NEW HAVEN, Conn. — WKU Football quarterback Bailey Zappe has been named a Semifinalist for the 2021 Walter Camp Player of the Year Award, it was announced Thursday afternoon. The graduate transfer is the first Hilltopper to ever earn this distinction.
Zappe is 1-of-15 players listed as a “Player to Watch” for the Walter Camp Player of the Year Award list. The 15-player watch list includes eight quarterbacks, four defensive players, two running backs and one wide receiver. Thirteen different schools and seven conferences are represented. Cincinnati quarterback Desmond Ridder is the only other player in the group from a Group of Five school.
On Tuesday, Zappe became only the second Hilltopper to be named a Semifinalist for the Davey O’Brien Award, joining Brandon Doughty during his record-setting 2015 season.
Through nine games, the Victoria, Texas, native has completed 308-of-441 passes (69.8%) for 3,688 yards, with 37 touchdowns and only six interceptions, while also adding three rushing scores. The 3,688 yards and 37 scores through the air lead the nation; 131 yards (Virginia’s Brennan Armstrong has 3,557) and three touchdowns (SMU’s Tanner Mordecai has 34) ahead of the No. 2 player in each category.
Zappe has thrown for three-plus touchdowns in all nine games, and 365-plus yards in 8-of-9 contests so far this season. His 409.8-yard average extrapolates to 5,327 over a 13-game season and 5,737 over a 14-game season, which would rank as the eighth or second-best campaign ever by an FBS quarterback. His 4.1-touchdown average extrapolates to 53 over a 13-game season and 57 over a 14-game season, which would rank as the fourth or third-best season ever by an FBS quarterback.
The six most recent winners of the Walter Camp Award are: Alabama wide receiver DeVonta Smith (2020), LSU quarterback Joe Burrow (2019), Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa (2018), Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield (2017), Louisville quarterback Lamar Jackson (2016) and Alabama running back Derrick Henry (2015).
2021 Walter Camp Player of the Year SemifinalistsWill Anderson, Alabama, LBMatt Corral, Ole Miss, QBJordan Davis, Georgia, DLJahan Dotson, Penn State, WRSam Hartman, Wake Forest, QBTreVeyon Henderson, Ohio State, RBDevin Lloyd, Utah, LBKenny Pickett, Pittsburgh, QBDesmond Ridder, Cincinnati, QBC.J. Stroud, Ohio State, QBKayvon Thibodeaux, DL, OregonKenneth Walker III, Michigan State, RBCaleb Williams, Oklahoma, QBBryce Young, Alabama, QBBailey Zappe, WKU, QB
The Walter Camp Player of the Year is voted on by the 130 FBS head coaches and sports information directors. A list of five finalists will be announced on Thursday, Dec. 2, and the winner announced live on Thursday, Dec. 9 on The Home Depot College Football Awards on ESPN.
Walter Camp, “The Father of American football,” first selected an All-America team in 1889. Camp – a former Yale University athlete and football coach – is also credited with developing play from scrimmage, set plays, the numerical assessment of goals and tries, as well as the restriction of play to eleven men per side.
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