Davey O’Brien Award Announces Postseason Great 8
FORT WORTH, Texas (Jan. 22, 2025) — The Davey O’Brien Foundation has announced the eight quarterbacks named to the Davey O’Brien Award’s Postseason Great 8. All individual performances during bowl games and College Football Playoff contests were eligible for inclusion.
The quarterbacks on the Postseason Great 8 list are Iowa State’s Rocco Becht, Jaxson Dart of Ole Miss, Texas’ Quinn Ewers, Blake Horvath of Navy, Ohio State’s Will Howard, Kyle McCord of Syracuse, Ohio’s Parker Navarro and Diego Pavia of Vanderbilt.
The Davey O’Brien Foundation was created in 1977, and the National Quarterback Award, the oldest and most prestigious college quarterback award, was first issued in 1981. Over its time, the Davey O’Brien Foundation has given away more than $1.3 million in scholarships and university grants to help high school and college athletes transform leadership on the field into leadership in life.
In 1938, O’Brien, who wore No. 8 as a star quarterback for TCU, became the first player ever to win the Heisman Trophy, Maxwell Award and Walter Camp Award in the same year. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1955.
Davey O’Brien Postseason Great 8
Rocco Becht, Iowa State, So., 6-1, 205, Wesley Chapel, Fla.
· Completed 22 of 36 passes for 270 yards and three touchdowns, and rushed eight times for 23 yards and a score, in a 42-41 victory over No. 13 Miami in the Pop-Tarts Bowl.
Jaxson Dart, Ole Miss, Sr., 6-2, 225, Kaysville, Utah
· Passed for 404 yards and four touchdowns on 27-of-35 passing, while adding 43 rushing yards on 12 carries in a 52-20 triumph over Duke in the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl.
Quinn Ewers, Texas, Jr., 6-2, 210, Southlake, Texas
· Was 20-for-30 passing for 322 yards and three touchdowns and tacked on a rushing TD in a 39-31 double-overtime victory over 4th-seeded Arizona State in the CFP Quarterfinal at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl.
Blake Horvath, Navy, Jr., 6-2, 195, Hilliard, Ohio
· Carried 18 times for 155 yards and two touchdowns, including a school-record 95-yard run, and had 92 passing yards during a 21-20 win over Oklahoma in the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl.
Will Howard, Ohio State, Sr., 6-4, 235, Downingtown, Pa.
· Completed 17 of 21 passes (.810) for 231 yards and two touchdowns, and carried the ball 16 times for 57 yards, in a 34-23 win over No. 7 seed Notre Dame in the CFP National Championship Game.
Kyle McCord, Syracuse, Sr., 6-3, 220, Mt. Laurel, N.J.
· Threw for 453 yards and five touchdowns, completing 24 of 34 pass attempts, and broke the ACC single-season passing record as Syracuse defeated Washington State, 52-35, in the DirecTV Holiday Bowl.
Parker Navarro, Ohio, Sr., 6-0, 205, Tempe, Ariz.
· Amassed 365 yards of total offense (254 passing, 111 rushing) and four touchdowns (three rushing, one passing) in a 30-27 win over Jacksonville State in the StaffDNA Cure Bowl.
Diego Pavia, Vanderbilt, Sr., 6-0, 207, Albuquerque, N.M.
· Accounted for five touchdowns (three passing, two rushing), while throwing for 160 yards and rushing for 84, in a 35-27 victory over Georgia Tech in the Birmingham Bowl.