College Football Post-Week 12 Award Watch

Just as the Heisman race is becoming more cloudy, the field for other national awards is starting to become more clear. The finalists for the Davey O’Brien, Doak Walker, Biletnikoff, Lombardi, Nagurski and more were announced earlier this week.

Johnny Manziel, Collin Klein, Manti Te'o, Braxton Miller remain in contention for the Heisman, so it's no surprise they're showing up among the finalists for positional awards. We’ll name our picks for the awards, plus the key snubs, here.

If you’re looking for our thoughts on that other trophy, check our weekly Heisman poll.

Week 13 Previews and Predictions

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OFFENSIVE AWARDS
Davey O’Brien (Top quarterback)
Finalists: Kansas State’s Collin Klein, Texas A&M’s Johnny Manziel, Ohio State’s Braxton Miller
Biggest snub: Northern Illinois’ Jordan Lynch
Our leader: Klein
Klein’s three interceptions against Baylor may have helped Manziel leap the K-State senior for postseason awards. Still, Manziel keeps hitting milestones. He’s the fifth quarterback to pass for 3,000 yards and rush for 1,000 and the first freshman to do so.

Doak Walker (Top running back)
Finalists: Wisconsin’s Montee Ball, Oregon’s Kenjon Barner, UCLA’s Johnathan Franklin
Biggest snub: Arizona’s Ka’Deem Carey
Our leader: Franklin
Franklin started the season on a tear with two 200-yard games. He’s regained that form in the last four as UCLA clinched the Pac-12 South. Franklin has topped 160 yards in three of the last four games, all against division opponents.

Biletnikoff Award (Top wide receiver)
Finalists: West Virginia’s Stedman Bailey, USC’s Marqise Lee, Baylor’s Terrance Williams
Biggest snub: West Virginia’s Tavon Austin
Our leader: Austin
Maybe Austin’s 344-yard rushing effort threw off the Biletnikoff voters. Austin and Lee and two of four players nationally averaging at least 200 all-purpose yards per game, but as a pure receiver Lee has an advantage of more than 500 yards. Either would be a perfectly valid vote, but Austin’s 572-yard performance last week against Oklahoma puts him ahead this week.

Mackey Award (Top tight end)
Finalists: Notre Dame’s Tyler Eifert, Stanford’s Zach Ertz, Washington’s Austin Seferian-Jenkins
Biggest snub: Arizona State’s Chris Coyle
Our leader: Seferian-Jenkins
Seferian-Jenkins leads the nation’s tight ends with 58 catches for 753 yards with five touchdowns. He’s also been pitching in at defensive end in recent weeks.

Outland Trophy (Top interior lineman)
Finalists: North Carolina’s Jonathan Cooper, Alabama’s Barrett Jones, Texas A&M’s Luke Joeckel
Biggest snub: Notre Dame’s Stephon Tuitt
Our leader: Jones
The defending Outland Trophy winner Jones continues to pace this group, especially if the Tide has a good performance against Georgia’s Jarvis Jones in the SEC Championship Game.

Rimington Trophy (Top center)
Finalists: To be named Dec. 1
Our leader: Jones, Alabama
Others: Kansas State’s B.J. Finney, Clemson’s Dalton Freeman, USC’s Khaled Holmes

DEFENSIVE AWARDS
Nagurski Trophy (Defensive Player of the Year)
Finalists: South Carolina’s Jadeveon Clowney, Georgia’s Jarvis Jones, Alabama Dee Milliner, Notre Dame’s Manti Te’o, Florida State’s Bjoern Werner
Biggest snub: Rutgers’ Khaseem Greene
Our leader: Te’o
Te’o continues to pace a national-championship caliber defense with 98 tackles and six interceptions. The Irish shut out Wake Forest last week, giving Notre Dame its fifth game of the season in which it hadn’t allowed a touchdown.

Bednarik Trophy (Defensive Player of the Year)
Finalists: South Carolina’s Jadeveon Clowney, Georgia’s Jarvis Jones, Notre Dame’s Manti Te’o
Biggest snub: Rutgers’ Khaseem Greene
Our leader: Te’o

Lombardi Award (Top lineman or linebacker)
Finalists: South Carolina’s Jadeveon Clowney, Alabama’s Barrett Jones, Georgia’s Jarvis Jones
Biggest snub: Texas A&M’s Damontre Moore
Our leader: Georgia’s Jones
The SEC’s leader in tackles for a loss was a game-breaking player against Missouri and Florida earlier this season as the Bulldogs found themselves in the BCS title race. Jones has 8.5 tackles for a loss and five sacks in his last four games.

Butkus Award (Top linebacker)
Finalists: Georgia’s Jarvis Jones, Oregon’s Dion Jordan, LSU’s Kevin Minter, Alabama’s C.J. Mosley, Notre Dame’s Manti Te’o
Biggest snub: Rutgers’ Khaseem Greene
Our leader: Te’o

Thorpe Award (Top defensive back)
Finalists: Mississippi State’s Johnthan Banks, Alabama’s Dee Milliner, Fresno State’s Phillip Thomas
Biggest snub: Florida’s Matt Elam
Our leader: Milliner
Milliner leads the SEC with 14 pass breakups, including two interceptions. The Crimson Tide are seventh nationally and second in the SEC behind Florida in pass efficiency defense.
 

SPECIAL TEAMS AWARDS
Groza Award (Top kicker)
Finalists: Florida State’s Dustin Hopkins, Tulane’s Cairo Santos, Florida’s Caleb Sturgis
Biggest snub: Ball State’s Steven Schott
Our leader: Santos
Santos is 20 for 20 on field goals this season, and his kicks haven’t been cheap. A dozen of his field goals have been longer than 40 yards, including kicks of 57 and 54.

Ray Guy Award (Top punter)
Finalists: Louisiana Tech’s Ryan Allen, Florida’s Kyle Christy, Ball State’s Scott Kovanda
Biggest snub: Texas A&M’s Ryan Epperson
Our leader: Allen
With the No. 1 total offense and scoring offense nationally, Louisiana Tech doesn’t need to punt often. But when the Bulldogs kick, they have a weapon in Allen, the defending Ray Guy Award winner. Allen leads the nation in punting (48.1 yards), and the Bulldogs lead the nation in net punting (43.1 yards).

OTHER NATIONAL AWARDS
Freshman of the Year
Our leader: Johnny Manziel, Texas A&M
Critics can point out Manziel’s numbers in SEC games, including three interceptions against LSU, but his emergence has been the key in A&M going 10-2 this season. By reaching the Pac-12 Championship Game, Brett Hundley has a strong case at UCLA, too.
Others: Louisiana Tech’s Kenneth Dixon, TCU’s Devonte Fields, UCLA’s Brett Hundley, Oregon’s Marcus Mariota

Coach of the Year
Our leader: Notre Dame’s Brian Kelly
The Irish are No. 1 for the first time since the formation of the BCS and could compete for their first national title since 1988. The defense has been lights out, but Kelly’s key accomplishment has been to manage a challenging quarterback situation.
Others: Ohio State’s Urban Meyer, Kansas State’s Bill Snyder

Broyles Award (top assistant)
Our leader: Kliff Kingsbury, Texas A&M
The Aggies are on pace to break SEC total offense records that were once set by Steve Spurrier at Florida and the Hal Mumme/Mike Leach tandem at Kentucky. Not a bad start for A&M in the SEC.
Others: Oregon State’s Mark Banker, Notre Dame’s Bob Diaco, Alabama’s Kirby Smart