Haskins, Jones Named Semifinalists by Maxwell Football Club
10/29/2018 10:38:58 AM | Football
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Maxwell Football Club announced today that a pair of Buckeyes – sophomore QB Dwayne Haskins and junior DT Dre’Mont Jones – are semifinalists for the Maxwell and Bednarik Awards, respectively.
The Maxwell Award honors college football’s player of the year while the Bednarik Award goes to the nation’s most outstanding defensive player. Haskins and Jones are one of 20 semifinalists on each list.
From Potomac, Md., Haskins is putting together one of the finest seasons that a quarterback has ever enjoyed at Ohio State. He is tied for the national lead with 30 touchdown passes and his 2,801 yards ranks fourth in the country. He’s already set Ohio State single-game records for completions (49), attempts (73) and yards (470) and is currently on a streak of three consecutive games with 400 or more yards. A four-time Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week, Haskins is the only quarterback in the country who ranks in the top five nationally in nine different statistical categories.
Jones has been a steady performer along the Buckeyes’ defensive line all season. He’s the team leader in both tackles-for-loss (9.0 for minus 38 yards) and sacks (5.5 for minus 42 yards). The fourth-year junior from Cleveland has at least one tackle in all eight games thus far. Against then-No. 15 TCU last month, Jones had a career-high six tackles, 2.0 tackles-for-loss, a sack and a key third-quarter INT return to touchdown to spark a 40-28 victory.
Semifinalist voting for both of the awards will begin on Wednesday Oct. 31 and will close on Nov. 18. Three finalists for each award will be announced on Nov. 19. The winners of the Maxwell Award and Chuck Bednarik Award will be announced as part of the ESPN Home Depot College Football Awards Show presented by Gildan, which will be broadcast live on ESPN on Dec. 6.
Haskins, Jones and the rest of the Buckeyes return to action on Saturday when they host Nebraska for a noon kickoff. The game will be televised by FOX.
