FORT WORTH, Texas - Fresno State junior quarterback Mikey Keene was named to the 2024 preseason watch list for the Davey O'Brien Award on Thursday. The Davey O'Brien Foundation named three dozen collegiate quarterbacks to its preseason watch list, with Keene being the only representative from the Mountain West.
In his first year with the Bulldogs, Keene started in 11 of 12 games played and missed one to injury. He totaled 2,976 yards passing and 24 touchdowns while completing 283-of-422 pass attempts.
He finished the 2023 season on a high note, throwing for a career-best 380 yards against New Mexico State in the Isleta New Mexico Bowl on Dec. 16. He completed 31-of-39 passes in the bowl game, sparked by 15-straight completions to open the game. Keene was named the bowl game's Offensive MVP for his performance. He also started the 2023 season on a high note, cementing the best debut by a Bulldog quarterback in program history with a then-career-high 366 yards and four touchdowns, completing 31-of-44 pass attempts in Fresno State's season-opening win at Purdue (Sept. 2).
Keene spent the first two seasons of his collegiate career at UCF (2021-22) before transferring to Fresno State, taking a redshirt season in 2022. He played in four games in 2022 before taking the redshirt year, and completed 60-of-83 pass attempts for 647 yards that season. As a true freshman in 2021, he played in 11 games,completing 173-of-272 pass attempts for 1,730 yards and 17 touchdowns.
Keene has loaded up the preseason recognitions ahead of 2024, being named the preseason All-Mountain West quarterback by the league's media. He also earned recognition by Phil Steele, Athlon Sports and College Football Network.
Compiled by a subset of the Davey O'Brien National Selection Committee, this year's list was selected based on previous Division I career player performance as well as expectations heading into the 2024 college football season.
The FWAA preseason award watch lists will be announced over a 12-day period which began on Monday, July 29. More information available here.