Western Kentucky quarterback Bailey Zappe has been added to the Maxwell Award Watch List, the Maxwell Football Club announced Wednesday.

The Maxwell Award is presented annually to the most outstanding player in college football.

There were 10 additions to the Maxwell Award Watch List and seven additions to the Chuck Bednarik Award Watch List, which Hilltopper defensive end DeAngelo Malone was named to during the preseason.

Zappe is now one of 90 players in all of Division I to make the watch list, including one of 43 quarterbacks and one of only four Conference USA players.

Through four games, the Victoria, Texas, native has completed 133-of-183 (72.7%) passes for 1,712 yards and 16 touchdowns, compared to only two interceptions. Zappe has thrown 144 consecutive passes without a pick, the third-longest streak in WKU history behind Tyrell Pigrome’s streak of 279 in 2020 and Mike White’s streak of 161 in 2017.

Zappe’s 428-yard passing average leads all FBS quarterbacks, with the next-closest being Virginia’s Brennan Armstrong at 394.6 yards. The graduate senior transfer from Houston Baptist leads all of college football with 11,716 career passing yards – a 285.8-yard average in 41 career games.

Zappe has already collected two Conference USA Offensive Player of the Week awards through the early stretch of the season, joining Brandon Doughty and Mike White as the only WKU quarterbacks to earn multiple C-USA Offensive Player of the Week honors.

Semifinalists will be announced Nov. 1, while the three finalists will be unveiled Nov. 22. The winners of the 2021 Maxwell and Bednarik Awards will be announced as part of the ESPN Home Depot College Football Awards Show on Dec. 9. The formal presentations of the Maxwell Award will be made at the Maxwell Football Club Awards Gala hosted by Tropicana Hotel & Casino Atlantic City on March 11, 2022.

Sterns added to 2021 Biletnikoff Award Watch List

Western Kentucky wide receiver Jerreth Sterns was added to the 2021 Biletnikoff Award Watch List, the Tallahassee Quarterback Club Foundation Inc. announced Wednesday.

The Biletnikoff Award annually recognizes the season’s outstanding FBS receiver in college football, regardless of position.

The Waxahachie, Texas, native has amassed 40 receptions for 546 yards and five touchdowns in four games, leading the Hilltoppers in all four categories. Averaging 10 catches and 135.5 yards per game, Sterns leads all FBS receivers through Week 5 of the 2021 season.

Sterns is one of 61 overall players on the watch list, one of 54 wide receivers and one of only four Conference USA receivers on the watch list, joining UTEP’s Jacob Cowing, UTSA’s Zakhari Franklin and Rice’s Bradley Rozner.

He is the 10th player in 2021 to be added to the list based on in-season performance. Western Michigan’s Skyy Moore – who has 34 catches for 413 yards and three touchdowns in four games – was also added Wednesday.

Sterns had 17 receptions and 186 yards and a 28-yard touchdown catch in WKU’s most recent game at No. 16/17 Michigan State. The 17 receptions tied the Hilltoppers’ all-time program record, matching Lucky Jackson’s mark in the 2019 SERVPRO First Responder Bowl. The 186 yards were the fifth-most by an FBS player this season, and are tied for the ninth-most by a WKU player in program history.

With 260 career catches in 31 games played, Sterns is college football’s active leader with 8.4 receptions per game. He also has 2,517 career receiving yards and 23 touchdowns, including five multi-score games. In those 31 contests, he has 11 100-yard receiving efforts and 11 double-digit reception outings.

Sterns is the first Hilltopper to be recognized on the Biletnikoff Award Watch List since Jackson in 2019, who was added Nov. 11 of that year and finished his senior campaign with 94 receptions for 1,133 yards and four touchdowns in 13 games.

Four other WKU players have received Biletnikoff Award recognition; Jared Dangerfield and Taywan Taylor were named to the Preseason Watch List in 2015, then during the season tight end Tyler Higbee was added. Then in 2016, Taylor and Nicholas Norris were named to the Preseason Watch List. Taylor was a top 10 semifinalist in both 2015 and 2016.

The 2021 Biletnikoff Award winner will be presented the Biletnikoff Award trophy at the Biletnikoff Award Banquet & Celebration at the University Center Club at Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee, Fla., on March 5, 2022.