Stafford Named Semifinalist for O'Brien Award

From UGA Athletics:

University of Georgia junior quarterback Matthew Stafford has been named one of 13 semifinalists for the 2008 Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award, according to an announcement by the award's selection committee.

Stafford, a 6-3, 228-pound native of Dallas, Texas, has completed 141 of 229 passes this year for 1,946 yards and 12 touchdowns. He also rushed for one touchdown against #11 LSU behind a starting offensive line consisting of two true freshmen, a redshirt freshman, a sophomore and a redshirt sophomore.

In addition to passing for a career-high 310 yards during a 26-14 win over Tennessee earlier this season, Stafford leads the Southeastern Conference in passing yards per game (243.3) and total offense (250.8).

He has also directed the eighth-ranked Bulldogs to have the top-ranked total offense (431.2 yards/game) and passing offense (258.8 yards/game) in the league while holding down the second-best pass efficiency in the SEC.

Stafford and the 12 other semifinalists were evaluated and selected according to their quarterback skills, athletic ability, academics, character, leadership, sportsmanship and reputation as a team player.

The 13 semifinalists will contend for the award until the list is narrowed to three finalists on Nov. 24. All finalists will be in attendance in Orlando, Fla., where the O'Brien winner will be announced during The Home Depot ESPNU College Football Awards Show airing Dec. 11. The recipient will be honored Feb. 16, 2009, at the 32nd-annual O'Brien Awards Dinner at The Fort Worth Club in Fort Worth, Texas.

Fans are able to vote for semifinalist candidates once daily at VoteOBrien.org. The voting will continue throughout the semifinalists and finalist rounds with 5 percent of the final tally coming directly from the fan vote.