University of Houston Athletics
Kolb Named To Preseason Watch List
7/13/2004 12:00:00 AM | Football
July 13, 2004
HOUSTON, Texas - Fresh off his record-setting true freshman season, University of Houston sophomore quarterback Kevin Kolb will begin his second season as the Cougars' starting quarterback as a decorated preseason award candidate, as today the Stephenville, Texas, native was named to the 2004 Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award Watch List. Kolb is one of five Conference USA quarterbacks to be among the 42 preliminary candidates.
In becoming the first-ever true freshman starting quarterback in UH history, Kolb led the Cougars to their first bowl berth in seven years and was named the 2003 Conference USA Freshman of the Year in the process. Kolb shattered every single Cougar freshman passing mark en route to 3,131 yards and 25 touchdowns throwing the ball.
He completed an astonishing 61.1 percent of his passes (220 of 360) with just six interceptions. Kolb also rushed for 346 yards and seven touchdowns while averaging 267.5 yards of total offense per game. All his passing and total offense numbers were tops nationally among Division I-A freshmen quarterbacks.
Besides his league freshman honor, Kolb also was a Third Team, All-Conference USA selection and was named a Third Team, Freshman All-America by The Sporting News. CollegeFootballNews.com named him their 2003 Freshman of the Year, and he was twice named C-USA Offensive Player of the Week.
Kolb topped 300 yards passing on four different occasions, including a career-best 434 against TCU. In the game versus the Horned Frogs, Kolb became just the fourth quarterback in NCAA Division I-A history to pass for over 400 yards and rush for over 100 yards (he had a career-best 144.)
Other Conference USA candidates include Cincinnati's Gino Guidugli, Louisville's Stefan LeFors, Memphis' Danny Wimprine and Darrell Hackney from UAB.
The O'Brien Award is the oldest and most prestigious award in the country for college quarterbacks and is named in honor of the late Davey O'Brien, the All-American and Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback for Texas Christian University who led the Horned Frogs to the 1938 national championship.
Semifinalists will be announced in early November and narrowed to three finalists later in that month by the O'Brien National Advisory Committee. The committee is comprised of nationally known sportswriters, commentators and other members of the media. The winner of the 2004 O'Brien Award will be announced Dec. 9 on the ESPN College Football Awards Show from Orlando, Fla. The winner will be honored at the 28th Annual O'Brien Awards Dinner in February 2005, at The Fort Worth Club in Fort Worth, Texas.
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