Alabama's Tua Tagovailoa wins Walter Camp Award

Alabama's Tua Tagovailoa and Oklahoma's Kyler Murray split four college football year-end awards Thursday, setting up a showdown for Saturday night when they contend for the Heisman Trophy. But Oklahoma quarterback Murray won the Davey O'Brien Award as the nation's best quarterback, beating Tagovailoa out for that honor.

Murray didn't go home empty-handed either. It goes to the player of the year. He threw for 4,053 yards and ranked first in yards per attempt (11.9), second in passing touchdowns (40) and second in completion percentage (71 percent). He also added 190 yards and five more touchdowns on the ground, giving him the single-season school record for most combined touchdowns with 42.

Winning both the Walter Camp and Maxwell awards is an encouraging sign for Tagovailoa.

The Walter Camp victor has won the Heisman the last five seasons. The last Walter Camp victor to miss out on the Heisman was Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o.

The Heisman Trophy victor will be announced Saturday night, December 8 in New York City. And only five Heisman winners have failed to win AP Player of the Year since the award started in 1998.

Tagovailoa, a 2017 Saint Louis School graduate, beat out Murray, Washington State quarterback Gardner Minshew II, West Virginia quarterback Will Grier and Kentucky linebacker Josh Allen for the Camp Award.

"I think he's been one of the best players in college football all year long", Alabama head coach Nick Saban said last week.