Per GoBearcats:
University of Cincinnati quarterback Desmond Ridder (Louisville, Kentucky/St. Xavier) was one of 35 quarterbacks named to the Davey O’Brien QB Class of 2020, the Davey O’Brien Foundation announced. Each member of the group is now an official candidate to win the 2020 Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award.
Ridder has helped lead UC to an 8-0 start to the season and a No. 7 ranking in all three national polls. The junior has passed for 1,821 yards and 16 TDs while rushing for 526 yards and 11 scores.
He has 21 career rushing TDs, most ever for a UC QB and tied for No. 9 all-time. Over the past five games, Ridder has accounted for 21 TDs, passing for 1,224 yards and 10 TDs while running for 455 yards (8.8 YPR) and 11 TDs. The last FBS player to reach all of those numbers over a 5-game span was Lamar Jackson during his 2016 Heisman season according to StatsPerform.
Ridder was named the Davey O’Brien National QB of the Week on Oct. 28 following the Bearcats win at SMU and was tabbed for the award’s Great 8 twice this season. He has earned American Athletic Conference Player of the Week honors four times this season.
A point scoring model was used to determine the quarterbacks in the Class of 2020. Points were awarded to players based on their overall performance as well as inclusion on the Davey O’Brien Preseason Watch List, weekly Great 8 lists and National Quarterback of the Week winners.
The Class of 2020 consists of players from all 10 FBS conferences as well as football independents. The Atlantic Coast Conference has the most honorees with seven, followed by the Southeastern Conference and American Athletic Conference with five. The list is made up of 13 seniors, nine juniors, nine sophomores and four freshmen.
The next step in the process will be to select the award’s 16 semifinalists from these 35 quarterbacks. On Monday, Dec. 7, the semifinalists will be named based on voting from the Davey O’Brien National Selection Committee as well as the first round of the Davey O’Brien Fan Vote, which will run through Sunday, Dec. 6.
The Fan Vote is instituting a major change in its format in 2020. This year, fans will vote via three social media platforms—Instagram, Twitter and Facebook—and the top vote getter on each platform will each receive the equivalent of two additional committee member ballots for that voting period. Fan voting will be done by liking the quarterback’s photo from the original post on the official Davey O’Brien social media account.
Following the naming of the semifinalists, the next round of fan voting will take place from Monday, Dec. 7 to Sunday, Dec. 20 with the three finalists named on Tuesday, Dec. 22. The final round of fan voting will occur from Tuesday, Dec. 22 until Wednesday, Dec. 30. The winner will be announced on Thursday, Jan. 7 on the 30th annual The Home Depot College Football Awards, which will be held virtually from 7-8:30 p.m. (ET) on ESPN.
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 $1.2 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 was 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. For more information, visit www.DaveyOBrien.org.
