Philadelphia, Pa.----- Quarterback Nick Starkel represents San José State University as one of 90 outstanding Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) players on offense listed on the 2021 Maxwell Award watch list presented by the Maxwell Football Club.
Since 1937, the Maxwell Award, named in honor of local football and sports writing legend Robert "Tiny" Maxwell, is awarded to college football's player of the year.
In his second year of graduate school and first at San José State, Starkel enjoyed his best season as a college football player in 2020. He completed 64.2 percent of his passes for 2,174 yards and 17 touchdowns directing an efficient offense that averaged almost 29 points a game. More significantly, the Spartans won their first Mountain West championship since joining the conference in 2013 and first football conference championship since sharing the 1991 Big West Conference title.
Starkel earned second-team All-Mountain West honors and was named the Offensive Most Valuable Player of the Mountain West championship football game throwing for 453 yards and three touchdowns without an interception in a 34-20 victory over Boise State. The win was the first time San Jose State defeated Boise State in football in 15 tries.
The Spartans finished the 2020 season with a 7-1 win-loss record, a berth in the Offerpad Arizona Bowl and were ranked 24th nationally in the final Associated Press poll.
The 2021 season marks the fifth playing season for Starkel, who stands 6-foot-3. He began his college career at Texas A&M in 2016 as a redshirt. After playing for the Aggies in 2017 and 2018, the college graduate who majored in business, was a quarterback at the University of Arkansas in 2019. Starkel transferred to San Jose State prior to the start of the 2021 spring semester. He has 28 games of playing experience passing for 5,288 yards and 39 touchdowns and has passed for at 450 yards in two post-season bowl games. As a freshman, he passed for a career best 499 yards and four touchdowns against Wake Forest in the 2017 Belk Bowl.
From the 90 players listed on the watch list, semifinalists will be announced on November 1. Three finalists will be named on November 22. This year's winner will be presented on the ESPN Home Depot College Football Awards Show on December 9. The formal presentation of the 2021 Maxwell Award will occur on March 11, 2022 in Atlantic City, N.J.
Season tickets for the 2021 San Jose State University football six-game home schedule are available by visiting https://am.ticketmaster.com/sjsuathletics/21football or by calling 408-924-7589.