And the winner is ...

Crouch, Dorsey among award recipients Thursday night

Eric Crouch is also one of four finalists for the Heisman Trophy. AP

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) - Miami quarterback Ken Dorsey won the Maxwell Award and Nebraska's Eric Crouch took the Davey O'Brien quarterback trophy Thursday night during the college football awards show.

Dorsey and Crouch are two of the four Heisman Trophy finalists, along with Florida's Rex Grossman and Oregon's Joey Harrington. The Heisman, college football'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 a national 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 those guys," Dorsey said. "I'm most proud of being 25-1 in my career. As a Californian 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 Writers Association of America and members of the Philadelphia-based Maxwell Football Club, goes to the best all-around player.

Dorsey completed 184 of 318 passes for 2,652 yards with 23 TDs and nine interceptions.

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, and passed for 1,510 yards and seven scores.

"I had no idea I would win this," Crouch said. "The other quarterbacks that are here are just as deserving as I am. This is just unbelievable and my family is so happy. There is nothing that can happen from here on out to match this."

BYU's Luke Staley, who ran for 1,582 yards and led the nation in scoring with 28 touchdowns, won the Doak Walker Award as the nation's best running back, beating out Maryland's Bruce Perry and Tennessee's Travis Stephens.

"The way Travis Stephens played last week, I really thought that he was going 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 is something 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 the great teammates I've had."

North Carolina defensive end Julius Peppers won the Chuck Bednarik Trophy for the nation's top defensive player, adding to the Lombardi Award he received Wednesday as the top college lineman. Peppers won over Oklahoma's Rocky Calmus and Syracuse's Dwight Freeney.

Bryant McKinnie, Miami's massive left tackle, won the Outland Trophy as the best interior lineman, beating out Tennessee's John Henderson and Nebraska's Toniu Fonoti.

"I'm shocked. I mean I'm up against a guy like John Henderson from Tennessee who won it last year, he's up for it again and I win it," McKinnie said. "I was nervous not knowing if I was going to win. I never expected when I came to Miami that I would ever be up for an award like this. It's icing on the 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), Oklahoma safety Roy Williams (Jim Thorpe Award), and Purdue punter Travis Dorsch (Ray Guy Award).

Reed, who led the nation in receiving with 90 catches for 1,680 yards, won over 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 at Oklahoma," Williams said. "This is a great honor. I do what I do to the best of my abilities."

Dorsch won the punting award over Miami's Freddie Capshaw and Oklahoma's Jeff Ferguson.

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