Marcus Mariota, Scooby Wright among Pac-12 national football award finalists

With less than two weeks to go until the Pac-12 crowns a 2014 football champion, several players from across the conference have been named finalists for prestigious national college football awards.

The National College Football Awards Association named Tuesday the three finalists for nearly a dozen of the most prominent trophies, and Pac-12 honorees include players from all three facets of the game.

Oregon's Marcus Mariota was named a finalist for the Davey O'Brien Award, which goes annually to the nation's top quarterback. Mariota, who broke the Pac-12 record for touchdowns in a single season this past Saturday, is joined by TCU's Trevone Boykin and Mississippi State's Dak Prescott as finalists. Mariota is also a finalist for the Maxwell Award, which goes to the overall player of the year in college football.

Arizona's Scooby Wright continues to rack up spots on short lists; his most recent honor is being named a finalist for the Chuck Bednarik Award, which goes to America's best defensive player. Clemson's Vic Beasley and Joey Bosa of Ohio State join him on the Bednarik short list. Wright is also a finalist for the Bronco Nagurski Trophy (most outstanding defensive player) and Rotary Lombardi Award (top offensive lineman, defensive lineman or linebacker).

The Butkus Award, which annually goes to the nation's best linebacker, named UCLA's Eric Kendricks and Washington's Hau'oli Kikaha as two of its five finalists. Meanwhile, Oregon's Ifo Ekpre-Olomu is on the short list for the Jim Thorpe Award, which is given to America's best defensive back.

Utah's Tom Hackett, one of the nation's best punters, is a finalist for the Ray Guy Award alongside Alabama's JK Scott and Idaho's Austin Rehkow.

The winners of all these awards will be announced during a televised ESPN special on Dec. 11.