Ragone Named to O'Brien Watch List
August 20, 2002 | Football
Aug. 20, 2002
The Davey O'Brien Foundation today announced the preseason watch list for the 2002 Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award, given annually to the nation's top college quarterback. Louisville senior Dave Ragone, the two-time Conference USA Offensive Player of the Year, is joined by Cincinnati's Gino Guidugli, the 2001 C-USA Freshman of the Year, on the list of 2002 candidates.
Last season, Ragone completed just over 60 percent of his passes for a league-high 3,056 yards and a conference-best 23 touchdowns in helping U of L to its second straight conference title. Ragone led the league in total offense (260.2 yards per game) and in passing efficiency (143.5), while throwing 15 touchdowns with just one interception in seven C-USA games.
Over his two-year career as a starter, Ragone has posted a 20-5 mark, including an 11-2 record in conference games. He has thrown for 50 touchdowns and ran for nine more, while amassing 5,684 passing yards.
Guidugli set school and Conference USA freshman records for passes attempted (317), completed (185), passing yards (2,573), passing touchdowns (16) and total offense (2,498) en route to being a unanimous selection as C-USA Freshman of the Year in 2000. He was twice named the Conference USA Offensive Player of the Week and he became the first freshman ever to receive the team's Claude Rost Award as the most valuable player.
Guidugli had four games of 300 yards or better, including a 348-yard effort at Memphis, the 10th-highest single game passing total in school annals.
The Davey O'Brien Award is named after the Heisman Trophy winning quarterback who led TCU to the 1938 national championship. The award will be presented at during the ESPN College Football Awards Show from Orlando, Fla. on Dec. 12th with the winner also being honored at a banquet at The Fort Worth Club in Fort Worth, Texas in February.
This will mark the 26th consecutive season that the award is being presented by the Davey O'Brien Foundation.
2002 Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award Watch List RJ Anderson, Jr., Syracuse Kyle Boller, Sr., California Marquel Blackwell, Jr., South Florida Brooks Bollinger, Sr., Wisconsin Timmy Chang, So., Hawaii Casey Clausen, Jr., Tennessee Ryan Dinwiddie, Jr., Boise State Ken Dorsey, Sr., Miami Jason Gesser, Sr., Washington State David Greene, So., Georgia Rex Grossman, Jr., Florida Gino Guidugli, So., Cincinnati Mark Farris, Sr., Texas A&M Kliff Kingsbury, Sr., Texas Tech Byron Leftwich, Sr., Marshall Jared Lorenzen, Jr., Kentucky Luke McCown, Jr., Louisiana Tech Eli Manning, Jr., Mississippi Zack Mills, So., Penn State Carson Palmer, Sr., USC Cody Pickett, Jr., Washington Dave Ragone, Sr., Louisville Philip Rivers, Jr., North Carolina State Chris Rix, So., Florida State Ben Roethlisberger, So., Miami Ohio Chris Simms, Sr., Texas Jeff Smoker, Jr., Michigan State Brian St. Pierre, Sr., Boston College Jason Thomas, Sr., UNLV Jon Van Cleave, Jr., Louisiana-Lafayette Seneca Wallace, Sr., Iowa State Jason White, Jr., Oklahoma
