2007 Doak Walker Award Winner

Named after the famous 1948 Heisman Winner, The Doak Walker Award goes to the nation's best running back annually. First presented to the nation in 1990, this award is not only for your athletic performance as a running back, but also that you have good academic standards. This year's winner, Darren McFadden from Arkansas became the 2nd person to win the award twice in a row. Mcfadden finished the year with 1,725 rushing yards and 15 TD's. He won the award in beating out Ray Rice from Rutgers who ran for 1,700 yards back to back and Michigan's Mike Hart, who ran for over 1,200 yards in only 9 games.


(Photo courtesy of wikipeida/flickr)

2007 Jim Thorpe Award Winner

Down to three very talented finalists, this year's winner Antoine Cason represents Arizona University. This award has been given out annually since 1986, the award is named after one of the greatest athletes who ever lived. The award goes to the nation's best defensive back, this year's winner Cason is third on the team with 71 total tackles. He has accounted for 4 tackles for a loss, 5 interceptions and returned 2 for TD's. He also has returned 2 punts back for TD's, has added 1 sack and 14 passes defended. Cason beat out LSU's safety Craig Steltz and Boston College's Jaime Silva for the defensive position award.

2007 Davey O'Brien Award Winner

Named after the famed quarterback from TCU nicknamed "slingshot" this award is presented to the best QB in the nation. Since 1981, they have been giving this award annually to the best QB. This year's winner hailed from Florida University, as a sophomore Tim Tebow set a new NCAA record. Being the first 20/20 player in history, Tebow accounted for nearly 4,000 total yards of offense. As he passed for 3,132 yards at a 68 % completion percentage for 29 TD's and only 6 int's. he also accounted for 838 yards on the ground and 22 rushing TD's, totaling 51 TD's for the year. In winning the award he beat out two other talented Qb's in Oregon's Dennis Dixon and Mizzou's Chase Daniels.

2007 Chuck Bednarik Award Winner

The best defensive player presented by the Maxwell Club, this year's winner continued the trend of Penn State winners in a row. As Dan Connor the senior Linebacker won the prestigious award for PSU's third in a row. Named after the last of the 60 minute men, Chuck Bednarik who was an All-American at Penn as a center and linebacker. Connor beat out DT Glenn Dorsey from LSU and LB James Laurinaitis from Ohio State. Connor led the Nittany Lions and the Big Ten in total tackles with 136 on the year. He also added 7 total sacks(6 solo), 17 tackles for a loss with 6 assisted, 6 passes defended and 1 interception.

2007 Ted Hendricks Award Winner

From the eight field award finalists, Chris Long from Virginia University emerged as the winner. The award is named after The Great Ted Hendricks from Miami U, where he averaged 100+ tackles a year from his DE position. Long beat out a host of talented defensive ends, including players such as Maurice Evans from Penn State and standout end George Selvie from South Florida for the defensive position award. Chris Long lead a defense that won 5 games by 2 points or 1 point this year. He had 75 total tackles, 35 solo, 21 total tackles for a loss, 17 where solo efforts, he also added 14 solo sacks, 7 passes defended, 2 forced fumbles, 1 interception and 1 blocked kick.


(picture courtesy of Sports Illustrated)

2007 Biletnikoff Award Winner

The 20 year old freshman receiving phenom, Michael Crabtree became the 14th winner of the Biletnikoff Award. This award has been given out annually since 1994, to the best receiver in the nation. Crabtree led the nation with 125 receptions, 1,861 yards and 21 receiving TD's. He beat out Jordy Nelson of Kansas State and Mario Manningham of Michigan. He became the first winner from Texas Tech to win the award, the first freshman to win, but most importantly the first winner from the Big 12 to win the award.

2007 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Winner

The 2007 ACC Player of the Year, Matt Ryan takes home the Johnny Unitas Award. Named after the legendary quarterback, it is given to the best senior QB in the nation. Aside from athletic accomplishments, the award is based on character, citizenship, scholastic achievement, leadership qualities, and also athletic ability. Last year's winner came from Notre Dame, as Brady Quinn received the prestigious award in 2006. The award begin in 1987, with Don McPherson from Syracuse winning the first award, which is given out annually.

Matt Ryan finished the regular season with 4,258 yards on 366 of 607 attempts for a 60 percent completion percentage. He also had 28 TD's and 18 int's and a QB rating of 128.5. As one of the finalist, Ryan beat out some of the nation's best quarterbacks. Other finalists included Colt Brennan from Hawaii, Brian Brohm from Louisville, Dennis Dixon from Oregon, and Andre' Woodson from Kentucky. Matt will finish his career at the Champs Sports Bowl on December 28 against Michigan State.


(picture courtesy of Sports Illustrated)

Jay "The Flying Dutchman" Berwanger

Berwanger was born January,19, 1914 in Dubuque, Iowa. After attending Dubuque HS, he went on to play for Chicago University. Wearing number 99 standing 6ft1inces, 195 lbs John Jacob became a two time All American. In 23 career games, the Maroons "one-man gang" amassed 1,839 total net yards averaging 4.19 yards per touch on 439 attempts. He also threw the football, completing 50 of 146 passes for 921 yards, totaling 22 TD's and kicking 20 extra points compiling 152 total points for his career. He also handled punting and kicking duties, averaging 38 yards per punt on 233 punts. Aside from handling all kicking duties, he also ran kicks back. He averaged 25.7 yards a return on 34 kickoff returns.

The Flying Dutchman went on to become the very first Heisman trophy winner and the only Heisman Trophy winner to be tackled by a future President. Gerald Ford tackled Berwanger in a 1934 contest where Michigan played Chicago. Jay was also the very first NFL draft pick in NFL history, he was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles but had his draft rights traded to the Chicago Bears. He would not go on to play professionally though because of a contract dispute with George Halas. Berwanger wanted 25,000 dollars for two seasons and Halas felt that it was too much, so he opted out of playing professional football and started a career in business. Jay would go on splitting time in Illinois and Mexico until he passed after a bout with lung cancer on June 27,2002, he was 88 years old.


(courtesy of college football hall of fame)

2007 Bronko Nagurski Award Winner

As we wait eagerly for the bowl season to kick off and the BCS Games to finish out the season, we have one award figured out already. LSU's DT Glenn Dorsey wins the coveted Bronko Nagurski Award. Presented by the Charlotte Touchdown Club and the FWAA, it is presented to the nation's best defensive player.

Dorsey had 64 tackles, 6 sacks and 12 tackles for a loss, in winning the award he beat out some of the nation's top defensive players. Including last year's winner James Laurinaitis linebacker from Ohio State, Virginia defensive end Chris Long, USF defensive end George Selvie and Kansas CB Aqib Talib.

NCAA Men's Basketball Standings Week 4

1. North Carolina(23) 7-0
2. Memphis(6) 6-0
3. Kansas(1) 7-0
4. Georgetown (1) 5-0
5. Texas 7-0
6. Washington State 7-0
7. Duke 8-0
9. Pittsburgh 7-0
10. Michigan State 6-1
11. Louisville 5-1
12. Tennessee 5-1
13. Butler 7-0
14. Texas A&M 7-1
15. Indiana 6-1
16. Marquette 5-1
17. Clemson 7-0
18. Oregon 6-1
19. Gonzaga 7-1
20. Xavier 6-1
21. Villanova 5-1
22. Brigham Young 6-1
23. Wisconsin 5-1
24. Arizona 5-2
25. Vanderbilt 7-0

() - First place votes.

2007 Chuck Bednarik Award

Chuck Bednarik is known as the "last of the 60 minute men" as he played both ways for the 1960 NFL champions, Philadelphia Eagles and also earned three time all american at University of Pennsylvania. This award is given annually to the best defensive player in the nation by the Maxwell Club. Last year's winner Paul Posluszny, represented everything about Penn State's and their dubbed name, Linebacker U.

Dan Connor, SR, LB, Penn State - Connor leads the Nittany Lions in tackles with 136 total, 66 solo and 70 assisted, which ranks 7th nationally and 1st in the Big Ten. He has posted 7 sacks, 6 solo and 1 assisted for a loss of 50 yards. Of his 136 tackles, 17 went for a loss with 11 being solo, he also added one interception to his great defensive year. He has recorded 18 tackles twice this season.

Glenn Dorsey, SR, DT, LSU - The Senior leader for the Bayou Bengals is 3rd on the team in total tackles with 64, 30 solo and 34 assisted. He is second on the team with 6 solo sacks and is first on the team with 12 tackles for a loss, 11 solo and 1 assisted.

James Laurinaitis, JR, LB, Ohio State - Leads the Buckeyes in total tackles with 103, 39 solo and 64 assisted. He has posted 11 tackles for a loss, 6 solo and 5 assisted. He has 5 solo sacks on the year and 2 int's.

2007 Doak Walker Award

The Doak Walker Award is awarded annually to the nation's best running back. Having good academics also is part of the success it takes to receive this award. Named after the famed SMU running back, who was a 3 time all american and 1948 Heisman Trophy Winner. Last year's winner, Darren Mcfadden is trying to become the second repeat player of the award since Ricky Williams did in 97',98' at Texas University.

Mike Hart, SR, Michigan - The senior leader of the Wolverines has rushed for 1,232 yards on 233 carries, averaging 5.3 yards per carry while rushing for 12 TD's, with a long of 61 yards. Hart rushed for 1,232 yards while missing 3 games. He also caught 7 passes for 43 yards.

Darren McFadden, JR, Arkansas - The junior athlete who is up for the Heisman again this year has had a phenomenal campaign. McFadden ranks 4th in the nation in rushing yards with 1,725 yards on 304 carries averaging 5.7 yards per carry. He has 15 TD's rushing this year with a long of 80 yards. Coming out of the backfield as a receiver, McFadden has 21 receptions for 203 yards for 4 TD's and a long of 37 yards. His receptions and yards rank second on the Razorbacks. To add to all that he does for his team, McFadden also has thrown the ball this year. He has completed 6 passes out of 11 attempts for 123 yards and 4 TD's.

Ray Rice, JR, Rutgers - Rice has been the most reliable force on the Scarlet Knights football team. Rushing for at least 100 yards in all games but three. Ray ranks third in the nation with 1,732 yards on 345 carries for 5.0 yards per carry. He ranks 5th in the nation with 21 rushing TD's on the year. Ray has run for 1,700 yards plus in two consecutive years, to go along with his rushing feats Rice has 23 receptions for 224 yards and a TD.

2007 Fred Biletnikoff Award

The Biletnikoff Award is given out annually to the nation's best wide receiver. Named after the famed receiver for Florida State and All Pro for the Oakland Raiders. The award was introduced in 1994 in honor of him, last year's winner Calvin Johnson hailed from Georgia Tech.

Michael Crabtree, FR, Texas Tech - The freshman phenom had himself a huge season within the Big 12. Crabtree has hauled in a freshman record 125 receptions, 1,861 yards and 21 TD's where he leads the nation in all categories. His longest reception on the year is 75 yards.

Mario Manningham, JR, Michigan - Though missing one game this year, Manningham caught 67 receptions on the year for 1,096 yards and 11 TD's with a long reception of 97 yards for a strike. He also has carried the ball 12 times for 66 yards.

Jordy Nelson, SR, Kansas State - The senior is a one man wrecking crew for the Wildcats. He is second in the nation with 122 receptions and 1,606 yards. The 1,606 yards set a new record for Kansas State, he set 11 records this year in the process for Kansas State. He has 11 TD's and a long of 68 yards that went for a TD. Nelson also returns punts, he has returned 5 for 264 yards and 2 TD's. Against Texas he had only one punt return and went 89 yards for a score, against Baylor he also had one return for 92 yards that also went for a touchdown.

2007 Davey O'Brien Award

The Davey O'Brien Award is named after the legendary quarterback who played at TCU, 1936-1938. A winner has been announced annually for the award since 1977. This award goes to the best QB in the nation, here are your three finalists for the award. Last year's award went to Troy Smith of Ohio State University.

Chase Daniel, JR, Missouri - The 6ft QB out of Texas has led the Tigers to an 11-1 record and BCS National Title talk. On the year he has thrown for 3,951 yards(349 for 495 attempts) at 70.5 completion percentage, for 33 TD's and only 9 int's. He also has 93 carries for 258 yards and 3 rushing TD's.

Dennis Dixon, SR, Oregon - The senior QB for the Ducks was an essential part of the team, though his season ended early due to a knee injury, Dixon has good numbers for the amount of games he played in. He has 2,136 yards through the air(172 for 254 attempts) for a 67.7 completion percentage and 20 TD's to only 4 int's. He has also rushed for 583 yards on 105 carries for 9 TD's and a long run of 80 yards for a TD.

Tim Tebow, SO, Florida - The sophomore QB has accounted for 51 total TD's on the year. He has thrown for 3,132 yards(217 for 317 attempts) for a completion percentage of 68.5 and 29 TD's to 6 int's. He has also rushed for 838 yards on 194 carries for 22 TD's on the season.