Aug. 9, 2001

LAS VEGAS - UNLV junior Jason Thomas has been named one of 30 candidates for the 2001 Davey O'Brien Award, which is given annually to the nation's top college quarterback.

The Davey O'Brien Foundation, which is based in Fort Worth, Texas, released its Watch List of elite signal-callers Thursday.

The award's advisory committee is comprised of nationally known sportswriters and commentators and will select eight semifinalists the first week of November. Three finalists will be chosen at the end of November and the winner of the 2001 Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award will be announced December 6 during ESPN's Home Depot College Football Awards Show in Orlando, Fla. All three finalists will be honored at the 25th annual O'Brien Awards Dinner in February at the Fort Worth Club.

The award is named in honor of the late Davey O'Brien, an All-America and Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback for Texas Christian University who led the Horned Frogs to the 1938 national championship.

Thomas, a former USC transfer, passed for 1,708 yards and 14 touchdowns while rushing for 599 yards and 11 more scores in his debut season in 2000. He helped lead the Rebels to an 8-5 record that included a Las Vegas Bowl victory over Arkansas.

2001 DAVEY O'BRIEN AWARD WATCH LIST
PLAYER          SCHOOL          YEARKyle Boller California  JuniorEric Crouch Nebraska    SeniorWoody Dantzler  Clemson         SeniorRohan Davey LSU         SeniorKen Dorsey  Miami (FL)  JuniorDavid Carr  Fresno State    SeniorCasey Clausen   Tennessee   SophomoreRonald Curry    North Carolina  SeniorK.C. Enzminger  New Mexico St.  SeniorMark Farris Texas A&M   JuniorDavid Garrard   East Carolina   SeniorGeorge Godsey   Georgia Tech    SeniorRex Grossman    Florida         SophomoreJoey Harrington Oregon          SeniorJeff Kelly  Southern Miss.  SeniorKliff Kingsbury Texas Tech  JuniorKurt Kittner    Illinois    SeniorZak Kustok  Northwestern    SeniorByron Leftwich  Marshall    JuniorJared Lorenzen  Kentucky    SophomoreDavid Neill Nevada, Reno    SeniorCarson Palmer   USC         JuniorDavid Priestly  Pittsburgh  SeniorCasey Printers  TCU         JuniorDave Ragone Louisville  JuniorPatrick Ramsey  Tulane          SeniorPhilip Rivers   N. Carolina St. SophomoreChris Simms Texas           JuniorJonathan Smith  Oregon State    SeniorJason Thomas UNLV            Junior