Cobi hamilton among three up for Maxwell Award

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - The University of Arkansas football team has three student-athletes included on the Maxwell Award Watch List, which was released Monday.

Quarterback Tyler Wilson and running back Knile Davis were named to the watch list for the second straight season and are joined by wide receiver Cobi Hamilton as Arkansas is one of four teams in the country to have at least three student-athletes on the Maxwell Award Watch List. The Maxwell Award has been given to America's most outstanding collegiate football player since 1937.

Wilson is the only Razorback in school history to be named first-team All-SEC quarterback, an honor he earned in 2011 after leading Arkansas to a school-record-tying 11 wins in his first season as a starter. The senior from Greenwood, Ark., holds nine school records, including career completion percentage, and has produced three of the top-five single-game completions marks in school history. He finished the 2011 season 277-of-438 passing for 3,638 yards and 24 touchdowns with six interceptions, becoming just the second Razorback to pass for 3,000 yards in a season and leading the SEC with the eighth-highest single-season passing yards total in conference history. In addition to being a first-team All-SEC selection, he also was a finalist for the Manning Award and the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, a semifinalist for the Davey O'Brien Award and the Offensive MVP of Arkansas' AT&T Cotton Bowl defeat of No. 11 Kansas State.

Davis was a first-team All-SEC selection by the Associated Press in 2010, when he led all SEC running backs with 1,322 yards on the ground, the fourth-highest single-season total in school history. The junior from Missouri City, Texas, was named to numerous preseason All-America and All-SEC teams as well as watch lists for the Doak Walker, Maxwell and Walter Camp awards in 2011 before suffering an injury during a preseason scrimmage that forced him to miss the entire campaign. In 2010, his average of 101.7 rushing yards per game ranked second in the SEC and 16th in the NCAA. His 6.48 yards per rushing attempt was the highest in the NCAA among running backs that carried the ball at least 200 times and ranked as the fifth-highest single-season average at Arkansas. He ended the season with five consecutive 100-yard rushing games, and his 157.8 rushing yards per game in November made him the only SEC player to average 100 yards per game on the ground in the season's final full month.

Hamilton made a career-high 34 receptions in 2011 for 542 yards and four touchdowns. The senior from Texarkana, Texas, ranked fifth in the SEC last season with an average of 15.9 yards per catch, and his career average of 17.9 yards per reception is the highest among current Razorbacks. He enters the 2012 season with a streak of at least one reception in 22 straight games and is ninth on Arkansas' all-time career 100-yard receiving games list with four. Hamilton also is tied for 11th all-time in school history with 13 receiving touchdowns in his career and is 15th on UA's all-time career receiving yards list with 1,519. In 2011, he totaled a season-high 132 receiving yards on a season-high five catches with one touchdown in the 52-3 win vs. New Mexico and the next week tied his season high with five receptions for 82 yards in a 38-28 win vs. Troy.

Semifinalists for the Maxwell Award will be announced Oct. 29th, and the three finalists will be unveiled Nov. 19th. The winner of the 2012 Maxwell Award will be announced as part of the Home Depot ESPNU College Football Awards Show held Dec. 6th at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Fla. The formal presentation of the award will be made at the Maxwell Football Club Awards Gala hosted by Harrah's Entertainment Atlantic City on March 1, 2013.