The Associated Press announced on Thursday that Oklahoma Sooners’ quarterback Kyler Murray is the recipient of their annual AP College Football Player of the Year Award. Murray becomes the second straight Sooners’ QB to win the award after current Baker Mayfield received the honors in 2017.
AP Player of the Year@TheKylerMurray
OU's second straight and fifth overall. No other school has had more than two.#OUDNA #BoomerSooner
🔗 https://t.co/iPfhyPCbjo pic.twitter.com/PKreIfSmMw
— Oklahoma Football (@OU_Football) December 6, 2018
Kyler Murray, who was previously named Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year for 2018, received 39 first-place votes and ended with a total of 145 points in the voting. Alabama’s QB Tua Tagovailoa finished second with 13 first-place votes and 117 points overall, while the third place went to Ohio State quarterback Dwayne Haskins Jr. who received four first-place votes and had a total of 55 points. The interesting thing is that all three of them are also finalists for Heisman Trophy.
“It’s humbling and an honor to be named AP Player of the Year, to be mentioned in the same realm as a lot of great players, a lot of hall of famers,” – said Murray. “It’s a special deal for me and hopefully I can continue to make my family and teammates proud.“
After serving as a backup to Mayfield in 2017, Kyler Murray won the Oklahoma Sooners’ starting QB job for 2018 in the preseason. During his time as a starter, he completed 216 of his throws out of 306 attempted for 3,674 yards and 37 touchdowns. The 21-year-old also rushed for 853 yards and 11 touchdowns.
Despite the success in college football, Murray won’t play in NFL. Instead, he will play baseball professionally in 2019, after being selected ninth overall by the Oakland Athletics in 2018 MLB Draft.
