1. Matt
Leinart: Was the Rose Bowl MVP for the National Champions USC Trojans.
He threw
for 3 TDs and caught another. He passed for 327 yards in the game.
He was the Pac-10 offensive player of the
year. (First sophomore since John Elway in 1980)
The sophomore was 6th in the
Heisman voting.
Leinart set the Pac-10 record with 38 TD
passes in a single season.
He
finished 3rd in the NCAA in passer rating. He also threw for
3,556 yards (2nd in the Pac-10).
The
Trojans QB led the conference in completion %.
USC won the Pac-10 and went 11-1. They pounded #6 Michigan in the
Rose Bowl, and was named national champion by the AP. They were not
included in the BCS title game.
2. Eli Manning: He won the
Maxwell Award, national player of the year.
He was the SEC MVP and was 3rd
in the Heisman voting.
Manning was named 2nd team
All-American by the AP.
Manning was the Cotton Bowl
MVP. He threw for 259 yards and two TDs and ran in another TD. Mississippi
knocked off Oklahoma St. 31-28.
He led
the SEC in completions, TDs (29), and yards (3,600). He was 2nd
in passer rating.
Eli
threw for at least 3 TDs in seven games.
The Rebels went 10-3, 7-1 in the SEC. Their
only conference loss was to #2 LSU. They finished #13 in the AP poll. Ole Miss
averaged 34 points per game.
3. Darren
Sproles: He was a first team All-American, and was third in the player of
the year voting by AP. He was 5th in the
Heisman voting.
Sproles led the
country in total rushing yards (1,986), and all-purpose yards (2,735). He
was 5th in yards per carry (6.5).
K-State won six straight games,
including a 38-9 beat down of #19 Nebraska, where Sproles ran for 140 and a
score.
Sporles torched then #1 and
undefeated Oklahoma in the Big 12 Championship game.
He ran for 235 yards on 22 carries. He hauled in a 60 yard TD pass.
The Wildcats would go on to win 35-7.
In a 35-28 loss to #4 Ohio State in
the Fiesta Bowl, he had 70 all-purpose yards and a TD.
Kansas
State went 11-4 and won the Big 12 title. They were #14 in the final poll.
The Wildcats were 9th in the country scoring almost 37 points a
game.
