Davey O’Brien Award Selects Season’s Inaugural Great 8

FORT WORTH, Texas (Sept. 2, 2025) — The Davey O’Brien Foundation has announced the quarterbacks named to the Davey O’Brien Great 8 for the first week of the 2025 college football season. 

The quarterbacks on this week’s list are Auburn’s Jackson Arnold, Carson Beck of Miami, USF’s Byrum Brown, Tommy Castellanos of Florida State, Utah’s Devon Dampier, Garrett Nussmeier of LSU, Ohio State’s Julian Sayin and AJ Swann of App State.

Arnold, Brown, Castellanos, Sayin and Swann are now officially added to the Davey O’Brien Award’s Midseason Watch List. With the additions, that list now stands at 41 members. The other three players recognized in week one, Beck, Dampier and Nussmeier, had previously been named to the preseason watch list.

The Davey O’Brien National Quarterback of the Week, selected from the Great 8 list, will be revealed Wednesday at 11 a.m. (CT).

The Davey O’Brien Foundation was created in 1977, and the National Quarterback Award, the oldest and most prestigious college quarterback award, was first issued in 1981. Over its time, the Davey O’Brien Foundation has given away more than $1.3 million in scholarships and university grants to help high school and college athletes transform leadership on the field into leadership in life.

In 1938, O’Brien, who wore No. 8 as a star quarterback for TCU, became the first player ever to win the Heisman Trophy, Maxwell Award and Walter Camp Award in the same year. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1955.

—www.DaveyOBrienAward.com—

Davey O’Brien Great 8: Week 1

Jackson Arnold, Auburn, Jr., 6-1, 219, Denton, Texas

·      Rushed 16 times for a career-high 137 yards (8.6 yards per carry) and two touchdowns and added 108 passing yards in a 38-24 victory at Baylor.

Carson Beck, Miami, Sr., 6-4, 220, Jacksonville, Fla.

·      Connected on 20 of 31 passes for 205 yards and a pair of scores as Miami secured a final-minute 27-24 win over No. 6 Notre Dame.

Byrum Brown, USF, Sr., 6-3, 232, Raleigh, N.C.

·      Led USF to a 34-7 triumph over No. 25 Boise State by throwing for 210 yards (16-for-24) and adding 43 yards and two TDs on the ground.

Tommy Castellanos, Florida State, Sr., 5-11, 201, Waycross, Ga.

·      Totaled 230 yards of offense (152 passing, 78 rushing) and a rushing touchdown as the Seminoles upset No. 8 Alabama, 31-17.

Devon Dampier, Utah, Jr., 5-11, 210, Phoenix, Ariz.

·      Completed 21 of 25 passes (84.0 percent) for 206 yards and two touchdowns and rushed 16 times for 87 yards and a score in a 43-10 win at UCLA.

Garrett Nussmeier, LSU, Sr., 6-1, 205, Lake Charles, La.

·      Was 28 of 38 passing for 232 yards and a score, going 9-for-9 for 39 yards and a TD in the fourth quarter of a 17-10 comeback win at No. 4 Clemson.

Julian Sayin, Ohio State, So., 6-1, 208, Carlsbad, Calif.

·      Completed 13 of 20 pass attempts (65.0 percent) for 126 yards and a touchdown with no turnovers in his first career start, a 14-7 win over No. 1 Texas.

AJ Swann, App State, Jr., 6-2, 220, White, Ga.

·      Threw for 368 yards (31-for-46) and three scores and rushed four times for 25 yards as App State grabbed a road win over Charlotte, 34-11.