With conference championships wrapped up and the national championship still several weeks away from being decided, it’s awards season in college football, and several of the most prestigious honors were handed out Thursday night. From the Davey O’Brien Award given to the nation’s best quarterback to the Ray Guy Award for the nation’s best punter, the honors run the gamut of the sport’s positional spectrum.
Defense made a comeback in 2021, and although none of the Heisman Trophy finalists are defensive players, one of the game’s biggest defenders got his due Thursday. Georgia’s 340-pound defensive tackle Jordan Davis won both the Bednarik and Outland awards after helping the No. 3 Bulldogs to one of the most dominant defensive seasons in modern history. Davis became the first player since Aaron Donald in 2013 to win both honors in the same season. On the offensive side, Michigan State running back Kenneth Walker III also cleaned up by winning both the Walter Camp and Doak Walker awards. So did Alabama quarterback Bryce Young, who won the Maxwell and Davey O’Brien awards and is the favorite to win the Heisman Trophy.
In addition to Georgia and Alabama, the other teams playing in the College Football Playoff were also represented in college football’s awards. Check out the full list of winners for the 2021 college football season below:
Maxwell Award
Player of the Year
Bryce Young, Alabama
Walter Camp Award
Player of the Year
Kenneth Walker III, Michigan State
Home Depot Award
Coach of the Year
Luke Fickell, Cincinnati
Jim Thorpe Award
Best Defensive Back
Coby Bryant,…
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