RENO — Three Nevada players were named to the Biletnikoff Award Watch List Thursday morning, as wide receivers Romeo Doubs and Elijah Cooks, and tight end Cole Turner were tabbed candidates for college football’s award for top receiver.
The three candidates for the Wolf Pack led all schools in the country on the list, and continues a first week of watch list reveals which has featured plenty of Nevada presence.
Doubs, Turner, and Cooks will all be among Nevada’s top targets in 2021, with Cooks eyeing a return to action after missing all but a half of the Pack’s 2020 campaign. Doubs and Turner shared the Mountain West lead with nine touchdown catches apiece, with Doubs’ conference-best 1,002 receiving yards making him the loop’s only 1,000-yard receiver.
Turner, tabbed to the 2020 All-Mountain West First Team, finished second on the team in receptions (49) and receiving yards (605), ranking 10th among all Mountain West receivers with 67.2 receiving yards per game.
Cooks was Nevada’s leading receiver in 2019 with 76 catches for 926 yards and eight touchdowns, but had his 2020 campaign curtailed by an injury in the Pack’s season opener against Wyoming.
Nevada opens the 2021 season Saturday, Sept. 4 at California, with kickoff set for 7:30 p.m. on FS1. The Pack’s home opener takes place the following weekend, as it hosts Idaho State Saturday, Sept. 11, at 7:30 p.m.
Carson Strong named to Davey O’Brien Award watch list
RENO — Nevada quarterback Carson Strong was named to the Davey O’Brien Award Preseason Watch List Tuesday morning. The award is presented annually to the nation’s best college quarterback.
It is the second-straight day in which Strong has been named a preseason award candidate, following Monday’s inclusion on the Maxwell Award list.
Among the 30 quarterbacks on the Davey O’Brien list, Strong is one of two from the Mountain West, along with San Jose State’s Nick Starkel.
Strong, a consensus pick to the Preseason All-Mountain West First Teams of Athlon Sports, Phil Steele, and Pro Football Focus (PFF), was the Mountain West’s top offensive player and the quarterback of the All-Mountain West First Team in 2020. He paced the conference in passing yards (2,858), passing touchdowns (27), completion percentage (70.1), and ranked in the FBS top 10 in completions per game (27.7, second), passing yards per game (317.6, seventh), completion percentage (seventh), and touchdown passes (ninth), while coming in 11th in passing yards. He also finished the year with an interception rate of just 1.13, throwing just four picks over 355 attempts.
Sixteen semifinalists selected from the QB Class of 2021 list will be named on Monday, Nov. 8, with the three finalists announced two weeks later (Monday, Nov. 22). The 2021 Davey O’Brien Award winner will be unveiled live on ESPN on Thursday, Dec. 9, during The Home Depot College Football Awards.
