The Maxwell goes to college football’s best player while the O’Brien Award is awarded to the best quarterback in the country.
Stroud leads the nation in passing efficiency rating (176.2) and touchdown passes (37).
The third-year sophomore is No. 1 in the Big Ten in passing yards (3,340) and yards per completion (14.2).
Stroud’s top target, Marvin Harrison Jr., is a finalist for the Biletnikoff Award. That goes to the nation’s best receiver.
Harrison, a true sophomore, leads the Big Ten and is third in the nation in receiving touchdowns with 12. He’s second in the conference and eighth nationally with 1,157 receiving yards and second in the Big Ten at 16.1 yards per catch.
Terry Glenn won Ohio State’s only Biletnikoff Award in 1995 while Troy Smith won the O’Brien Award in 2006. Eddie George, Archie Griffin, Bob Ferguson and Howard “Hopalong” Cassady are Ohio State’s Maxwell winners.
The University of Cincinnati also has a pari of national award finalists.
Sophomore punter Mason Fletcher is up for the Ray Guy Award while senior linebacker Ivan Pace Jr. is a finalist for the Bednarik Award (best defensive player) and the Butkus Award (best linebacker).
Pace has 120 tackles, including 19.5 for loss and nine sacks, and he is the nation’s second-highest graded defensive player by Pro Football Focus.
The Cincinnati native is third in the nation in TFLs and seventh in tackles.
Fletcher is fourth in the country in net punt average (46.7 yards).
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