WKU Football quarterback TJ Finley has been named a 2024 Golden Arm Award candidate, as announced by the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Educational Foundation, Inc., and A.O. Smith Corporation this week. The prestigious award annually recognizes the top senior or upperclassman quarterback poised to graduate with their class.
This year’s watch list features 63 of the nation’s leading quarterbacks, representing all FBS conferences and independents. Finley is one of three quarterbacks from Conference USA to make the list.
Finley is entering his first season with WKU after stints at Texas State, Auburn, and LSU. In 2023, while at Texas State, he received numerous accolades, including All-Sun Belt Honorable Mention, Phil Steele All-Sun Belt Fourth Team, Manning Award Watch List, and Davey O’Brien Award Midseason Watch List honors. He was named Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Week after leading Texas State to a victory over Baylor in Week 1. Finley also earned two Manning Award Star of the Week honors and was a Davey O’Brien Great 8 selection during the 2023 season.
Finley finished the 2023 season with impressive stats, throwing for 3,439 yards and 24 touchdowns with only eight interceptions, completing 279 of 414 passes. He also contributed on the ground, rushing for 81 yards and five touchdowns. His performance set the Texas State program record for passing yards in a season and placed him among the nation’s best: 17th in passing yards, 23rd in passing touchdowns, 16th in completion percentage, and 23rd in passing efficiency. He was instrumental in leading Texas State to its first-ever win over a Power Five team (Baylor) and to the program’s first bowl victory, a 45-21 win over Rice in the First Responder Bowl.
Before his time at Texas State, Finley played three seasons at LSU (2020) and Auburn (2021-22), where he started 11 games and appeared in 18. During his tenure, he threw for 2,199 yards and 12 touchdowns, adding two rushing touchdowns to his name. In 2022, as a sophomore at Auburn, he started three games but missed several due to injury. He also played nine games with three starts as a freshman at LSU in 2021, leading the Tigers to victories over South Carolina and Arkansas in his first collegiate season.
In addition to being named a Golden Arm Award candidate, Finley has already been included on several other prestigious watch lists this summer, including the Shrine Bowl 1000 Watchlist, the Maxwell Award, the Walter Camp 2024 Player of the Year Preseason Watch List, and the 2024 Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award Preseason Watch List.
The Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award winner will be announced at the Golden Arm Award celebration, which will take place at the Four Seasons Hotel in Baltimore, Maryland, on Friday, Dec. 6, 2024.
The award honors Johnny Unitas, an 18-year NFL veteran who played his collegiate career at the University of Louisville before joining the Baltimore Colts in 1958. Unitas’s career passing stats include 2,830 completions for 40,239 yards and 290 touchdowns, with a record 47 consecutive games with a touchdown pass.
WKU is set to kick off the 2024 season with a 6 p.m. CT game at Alabama on Saturday, Aug. 31. The Hilltoppers’ home opener is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 7, at 6 p.m. CT against Eastern Kentucky, followed by the opening of CUSA play with a 6 p.m. CT game at Middle Tennessee on Saturday, Sept. 14.
