Cam Newton Wins 2010 Heisman Trophy
John P. Wise, Comcast.net
Sun Dec 12, 2:47 AM UTC
Perhaps the only thing lacking drama in Cam Newton's junior season at Auburn was the announcement Saturday night that he'd won the Heisman Trophy.
The dual-threat quarterback claimed the most coveted honor in college football in a result as predictable as a debate over the merits of the BCS. Finishing second in the voting was Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck. Oregon running back LaMichael James and Boise State's Kellen Moore finished third and fourth, respectively.
Newton carried Auburn to a 13-0 record, the SEC championship and a berth in the BCS title game against Oregon next month.
Despite playing the second half of the season with controversy swirling all around him, the impervious Newton passed for 2,589 yards and 28 touchdowns. He threw only six interceptions.
He also rushed for 1,409 yards and 20 touchdowns. Newton even caught a pair of passes, including one for a touchdown.
Newton seemed to save his best performances for when the stakes were highest. In one three-game stretch in October, he rushed for at least 200 yards in each, scoring nine touchdowns on the ground. The last of those games was against SEC West rival LSU, during which Newton scored on a long, highlight-reel touchdown run that many thought elevated Newton from Heisman contender to frontrunner.
In his final four games, he passed for 1,016 yards and 13 touchdowns. On national television on Nov. 26, Newton led Auburn back from a 24-0 hole to beat Alabama, 28-27, in an effort that pretty much cemented his Heisman win. The following week, he directed Auburn's rout of South Carolina in the SEC title game with 408 yards of offense and six total touchdowns.
Most writers maintained their support for Newton's Heisman candidacy ever since he became the center of controversy six weeks ago. It was eventually determined that Newton's father sought a pay-for-play scenario when his son was coming out of Blinn Junior College a year ago, but the NCAA ruled Cam Newton eligible because there was no evidence that the young player had any involvement in his father's scheme.
Newton is the third Heisman winner from Auburn, and the first since Bo Jackson won it in 1985. Pat Sullivan also won it in 1971.
Newton is also the third SEC player to win the Heisman in the last four seasons. Alabama's Mark Ingram won the 75th Heisman Trophy last year, and Florida quarterback Tim Tebow claimed the honor in 2007.
Of the past 11 Heisman winners, Newton joins Tebow as the only two to have also won the Maxwell Award, which Newton won Thursday night.
© 2010 Comcast Interactive Media
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