Gators QB now eligible to become semifinalist for Davey O’Brien Award
FORT WORTH, Texas – Florida quarterback Kyle Trask was named to the Davey O’Brien QB Class of 2020, the Davey O’Brien Foundation announced on Tuesday.
Trask was one of 35 quarterbacks in the nation named to the Class of 2020, with those selected being the official candidates for the 2020 Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award.
A point scoring model was used to determine the quarterbacks in the Class of 2020. Points were awarded to players based on their overall performance as well as inclusion on the Davey O’Brien Preseason Watch List, weekly Great 8 lists and National Quarterback of the Week winners.
Through eight games this season, Trask has been named to the Great 8 List four times and named National Quarterback of the Week once. The redshirt-senior was also on the Davey O’Brien Preseason Watch List.
Trask has thrown for 2,810 yards and 34 touchdowns so far this season, while ranking first in the FBS in touchdown passes and fourth in passing yards.
Trask’s third touchdown pass on Saturday against Kentucky – a 7-yarder to Kyle Pitts in the third quarter – tied him with San Diego State’s Dennis Shaw (1969) and Houston’s David Klingler (1990) for the third-most passing touchdowns through the first eight games of a season in FBS history.
The Class of 2020 consists of players from all 10 FBS conferences as well as football independents. The Atlantic Coast Conference has the most honorees with seven, followed by the Southeastern Conference and American Athletic Conference with five. The list is made up of 13 seniors, nine juniors, nine sophomores and four freshmen.
The next step in the process will be to select the award’s 16 semifinalists from these 35 quarterbacks. On Monday, Dec. 7, the semifinalists will be named based on voting from the Davey O’Brien National Selection Committee as well as the first round of the Davey O’Brien Fan Vote, which will run through Sunday, Dec. 6.
The Fan Vote is instituting a major change in its format in 2020. This year, fans will vote via three social media platforms—Instagram, Twitter and Facebook—and the top vote getter on each platform will each receive the equivalent of two additional committee member ballots for that voting period. Fan voting will be done by liking the quarterback’s photo from the original post on the official Davey O’Brien social media account.
Following the naming of the semifinalists, the next round of fan voting will take place from Monday, Dec. 7 to Sunday, Dec. 20 with the three finalists named on Tuesday, Dec. 22. The final round of fan voting will occur from Tuesday, Dec. 22 until Wednesday, Dec. 30. The winner will be announced on Thursday, Jan. 7 on the 30th annual The Home Depot College Football Awards, which will be held virtually from 7-8:30 p.m. (ET) on ESPN.
