The Davey O'Brien Trophy for the nation's best quarterback, presented by the College Football Writers Association of America (before 1981, it was open to players at any position):

Year	Player	School
1977	Earl Campbell	Texas
1978	Billy Sims	Oklahoma
1979	Mike Singletary	Baylor
1980	Mike Singletary	Baylor
1981	Jim McMahon	Brigham Young
1982	Todd Blackledge	Penn State
1983	Steve Young	Brigham Young
1984	Doug Flutie	Boston College
1985	Chuck Long	Iowa
1986	Vinny Testaverde	Miami
1987	Don McPherson	Syracuse
1988	Troy Aikman	UCLA
1989	Andre Ware	Houston
1990	Ty Detmer	Brigham Young
1991	Ty Detmer	Brigham Young
1992	Gino Torretta	Miami
1993	Charlie Ward	Florida State
1994	Kerry Collins	Penn State
1995	Danny Wuerffel	Florida
1996	Danny Wuerffel	Florida
1997	Peyton Manning	Tennessee
1998	Michael Bishop	Kansas State
1999	Joe Hamilton	Georgia Tech
2000	Chris Weinke	Florida State
2001	Eric Crouch	Nebraska