COLLEGE NOTEBOOK: HEISMAN FINALISTS PICK UP HARDWARE.Byline: Daily News Staff and Wire Services Each of the top four Heisman Trophy finalists won awards at Thursday's college football ceremonies in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., with Mississippi's Eli Manning capturing the Maxwell Award as the nation's best all-around player. Manning, however, didn't win the Davey O'Brien Award The Davey O'Brien Award, officially the Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award, is presented annually to the collegiate American football player adjudged by the Davey O'Brien Foundation to be the best of all National Collegiate Athletic Association quarterbacks. as the top quarterback - it went to Oklahoma's Jason White. Pittsburgh's Larry Fitzgerald beat out USC's Mike Williams for the Biletnikoff Award given to best receiver and Michigan's Chris Perry earned the Doak Walker Award Named after the SMU and Detroit Lions football player Doak Walker, the Doak Walker Award, first awarded in 1990, honors the nation's top college football running back. This award is unique among college football awards in that it requires all candidates to be: ``I came here not expecting to win, so I'm shocked that I won it,'' Manning said after beating out White and Fitzgerald. The Maxwell Award once was a good predictor of the Heisman Trophy, with 14 of 19 players earning both awards from 1981-99. But the last three Maxwell winners fell short in the Heisman race. The Manning family knows all about that. Eli's older brother, Peyton, won the Maxwell in 1997 but finished second to Michigan's Charles Woodson in the Heisman. Two other Oklahoma players joined White by winning awards. Linebacker Teddy Lehman won the Chuck Bednarik Trophy as best defensive player and cornerback Derrick Strait won the Jim Thorpe Award The Jim Thorpe Award, named in memory of multi-sport legend Jim Thorpe, has been awarded to the top defensive back in college football since 1986. It is voted on by the Jim Thorpe Association, an Oklahoma based organization. as best defensive back. Other award winners announced were Iowa offensive lineman Robert Gallery for the Outland Trophy as best interior lineman; Ohio State's B.J. Sander won the Ray Guy Award as best punter and San Jose State's Neil Parry won Disney's Wide World of Sports Wide World of Sports can refer to:
Manning, White, Fitzgerald and Perry are the top four finalists for the Heisman Trophy, which will be handed out Saturday night in New York. --Local honors: UCLA's Dave Ball and USC's Williams and tackle Jacob Rogers were named to the Walter Camp All-American team. Fitzgerald also won the Walter Camp Award The Walter Camp Award is given annually to the collegiate American football player adjudged by a group of National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I-A head coaches and sports information directors under the auspices of the Walter Camp Football Foundation as the as the top player in the nation. --Trojans update: Safety Mike Ross along with linebackers Bobby Otani and Salo Faraimo are not expected to be available for the Rose Bowl because of concussions suffered during the season. Otani underwent a magnetic-resonance imaging test Wednesday, which didn't detect any problems. But he is not expected to be available for the game. He suffered a concussion against UCLA UCLA University of California at Los Angeles UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX . Faraimo also suffered a concussion against UCLA. --Byers honored: Jeff Byers of Loveland, Colo., won the Gatorade National High School Football Player of the Year Award Several sports leagues honor their best player with an award called Player of the Year. In the United States, this type of award is usually called a Most Valuable Player award. The awards with the "player of the year" phrasing include these. , the first time a lineman won the honor. Byers committed to USC An abbreviation for U.S. Code. earlier this season. --UCLA update: Bruins offensive coordinator Steve Axman ax·man n. 1. One who wields an ax. 2. Slang One assigned to perform a task involving ruthless reduction, as of a work force or budget. 3. was one of at least six candidates to interview for the head-coaching job at the University of Texas-El Paso earlier this week, sources said. UTEP UTEP University of Texas at El Paso UTEP Urban, Technological & Environmental Planning contacted UCLA and was granted permission to speak with Axman, who was head coach at Northern Arizona from 1990-97. Axman, who also coaches the quarterbacks at UCLA, went 48-41 with the Lumberjacks. Former Bruins coach Bob Toledo is also a candidate for the job. --Coaching honors: While USC's Pete Carroll was named the top coach at Thursday's awards in Florida, Louisiana State's Nick Saban was voted the Associated Press Coach of the Year. --Tuberville's deal: Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville agreed to a one-year contract extension through the 2008 season, a few weeks after top school officials were trying to replace him. --Harbaugh in running: Former NFL quarterback Jim Harbaugh, in his second year as the quarterbacks coach for the Oakland Raiders, is a finalist to become head coach at Division I-AA San Diego. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Oklahoma's Jason White (Davey O'Brien), Mississippi's Eli Manning (Maxwell), Pittsburgh's Larry Fitzgerald (Biletnikoff) and Michigan's Chris Perry (Doak Walker) show off their trophies Thursday. Scott Audette/Associated Press |
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