DALLAS (FWAA) Western Kentucky
quarterback Brandon Doughty continued his assault on the record
books with 370 passing yards and five touchdowns in a 49-28 win
over Marshall, helping the Hilltoppers earn a spot in the
Conference USA Championship. Those numbers made Doughty the
first quarterback in Division I history to have consecutive
seasons with at least 4,000 passing yards and 40 touchdowns, and
also earned him the AutoNation National Offensive Player of the Week
honor for games of the weekend of Nov. 28, as selected by the
Football Writers
Association of America.
The
6-3, 220-pound senior from Davie, Fla., was 27-of-39 passing
against Marshall, averaging 9.5 yards per completion without an
interception. Doughty has thrown at least one touchdown pass in
28 consecutive games, the longest active streak in the nation,
and has thrown a touchdown pass in 33 of his 41 career
appearances. His name is at the top of almost every passing
record list at WKU, and Saturday hell lead his team against
Southern Miss for the C-USA title.
"Coach kind of echoed it in the locker room, and it resonated
with me, but (Marshall) had the title until we took it from them
today," Doughty told the Bowling Green
Daily News. "That was a huge victory for us for our team and
just to go out there and do it as a team effort."
Doughty, a sixth-year senior who was granted a medical
hardship waiver in 2011 after suffering a season-ending injury
in his first start as redshirt freshman, has been especially
proficient in the first halves of games. He was 24-of-31 for 336
yards and four touchdowns in the first half against Marshall. In
first halves this season, Doughty has thrown for 3,053 yards and
32 touchdowns, completing 216-of-300 passes (72 percent) with
only three interceptions. The 32 touchdowns are more than 113
FBS teams have thrown on the season.
As part of AutoNation's history of charitable involvement, AutoNation
will donate $1,000 to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF)
in Doughty's name. This charitable college football initiative culminates
with the AutoNation Cure Bowl, a new post-season NCAA football game
that kicks off bowl season at the Citrus Bowl Stadium in Orlando,
Fla., and will be aired by CBS Sports Network. The aptly named AutoNation
Cure Bowl also serves as a fund raiser for the BCRF, CharityWatch's
only A+ rated breast cancer organization in the country.
"We want to celebrate the very best of college football, while
also helping to raise awareness for the importance of finding a
cure for cancer," says AutoNation CMO Marc Cannon. "This season-long
partnership with the FWAA, leading up to the AutoNation Cure Bowl,
puts a spotlight on a cause that we're determined to tackle."
"In our 75th season of existence, this a marvelous platform to
get our players and the team of the week series excellent exposure
as well as helping AutoNation in its effort to fight cancer and
contribute to the educational funds of deserving student-athletes,"
said FWAA 2015 President Lee Barfknecht of the Omaha World-Herald.
"It is very exciting to be able to help our organization as well
as others in this splendid effort."
The FWAA National Defensive Player of the Week and National Team
of the Week, both sponsored by AutoNation for the first time this
year, have been determined collectively by a group of FWAA officers
and the FWAA All-America Committee for several years. The AutoNation
FWAA Offensive Player of the Week has been added this season. Nominations
are taken from game performance all over the country each week and
then those nominations are reviewed by the FWAA, which determines
the actual recipients.
AutoNation is also the new sponsor of the 2015 FWAA All-America
Team, which will be comprised of 26 first-team and 26 second-team
selections as nominated by the membership and chosen by the FWAA
All-America Committee. The 2015 AutoNation FWAA All-America Team
will be announced at the AutoNation Cure Bowl on Dec. 19.
Coincidentally, the 2002 and '03 FWAA All-America teams were
honored on the floor of the very same Citrus Bowl Stadium. Over
the years, the FWAA's All-America teams have been honored in different
locations and on various media platforms during the second-longest
continuous annual selection of an All-America team in major college
football.
Additionally, the AutoNation 75th Anniversary FWAA All-America
Team, which was announced in August, will be celebrated during the
2015 season. That team includes players selected from past FWAA
All-America teams dating to 1944, three years after the organization
was formed in 1941. The AutoNation 75th Anniversary FWAA All-America
Team is composed of three teams of 25 players each, with all eight
decades, starting in the 1940s, represented among the playing eras
of members on the team. It includes 56 National Football Foundation
College Football Hall of Famers. Forty-one schools are represented
on the team that was selected by an FWAA Blue Ribbon Committee after
taking into consideration nominations from the membership.
About AutoNation, Inc.: AutoNation is transforming
the automotive retail industry through bold leadership. We deliver
a peerless automotive retail experience through our customer-focused
sales and service processes. Owning and operating 293 new vehicle
franchises, which sell 35 new vehicle brands across 15 states, AutoNation
is America's largest automotive retailer, with state-of-the-art
operations and the ability to leverage economies of scale that benefit
the customer. As an indication of our leadership position in our
industry, AutoNation is a component of the S&P 500 Index.
About
the AutoNation Cure Bowl: The AutoNation Cure Bowl a
new post-season NCAA football game whose net proceeds benefit the
Breast Cancer Research Foundation. The AutoNation Cure Bowl takes
place December 19 at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando, and will be broadcast
by CBS Sports Network. The bowl is scheduled to involve teams from
the American Athletic and Sun Belt conferences.
About the Football Writers Association of America:
Founded in 1941, the FWAA consists of 1,400 men and women who cover
college football. The membership includes journalists, broadcasters
and publicists, as well as key executives in all the areas that
involve the game. The FWAA works to govern areas that include game-day
operations, major awards and its annual All-America team. For more
information about the FWAA and its award programs, contact Steve
Richardson at tiger@fwaa.com.
2015 AutoNation National Offensive Players of the Week
Week of Sept. 5: Derrick Henry, Alabama
Week of Sept. 12: Dalvin Cook, Florida State
Week of Sept. 19: Leonard Fournette, LSU
Week of Sept. 26: Trevone Boykin, TCU
Week of Oct. 3: Ezekiel Elliott, Ohio State
Week of Oct. 10: Jordan Canzeri, Iowa
Week of Oct. 17: Christian McCaffrey, Stanford
Week of Oct. 24: Dak Prescott, Mississippi State
Week of Oct. 31: DeShone Kizer, Notre Dame
Week of Nov. 7: Brandon Allen, Arkansas
Week of Nov. 14: Deshaun Watson, Clemson
Week of Nov. 21: Vernon Adams Jr., Oregon
Week of Nov. 28: Brandon Doughty, Western Kentucky
Week of Dec. 5: Christian McCaffrey, Stanford
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