PROVO -- BYU quarterback John Beck has been selected as one of four nominees for Cingular All-America Player-of-the-Week honors. Beck, along with Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn, Rutgers running back Ray Rice and Michigan State quarterback Drew Stanton have been selected by a panel of ESPN college football analysts as this week's top candidates based on their performances on Saturday.
"I think John just continues to run one of the most high-powered offenses in the country like it's second nature," BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall said. "He's not surprised when we do well. I don't think he's necessarily over excited when we're moving the ball up and down the field. I think he's poised and he has his vision, not only each week, but also the long term. His goal is a conference championship and I think he expects each week to go out there and perform at a very high level. It's been fun to watch."
Beck led BYU to a dominating victory over UNLV on Saturday, connecting on 18-of-23 attempts for 250 yards and four touchdown passes in just three quarters of play. With four touchdown completions in the Cougars' 52-7 victory, Beck moved into fifth place in school history with 63 career touchdown passes, moving past Marc Wilson. Beck is the Mountain West Conference all-time touchdown completions leader. With another 250 yards passing, Beck has 8,939 passing yards and moves him withing 598 yards of passing Jim McMahon for second place on BYU's all-time passing list. With his performance on Saturday, Beck also moved into third place on the school's all-time total yards list with 8,.941, passing Steve Young (8,817).
On Saturday, Beck recorded a rating of 218.3. Two weeks ago, against San Diego State, Beck had a career-best rating of 245.9. On the season, Beck ranks sixth nationally (and leads the Mountain West Conference with an efficiency rating of 171.93. He leads the country in completion percentage, connecting on 140-of-199 (.704) attempts for 17 touchdowns.
Over the past three games, Beck has posted an efficiency rating of 229.2. He has completed over 70 percent of his pass attempts, connecting on 57-of-81 for 838 yards. Beck has thrown 11 touchdown completions in the past three games. During that stretch, the Cougars are averaging over 43 points per game and defeating opponents by an average margin of 29.7 points per game. In the first-quarter alone, the Cougars are outscoring opponents 44-3. In the first half, the Beck-led offense is posting an overall 77-13 advantage by halftime.
Fans have the opportunity to select this week's All-America Player of the Week by sending the text message "VOTE" to "87654" on their wireless phone.
Fans have until 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on Wednesday to submit their votes. The winner will be announced October 26 during ESPN's Thursday night college football game between Virginia Tech and Clemson. Fans can vote as many times as they like, with each vote counting as one entry into a sweepstakes to win a trip to the 2007 BCS National Championship game.
In December, four finalists for the Cingular All-America Player of the Year award will be announced during a one-hour special on ABC Sports. Fans will then get a chance to say who the best player in the nation is by voting for the Cingular All-America Player of the Year up until the Bowl Championship Series. The selection process will culminate during the BCS National Championship game on FOX when the Cingular All-America Player of the Year will be presented.