ATLANTA (AP) _ Some of the top college football awards were handed out on
Thursday.
Alabama running back Derrick Henry came away with both the Walter Camp and
Maxwell Awards as the college player of the year. He rushed for 1,986 yards to
break Herschel Walker’s SEC single-season record. Henry capped a big night when
he won the Maxwell Award, given to the college player of the year.
Deshaun Watson of Clemson has won the Davey O’Brien Award, given to the
nation’s best quarterback. Watson threw for more than 3,500 yards with 30
touchdowns and ran for almost 900 yards with 11 touchdowns to lead the 13-0
Tigers to a spot in the College Football Playoff.
Baylor’s Corey Coleman has won the Biletnikoff (bih-LEHT’-nih-kahf) Award,
given to the nation’s outstanding receiver. Coleman 74 receptions for 1,363
yards and 20 touchdowns for the Bears this year.
Joshua Garnett of Stanford has won the Outland Trophy as the nation’s most
outstanding interior lineman. Garnett helped clear running room for Stanford’s
star running back Christian McCaffrey
Tyler Matakevich of Temple has won the Chuck Bednarik (behd-NAR’-ihk) Award as
the nation’s defensive player of the year. It was the second major award for
Matakevich, who won the Bronko Nagurski Award on Monday.
Desmond King is the first Iowa player to win the Jim Thorpe Award for the
nation’s best defensive back. The junior cornerback led Iowa with eight
interceptions, including one he returned for a touchdown, this season.
The Lou Groza (GROH’-zah) award went to UCLA’s Ka’imi Fairbairn, who made 20 of
23 field-goal attempts and each of his 44 extra points in 2015. Fairbairn scored
over 100 points in each of his four seasons with the Bruins.
Utah’s Tom Hackett has won the Ray Guy Award as the nation’s top punter. He
also won the award last season before averaging a career-best 47.8 yards a kick
this year.
The Heisman Trophy will be presented Saturday in New York.