Lake Buena Vista, FL (Sports Network) - The conference titles have been fought
for and won. The bowl matchups are set.
On Thursday night, college football's best were honored individually during an
awards ceremony at Disney World, and Notre Dame's Manti Te'o was the big
winner.
The senior linebacker took home the Maxwell Award as the nation's top all-
around player, the Chuck Bednarik Award as the top defensive player and the
Walter Camp Award, which honors the player of the year as voted by coaches and
sports information directors.
Te'o, the first person ever to win both the Bednarik and Maxwell Awards,
captured the Butkus Award, the Nagurski Award and the Lombardi Award earlier
in the week.
With six national awards, the Hawaii native is the most decorated player in
college football history, and he may still add a Heisman Trophy to his
impressive haul.
Te'o has posted a team-leading 103 tackles -- no teammate has more than 61 --
and set a Notre Dame single-season record for most interceptions by a
linebacker with seven.
His play is one of the reasons why the top-ranked Fighting Irish will take on
Alabama in the BCS championship game on Jan. 7.
Texas A&M freshman sensation Johnny Manziel nabbed the Davey O'Brien Award,
given to the nation's top quarterback. He beat out Kansas State's Collin
Klein, a fellow Heisman finalist.
Also on Thursday, USC's Marqise Lee won the Biletnikoff Award (wide receiver),
Wisconsin's Montee Ball was given the Doak Walker Award (running back),
Mississippi State's Johnthan Banks was the recipient of the Jim Thorpe Award
(defensive back), Tulane's Cairo Santos captured the Lou Groza Award (place-
kicker), Louisiana Tech's Ryan Allen repeated as the Ray Guy Award winner
(punter) and Texas A&M's Luke Joeckel won the Outland Trophy as the top
interior lineman.
The Sports Network