July 14, 2004
Fort Worth, Texas -- The Davey O'Brien Foundation announced the preseason watch list for the 2004 Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award, given annually to the nation's top college quarterback. Six ACC QBs -- Miami's Brock Berlin, Florida State's Chris Rix, Virginia Tech's Bryan Randall, Clemson's Charlie Whitehurst, North Carolina's Darian Durant and Georgia Tech's Reggie Ball -- made the list of 42 candidates.
The O'Brien Award is the oldest and most prestigious award in the country for college quarterbacks and is named in honor of the late Davey O'Brien, the All-American and Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback for Texas Christian University who led the Horned Frogs to the 1938 national championship.
Semifinalists will be announced in early November and narrowed to three finalists later in that month by the O'Brien National Advisory Committee. The committee is comprised of nationally known sportswriters, commentators and other members of the media. The winner of the 2004 O'Brien Award will be announced Dec. 9 on the ESPN College Football Awards Show from Orlando, Fla. The winner will be honored at the 28th Annual O'Brien Awards Dinner in February 2005, at The Fort Worth Club in Fort Worth, Texas
| Derek Anderson | Sr | Oregon State |
| Reggie Ball | So | Georgia Tech |
| Brock Berlin | Sr | Miami (Fla) |
| Jon Beutjer | Sr | Illinois |
| Timmy Chang | Sr | Hawaii |
| Kellen Clemens | Jr | Oregon |
| Brodie Croyle | Jr | Alabama |
| Jay Cutler | Jr | Vanderbilt |
| Darian Durant | Sr | North Carolina |
| Charlie Frye | Sr | Akron |
| Bruce Gradkowski | Jr | Toledo |
| David Greene | Sr | Georgia |
| Gino Guidugli | Sr | Cincinnatti |
| Darrell Hackney | Jr | UAB |
| Josh Haldi | Sr | Northern Illinois |
| Scott Hall | Sr | North Texas |
| Stan Hill | Sr | Marshall |
| Matt Jones | Sr | Arkansas |
| Stefan LeFors | Sr | Louisville |
| Chris Leak | So | Florida |
| Matt Leinart | Jr | USC |
| Matt LoVecchio | Sr | Indiana |
| James Kilian | Sr | Tulsa |
| Joel Klatt | Jr | Colorado |
| Kevin Kolb | So | Houston |
| Reggie McNeal | Jr | Texas A&M |
| Rasheed Marshall | Sr | West Virginia |
| Zack Mills | Sr | Penn State |
| Kyle Orton | Sr | Purdue |
| Dan Orlovsky | Sr | Connecticut |
| Brady Quinn | So | Notre Dame |
| Paul Pinegar | Jr | Fresno State |
| Bryan Randall | Sr | Virginia Tech |
| Chris Rix | Sr | Florida State |
| Aaron Rodgers | Jr | California |
| Alex Smith | Jr | Utah |
| Brad Smith | Jr | Missouri |
| Andrew Walter | Sr | Arizona State |
| Jason White | Sr | Oklahoma |
| Charlie Whitehurst | Jr | Clemson |
| Danny Wimprine | Sr | Memphis |
| Vince Young | So | Texas |
