Three Hoosiers on Maxwell Award Watch List for College Player of the Year

Written by Sammy Jacobs

Three Indiana Hoosier players have been named to the prestigious Maxwell Award Watch List. Each year the Maxwell Football Club presents the Maxwell Award for the College Player of the Year. This award is presented in honor of Robert W. (Tiny) Maxwell, legendary college player, official and sports columnist. Quarterback Michael Penix, wide receiver Whop Philyor and running back Stevie Scott III all made the preseason watch list for the award given to the College Football Player of the Year. Anthony Thompson is the only Hoosier to ever win the award (1989).

Below is the release from Indiana University.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana senior wide receiver Whop Philyor, junior running back Stevie Scott III and redshirt sophomore quarterback Michael Penix Jr. earned spots on the watch list for the 84th Maxwell Award, presented to the most outstanding player in college football, the Maxwell Football Club announced today.
 
The Maxwell Award has been presented to the College Player of the Year since 1937 and is named in honor of Robert "Tiny" Maxwell, a former standout at the Swarthmore College and a renowned sports writer and football official.
 
A member of the Biletnikoff Award Watch List for the second-consecutive year, Philyor enters 2020 with 126 receptions, 1,572 yards, nine touchdowns, six 100-yard games and five double-digit catch games. He became the 13th Hoosier to reach 125 receptions and 1,500 yards.
 
The Tampa native is the program's leader in double-figure catch games, shares seventh in 100-yard games, is 15th in receptions and 20th in yardage.
 
A second-team All-Big Ten selection and a Biletnikoff Award Watch Lister in 2019, Philyor was named IU's Offensive Newcomer after he caught 70 passes for 1,002 yards and five TDs. He became the seventh Hoosier to reach 1,000 yards, recorded three double-digit catch games, a program single-season record, was one of 10 FBS players with a trio of contests with 10-or-more, and he posted four 100-yard games (T-4th in the Big Ten).
 
Philyor's receptions are sixth, 100-yarders share sixth and yards are seventh on the school's single-season lists. He finished third in the conference in catches and receptions per game, and fourth in yardage and yardage per game.
 
A Doak Walker Award candidate for the second-straight season, Scott heads into 2020 needing 18 yards to become the 14th Hoosier to reach 2,000. He shares eighth in program history with 20 rushing touchdowns, is tied for 10th with nine 100-yard games and shares 11th with 22 total TDs (20 rushing, 2 receiving).
 
A second-team All-Big Ten selection one year ago, Scott finished fourth in the Big Ten in rushing yards per game (76.8), fifth in carries (178), tied for fifth in rushing touchdowns (10), tied for sixth in total TDs (11) and 10th in all-purpose yardage per game (96.0) despite missing the final two games due to injury.
 
Penix set the program single-season completion percentage mark (68.8), which also ranks sixth in Big Ten history, in 2019. He completed 110-of-160 for 1,394 yards with 10 touchdowns and four interceptions, and he posted a 157.56 pass-efficiency rating.
 
The two-time Big Ten Freshman of the Week rushed for 118 yards on 22 attempts (5.4 average) with two TDs. Penix averaged 232.3 passing yards and 252.2 total yards per game in six games. He suffered a season-ending injury (right sternoclavicular joint) in the Northwestern win on Nov. 2.
 
The members of the National College Football Awards Association (NCFAA) are unveiling their pre-season watch lists over a 12-day period this month. Seventeen of the association's 25 awards select a pre-season watch list and the NCFAA has spearheaded a coordinated effort to promote each award's pre-season candidates.
 
Following is the entire 2020 preseason watch list calendar:
Monday July 13: Chuck Bednarik Award
Tuesday July 14: Davey O'Brien Award
Wednesday July 15: Doak Walker Award
Thursday July 16: Biletnikoff Award
Friday July 17: Mackey Award
 
Monday July 20: Jim Thorpe Award
Tuesday July 21: Outland Trophy & Nagurski Award
Wednesday July 22: Groza Award & Ray Guy Award
Thursday July 23: Hornung Award & Wuerffel Trophy
Friday July 24: Walter Camp Award
 
Indiana Football Pre-Season Watch Lists
Maxwell Award – Michael Penix Jr., Whop Philyor, Stevie Scott III
Wuerffel Trophy – Harry Crider
John Mackey Award – Peyton Hendershot
Biletnikoff Award – Whop Philyor
Doak Walker Award – Stevie Scott III
Chuck Bednarik Award – Tiawan Mullen