FWAA 2023 Season News

2023 Best Writing Contest Winner (Enterprise): The door swung open before he could knock, just as it had the first time Isimemen "Isi" Etute visited Apartment 207. That time, Etute had come for sex. Now, he wanted answers. It was May 31, 2021, just after 10 p.m., and the apartment above Hokie Mart on North Main Street in Blacksburg, Virginia, was dark, save for a hint of light sneaking through a kitchen window.

2023 Best Writing Contest Winner (Column): It is a weird time in college athletics, perhaps the weirdest ever. Let’s count the ways, shall we?

2023 Beat Writing Contest Winner (Game Story): Start with the bittersweet, because the backdrop of this top-five clash of titans was always going to have a hint of melancholy.

2023 Beat Writing Contest Winner (Feature): Dwight Flanagan can still see the faces. He has gone back through old game programs and racked his brain to put the faces with the names. He simply can't do it.

Two first-time winners and nine previous ones comprise the 15th Super 11 Awards, presented annually by the Football Writers Association of America to the best performing College Sports Communicators departments in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision. The awards announced this week are for the 2023 season.

Chadwell Wins Another FWAA Award

Washington head coach Kalen DeBoer has been selected as the 2023 Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year after leading the Huskies to the College Football Playoff, the most wins in program history, and the Pac-12 Championship. Washington has posted a perfect 13-0 record this year and owns the nation’s longest active win streak at 20 games. The Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year award is presented by the Football Writers Association of America and the Allstate Sugar Bowl.

Barry Odom, Jamey Chadwell and Jeff Brohm named Finalists for 2023 Spurrier Award

Virginia running back Mike Hollins is the 22nd annual recipient of the Capital One Orange Bowl-FWAA Courage Award. Hollins survived the 2022 shootings that took the lives of three of his UVA teammates and played in 11 games this fall for the Cavaliers, leading the team in rushing touchdowns.

The 2023 Football Writers Association of America All-America Team, presented in partnership with the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic, is highlighted by seven repeat All-Americans and a record 10 players from the four teams competing in the College Football Playoff at the front of players from 36 different schools. There are 22 schools represented from eight Football Bowl Subdivision conferences on the first team and all 10 conferences plus an Independent are included on the overall 54-man team.

Texas defensive tackle T’Vondre Sweat was named the recipient of the 78th Outland Trophy on Friday night during The Home Depot College Football Awards on ESPN. The Outland Trophy is awarded annually to the nation’s best college interior lineman on offense or defense. Sweat is the school's fourth Outland Trophy winner.

The Football Writers Association of America, in conjunction with the Allstate Sugar Bowl, announced 12 finalists for the 2023 Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award on Tuesday. The award winner this season will be chosen from among a list that includes one repeat finalist and two other finalists from previous seasons, including one who is now a nine-time finalist. Eight of the finalists won conference championships this year, including three who will compete in the upcoming College Football Playoff; seven of the honorees are first-time finalists.

Sparked by a tremendous set of midseason games that has paced his team into the postseason, Notre Dame safety Xavier Watts has earned  the 2023 Bronko Nagurski Trophy as the nation’s top defensive player as selected by the Football Writers Association of America and presented by the Charlotte Touchdown Club. The nation’s interceptions leader was honored Monday night with the award at a gala event here..

Arizona is the winner of the Pop-Tarts Crazy Good Play of the Week for Week 13. The winning play is the Crimson Tide's game-winning touchdown pass on 4th-and-31.

Three finalists for the 2023 Outland Trophy – offensive tackle Joe Alt of Notre Dame, Kansas State guard Cooper Beebe and Texas defensive tackle T’Vondre Sweat – were announced Tuesday by the Football Writers Association of America.

The Kentucky Wildcats upset No. 9 Louisville, 38-31, as running back Ray Davis set school records for touchdowns and points scored and quarterback Devin Leary added three touchdown passes. For topping their in-state rivals for a fifth consecutive season and keeping the Governor’s Cup, Kentucky earned the Cheez-It National Team of the Week for games the weekend of Nov. 25, as selected by the All-America Committee of the Football Writers Association of America.

This is the 13th installment of the Football Writers Association of America's weekly Freshman Focus for the Steve Spurrier First-Year Coach of the Year Award, Freshman Player of the Year and the 2023 FWAA Freshman All-America Team.

Arizona is the winner of the Pop-Tarts Crazy Good Play of the Week for Week 12. The winning play is the Wildcats' double-pass touchdown that opened the scoring as Arizona jumped out to a 28-0 lead on its way to a 42-18 thumping of Arizona.

The New Mexico State Aggies outgained Auburn by a near two-to-one margin while rushing for 213 yards in a 31-10 upset at Jordan-Hare Stadium, the Aggies’ first win over a Southeastern Conference opponent in program history. The Aggies scored on all four trips to the red zone while preventing the Tigers from getting inside their own red zone. The win earned the Cheez-It National Team of the Week for games the weekend of Nov. 18, as selected by the All-America Committee of the Football Writers Association of America.