Lake Buena Vista (AP) — Colt McCoy's near blunder in the final
seconds of the Big 12 title game hasn't cost him on the awards circuit
so far.
It hasn't hurt the conference, either.
McCoy capped a big Thursday night for the Big 12, winning the Maxwell Award honoring the nation's best all-around player.
It
was just the latest in a series of postseason honors for McCoy, who
also is a finalist for the Heisman Trophy. He won the Walter Camp
Football Foundation's player of the year award for the second
consecutive season earlier in the day.
Before he beat out fellow
Heisman finalists Mark Ingram of Alabama and Tim Tebow of Florida for
the Maxwell, he picked up the Davey O'Brien Award at the annual college
football awards at Disney World, given to the nation's best quarterback.
"To
win awards like this shows that you're greatly respected," McCoy said.
"It means people see the things that you do, and you're rewarded for
them."
Apparently they didn't see his last play. Or maybe they just let it slip.
The
Longhorns (13-0) needed a field goal as time expired to beat Nebraska
13-12 in the Big 12 title game Saturday night. But on the
second-to-last play, McCoy nearly let the clock strike zero on a
rollout that surely had Longhorns fans gasping.
The player chasing him all night made out just fine Thursday night, too.
Nebraska's
Ndamukong Suh, also a Heisman finalist, won the Chuck Bednarik Award as
the nation's best defensive player, and took home the Outland Trophy
for the best interior lineman. He previously won the Lombardi Award as
the nation's top lineman and Bronko Nagurski Trophy as the nation's top
defensive player.
The powerhouse defensive lineman put together
his best performance of the year against No. 2 Texas. He matched his
career high with 12 tackles and had 4 1/2 sacks as the Cornhuskers
nearly upset the Longhorns.
"I guess maybe that helped a little
bit," Suh said. "I'm just really honored to win these awards and it's
really a tribute to my teammates."
McCoy and Suh also will be in
New York on Saturday night hoping to win the Heisman. Ingram, Tebow and
Stanford's Toby Gerhart are the other finalists for college football's
most prestigious award.
McCoy said his two awards Thursday night doesn't give him any indication how the Heisman race will play out.
"Who
knows? All these awards are voted on by different groups of people,"
McCoy said. "I really don't pay attention to it. I try to stay away
from that. You're going to hear good things and bad things, and I don't
necessarily feel you need to hear either one of them."
While Tebow didn't win any awards on this night, the Florida star brought a little extra company.
Tebow
brought 20-year-old Kelly Faughnan from Clifton, Va., as his "date."
Just before Thanksgiving last year, Kelly was diagnosed with a brain
tumor, her father Jim said. She had surgery last December.
Her
wish was to go to Disney World during the awards show to get a glimpse
of Tebow. The two met Wednesday night, and Tebow said he decided to
bring her along to the show.
"I was really touched," Tebow said.
Cincinnati's
Brian Kelly won the Coach of the Year award on the same day he told his
team he was leaving for Notre Dame. Stanford's Toby Gerhart won the
Doak Walker Award for the nation's best running back. Tennessee star
Eric Berry accepted the Jim Thorpe Award honoring the best defensive
back.
Notre Dame's Golden Tate won the Biletnikoff Award as the
best receiver. UCLA's Kai Forbath took home the Lou Groza Award for the
best kicker.
Georgia's Drew Butler won the Ray Guy Award honoring
the nation's best punter. Boston College linebacker Mark Herzlich has
won the Disney Spirit Award given to college football's most
inspirational figure. Herzlich overcame a rare form of bone cancer and
is expected to return next season.