Clayton leads list of Biletnikoff semifinalists

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) -- A finalist from last season, Oklahoma's Mark Clayton, and three players from the Big Ten topped a list of semifinalists announced Thursday for the Biletnikoff Award, symbolic of college football's best receiver.

The Big Ten players are Michigan's Braylon Edwards, Ohio State's Santonio Holmes and Purdue's Taylor Stubblefield,

The other candidates for the honor, named after Oakland Raider and Florida State great Fred Biletnikoff, include David Anderson, Colorado State; Derek Hagan, Arizona State; Chris Henry, West Virginia; Earvin Johnson, UNLV; Chad Owens, Hawaii; Dante Ridgeway, Ball State and South Carolina's Troy Williamson.

Ridgeway's 63 catches for 831 yards are the best numbers among the candidates heading into this weekend's games, while Stubblefield's 11 touchdown catches leads in that category.

Three finalists will be named Nov. 15 and the winner will be announced in December at the annual ESPN awards show at Walt Disney World and feted at a February banquet in Tallahassee.

A panel of writers and broadcasters and a handful of former receivers, including Biletnikoff, make up the panel selected by the Tallahassee Quarterback Club Foundation, which sponsors the award.

Pittsburgh's Larry Fitzgerald, now a rookie with the NFL's Arizona Cardinals, won the 2003 award.