Texas Tech junior Patrick Mahomes II was one of 30 quarterbacks named to the Davey O’Brien Award watch list Thursday morning by the Davey O’Brien Foundation.
 
Mahomes is one of seven returning quarterbacks who were named a semifinalist for the award in 2015, joining the likes of reigning Davey O’Brien Award winner Deshaun Watson (Clemson) as well as Baker Mayfield (Oklahoma), Luke Falk (Washington State), Josh Rosen (UCLA), Seth Russell (Baylor) and Greg Ward Jr. (Houston).
 
The Whitehouse, Texas native put together a stellar sophomore campaign where he ranked among the top passers in the country. Mahomes blistered opposing defenses with 4,653 passing yards while adding another 456 yards on the ground to lead a Tech offense that ranked second nationally in scoring offense.
 
Tech also ranked second in both passing offense and total offense thanks in part to Mahomes, who became the youngest quarterback in NCAA history to surpass 5,000 yards of total offense in a season. Mahomes is one of just 13 quarterbacks all-time to reach the mark as well.
 
The Red Raiders averaged 45.1 points per game in 2015, the highest single-season mark in program history. Tech was the only school in a power-five conference (ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and SEC) to score at least 30 points in every game of the season.
 
This is the fourth watch list for Mahomes already this summer as he is also a candidate for the Maxwell Award as well as the Wuerffel Trophy and the AFCA Good Works Team, both community-service related awards.
 
The Davey O’Brien Award watch list was compiled by a national selection committee based on player performance during the previous year and expectations heading into the 2016 season. All nominees are required to have previously started at least one game at their current institution.
 
The Davey O’Brien Foundation will name 16 semifinalists for the award on Nov. 10. From that list, the foundation and selection committee will trim that group to three finalists on Nov. 22. The 2016 Davey O’Brien Award winner will be announced live Dec. 8 during The Home Depot College Football Awards on ESPN.