Dorsey Wins Maxwell Award, McKinnie Wins Outland Trophy
Dec 7, 2001
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) – Miami quarterback Ken Dorsey won the MaxwellAward and Nebraska’s Eric Crouch took the Davey O’Brien quarterback trophyThursday night during the college football awards show.
Dorsey and Crouch are two of the four Heisman Trophy finalists, along withFlorida’s Rex Grossman and Oregon’s Joey Harrington. The Heisman, collegefootball’s top individual award, will be presented Saturday night in New York.
Dorsey, who led No. 1 Miami (11-0) to a perfect season and a spot in anational title game in the Rose Bowl, was chosen over Grossman and Crouch.
“With all the talented guys here, I’m just happy to be here with thoseguys,” Dorsey said. “I’m most proud of being 25-1 in my career. As aCalifornian I cannot wait for the Rose Bowl. I just can’t imagine this. I mean,the other guys are so good. I’m excited that people think about me that way.”
The Maxwell, voted on by Division I-A coaches, the Football WritersAssociation of America and members of the Philadelphia-based Maxwell FootballClub, goes to the best all-around player.
Dorsey completed 184 of 318 passes for 2,652 yards with 23 TDs and nineinterceptions.
Crouch won the O’Brien quarterback award over Grossman and Harrington.Crouch, who led Nebraska to an 11-1 record, ran for 1,115 yards and 18 TDs, andpassed for 1,510 yards and seven scores.
“I had no idea I would win this,” Crouch said. “The other quarterbacksthat are here are just as deserving as I am. This is just unbelievable and myfamily is so happy. There is nothing that can happen from here on out to matchthis.”
Before the awards show, Crouch received the Walter Camp Award as top collegeplayer, edging Dorsey, Grossman and Oklahoma safety Roy Williams.
BYU’s Luke Staley, who ran for 1,582 yards and led the nation in scoringwith 28 touchdowns, won the Doak Walker Award as the nation’s best runningback, beating out Maryland’s Bruce Perry and Tennessee’s Travis Stephens.
“The way Travis Stephens played last week, I really thought that he wasgoing to be the one to win this,” Staley said.
“It was a goal I had at the beginning of the year and to achieve it issomething very special. Being a running back and from BYU it’s really special,because BYU is known for being a quarterback school. This is all because of thegreat teammates I’ve had.”
North Carolina defensive end Julius Peppers won the Chuck Bednarik Trophyfor the nation’s top defensive player, adding to the Lombardi Award he receivedWednesday as the top college lineman. Peppers edged Oklahoma’s Rocky Calmus andSyracuse’s Dwight Freeney.
“I’m not much of an individual award guy so this goes out to myteammates,” Peppers said. “They deserve this every bit as much as I do.”
Bryant McKinnie, Miami’s massive left tackle, won the Outland Trophy as thebest interior lineman, beating out Tennessee’s John Henderson and Nebraska’sToniu Fonoti.
“I’m shocked. I mean I’m up against a guy like John Henderson fromTennessee who won it last year, he’s up for it again and I win it,” McKinniesaid. “I was nervous not knowing if I was going to win. I never expected whenI came to Miami that I would ever be up for an award like this. It’s icing onthe cake. I’m truly shocked. This is a big deal it and makes it so complete.”
Other award winners Thursday night were LSU wide receiver Josh Reed(Biletnikoff Award), Williams (Jim Thorpe Award), and Purdue punter TravisDorsch (Ray Guy Award).
Reed, who led the nation in receiving with 90 catches for 1,680 yards, wonover Wisconsin’s Lee Evans and Florida’s Jabar Gaffney.
Williams won the Thorpe over Texas’ Quentin Jammer and Miami’s Ed Reed.
“I’m lucky my coaches let me on the field with the other great players atOklahoma,” Williams said. “This is a great honor. I do what I do to the bestof my abilities.”
Dorsch won the punting award over Miami’s Freddie Capshaw and Oklahoma’sJeff Ferguson.
The show, televised by ESPN, was presented by Home Depot.
