UCF Knights Quarterback John Rhys Plumlee Among Players on Davey O’Brien Award Watch List

passed for 2,586 yds and 14 TDs in first season with the Knights in 2022

UCF quarterback John Rhys Plumlee has been named to the Davey O’Brien Award Watch List, presented annually to the best quarterback player in college football, the organization announced on Tuesday. (UCF Knights image)

ORLANDO, FLORIDA – UCF football quarterback John Rhys Plumlee has been named to the Davey O’Brien Award Watch List, presented annually to the best quarterback player in college football, the organization announced on Tuesday.

The Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award is the oldest and most prestigious national quarterback award. The 47th Annual Davey O’Brien Awards Dinner honoring the winner will be held Monday, Feb. 19, 2024, at The Fort Worth Club in Fort Worth, Texas.

Plumlee was tabbed a second-team American Athletic All-Conference selection last year and garnered AAC Offensive Player of the Week three times. He passed for 2,586 yards and 14 TDs in his first season with the Knights in 2022.

Additionally, he led all FBS quarterbacks in rushing yards with 861, scoring 11 TDs on the ground to compile the second most rushing TDs by a quarterback in UCF single-season history behind Daunte Culpepper’s 12 in 1998. Plumlee ranked fourth in the conference in rushing yards per game with 66.2 and helped UCF rank ninth nationally in rushing (228.3).

He turned in one of his best performances of the season against Temple when he completed 18 of 22 passes for a career-high 373 yards and four passing TDs and ran seven times for 37 yards and three TDs. The Hattiesburg, Mississippi, native tied the 35-year old UCF record for touchdowns accounted for with seven.

The official Davey O’Brien Midseason Watch List will be released on Tuesday, Oct. 17, and will contain all active quarterbacks from the Preseason Watch List, all players honored as a weekly Great 8 recipient through the season’s first seven weeks and any additional quarterbacks approved by the selection subcommittee.

The Midseason Watch List will then be pared down to the 35-player Davey O’Brien QB Class of 2023 on Tuesday, Oct. 24. Fan voting on social media (Facebook, Instagram and Twitter) will again play a role in the semifinalist, finalist and winner voting totals when combined with the national selection committee’s ballots. Voting will begin on Oct. 24.

The list of semifinalists selected from the QB Class will be named on Tuesday, Nov. 7. The Foundation will announce the three finalists two weeks later (Tuesday, Nov. 21). The 2023 Davey O’Brien Award winner will be unveiled live on ESPN on Thursday, Dec. 7, during The Home Depot College Football Awards.