College Sports

AP Player of the Year: QB Joe Burrow, first winner from LSU

Posted December 12, 2019 6:00 am

By RALPH D. RUSSO

FILE - In this Nov. 30, 2019, file photo, LSU quarterback Joe Burrow (9) gestures thanks to the student section after playing his last game in Tiger Stadium, an NCAA college football game against Texas A&M, in Baton Rouge, La. LSU quarterback Joe Burrow is The Associated Press college football player of the year in a landslide vote. Burrow, who has led the top-ranked Tigers to an unbeaten season and their first College Football Playoff appearance, received 50 of 53 first-place votes from AP Top 25 poll voters and a total of 156 points. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File) The Associated Press

What figures to be an award-winning week for LSU quarterback Joe Burrow is underway.

Burrow was named The Associated Press college football player of the year presented by Regions Bank on Thursday in a landslide vote, making him the first LSU player to win the the 21-year-old award.

Burrow, who has led the top-ranked Tigers to an unbeaten season and their first College Football Playoff appearance, received 51 of 54 first-place votes from AP Top 25 poll voters and a total of 159 points.

Ohio State defensive end Chase Young was second with three first-place votes and 69 points, and Buckeyes quarterback Justin Fields was third with 43 points. Burrow, Young, Fields and Oklahoma quarterback Jalen Hurts, who finished fourth with 33 points, are the finalists for the Heisman Trophy to be handed out Saturday in New York.

Burrow is the overwhelming Heisman favorite after passing for 4,715 yards and a Southeastern Conference record 48 touchdowns. The senior transfer from Ohio State is on pace to set a major college record, completing 77.9% of his passes.

Burrow also won the Walter Camp Player of the Year Award and was up for two more awards Thursday night at the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta. He won the Davey O'Brien National Quarterback of the Year Award, beating out Fields and Hurts, and the Maxwell Award that goes to the nation's best player over Young and Hurts.

The AP player of the year award began in 1998 and only five times has the winner not been the same as the Heisman winner; the last time that happened was in 2015, when Stanford running back Christian McCaffrey won the AP award and Alabama running back Derrick Henry was the Heisman winner.

LSU faces Hurts and No. 4 Oklahoma in the playoff semifinal Dec. 28 at the Peach Bowl. Later that night, Fields, Young and the rest of the second-ranked Buckeyes will play No. 3 Clemson in the other semifinal at the Fiesta Bowl.

Other awards handed out Thursday:

- Ohio State defensive end Chase Young won the Chuck Bednarik Award, given to the top defensive player. He's the first Buckeyes player to win the award.

- LSU's Ja'Marr Chase won the Biletnikoff Award as the best receiver.

- Wisconsin's Jonathan Taylor won the Doak Walker Award as the top running back for the second consecutive season, joining Texas' Ricky Williams and Arkansas'Darren McFadden as two-time winners.

- Oregon offensive tackle Penei Sewell won the Outland Trophy as the best interior lineman. The sophomore is the first Oregon player to win the award.

- LSU safety Gran Delpit won the Thorpe Award as the best defensive back. He is the third Tigers' player to win the Thorpe.

- Georgia's Rodrigo Blankenship won the Groza Award for top kicker.

- Kentucky's Max Duffy won the Ray Guy Award as the top punter.

- Wisconsin's Tyler Biadasz won the Rimington Award as the best center.

_ Florida Atlantic's Harrison Bryant won the Mackey Award as the top tight end.

- LSU's Ed Orgeron won the Home Depot coach of the year award.

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Follow Ralph D. Russo at https://twitter.com/ralphDrussoAP and listen http://www.westwoodonepodcasts.com/pods/ap-top-25-college-football-podcast/

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More AP college football: https://apnews.com/APTop25CollegeFootballPoll and https://apnews.com/Collegefootball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25

FILE - In this Nov. 10, 2019, file photo, LSU quarterback Joe Burrow (9) is carried by LSU nose tackle Tyler Shelvin (72) after an NCAA football game against Alabama, in Tuscaloosa, Ala. LSU quarterback Joe Burrow is The Associated Press college football player of the year in a landslide vote. Burrow, who has led the top-ranked Tigers to an unbeaten season and their first College Football Playoff appearance, received 50 of 53 first-place votes from AP Top 25 poll voters and a total of 156 points. (AP Photo/John Bazemore, File) The Associated Press

FILE - In this Nov. 30, 2019, file photo, LSU quarterback Joe Burrow (9) scrambles during the first half of an NCAA college football game against Texas A&M, in Baton Rouge, La. LSU quarterback Joe Burrow is The Associated Press college football player of the year in a landslide vote. Burrow, who has led the top-ranked Tigers to an unbeaten season and their first College Football Playoff appearance, received 50 of 53 first-place votes from AP Top 25 poll voters and a total of 156 points. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File) The Associated Press

FILE - In this Nov. 16, 2019, file photo, LSU quarterback Joe Burrow (9) avoids Mississippi linebacker Jacquez Jones (10) during the first half of an NCAA college football game, in Oxford, Miss. LSU quarterback Joe Burrow is The Associated Press college football player of the year in a landslide vote. Burrow, who has led the top-ranked Tigers to an unbeaten season and their first College Football Playoff appearance, received 50 of 53 first-place votes from AP Top 25 poll voters and a total of 156 points. (AP Photo/Thomas Graning, File) The Associated Press

Oklahoma quarterback Jalen Hurts smiles on the sidelines before an NCAA college football game against Baylor for the Big-12 championship, in Arlington, Texas, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2019. Hurts was named a Heisman Trophy finalist Monday, Dec. 9, 2019. (Rod Aydelotte/Waco Tribune Herald, via AP) The Associated Press

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