PHILADEPHIA, Pa. – Cal junior quarterback Jared Goff was named Tuesday to the 79th annual Maxwell Award Watch List for the honor given annually to the nation’s College Player of the Year. The award is named in honor of Robert W. “Tiny” Maxwell for his extensive contributions to the game including time as a player, sportswriter and official. Goff, also a candidate for the 2015 Heisman Trophy and other national honors, is on the award’s watch list for the second consecutive season.
Goff has put up huge numbers since his arrival at Cal in 2013 and holds a total of 19 school records including single-season passing yards (3,973), passing touchdowns (35) and total offense (3,929) that he set as a 2014 sophomore while completing 316-of-509 passes (62.1%) with seven interceptions for a 147.59 passer efficiency rating that was the fourth-best single season mark in school history. His 2014 totals for passing touchdowns and yardage are also eighth and 10th, respectively, on the Pac-12’s all-time single-season rankings. Goff ranked among the nation’s top 10 in six individual categories in 2014 including passing touchdowns (5th), passing yards (5th), passing yards per game (5th, 331.1), completions per game (5th, 26.33), total offense (8th, 327.4 ypg) and points responsible for per game (9th, 18.0), with his passing yards and passing yards per game both second in the Pac-12 and his passing touchdowns third. Other single-season Cal records set by Goff in 2014 include touchdowns responsible for (35), 300-yard passing games (7), consecutive 300-yard passing games (6) and most consecutive passes without an interception (185), with the latter two also all-time school records. In addition, he set three single-game school records in 2014 with 527 passing yards against Washington State, as well as six regulation touchdown passes and six regulation touchdowns responsible for against Colorado, while his 92-yard completion to Daniel Lasco in the same contest is the longest pass play in school history.
Goff’s career totals of 7,481 passing yards, 53 passing touchdowns and 7,375 yards of total offense are all third in school history, while he has already registered all-time school records with 12 career 300-yard passing performances, 17 250-yard passing games and 185 consecutive passes without an interception. Goff has completed 636-of-1040 passes (61.2%) in his career to rank second and third all-time at Cal in completions and pass attempts with 17 interceptions for a 135.13 passer efficiency rating that ranks fourth on Cal’s all-time list. He has played in and started all 24 games possible over his first two seasons at Cal in 2013 and 2014. He is also the school’s only quarterback to ever start the season-opener as a true freshman in 2013 and the only signal-caller in Pac-12 history to throw for 450 yards or more in a game five or more times.
Semifinalists for the Maxwell Award will be announced November 2, 2015, while the three finalists will be unveiled November 23, 2015. The winners of the 2015 Maxwell Award will be announced as part of the Home Depot College Football Awards Show held on December 10, 2015, at the College Football Hall of Fame and Chick-fil-A Fan Experience in downtown Atlanta. The formal presentation of the award will be made at the Maxwell Football Club Awards Gala hosted by Tropicana Hotel & Casino Atlantic City on March 11, 2016.
The Maxwell Football Club is a member of the National College Football Awards Association (NCFAA) which encompasses the most prestigious awards in college football. The 22 awards boast over 700 years of tradition-selected excellence. The members of the NCFAA are unveiling their preseason watch lists over a 12-day period this month. Sixteen of the association’s 22 awards select a preseason watch list and the NCFAA has spearheaded a coordinated effort to promote each award’s preseason candidates.
