PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Four American Athletic Conference quarterbacks and four conference running backs have been tabbed as players to watch for national honors at their respective positions with the announcement of the preseason watch lists for the Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award and the Doak Walker Award.
 
The Davey O’Brien list includes Houston’s Greg Ward Jr., USF’s Quinton Flowers, Temple’s Phillip Walker and Tulsa’s Dane Evans.
 
The American’s four quarterbacks on the O’Brien Award list trailed only the Pac-12 and Big Ten, which had five players each named to the list.
 
The four running backs from The American on the Doak Walker Award watch list are UConn’s Arkeel Newsome, USF’s Marlon Mack, SMU's Xavier Jones and Tulane’s Dontrell Hilliard.  
 
Ward was a semifinalist for the Maxwell Award as college football’s most outstanding player last season after he averaged 281.1 yards of total offense per game to help Houston to a 13-1 record and the American Athletic Conference championship. Ward rushed for 1,108 yards and 21 touchdowns and threw for 2,628 yards and 17 TDs in 2015.
 
Flowers had a breakout season for USF in 2015 as he threw for 2,296 yards and 22 touchdowns, ranking third in The American in touchdown passes. He added 991 rushing yards and 12 rushing touchdowns to account for 34 TDs on the season, helping USF win seven of its last nine games.
 
Walker enters his fourth year as Temple’s starting quarterback. He threw for 2,972 yards and 19 touchdowns last season, raking fifth in The American in passing.
 
Evans led The American in passing (333.2 yards per game) and was second in the conference with 25 touchdown passes in 2015. He threw for 4,332 yards to help Tulsa return to postseason play for the first time since 2012.
 
Newsome finished the 2015 season as the American Athletic Conference leader in all-purpose yards as he averaged 129.7 yards per game. He rushed for 792 yards, had 465 receiving yards and racked up 1,686 yards on kickoff returns for the Huskies, who played in a bowl game for the first time since 2010.
 
Mack was the American Athletic Conference rushing leader in 2015 after he averaged 115.1 yards per game. He rushed for 1,381 yards and eight touchdowns, averaging 6.6 yards per carry.

Jones had a big freshman season for SMU to earn a spot on the Doak Walker list, named for the former Mustang legend. Jones rushed for 634 yards and 10 touchdowns in 2015, helping SMU to nearly triple its offensvie production from the previous season.
 
Hilliard was the key man in a talented Tulane backfield in 2015 as he rushed for 646 yards and six touchdowns on 115 carries. He averaged 5.6 yards per carry and finished with 23 receptions for 267 yards and a TD as well.
 

Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award Watch List
Greg Ward Jr.	QB	Houston
Quinton Flowers	QB	USF
Phillip Walker	QB	Temple
Dane Evans	QB	Tulsa

 

Doak Walker Award Watch List (Top Running Back)
Arkeel Newsome	RB	UConn
Marlon Mack	RB	USF
Xavier Jones	RB	SMU
Dontrell Hilliard	RB	Tulane