Courtesy of WKU Athletics
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – WKU Football quarterback Caden Veltkamp has been named to the Davey O’Brien QB Class of 2024, the Davey O’Brien Foundation announced Tuesday.
Veltkamp is one of 35 quarterbacks on the list and the only quarterback from Conference USA. Each member of the group is now an official candidate to win the 2024 Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award.
Veltkamp has served as WKU’s starting quarterback since the Sept. 21 win over Toledo. He has thrown for 1,428 yards and 14 touchdowns on 114-of-164 passing with five interceptions. He has also rushed for 98 yards and five scores on 58 attempts. He has twice been named CUSA’s Offensive Player of the Week, including after WKU’s most recent game at Sam Houston – a 31-14 win.
The redshirt sophomore took over as the team’s primary quarterback after an early injury to starter TJ Finley during WKU’s Sept. 14 game at Middle Tennessee. Veltkamp came off the bench and threw for 398 yards and five touchdowns, and also had one rushing touchdown. Veltkamp’s five touchdown passes against the Blue Raiders were the most in a single game by a Hilltopper since he came off the bench in the 2023 Famous Toastery Bowl and threw five touchdowns in WKU’s 38-35 overtime victory over Old Dominion, in which he led a 28-0 comeback – the fourth-largest ever in a bowl game. Following the win over Middle Tennessee, Veltkamp was named the CUSA Offensive Player of the Week, a Manning Award Star of the Week and a Davey O’Brien Award Great 8 performer, which added him to the Davey O’Brien Award Watch List.
The 35 quarterbacks on the Davey O’Brien QB Class of 2024 have helped lead their respective teams to a combined record of 217-51 (.810), and all of the teams possess a record of better than .500 through week nine.
The next step in the process will be to select the award’s 16 semifinalists from the 35 quarterbacks. The semifinalists will be chosen based on voting from the Davey O’Brien National Selection Committee as well as bonus ballots awarded from the first round of the Davey O’Brien Fan Vote.
For the fifth straight year, the Fan Vote will take place on the award’s three social media platforms—Facebook, Instagram and Twitter (X)—and the top five vote getters on each platform will receive bonus committee member ballots which will be added to the votes cast by the National Selection Committee.
To participate in the Fan Vote, fans must like the original Davey O’Brien Award post highlighting their quarterback. First-round voting will close Friday, Nov. 8 at 10:59 p.m. CT. The semifinalists will be named on Tuesday, Nov. 12. Looking ahead, the three finalists will be tabbed on Tuesday, Nov. 26, while the winner will be announced live on Thursday, Dec. 12, on The Home Depot College Football Awards on ESPN.
The Davey O’Brien Foundation was created in 1977, and the National Quarterback Award was first issued in 1981. Over its time, the Davey O’Brien Foundation has given away more than $1.3 million in scholarships and university grants to help high school and college athletes transform leadership on the field into leadership in life.
In 1938, O’Brien, who was a star quarterback for TCU, became the first player ever to win the Heisman Trophy, Maxwell Award and Walter Camp Award in the same year. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1955.
The Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award is presented annually to the nation’s best college quarterback and is the oldest and most prestigious national quarterback award. The 48th Annual Davey O’Brien Awards Dinner honoring the winner will be held Monday, Feb. 17, 2025, at The Fort Worth Club in Fort Worth, Texas.
WKU is 5-2 overall and 3-0 in CUSA play entering Wednesday’s 6:30 p.m. CT game against Kennesaw State at Houchens-Smith Stadium. The game will be a Black Out, with fans encouraged to wear black to match the team’s black uniforms. There will be a free Flo Rida pregame concert on South Lawn starting at 5 p.m. CT.
Comments