IRVING, Texas - Three American Athletic Conference players have been named to the preseason watch list for the 88th Maxwell Award, presented annually to the outstanding player in college football.
Memphis quarterback Seth Henigan, South Florida quarterback Byrum Brown and Tulane running back Makhai Hughes were the three selections from The American among the 80 players nationally on the preseason list.
In 2023, Henigan helped lead the Tigers to a 10-3 record and a victory over Iowa State in the 2023 AutoZone Liberty Bowl. The 21-year-old is entering his fourth season at the helm of the Tiger offense, making him the only fourth-year starting quarterback in FBS to spend all four seasons at one institution.
The senior quarterback had his best season yet in 2023, passing for 3,883 yards and 32 touchdowns to just nine interceptions while rushing for another five scores and setting the single-season completions (318) record for the Tigers.
Henigan is the Memphis-career leader entering 2024 in completions (839) and passing yards (10,776) while his 79 touchdowns are just a dozen shy of Brady White's career record.
Brown set USF season marks for passing yards (3,292), touchdowns (26), completions (276), and completion percentage (64.6%) and tied the Bulls game record for touchdown passes with five at Memphis in his first season in head coach Alex Golesh's offense. He also led the Bulls with 809 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns on the ground, joining 2023 Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels of LSU as the only players in FBS football to register 3,000-plus yards passing and 800-plus yards rushing.
Brown's 4,101 total yards in 2023 are the second-best season total in program history behind only Quinton Flowers, and he enters the 2024 season standing sixth on the Bulls' all-time career passing chart (3,696). Honored by the AAC six times in the conference weekly awards in 2023, Brown was key to the Bulls' program-best, six-game win improvement capped by a 45-0 victory over Syracuse in the Boca Raton Bowl. He led the Bulls to come-from-behind wins at UConn and Navy, and his 517 total yards in a victory over Rice (including 435 passing) rank as the second-best total in program history.
Hughes led Tulane and the American Athletic Conference in rushing with 1,378 yards in 2023 on his way to earning first team All-AAC and conference rookie of the year honors. He averaged 5.3 yards per carry and totaled seven rushing scores.