PHILADELPHIA -- The Mid-American Conference was represented by Bowling Green running back Terion Stewart and Northern Illinois running back Antario Brown on the 88th Maxwell Award Watch LIst, as announced by the Maxwell Football Club today. The Maxwell Award is presented annually to the most outstanding player in college football.
Stewart earned second-team All-MAC honors in 2023 after finishing the season with 762 rushing yards and eight touchdowns before suffering a season-ending injury in game No. 9. Stewart's 4.81 yards per rush after contact ranked No. 2 in the nation among those with 100 rushing attempts. His 78 broken tackles ranked No. 4 in the nation despite playing only nine games. Through the 2023 season Stewart's 6.3 yards per carry is No. 1in the BGSU record book for a career. No former Falcon ever rushed for 6.0+ yards per carry for their career.
In 2023, Brown became the first NIU running back to earn All-Mid-American Conference first team honors in eight years. Brown was second in the MAC with 1,296 yards and 6.11 yards per carry. He ranked in the top-20 in the Football Bowl Subdivision in rushing yards and yards per game. Brown had four games of 150 yards or more in 2023 with a 280-yard, four-touchdown effort in a 55-14 win at Akron. His 21.5 yards per rush against the Zips broke the NIU single-game yards per carry record set in 1989 by Stacey Robinson.
Brown is the 13th running back in NIU football history to rush for over 2,500 career yards. He is fifth all-time at NIU in yards per carry at 6.33 and 10th with 78.8 rushing yards per game. Brown is one of two MAC players on the Maxwell Award watch list, joining Bowling Green running back Terion Stewart. A total of 80 players are on the 2024 Maxwell Award watch list.
The Maxwell Award has been presented to the College Player of the Year since 1937 and is named in honor of Robert “Tiny” Maxwell who was a former standout at Swarthmore College and a renowned sportswriter and football official.
The Maxwell Award watch list will once again incorporate a broad spectrum of Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) programs and conferences from coast to coast, led by 5 returning semifinalists, Jalen Milroe – Alabama, Carson Beck – Georgia, Kaidon Salter – Liberty, Luther Burden III – Missouri and Ollie Gordon II – Oklahoma State. The full list consists of 80 players with Miami and Ohio State leading the way with 3 candidates each and an additional 15 schools having two players represented. The ACC boasts 20 candidates followed by the SEC (15), Big12 (15) and Big10 (12).
The Maxwell Football Club has once again partnered with Pro Football Focus (PFF) and Phil Steele Publications as selection committee partners. PFF provides detailed metrics and performance-based assessments to selection committee staff, with several senior PFF analysts are members of our selection committee. Phil Steele’s College Football Preview is generally recognized as the most complete preseason magazine.
Semifinalists for the Maxwell Award will be announced November 12, 2024, while the three finalists for the Maxwell Award will be unveiled November 26, 2024. The winners of the 88
th Maxwell Award will be announced as part of the ESPN Home Depot College Football Awards Show held on December 12, 2024. The formal presentations of the Maxwell Award will be made at the Maxwell Football Club Awards on Friday March 14, 2024 at the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta, Georgia.
