Sports
 

Kolb selected for QB watch list

By Uvaldo Lopez
The Daily Cougar

UH standout quarterback Kevin Kolb was named to the 2004 Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award Watch List. After a breakthrough freshman season during which the young quarterback threw for an eye-popping 3,131yards and amassed 25 touchdowns in the process, Kolb will be one of five Conference USA quarterbacks out of 42 candidates for the award.

The C-USA Freshman of the Year helped lead the Cougars to their first bowl berth in seven years. Kolb, the first freshman to start at the position for UH, managed to blow away all previous freshman quarterback records. Behind the air assault, which included a 61.1 completion percentage with just six interceptions, the young Kolb managed to rush for 346 yards and seven touchdowns, not to mention achieving 267.5 yards of total offense per game.

The O'Brien Award is the oldest award in the country for quarterbacks. It is named after Davey O'Brien, who helped lead Texas Christian to the 1938 national title. This, by coincidence, is the same team against which Kolb had his best game. Against the Horned Frogs he became the fourth quarterback in NCAA Division I-A history to throw for more than 400 yards and rush for more than 100 yards. 

The Davey O'Brien Award is second to the Heisman Trophy in prestige in the college football world. One can almost imagine this second-year phenom from Stephenville winning the Heisman. 

But that might be a tad unrealistic. The last quarterback from Houston to win the Heisman was Andre Ware in 1988. Now if Kolb lets nature take its course, then who knows what could happen -- the sky is the limit. Or the limit is the sky, when you throw the ball for more than 300 yards against four different teams, including a career-best 434 against TCU.

The semifinalists for the O'Brien Award will be revealed in early November, and the O'Brien National Advisory Committee will announce the top three later on the same month.
 

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