High honors
Oklahoma QB also adds O’Brien
Alabama QB Tua Tagovailoa named Walter Camp player of the year.
Kyler Murray is The Associated Press college football Player of the Year, the second consecutive Oklahoma quarterback and fifth overall to win the award since it was established in 1998.
Murray beat out Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa on 56 ballots submitted by AP college football poll voters. Ohio State quarterback Dwayne Haskins Jr. finished in third.
“It’s humbling and an honor to be named AP Player of the Year, to be mentioned in the same realm as a lot of great players, a lot of hall of famers,” Murray said.
Murray received 39 firstplace votes and a total of 145 points. Tagovailoa received 13 first-place votes (117 points) and Haskins was listed first on four ballots.
All three are finalists for the Heisman Trophy, which will be presented Saturday night in New York.
Murray joins Baker Mayfield (2017), Josh Heupel (2000), Jason White (2003) and Sam Bradford (2008) as previous Player of the Year winners from Oklahoma.
Murray also added the Davey O’Brien Award as the nation’s top quarterback as ESPN’s College Football Awards show in Atlanta began. But right before the show started it was announced that Alabama quarterback Tagovailoa won the Walter Camp Player of the Year Award.
The last five winners of the Walter Camp have gone on to win the Heisman.
Murray beat out Tagovailoa and Washington State’s Gardner Minshew II for the Davey O’Brien. The other finalists for the Walter Camp were Murray, Minshew, West Virginia quarterback Will Grier and Kentucky linebacker Josh Allen.
Alabama’s Jerry Jeudy won the Biletnikoff Award as the nation’s top wide receiver, while Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly was named the Home Depot coach of the year.
Alabama defensive tackle Quinnen Williams won the Outland Trophy as the nation’s best interior lineman, beating out Clemson defensive tackle Christian Wilkins.
Kentucky linebacker Josh Allen took home the Chuck Bednarik Award as the nation’s top defensive player.
LSU’s Devin White won the Butkus Award as the nation’s top linebacker, becoming the first Tigers player to win the award. Iowa’s T.J. Hockenson won the John Mackey Award as the nation’s top tight end.
Georgia cornerback Deandre Baker became the first Bulldogs’ player to win the Thorpe Award as the nation’s top defensive back while Wisconsin’s Jonathan Taylor became win the Doak Walker Award as the nation’s leading runner.
Syracuse freshman Andre Szmyt won the Lou Groza as top kicker, beating out Cooper Rothe of Wyoming and Cole Tracy of LSU.
Texas A&M’s Braden Mann won the Ray Guy Award as the nation’s best punter. He is averaging 51.15 yards per punt, a school record and challenging an NCAA record.
California
Golden Bears’ coach Justin Wilcox has signed a new five-year deal to stay under contract with the school through the 2023 season. The deal adds two more years to the original contract signed in 2017. Wilcox also gets a raise and more money for his assistant coach pool.