A little bizarre-looking trophy. I don’t really know what’s going on there. At least it looks like someone’s playing defense. (How does a defensive player win the Heisman? The guy’s carrying a football.) In any case…
The Big East has two of the 15 finalists and two of the better life stories on the Walter Camp Award “Players to Watch” list, Cincinnati senior wideout Mardy Gilyard (who lived in his car and worked at a pizza place trying to get back into good standing with the university) and Pitt freshman tailback Dion Lewis (who drove his game tapes to all sorts of schools, including Rutgers, and could a single scholarship offer outside Dave Wannstedt’s).
The full list of finalists after the jump.
2009 Walter Camp Player of the Year “Players to Watch”
- Toby Gerhart, Senior, RB, Stanford – 1,395 rushing yards and 19 touchdowns
- Mardy Gilyard, Senior, WR, Cincinnati – Averaging over 180 all-purpose yards a game
- Jerry Hughes, Senior, DL, TCU – 13 tackles for loss and 10.5 sacks
- Mark Ingram, Soph., RB, Alabama – 1,297 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns
- Case Keenum, Junior, QB, Houston – Leads nation with 4,194 passing yards and 31 touchdowns
- Dion Lewis, Freshman, RB, Pittsburgh – 1,291 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns
- Rolando McClain, Junior, LB, Alabama – 77 tackles, 10 TFLs, 3 sacks and 2 interceptions
- Colt McCoy, Senior, QB, Texas – Completing 72.3% of passes for 2,792 yards and 19 touchdowns
- Kellen Moore, Soph., QB, Boise State – Leads nation with 172.49 passing efficiency
- Jacquizz Rodgers, Soph., RB, Oregon State – 1,545 rushing & receiving yards and 18 touchdowns
- Jordan Shipley, Senior WR, Texas – 81 receptions for 1,096 yards and 8 touchdowns
- C.J. Spiller, Senior, WR/KR, Clemson – Averaging 195.2 all-purpose yards a game
- Ndamukong Suh, Senior, DT, Nebraska – 14 QB hurries, 11 tackles for loss, 8 PBUs and 5 sacks
- Golden Tate, Junior, WR, Notre Dame – 1,174 receiving yards and 14 total touchdowns
- Tim Tebow, Senior, QB, Florida – Has passed for 10 touchdowns and rushed for 12 more
Aditi Kinkhabwala has written a regular column for SI.com and been published in Sports Illustrated.