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PROVO, Utah (Oct. 26, 2007) - Brigham Young quarterback John Beck has been selected as the Cingular All-America Player of the Week after leading the Cougars to a 52-7 win over UNLV last Saturday. The award is the only major college football award chosen exclusively by the fans.
"John's performance is a reflective of the direction of our program," BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall said. "I'm proud of John, as well as his teammates. They have all worked hard, and have shown a great amount of determination and focus."
Beck led BYU to a dominating victory over UNLV on Saturday, connecting on 18-of-23 attempts for 250 yards and four touchdown passes in just three quarters of play. With four touchdown completions in the Cougars' 52-7 victory, Beck moved into fifth place in school history with 63 career touchdown passes, moving past Marc Wilson. Beck is the Mountain West Conference all-time touchdown completions leader.
"I'm excited for our team," Beck said. "This is a an award that happens because an entire team works together. We've put in a lot of work during the off-season and through the year, and it's paying off each week."
With another 250 yards passing last week, Beck has 8,939 passing yards and moves him within 598 yards of passing Jim McMahon for second place on BYU's all-time passing list. With his performance on Saturday, Beck also moved into third place on the school's all-time total yards list with 8,.941, passing Steve Young (8,817).
On Saturday, Beck recorded a rating of 218.3. Two weeks ago, against San Diego State, Beck had a career-best rating of 245.9. On the season, Beck ranks sixth nationally (and leads the Mountain West Conference with an efficiency rating of 171.93. He leads the country in completion percentage, connecting on 140-of-199 (.704) attempts for 17 touchdowns.
Over the past three games, Beck has posted an efficiency rating of 229.2. He has completed over 70 percent of his pass attempts, connecting on 57-of-81 for 838 yards. Beck has thrown 11 touchdown completions in the past three games. During that stretch, the Cougars are averaging over 43 points per game and defeating opponents by an average margin of 29.7 points per game. In the first-quarter alone, the Cougars are outscoring opponents 44-3. In the first half, the Beck-led offense is posting an overall 77-13 advantage by halftime.
"I think John just continues to run one of the most high-powered offenses in the country like it's second nature," BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall said. "He's not surprised when we do well. I think he's poised and he has his vision, not only each week, but also the long term. His goal is a conference championship and I think he expects each week to go out there and perform at a very high level. It's been fun to watch."
Beck received 39 percent of the votes to edge out Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn (37 percent) in the fan balloting to become the first Mountain West player to ever win the award. Beck was nominated for this week's award by a panel of ESPN college football analysts based on his performance against UNLV.
In December, four finalists for the Cingular All-America Player of the Year award will be announced during a one-hour special on ABC Sports. Fans will then get a chance to say who the best player in the nation is by voting for the Cingular All-America Player of the Year up until the Bowl Championship Series. The selection process will culminate during the BCS National Championship game on FOX when the Cingular All-America Player of the Year will be presented.
