The Johnny Unitas Golden Arm committee has narrowed its finalist list to 10 names. Two of them are ACC quarterbacks. The annual award recognizes the top senior or upperclassman quarterback set to graduate with their class. Candidates are chosen based on the player’s performance on-and-off the field.
The two ACC quarterbacks who have made the cut are Cade Klubnik of Clemson and Cam Ward of Miami.
The Resumes
Klubnik has taken a massive step forward in his junior season. The Tigers are outscoring their opponents by an average of 27 points per game as they ride a six-game winning streak. Klubnik has completed 66.7% of his passes this season. He has thrown for 1,836 yards with 20 touchdowns against just three interceptions. Klubnik has the fifth-best QBR in the country at 87.4. He also has four rushing touchdowns to go with his 227 yards on the ground.
Ward was one of the most sought-after quarterbacks from the transfer portal after leaving Washington State. He landed at Miami, and the Hurricanes are now 8-0 going into Saturday’s home game against Duke.
Miami’s offense is ranked number one in the country in scoring offense at 46.8 points per game. Ward has also led the Canes to the top total offense in the country with 560.8 yards per game. Individually, Ward has 24 passing touchdowns and just under 2,800 yards. He himself is averaging 366.5 yards of offense per game.
The Rest
The rest of the list for the 10 finalists looks like this:
Drew Allar, Penn State
Carson Beck, Georgia
Jaxson Dart, Ole Miss
Quinn Ewers, Texas
Dillon Gabriel, Oregon
Will Howard, Ohio State
Kurtis Rourke, Indiana
Shedeur Sanders, Colorado
It is worth noting that Allar and Howard will be squaring off against each other this weekend as Ohio State plays at undefeated Penn State.
Jayden Daniels of LSU was last year’s winner.
The Specifics
The selection committee for the award is made up of a group of college football journalists, commentators, announcers, and former players.
This year’s award winner will be presented the Golden Arm Award trophy at the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award celebration at the Four Seasons Hotel in Baltimore, Maryland on Friday, December 6th.
