PHILADELPHIA, PA -- The Maxwell Football Club today announced its watch list for the 85th Maxwell Award presented annually to the most outstanding player in college football. Representing the Mid-American Conference on the 2021 Watch List is Buffalo's Kevin Marks, Eastern Michigan's Preston Hutchinson, Kent State's Dustin Crum and Western Michigan's Kaleb Eleby.
Entering his senior season, Marks rushed for 741 yards in seven games last year, averaging 106 yards per game. His 6.6 yards per carry average ranked second in school history for a single season. He scored seven touchdowns on the year en route to earning All-MAC Third Team honors. He was named the Most Valuable Player of the Camellia Bowl after rushing for 138 yards and the game-winning touchdown against Marshall. For his career, Marks has rushed for 2,621 yards and 28 touchdowns. He ranks seventh in program history in career rushing yards and sixth in career touchdowns.
Crum is on the list for the second straight season. The graduate student is coming off a first-team, all-conference season in 2020 where he led the Nation's top offense in both total yards (606.5 yards/game) and scoring (49.8 points/game). Crum averaged 295 yards passing per game in 2020, completed 73 percent of his passes and tossed 12 touchdowns against just two interceptions in four games. Last season, his 73.5 percent completion percentage tied for second in the FBS, his 192.75 pass efficiency rating was fourth while his 295 yards per game ranked 14th. He continued to prove to be a dual-threat, leading all Mid-American Conference quarterbacks in rushing yards (240) and rushing touchdowns (4).
Assuming the role of quarterback in 2020 was Hutchinson, who recorded new career-highs in virtually every category. He put together an impressive junior season as he threw for 1,662 yards on 126-of-198 pass attempts, the 22nd most single-season passing yards by a QB in program history while notching two games with 300+ passing yards. The Mason, Ohio native tossed for 12 touchdowns, including a career-best four scores versus Toledo, Nov. 18, and added a career-best 87 rushing attempts for 206 yards and eight touchdowns. He ran for touchdowns in three consecutive games, the most of any EMU player this season and the 24th in program history to hit the mark, all while directing an EMU offense that amassed 2,438 total yards, good for 406.3 yards per game, the fourth-best mark of any team in program history.
Eeleby earned Third Team All-MAC honors last season and ranked third in FBS in passer rating in 2020 (195.08) trailing only Heisman Trophy finalist Mac Jones and BYU's Zach Wilson. Eeleby piloted a WMU offense which ranked among the top-10 nationally in points per game (41.7), 16th in FBS in total offense (479.7 yards per game) and 10th in FBS in sacks allowed per game (1.17). He threw for multiple TDs in five of six games during the pandemic-shortened season.
The Maxwell Award has been presented to the College Player of the Year since 1937 and is named in honor of Robert "Tiny" Maxwell, a former standout at the Swarthmore College and a renowned sports writer and football official.
Semifinalists for the Maxwell Award will be announced November 1, 2021, while the three finalists for the Maxwell Award will be unveiled November 22, 2021. The winners of the 2021 Maxwell and Bednarik Awards will be announced as part of the ESPN Home Depot College Football Awards Show held on December 9, 2021. The formal presentations of the Maxwell Award will be made at the Maxwell Football Club Awards Gala hosted by Tropicana Hotel & Casino Atlantic City on March 11, 2022.
