A great night for everything college college football on Thursday night at the College Football Hall of Fame.
Georgia kicker, Rodrigo Blankenship, won the 2019 Lou Groza Award as the nation’s best kicker.
LSU quarterback, Joe Burrow, was honored Thursday at the 2019 Home Depot College Football Awards with the Maxwell and Davey O’Brien awards, given to the best overall player and best quarterback in college football, respectively.
Twice, he beat out a pair of fellow Heisman finalists to win. Oklahoma quarterback Jalen Hurts was a finalist for the Maxwell and O’Brien, while Ohio State defensive end Chase Young (Maxwell) and Buckeyes quarterback Justin Fields (O’Brien) were finalists for the respective honors.
Other individual awards whose winners were announced Thursday night during the show:
Doak Walker Award: Wisconsin running back Jonathan Taylor beat out Oklahoma State’s Chuba Hubbard and Ohio State’s J.K. Dobbins to become the first back-to-back winner since Arkansas’ Darren McFadden in 2006-07.
Fred Biletnikoff Award: LSU wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase, the nation’s leader in receiving yards (1,498) and touchdowns (18), was voted the winner over Oklahoma’s CeeDee Lamb and USC’s Michael Pittman.
Outland Trophy: Oregon sophomore offensive tackle Penei Sewell was honored as the best interior lineman. He beat out Wisconsin center Tyler Biadasz, winner of the Rimington Trophy given to the top center, and Auburn defensive tackle Derrick Brown.
Chuck Bednarik Award: Ohio State’s Young was named the best defensive player in college football. The Heisman finalist leads the nation with 16.5 sacks and was honored ahead of Clemson linebacker Isaiah Simmons and Auburn’s Brown.
Jim Thorpe Award: Junior safety Grant Delpit became the third LSU player in the past 10 years to be named the nation’s top defensive back, joining Patrick Peterson (2010) and Morris Claiborne (2011). He beat out Georgia safety J.R. Reed and Ohio State cornerback Jeff Okudah.
Lou Groza Award: Georgia’s Rodrigo Blankenship won the award after he connected on 25 of 31 field goal attempts, including 11 from 40-plus yards. Iowa’s Keith Duncan and Washington State’s Blake Mazza were the other finalists.
Ray Guy Award: Former Australian rules football player Max Duffy of Kentucky took home the award after he averaged 45.13 net yards per punt. He beat out Syracuse’s Sterling Hofrichter and Houston’s Dane Roy.
