Kelly Added to Maxwell Award Watch List Awarded to Outstanding Collegiate Football Player in America

Chad Kelly Photo by Josh Bonner

After directing the Ole Miss offense to a record-breaking first half of 2015, junior quarterback Chad Kelly was among seven additions to the watch list for the 79th Maxwell Award on Thursday.

The Maxwell Award has been presented to the outstanding collegiate football player in America since 1937 and is named in honor of Robert W. “Tiny” Maxwell.

Kelly, a 6-foot-2, 215-pound QB from Buffalo, New York, has started every game behind center for the Southeastern Conference’s top scoring offense and the nation’s fifth-best at 46.8 points per outing. He has helped the Rebels to such unprecedented scoring outputs at 76, 73 and 52, while directing the team to an SEC-leading 527.8 total yards per game. Ole Miss set an SEC record with 73+ points in back-to-back games and scored their most ever points in Tuscaloosa in a 43-37 win over No. 2 Alabama.

Kelly himself ranks first among SEC players in passing (310.3 yards per game), total offense (331.8 yards per game), passing touchdowns (14), points responsible for (108), yards per completion (15.39) and yards per attempt (9.9). He ranks top 12 nationally in all of those categories.

His favorite target, junior wide receiver Laquon Treadwell (35 catches, 510 yards, three touchdowns) was on the Maxwell Award’s preseason watch list released in July.

Eli Manning is the only Rebel to have won the Maxwell Award. He received the honor in 2003.

Other watch list additions Thursday were Oklahoma’s Baker Mayfield, Houston’s Greg Ward, Texas Tech’s Patrick Mahomes, Indiana’s Jordan Howard, USC’s JuJu Smith-Schuster and Baylor’s Corey Coleman.

Semifinalists for the Maxwell Award will be announced on Nov. 2, and three finalists will be announced Nov. 24. The winner of the 2015 Maxwell Award will be announced as part of the Home Depot College Football Awards Show which will be held on Dec. 10 at the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta. The formal presentation will be made at the Maxwell Football Club Awards Gala hosted by Tropicana Hotel & Casino Atlantic City on March 11, 2016.

The watch list candidates have been chosen by the Maxwell Football Club’s Selection Committee and the Maxwell Club reserves the right to make additions and subtractions to the list as the 2015 season unfolds. All members of the Maxwell Football Club, NCAA Sports Information Directors, Head Coaches and selected national media are eligible to vote for these awards.

Follow Ole Miss Football on Twitter (@OleMissFB) and Facebook (Facebook.com/OleMissFootball), in addition to www.OleMissSports.com.