OU’s Kurtis Rourke named on 2023 Maxwell Award Watch List

The Maxwell Football Club Monday (July 31) announced its watch list for the 87th Maxwell Award presented annually to the outstanding player in college football.

The Maxwell Award has been presented to the College Player of the Year since 1937 and is named in honor of Robert "Tiny" Maxwell, who was a former standout at Swarthmore College and a renowned sportswriter and football official.

Graduate student quarterback Kurtis Rourke (Oakville, Ontario, Canada) is representing the Ohio University Bobcats. During the 2022 season, he went 244-for-353 on 3,256 passing yards, throwing 25 total touchdowns in 11 games.

The quarterback made program history against Fordham (Sept. 24), going for 527 yards in the air, breaking a record that was set in 1983. He is also second in program history in passing yards in a season as well as passing touchdowns in a season.

Rourke's performance earned him numerous accolades, highlighted by being named the MAC Offensive Player of the Year, earning the Vern Smith Leadership Award and getting named the 2022 Cornish Trophy runner-up as well as earning First Team All-MAC honors. He was named one of the Manning Award "Stars of the Week" twice, was a Davey O'Brien Award semifinalist and was also named to the 2022 Phil Steele First Team Offense in addition to earning MAC Offensive Player of the Week three times.

Off the field, he was named Academic All-MAC, 2022 Academic All-America® Second Team and earned MAC Scholar Athlete of the Week honors once.
 
The Maxwell Award watch list will once again incorporate a broad spectrum of Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) programs and conferences from coast to coast, led by Caleb Williams (USC) who was the 2022 winner. Williams is joined by seven additional returning semifinalists, Brock Bowers – Georgia, Drake Maye – North Carolina, Marvin Harrison Jr. – Ohio State, Bo Nix – Oregon, Cameron Rising – Utah, Michael Penix Jr. – Washington and Blake Corum – Michigan. The full list consists of 85 players with 16 schools having two players represented.
 
Williams joined O.J Simpson, Charles White and Marcus Allen, as the fourth Trojan player to be selected as the Maxwell Award winner.

The Maxwell Football Club has once again partnered with Pro Football Focus (PFF) and Phil Steele Publications as selection committee partners. PFF provides detailed metrics and performance-based assessments to selection committee staff, with several senior PFF analysts are members of our selection committee. Phil Steele's College Football Preview is generally recognized as the most complete preseason magazine.
 
Semifinalists for the Maxwell Award will be announced Nov. 13, 2023, while the three finalists for the Maxwell Award will be unveiled Nov. 28, 2023. The winners of the 87th Maxwell Award will be announced as part of the ESPN Home Depot College Football Awards Show held on Dec. 7, 2023. The formal presentations of the Maxwell Award will be made at the Maxwell Football Club Awards in March 2024.
 
ABOUT THE MAXWELL FOOTBALL CLUB – The Maxwell Football Club was founded in 1935 and is the oldest football organization of its kind in America. The Club recognizes excellence in performance at the high school, collegiate and professional levels of the game. The Maxwell Club is also deeply involved and fully vested in the community through programs to promote academic excellence, community volunteerism, and leadership. High school student-athletes around the country have an opportunity to participate in MFC Showcase events, free of charge, through the generosity of our corporate partners, Ivy Rehab, SAFR, the ETC Foundation and the Run Around Inc. To learn more, visit www.maxwellfootballclub.org.
 
ABOUT PRO FOOTBALL FOCUS - PFF is widely recognized as the industry leader in the advanced data collection and analysis for American football. Since 2011, PFF has led football's charge into the world of analytics. Their services are trusted by all 32 NFL teams and over 100 FBS programs. Major broadcast networks, national media outlets and player agencies all use PFF as a resource as well. PFF's media network provides fans with apps, tools, podcasts and other content to help satisfy their thirst for deeper insights in the game.
 
The Maxwell Award is a member of the National College Football Awards Association (NCFAA), which encompasses college football's most prestigious awards. The NCFAA's 24 awards have honored more than 900 recipients since 1935. This season, 12 NCFAA awards will honor national players of the week each Tuesday.