K-State’s Thompson Named Candidate for Maxwell Award
(Courtesy of Kansas State Athletics)
MANHATTAN, Kan. – A day after being named to a watch list for his work in the community, Kansas State senior quarterback Skylar Thompson has been honored for his play on the field as he was named to the watch list for the Maxwell Award, presented annually to the College Football Player of the Year, the Maxwell Football Club announced Friday.
It marks the fourth-straight season a Wildcat has been up for the award following quarterback Jesse Ertz (2017) and running backs Alex Barnes (2018) and James Gilbert (2019). Quarterbacks Michael Bishop (1998) and Collin Klein (2012) were each finalists for the award.
A native of Independence, Missouri, Thompson enters his final campaign in Manhattan ranked in the top 10 in K-State history in 10 career categories. He is one of four players in school history to throw for 4,000 career yards and rush for 1,000 career yards. He needs just 605 yards to become the second player in school history to join the 5,000/1,000 club (Ell Roberson), while he is 1,605 yards shy of becoming the first Wildcat to throw for 6,000 yards and rush for 1,000 yards in a career.
Thompson is coming off a banner year in 2019 in which he set career highs in passing yards (2,315), passing touchdowns (12), rushing yards (405) and rushing touchdowns (11) as he earned Honorable Mention All-Big 12 honors, the first Wildcat signal caller to earn postseason accolades from the league’s coaches since 2014. He finished 10th in school history in single-season completions (177), while he tied for 10th in touchdowns responsible for (23).
His 11 rushing touchdowns last season tied for eighth nationally among quarterbacks and included seven over a two-game stretch in wins over then-No. 5 Oklahoma and Kansas. He had four rushing scores against the Sooners to go along with 213 passing yards en route to Maxwell Award Player of the Week, Davey O’Brien Award Great 8 List and Manning Award Star of the Week accolades.
The Maxwell Award is the last of the National College Football Awards Association (NCFAA) to unveil their preseason watch lists over the past two weeks. Thompson is also a candidate for the Wuerffel Trophy, while he is joined on watch lists by junior defensive end Wyatt Hubert, who was named a candidate for both the Bednarik Award and Bronko Nagurski Trophy, and senior place kicker Blake Lynch, who was named to the Lou Groza Award watch list.
