The quarterback position is the most important position in football. When you get down to it, you can argue that it’s the most difficult position in sports as well. As a result, the best players in college football are often quarterbacks. With most of the Heisman favorites playing quarterback, the Davey O’Brien Award is focused on highlighting the position regardless.
With only a few weeks left in the 2025 season, the Davey O’Brien Award has announced 20 semifinalists for the nation’s top quarterback honor. The Big Ten boasts five honorrees. The SEC also has five semifinalists, with three coming from the American, three from the ACC, two from the Big 12, and two as Independents.
Five Big Ten Quarterbacks Named Davey O’Brien Award Semifinalists
Luke Altmyer, Illinois
Finally, in his third season as the Illinois starting quarterback, Luke Altmyer is getting some attention. After transferring from Ole Miss, Altmyer has been a solid signal-caller for the Fighting Illini since 2023. This year, he’s kicked it into another gear.
While Illinois’ season hasn’t quite gone according to plan, Altmyer has been a consistent player. Through nine games, the redshirt senior has thrown for 2,255 yards and 19 touchdowns to just four interceptions. Despite losing to Ohio State, Altmyer can say he’s the only quarterback to throw for more than 173 yards (he threw for 248).
He has two 300-yard games and started the season with six straight games without an interception.
If Altmyer were to win the Davey O’Brien Award, he would be the first from Illinois.
Jayden Maiava, USC
In a conference with so much top-tier quarterback play, Jayden Maiava has been flying under the radar. After breaking out as a true freshman at UNLV, Maiava transferred to USC to learn under Lincoln Riley. In that 2023 season, Maiava threw for 3,085 yards and 17 touchdowns. This year, he’s taken the starting quarterback role over and is beginning to show what he can do.
In nine games, Maiava has amassed 2,614 touchdowns and 17 touchdowns. On the ground, he’s added 113 yards and six touchdowns on 38 carries.
Maiava’s biggest game was a 412-yard, four-touchdown effort in the win over Georgia Southern. He has seven multi-touchdown games and two with at least three. He does need to work on ball security, as he has thrown six interceptions over his last five games.
Maiava could be the first USC quarterback to take home the award. Additionally, he could be the third Riley product to do so, joining Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray.
Fernando Mendoza, QB, Indiana
Fernando Mendoza retook the lead in the Last Word on College Football Heisman poll thanks to an impressive come-from-behind win featuring what could be the play of the year. As the leader of the 10-0 Indiana Hoosiers, Mendoza is racking up honors.
Mendoza has thrown for 2,342 yards in 10 games while completing 71.3% of his passes. The most impressive part is the fact that he currently leads the nation with 26 touchdowns.
In addition to being the only Big Ten quarterback on the Johnny Unitas Award semifinalist list, Mendoza is a semifinalist for the Maxwell Award and Walter Camp Player of the Year Award. A trip to New York for the Heisman Trophy ceremony is likely in his future as well.
If Mendoza can win this one, he would be the first Hoosier to do so.
Dante Moore, QB, Oregon
One of the most highly-touted recruits, Dante Moore, flamed out at UCLA. As a result, he transferred to Oregon to learn for a year before taking over. Finally, Moore has begun to play as expected.
In nine games, the Oregon quarterback has completed 70.5% of his passes for 1,884 yards and 19 touchdowns. He’s shown flashes of greatness as well as inexperience. He ranked ninth nationally in completion percentage and is seventh with a 164.72 passer rating. In five of his games, Moore has thrown for at least three touchdowns.
In addition to the Davey O’Brien Award, Moore is a semifinalist for the Maxwell Award as well as the Walter Camp Award.
Only one other Duck has won the award. If Moore wins the Davey O’Brien Award, he would join Marcus Mariota from his Heisman season in 2014.
Julian Sayin, QB, Ohio State
Sitting with the best odds to take home the Heisman, despite what our personal polling suggests, Julian Sayin is taking the nation by storm in his first season as the Ohio State quarterback. As the quarterback of the reigning 9-0 champions, Sayin is in prime territory to start stocking up on awards.
As a redshirt freshman, Sayin had to get used to the speed of college football. Now that he’s acclimated, the training wheels are off, and Sayin has begun to show what he can do. His pinpoint accuracy and deep ball abilities have led the Buckeyes and have been a key factor in how Ohio State has been able to shorten games.
Sayin has thrown for 2,491 yards and 24 touchdowns in nine games. His 80.9% completion percentage is on pace to break the all-time single-season mark.
Sayin was also named a semifinalist for the Shaun Alexander Freshman of the Year, Maxwell Award, and Walter Camp Award.
If the Buckeye quarterback can win the Davey O’Brien Award, he would be the second to do so, joining Troy Smith in his 2006 Heisman season.
The Rest of the Field
- Bear Bachmeier, BYU
- Byrum Brown, USF
- CJ Carr, Notre Dame
- Trinidad Chambliss, Ole Miss
- Joe Fagnano, UConn
- Blake Horvath, Navy
- Haynes King, Georgia Tech
- Darian Mensah, Duke
- Drew Mestemaker, North Texas
- Chandler Morris, Virginia
- Diego Pavia, Vanderbilt
- Marcel Reed, Texas A&M
- Ty Simpson, Alabama
- Brendan Sorsby, Cincinnati
- Gunner Stockton, Georgia
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- Big Ten Leads The Way With Six Maxwell Award Semifinalists
- Three Big Ten Defenders Named Bednarik Award Semifinalists
- The Big Ten’s Two Up For The Burlsworth Trophy
- Five Big Ten Stars Headline Walter Camp Award Semifinalist Cut
Main Photo: Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
