FWAA News Articles

Call to Entries for 31st Annual FWAA Best Writing Contest 

The 2022 Football Writers Association of America All-America Team, presented in partnership with the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic, is headlined by nine first-teamers from the four teams competing in the College Football Playoff, three repeat All-Americans and a record 16 total selections from the Big Ten Conference. There are 19 schools represented from six Football Bowl Subdivision conferences on the first team and 34 different schools and eight conferences plus an Independent included on the overall 54-man team.

Each week during the 2022 season, we will highlight the notable performances of first-year players and head coaches leading up to the selection of our annual Freshman All-America Team and the Steve Spurrier First-Year Coach of the Year Award presented by Chris Doering Mortgage. Here are the top performances from Week 13, the weekend of Nov. 26:

Each week during the 2022 season, we will highlight the notable performances of first-year players and head coaches leading up to the selection of our annual Freshman All-America Team and the Steve Spurrier First-Year Coach of the Year Award presented by Chris Doering Mortgage. Here are the top performances from Week 12, the weekend of Nov. 19

Each week during the 2022 season, we will highlight the notable performances of first-year players and head coaches leading up to the selection of our annual Freshman All-America Team and the Steve Spurrier First-Year Coach of the Year Award presented by Chris Doering Mortgage. Here are the top performances from Week 11, the weekend of Nov. 12:

Oregon’s Cam McCormick is this week’s nominee for the 2022 Capital One Orange Bowl-FWAA Courage Award. McCormick, a seventh-year tight end, has overcome multiple season-ending injuries that have caused him to miss the majority of four seasons and has faced several personal struggles on his way to becoming an integral contributor for the No. 8 Ducks.

Each week during the 2022 season, we will highlight the notable performances of first-year players and head coaches leading up to the selection of our annual Freshman All-America Team and the Steve Spurrier First-Year Coach of the Year Award presented by Chris Doering Mortgage. Here are the top performances from Week 8, the weekend of Oct. 22:

The Tennessee Volunteers kicked a last-second field goal to dramatically end a too-long losing streak Saturday in a game-for-the-ages, a 52-49 win over Alabama. Chase McGrath’s 40-yarder that spun through the soon-to-be-torn-down uprights as time expired and ended a 15-game losing streak to the Crimson Tide. For the resilient effort in front of its capacity crowd, Tennessee (6-0) earned the Cheez-It Bowl National Team of the Week honor for games of the weekend of Oct. 15, as selected by the Football Writers Association of America.

A look at the top performances from freshman players and first-year head coaches in Week 6 of the 2022 college football season.

A look at the top performances from freshman players and first-year head coaches in Week 5 of the 2022 college football season.

The college football story of the year in 2021 broke in July during Southeastern Conference Media Days, but the story had nothing to do with the schools currently in the league. It had everything to do with two Big 12 Conference schools – Texas and Oklahoma – headed to the SEC in the future. It has been a bombshell story that has sent tremors through the college sports landscape and has even changed future conference affiliations outside the SEC in recent months. An earthquake basically. And the reporter who broke that story, the Houston Chronicle's Brent Zwerneman, was an easy choice for the FWAA's Steve Ellis Beat Writer of the Year Award.

A look at the top performances from freshman players and first-year head coaches in Week 4 of the 2022 college football season.

Washington’s Michael Penix Jr. is this week’s nominee for the 2022 Capital One Orange Bowl-FWAA Courage Award. Penix, a fifth-year senior, has established himself as an early season Heisman Trophy candidate after suffering season-ending injuries in each of his previous four campaigns.

The results for the 30th Annual FWAA Best Writing Contest presented by collegepressbox include one writer who claimed a first place for a second straight year, one writer who had three awards and two first-time winners. 

Setting the tone in one of the top team defensive efforts last weekend was Penn State safety Ji’Ayir Brown, who had five tackles, a strip-sack and an interception as the Nittany Lions went into Auburn and left with a 41-12 win. For recording his first career sack, picking off his first pass of the season and leading the first Big Ten school to a home-and-home sweep of a Southeastern Conference school since 2012, Brown earned the Bronko Nagurski National Defensive Player of the Week honor for games of the weekend of Sept. 17, as selected by the Football Writers Association of America.

The Eastern Michigan Eagles jumped ahead with a fast start and ran past Arizona State, 30-21, in Tempe, Ariz., with running back Samson Evans gained 257 yards in a historic night. For handing Arizona State its first home non-conference loss since 2017 and becoming the first Mid-American Conference team to beat a Pac-12 Conference school in the regular season, the Eagles (2-1) earned the Cheez-It Bowl National Team of the Week honor for games of the weekend of Sept. 17, as selected by the Football Writers Association of America.

A look at the top performances from freshman players and first-year head coaches in Week 3 of the 2022 college football season.

The App State Mountaineers and Marshall Thundering Herd set the table with historic afternoon upsets at Texas A&M and Notre Dame, then the Georgia Southern Eagles added another at Nebraska at the end a memorable Saturday for the Sun Belt Conference. After those three epic upsets and for the first time in 21 seasons the Football Writers Association of America has awarded all three schools the Cheez-It Bowl National Team of the Week honor for games of the weekend of Sept. 10.

A look at the top performances from freshman players and first-year head coaches in Week 2 of the 2022 college football season.

A look at the top performances from freshman players and first-year head coaches in Week 1 of the 2022 college football season.