FORT WORTH, Texas — UTSA redshirt junior quarterback Owen McCown has landed on the preseason watch list for the 2025 Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award, the Davey O’Brien Foundation announced Thursday.
McCown is one of 36 FBS quarterbacks selected to the watch list for the award presented annually to the nation’s best college quarterback. He joins Navy’s Blake Horvath as the only two signal callers from the American Conference on the list.
Compiled by a subset of the Davey O’Brien National Selection Committee, this year’s list was selected based on previous Division I career player performance as well as expectations heading into the 2025 college football season.
A product of Rusk High School, McCown started all 13 games last year and completed 294 of 467 passes for 3,424 yards and 25 touchdowns. He also rushed for 340 yards and three TDs to tally 3,764 yards of total offense. The left-hander logged four 300-yard passing games, including a school-record 434 yards and four touchdowns against Tulsa, and topped the 200-yard mark in seven additional contests.
McCown opened the 2024 season by throwing for 340 yards and three scores on 28-of-38 passing in the 28-16 victory over Kennesaw State and was named Manning Award QB of the Week. He landed on the Davey O’Brien Great 8 list after completing 20 of 37 passes for 280 yards and four TDs in the 44-36 win over No. 25 Memphis. He racked up 379 yards and two touchdowns on 29-of-43 passing and added 88 rushing yards to help UTSA tally a school-record 681 yards of offense in the 48-27 win versus North Texas, earning a spot on the Davey O’Brien Great 9 and Manning Award Stars of the Week list. He completed 20 of 27 passes for 220 yards and a TD and added a 75-yard rushing touchdown — the longest by any Roadrunner quarterback — in the 51-27 home triumph over Temple. The son of former NFL quarterback Josh McCown closed the campaign by passing for 254 yards and a TD and dashing for a 35-yard score on the ground in the 44-15 victory over Coastal Carolina in the Myrtle Beach Bowl en route to being named the game’s MVP.
The official Davey O’Brien Midseason Watch List will be released on Tuesday, Oct. 21, and will contain active quarterbacks from the Preseason Watch List, players honored as weekly Great 8 recipients through the season’s first eight weeks and any additional quarterbacks approved by the selection subcommittee.
The 35-player Davey O’Brien QB Class of 2025 will be announced on Tuesday, Oct. 28. For the fifth straight year, fan voting on social media (Facebook, Instagram and Twitter) will earn players bonus selection committee votes during the semifinalist, finalist and winner voting rounds. First-round fan voting will begin Oct. 28 following the QB Class announcement.
The list of semifinalists selected from the QB Class will be named on Wednesday, Nov. 12. The Foundation will announce the three finalists two weeks later (Tuesday, Nov. 25). The 2025 Davey O’Brien Award winner will be unveiled live on ESPN on Thursday, Dec. 11, during The Home Depot College Football Awards.
The Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award is presented annually to the nation’s best college quarterback and is the oldest and most prestigious national quarterback award. The 49th Annual Davey O’Brien Awards Dinner honoring the winner will be held Monday, Feb. 16, 2026, at The Fort Worth Club in Fort Worth, Texas. For more information, visit www.daveyobrienaward.com.
The Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award is a member of the National College Football Awards Association (NCFAA), which encompasses college football’s most prestigious awards. The NCFAA’s 25 awards have honored more than 950 recipients since 1935. Visit NCFAA.org for more information.
UTSA will kick off its 15th season of football and sixth year under head coach Jeff Traylor against Texas A&M at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 30, in what will be a national televised matchup on ESPN live from Kyle Field in College Station.
The Roadrunners then will return home to host back-to-back games at the Alamodome where they boast a 29-3 record in the Jeff Traylor era, tied for the third-most home victories among FBS teams since 2020. UTSA will face Texas State in the Battle for I-35 at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 6, before they match up with crosstown foe UIW at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 13.
UTSA has four league games on the home slate with Rice (Oct. 11), Tulane (Oct. 30), East Carolina (Nov. 22) and Army (Nov. 28 or 29) scheduled to visit the Alamodome.
Fans can purchase season or single-game tickets online or by calling the UTSA Ticket Office at 210-458-UTSA (8872) from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday excluding holidays. Current UTSA football season-ticket holders may renew their tickets by logging into their UTSA Account Manager.
Current UTSA students receive free admission to all home games by downloading tickets via their Account Manager.
Merchandise commemorating UTSA Football’s 15th season and featuring the official logo of the milestone campaign is available for purchase.
Roadrunners on 2025 Preseason Watch Lists
Camron Cooper — Allstate AFCA Good Works Team; Allstate Wuerffel Trophy
Robert Henry Jr. — Shrine Bowl 1000; Doak Walker Award
Owen McCown — Maxwell Award; Davey O’Brien Award
Willie McCoy III — Paul Hornung Award
2025 Davey O’Brien Award Preseason Watch List
Drew Allar, Penn State, Sr., 6-5, 235, Medina, Ohio
Luke Altmyer, Illinois, Sr., 6-2, 205, Starkville, Miss.
Alonza Barnett III, JMU, Jr., 6-0, 217, Whitsett, N.C.
Rocco Becht, Iowa State, Jr., 6-1, 210, Wesley Chapel, Fla.
Carson Beck, Miami, Sr., 6-4, 220, Jacksonville, Fla.
Braylon Braxton, Southern Miss, Sr., 6-2, 230, Frisco, Texas
Devon Dampier, Utah, Jr., 5-11, 204, Phoenix, Ariz.
Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi, Colorado State, Jr., 6-2, 200, Aledo, Texas
Tucker Gleason, Toledo, Sr., 6-3, 245, Tampa, Fla.
Taylen Green, Arkansas, Sr., 6-6, 235, Lewisville, Texas
Josh Hoover, TCU, Jr., 6-2, 200, Heath, Texas
Blake Horvath, Navy, Sr., 6-2, 195, Hilliard, Ohio
Nico Iamaleava, UCLA, So., 6-6, 215, Long Beach, Calif.
Keyone Jenkins, FIU, Jr., 6-0, 190, Opa-Locka, Fla.
Kevin Jennings, SMU, So., 6-0, 192, Oak Cliff, Texas
Avery Johnson, Kansas State, Jr., 6-2, 192, Wichita, Kan.
Haynes King, Georgia Tech, Sr., 6-3, 215, Longview, Texas
Cade Klubnik, Clemson, Sr., 6-2, 205, Austin, Texas
DJ Lagway, Florida, So., 6-3, 247, Willis, Texas
Sam Leavitt, Arizona State, So., 6-2, 205, West Linn, Ore.
Maddux Madsen, Boise State, Jr., 5-10, 207, Lehi, Utah
Arch Manning, Texas, So., 6-4, 219, New Orleans, La.
John Mateer, Oklahoma, Jr., 6-1, 224, Little Elm, Texas
Owen McCown, UTSA, Jr., 6-1, 190, Rusk, Texas
Fernando Mendoza, Indiana, Jr., 6-5, 225, Miami, Fla.
Darian Mensah, Duke, So., 6-3, 205, San Luis Obispo, Calif.
Chandler Morris, Virginia, Sr., 6-0, 192, Highland Park, Texas
Behren Morton, Texas Tech, Sr., 6-2, 210, Eastland, Texas
Miller Moss, Louisville, Sr., 6-2, 210, Los Angeles, Calif.
Maalik Murphy, Oregon State, Jr., 6-5, 234, Inglewood, Calif.
Parker Navarro, Ohio, Sr., 6-0, 205, Tempe, Ariz.
Garrett Nussmeier, LSU, Sr., 6-1, 205, Lake Charles, La.
Diego Pavia, Vanderbilt, Sr., 6-0, 207, Albuquerque, N.M.
Sawyer Robertson, Baylor, Sr., 6-4, 220, Lubbock, Texas
LaNorris Sellers, South Carolina, So., 6-3, 240, Florence, S.C.
Brendan Sorsby, Cincinnati, Jr., 6-3, 235, Denton, Texas
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