KNOXVILLE -- The preseason watch list accolades continue to roll in for Vols junior quarterback Tyler Bray.
On Wednesday, he was named to the Davey O'Brien National Quarterback of the Year Award Watch List. He is also on the Manning Award Watch List and Maxwell Award Watch List.
This year's list, which was compiled by a subset of the Davey O'Brien National Selection Committee, features 34 of the nation's best college quarterbacks who were selected based on player performance during the previous year and expectations heading into the 2012 college football season.
A native of Kingsburg, Calif., Bray has played in 16 games for the Vols in his career, including 12 starts, and already ranks among the school's career passing leaders in touchdowns (7th, 35), completions (10th, 272), and yards (3,832). He has completed 272 of 471 passing attempts for his career (57.7%), and in 2011, he completed 147-of-247 passes for 1,983 yards, 17 touchdowns, and six interceptions, averaging 283.3 passing yards per game. Bray is 8-4 in his career as a starter and owns the UT records for consecutive games with multiple touchdown passes (10) and most passing yards in the first four games of a season (1,328).
Appearing on the Watch List is not a requirement for a player to win the Davey O'Brien Award. Quarterbacks from all 124 NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) schools are eligible for the award until the field is narrowed to 16 semifinalists on Monday, Oct. 22. The Foundation and the Selection Committee will announce three finalists on Monday, Nov. 19. The 2012 Davey O'Brien Winner will be announced on The Home Depot College Football Awards on Thursday, Dec. 6.
The 36th Annual Davey O'Brien Awards Dinner will be held Feb. 18, 2013 in Fort Worth, Texas.
(E-mail Stan Crawley@earthlink.net)