A handful of college football awards add to their watch lists at the halfway point of the season. Of course, with staggered schedules and varying bye weeks, what is the midway point for you may not be the midway point for me. Still, this week we have three major award committees adding six ACC players to their watchlists.
Lombardi Award
The award goes to the best lineman in the country and is given out by the Rotary Club of Houston.
The additions are Tyler Baron, the defensive lineman from the Miami Hurricanes, and Logan Parr, a fourth-year guard for the SMU Mustangs. Barron is a 6-5, 260-pound transfer from Tennessee. He has eight tackles for loss and four-and-a-half sacks so far this season. Parr is in his first season at SMU, after three years with the Texas Longhorns.
This is the final addition to the watch list this season. There are now 97 players on the watch list. The panel of voters, (full disclosure: that includes the author of this article), will pare down the list to 12 semifinalists in early November. That will get narrowed down to four finalists at the end of November. The winner will be announced on December 11th in Houston.
The Maxwell Award
It goes to the “Most Outstanding Collegiate Player of the Year,” as determined by the panel of college football writers, broadcasters, and college football head coaches. The Maxwell Football Club is adding 16 names to the final watchlist for the award.
Running back Desmond Reid of Pitt, and quarterback Kyle McCord of Syracuse are the two ACC players being added this week.
Reid has nearly 500 yards rushing so far this season and is averaging six yards per carry for the undefeated Pitt Panthers.
McCord is having a big season for Syracuse. The Ohio State transfer has more than 2,100 yards throwing with 19 touchdowns and a 65.6% completion rate.
The semifinalists will be named on November 12th. The three finalists will be announced on November 26th. And the winner will be named on December 12th.
The Bednarik Award
The Maxwell Football Club also takes care of the Bednarik Award, given to the Defensive Player of the Year.
Thirteen players have been added to the award’s watch list and this will be the last addition of the year. The ACC is represented by late additions, Donovan Ezeiruaku, the defensive end from Boston College, and Nohl Williams, a cornerback from Cal.
Ezeiruaku has 43 total tackles so far this season. That includes 12 tackles for loss and nine sacks for the fourth-year senior.
Williams has 19 tackles in the Cal secondary, but has six interceptions on the season so far.
The narrowing process and schedule for the Bednarik follow the same path as the Maxwell Award.
