AUBURN, Ala. – Bo Nix and Seth Williams connected on 59 passes and eight touchdowns last year. On Friday, the Auburn QB-WR tandem was selected to the watch list for the 84th Maxwell Award, which is presented annually to the most outstanding player in college football.
The most iconic of those connections came in the season opener when Nix, making his Auburn debut, found Williams for a 26-yard touchdown pass with nine seconds left to lift Auburn past Oregon, 27-21.
By starting that game, Nix became the first true freshman quarterback to start a season opener for the Tigers since 1946. He went on to set the Auburn freshman record for passing yards (2,542), pass completions (217) and touchdown passes (16) in a season. He also added 313 yards rushing with seven touchdowns and was named the SEC Freshman of the year. Last week, he made the Davey O'Brien Award Watch List for the 2020 season.
Williams, a sophomore last year, led Auburn in receptions (59), receiving yards (830) and receiving touchdowns (8) despite playing in 12 of 13 games. He's started 21 games over his first two seasons on the Plains and ranks 17th in program history with 1,364 career receiving yards and 19th with 85 career receptions.
Like Nix, this is the second watch list for Williams in 2020. The junior made the Biletkinoff Award Watch List last week as one of the country's top wide receivers.
The Maxwell Award has been presented to the College Player of the Year since 1937 and is named in honor of Robert "Tiny" Maxwell, a former standout at the Swarthmore College and a renowned sports writer and football official. Auburn is one of 21 schools to boast two candidates on this year's watch list, which includes a total of 90 players.
Last year, Auburn defensive lineman Derrick Brown was named a semifinalist for the Maxwell Award, one of two defensive players to make the list. In 2010, quarterback Cam Newton became the first and only player in program history to win the award.
Semifinalists for the 2020 Maxwell Award will be announced Nov. 3 while the three finalists will be unveiled Nov. 23. The winner of the 2020 Maxwell Award will be announced as part of the ESPN Home Depot College Football Awards Show held on Dec. 10. The formal presentations of these awards will be made at the Maxwell Football Club Awards Gala hosted by Tropicana Hotel & Casino Atlantic City on March 12, 2021.