July 24, 2003

Fort Worth, Texas -- Florida State junior quarterback Chris Rix has been named to the 2003 Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award Watch List. The list consists of 42 players, including five from the ACC. The Davey O'Brien Award is given annually to the nation's top college quarterback.

The 2000 ACC Freshman of the Year, Rix has started 21 games at quarterback in his two seasons at Florida State. He earned the Hinesman Award this spring as the most dominant player in spring practice. Rix currently ranks eighth all-time at Florida State with 4,418 career passing yards and ninth in school history with 37 touchdown passes.

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.

Only Brigham Young (3) has had more O'Brien winners than Florida State. Charlie Ward (1993) and Chris Weinke (2000) both won the O'Brien before going on to win the Heisman Trophy.

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 memembers of the media. The winner of the 2003 O'Brien Award will be announced December 11th on the ESPN College Football Awards Show in Orlando. The winner will be honored at the 27th annual O'Brien Awards Dinner in February 2004 at the Fort Worth Club in Fort Worth, Texas.

The 42 Players Named to the Davey O'Brien Award Watch List:

Asad Abdul-Khaliq, Sr., Minnesota

Brock Berlin, Jr., Miami

Jon Beutjer, Sr., Illinois

Casey Bramlet, Sr., Wyoming

Timmy Chang, Jr., Hawaii

Casey Clausen, Sr., Tennessee

Ryan Dinwiddie, Sr., Boise State

Darian Durant, Jr., North Carolina

Josh Fields, Jr., Oklahoma State

David Greene, Jr, Georgia

Gino Guidugli, Jr. Cincinnati

Darrell Hackney, So., UAB

Adam Hall, Sr., San Diego State

Chance Harridge, Sr., Air Force

Josh Harris, Sr., Bowling Green

Carlyle Holiday, Sr., Notre Dame

Craig Krenzel, Sr., Ohio State

Jammal Lord, Sr., Nebraska

Jared Lorenzen, Sr., Kentucky

J.P. Losman, Sr., Tulane

Matt LoVecchio, Jr., Indiana

Scott McBrien, Sr., Maryland

Luke McCown, Sr., Louisiana Tech

Rasheed Marshall, Jr., West Virginia

Eli Manning, Sr., Ole Miss

Zack Mills, Jr., Penn State

John Navarre, Sr., Michigan

Kyle Orton, Jr., Purdue

Cody Pickett, Sr., Washington

Bryan Randall, Jr., Virginia Tech

Philip Rivers, Sr., NC State

Chris Rix, Jr., Florida State

Ell Roberson, Sr., Kansas State

Ben Roethlisberger, Jr., Miami (Ohio)

Rod Rutherford, Sr., Pittsburgh

Matt Schaub, Sr., Virginia

Ryan Schneider, Sr., Central Florida

Brad Smith, So., Missouri

Bradlee Van Pelt, Sr., Colorado State

Andrew Walter, Jr., Arizona State

Bill Whittemore, Sr., Kansas

Danny Wimprine, Jr., Memphis