2179 yards, and scored 29 times on the ground for the Golden Knights. He led the nation by far with 197 yards rushing per game, and also led the nation with 8.09 yards per carry on 269 attempts.
The winner will be announced next Monday, January 8th!
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