OU, OSU Players Named To Maxwell Award Watch List

Three Sooners and a Cowboy made the 65-man preseason watch list for the Maxwell Award, which was released on Monday.

The three Sooners to make the list were quarterback Landry Jones, wide receiver Kenny Stills and running back Dominique Whaley. Running back Joseph Randle represents the Cowboys on the list. The Maxwell Award is presented annually to the nation's premier player.

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As a sophomore, Randle finished third nationally in touchdowns in 2011, scoring 26 during the Cowboys' Big 12 title campaign. The Wichita native had 1,216 rushing yards on 5.8 yards per carry, as well as, 266 yards receiving on 43 catches on his way to first-team All-Big 12 honors from the Associated Press. Randle's 150 points last year ranks as the second-best single-season total in school history, trailing Barry Sanders' NCAA record-setting 234 points in 1988.

For OU, Jones returns for his senior year as the nation's top returning passer with 12,379 career yards and 93 touchdowns. Jones joins Clemson's Tajh Boyd and USC's tandem of Matt Barkley and Robert Woods as the only 2011 Maxwell Award semifinalists on this year's preseason watch list.

Stills caught 61 passes in both his freshman and sophomore seasons. As a sophomore in 2011, he had 869 yards and eight touchdowns on those 61 catches. Stills is one of 11 receivers on the Maxwell watch list and one of just three from the Big 12; the others being Baylor's Terrence Williams and West Virginia's Tavon Austin.

Whaley will be bouncing back from a broken ankle he suffered against Kansas State last season. The senior and former walk-on had 627 yards and nine touchdowns through the first six games of 2011, including 100-yard outings in the first three.

Semifinalists for the Maxwell Award will be announced Oct. 29 and the three finalists will be selected Nov. 19. The winner will be announced at the Home Depot ESPNU College Football Awards Show on Dec. 6.