Fri. Mar 29th, 2024

NEW YORK (AP) — Ken Dorsey and Willis McGahee led No. 1 Miami back to the national championship game. Before they make it to Tempe, Ariz., they have one stop to make.
New York City.
Dorsey and McGahee were selected as Heisman Trophy finalists Wednesday, becoming the first teammates in eight years to be among the top five in the voting. Iowa quarterback Brad Banks, Penn State running back Larry Johnson and Southern California quarterback Carson Palmer also are finalists.
The winner will be announced Saturday night at the Yale Club in New York. The race is one of the most wide open in Heisman history. Dorsey is the only one of the five finalists to open the season as a Heisman hopeful after finishing third in the 2001 voting.
Penn State’s Ki-Jana Carter and Kerry Collins were the last teammates to finish in the top five. Carter was second and Collins fourth in 1994.
“I doubt I can get it because I’ve only been on the scene for like one year, and I didn’t do as much as Kenny or the other quarterbacks did,” McGahee said recently. “I don’t know what the Heisman means in their terms, but in my terms it means the best overall player who has been performing the best to help their school win and getting the job done.”
McGahee would be the first sophomore to win the award given to college football’s most outstanding player. He ended the 2001 season as Miami’s starting fullback, but moved back to tailback because of injuries.
He broke the school record with 27 touchdowns and also set school records for yards rushing (1,686), total yards (2,036), and 100-yard games (10). In last Saturday’s 56-45 win over Virginia Tech, McGahee ran 39 times for a career-high 205 yards and broke a 69-year-old school record with six touchdowns.
Dorsey, a senior from Orinda, Calif., is 38-1 as a starter and led the Hurricanes to another unbeaten season at 12-0. The Hurricanes play No. 2 Ohio State (13-0) in the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 3.
This season, Dorsey went 194-of-350 for 3,073 yards, 26 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.
Banks, meanwhile, never started a Division I-A game until this season. The senior from Belle Glade, Fla., led the nation in passing efficiency, going 155-of-258 for 2,369 yards, 25 touchdowns and four interceptions. He also ran for 387 yards and five TDs on 73 carries, and was The Associated Press College Player of the Year.
He helped No. 3 Iowa to its first 11-win season, its first unbeaten Big Ten season since 1922, and a berth in the Orange Bowl.
Johnson finished with 2,015 yards rushing, only the ninth Division I-A player to top 2,000 in a season. His 341 yards receiving are the most ever by a Penn State running back, and his 2,575 all-purpose yards this year are a Penn State record. No. 10 Penn State (9-2) will play in the Capital One Bowl against Auburn.
“It’s a great honor,” Johnson said. “I’m looking forward to being with the other finalists in New York.”
Palmer completed nearly 63 percent of his passes for 3,639 yards and 32 touchdowns with 10 interceptions this year, leading No. 5 USC (10-2) to the Orange Bowl against Iowa. He ended the season with 425 yards passing and four touchdowns in a 44-13 victory over Notre Dame.
One Heisman hopeful who did not make the top five is Marshall quarterback Byron Leftwich. Leftwich, who has passed for more than 4,000 yards in two straight seasons, was slow to recover after injuring his leg injury in early November.
This year’s race should again be close. Last year, there was no clear favorite for the Heisman and only four finalists were announced. Nebraska quarterback Eric Crouch ended up beating Florida quarterback Rex Grossman by 62 points, the fourth-closest vote in the 67-year history of the Heisman.
The closest Heisman vote was Bo Jackson’s 45-point victory over Chuck Long in 1985.

By Rick