Houston’s Case Keenum Wins FCA Bowden Award

(credit: Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

University of Houston senior quarterback Case Keenum was named the winner of the 10^th annual Bobby Bowden Award, presented by the Fellowship of Christian Athletes on Friday. Keenum was honored at the FCA Allstate Bowl Championship Series Breakfast in New Orleans this morning, the site of this year’s BCS National Championship Game. 

The Bowden Award recognizes a Football Bowl Subdivision player who epitomizes the meaning of a student-athlete. To be a candidate the student-athlete must conduct himself as a faith model in the community, on campus, in the classroom and on the field. Nominees must have a 3.0 GPA or better. He must also have the backing of his school’s Athletic Director and Head Football coach. The award is named after former Florida State University football coach Bobby Bowden. Two men conceived the award. The first was one of coach Bowden’s assistant coaches, Vince Gibson, who is in the latter stages of Lou Gehrig’s disease. The second is Vernon Brinson who is a former player for Coach Bowden. 

“This is such an incredible honor and I want to thank Coach Bowden and the committee,” Keenum said. “I also want to thank my family, my teammates and coaches. Without their guidance, this wouldn’t have been possible, so I am excited to share this award with all of them. And finally to our fans back in Houston, thank you!This has been an incredible ride.” 

Keenum capped his incredible career with 532 yards passing and three touchdowns in the 30-14 TicketCity Bowl victory against No. 22 Penn State in Dallas. Keenum shredded the nation’s No. 4 passing defense, hitting 45-of-69 passes to lead UH to its 13^th victory of the season. Those 13 wins are currently tied with No. 1 LSU for the most in college football this year. 

Keenum finished the year with 5,631 yards passing, 48 touchdowns and just five interceptions. The Abilene, Texas, native enjoyed a record-breaking 48-to-5TD-to-INT ratio and completed 71 percent of his throws. Keenum had multiple TD throws in 13 of 14 games and eclipsed the 300-yard passing mark in all-14 contests. He also broke Cotton Bowl Stadium records for completions (45), attempts (69), yardage (532) and total yardage (542). The 600 yards of total offense amassed by UH was also the most ever in facility history. 

For his career Keenum finished with 1,546 completions on 2,229 attempts. He threw for 155 touchdowns and just 46 interceptions and racked up 19,217 yards through the air. Overall he accumulated 20,114 yards of total offense and 178 total scores. He also became the first UH quarterback to start four bowl games. 

Keenum was one of three finalists for the award. He was joined by University of Georgia center Ben Jones and University of Toledo offensive lineman Mike VanDerMeulen. 

Keenum is the fourth consecutive Texas native to win the award. He is also the fourthconsecutive QB from Texas to claim the honor. 

FCA Bobby Bowden Award Winners

2003:       Jason Wright, Northwestern University

2004:       Billy Bajema, Oklahoma State University

2005:       D.J. Shockley, University of Georgia

2006:       Carl Pendleton, University of Oklahoma

2007:       Jacob Tamme, University of Kentucky

2008:       Stephen McGee, Texas A&M University

2009:       Colt McCoy, University of Texas

2010:       Christian Ponder, Florida State University

2011:       Case Keenum, University of Houston