Barkley, Lee named Maxwell semifinalists


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Senior quarterback Matt Barkley and sophomore wide receiver Marqise Lee were named among the 15-member watch list for the 2012 Walter Camp Player of the Year Award on Tuesday.

Record setter · Senior quarterback Matt Barkley is second in the country in touchdown passes with 33. He set the conference mark with 39 in 2011. – Corey Marquetti | Daily Trojan

Barkley, who was also a semifinalist for the 2011 Walter Camp Award, has thrown for 2,972 yards, 33 touchdowns and 13 interceptions with a completion rate of 64.8 percent through 10 games.

Lee, who had a Pac-12 record of 345 yards receiving against Arizona on Oct. 27, has 98 receptions for 1,447 yards and 13 touchdowns to go with 110 yards rushing and is the only receiver and one of three sophomores on the list.

Barkley and Lee are two of four Pac-12 representatives, the others being Oregon running back Kenjon Barner and UCLA running back Johnathan Franklin.

The list includes players from each of the top five teams in the most recent BCS standings, including Barner, Kansas State quarterback Collin Klein, Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te’o, Alabama quarterback A.J. McCarron and Georgia linebacker Jarvis Jones.

“It’s been another exciting college football season with many teams and players still in the hunt for national recognition,” Walter Camp Football Foundation President John Marks said in a statement. “We’ve identified some outstanding players and we know the final weeks of the regular season should be even more thrilling.”

USC currently has the most Walter Camp Award recipients of all-time with six award winners.

USC running back O.J. Simpson was the first-ever Walter Camp Award recipient, winning twice in 1967 and 1968.

Running backs Charles White and Marcus Allen also won as Trojans in 1979 and 1981, respectively. The most recent Trojan winners were quarterback Matt Leinart in 2004 and running back Reggie Bush in 2005.

The Walter Camp Award, the fourth-oldest college football award in the nation, is named after Walter Camp, an American football player, coach and sportswriter known as the “Father of Football.”

Five finalists for the award will be announced on Nov. 28.

The winner will be voted on by the Football Bowl Subdivision head coaches and sports information directors and presented during the 6 p.m. edition of ESPN SportsCenter on Dec. 6.