LSU’s Denbrock named finalist for Broyles Award

BATON ROUGE – LSU offensive coordinator and tight ends coach Mike Denbrock has been selected as one of five finalists for the Broyles Award as college football’s top assistant coach, the Frank and Barbara Broyles Foundation announced on Monday.

A selection committee of distinguished former head coaches, broadcasters, and a committee representing the Football Writers Association of America narrowed the list of nominees to five finalists. The winner will be announced next Monday night in Little Rock.

Denbrock is joined on the list of finalists by Mike Bobo (Georgia), Phil Parker (Iowa), Sherrone Moore (Michigan), and Will Stein (Oregon).

Denbrock has engineered the most explosive and dynamic offense in college football in 2023 as the Tigers lead the nation in total offense (547.8) and scoring (46.4). The Tigers have more plays of 20-plus yards (102), 30-plus yards (51) and 40-plus yards (29) than any team in college football.

LSU capped its regular-season on Saturday with a 42-30 win over Texas A&M as the Tigers topped the 40-point mark the for the ninth time this year. Only the 2019 team had more 40-point games (10) during the regular-season than this year’s team.

LSU is the only school in the FBS averaging 300 passing yards and 200 rushing yards per game. LSU ranks in the Top 10 in both categories as the Tigers are No. 4 in passing yards (334.4) per game and No. 7 in rushing yards (213.5) a contest.

Individually, Denbrock’s offense produced Heisman Trophy candidate Jayden Daniels, who has proven to be the most dynamic player in college football. Daniels leads the nation in total offense by nearly 75 yards, averaging 412.2 yards per game with the next closest being Oregon’s Bo Nix at 338.2.

Daniels is one of only five players in SEC history to account for 50 touchdowns in a season, joining Joe Burrow (65), Tim Tebow (55), Cam Newton (51) and Bryce Young (50) – all of which went on to win the Heisman Trophy.

Daniels leads the country in passing touchdowns with 40 and he’s added another 10 rushing TDs for a nation’s best 50 TDs responsible for. Earlier this month, Daniels became the first player in FBS history to rush for 200 yards and pass for 350 yards in a game when he set an SEC record with 606 total yards (234 rushing, 372 passing) in the win over Florida.

Daniels also joined former Heisman winner Johnny Manziel as the only 3,500-yard passers and 1,000-yard rushers in SEC history. In 12 games, Daniels produced 3,812 passing yards and leads all quarterbacks nationally in rushing yards with 1,134.

Wide receivers Malik Nabers and Brian Thomas have combined to catch 146 passes for 2,625 yards and 29 touchdowns. Nabers, who became LSU’s all-time receptions leader last week against Texas A&M with 186, leads the nation in receiving yards with 1,546 and ranks second in TDs with 14.

Thomas has caught 60 passes for 1,079 yards and leads the nation in receiving TDs with 15.