LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- In a year in which college football fans are grasping for something, anything to give them an idea of who the favorite is heading into Heisman Trophy presentation Saturday, the 2001 Home Depot College Football Awards did very little to clear anything up.

	Miami QB Ken Dorsey won the Maxwell Award.

Miami junior Ken Dorsey, among four quarterbacks who are finalists for the Heisman, took home the Maxwell Award, given to the college player of the year. But Nebraska senior Eric Crouch won Walter Camp award for player of the year. Crouch also won the Davey O'Brien Award, given to the nation's top quarterback.

Confused yet? It doesn't get any clearer.

Technically, Florida sophomore Rex Grossman left the Atlantic Dance Hall at Disney's Boardwalk without any hardware, but was named the first-team quarterback for the Walter Camp All-America team. Yes, the same Walter Camp Foundation that named a Crouch its player of the year.

Adding to the Heisman mystery is the fact that The Associated Press named Grossman, not Dorsey or Crouch, its player of the year on Tuesday.

"All we need now is for Joey (Harrington) to win the Heisman and then everybody can go home happy," Dorsey said.

The Maxwell Award voting this year proved to be one of the closest ever. Of the 688 ballots cast, Dorsey received 223 first-place votes, while Crouch received 214. In terms of a 3-2-1 point system, with three points going for first place, two for second and one for third, Dorsey edged Crouch 1,109 points to 1,053.

College Football Award winners

Maxwell Award (Outstanding player) Winner -- Ken Dorsey, Miami, quarterback. Other noiminees -- Eric Couch, Nebraska; Rex Grossman, Florida. Chuck Bednarik Award (Outstanding defensive player) Winner -- Julius Peppers, North Carolina, defensive end. Other nominees -- Rocky Calmus, Oklahoma; Dwight Freeney, Syracuse. Davey O'Brien Trophy (Best quarterback) Winner -- Eric Crouch, Nebraska. Other nominees -- Rex Grossman, Florida; Joey Harrington, Oregon. Doak Walker Award (Outstanding running back) Winner -- Luke Staley, Brigham Young. Other nominees -- Bruce Perry, Maryland; Travis Stephens, Tennessee. Fred Biletnikoff Award (Outstanding receiver) Winner -- Josh Reed, Louisiana State. Other nominees -- Lee Evans, Wisconsin; Jabar Gaffney, Florida. Jim Thorpe Trophy (Best defensive back) Winner -- Roy Williams, Oklahoma Other nominees -- Quentin Jammer, Texas; Ed Reed, Miami. Outland Trophy (Outstanding interior lineman) Winner -- Bryant McKinnie, Miami, offensive tackle. Other nominees -- Toniu Fonoti, Nebraska; John Henderson, Tennessee. Ray Guy Award (Best punter) Winner -- Travis Dorsch, Purdue. Other nominees -- Freddie Capshaw, Miami; Jeff Ferguson, Oklahoma. Lou Groza Award (Outstanding kicker) Winner -- Seth Marler, Tulane. Other nominees -- Travis Dorsch, Purdue; Damon Duval, Auburn. Home Depot Award (Coach of the year) Winner -- Ralph Friedgen, Maryland Disney's Spirit Award Winners -- U.S. Naval Academy; U.S. Air Force Academy; U.S. Millitary Academy.

The Maxwell Award has long been used as a gauge to discover the Heisman favorite, as 10 of the past 16 Heisman winners have won the Maxwell. Last year, though, Purdue quarterback Drew Brees captured the Maxwell while Florida State quarterback Chris Weinke won the Heisman.

What does it all mean? Even Dorsey isn't quite sure.

"Shoot, that's a lot of numbers and a lot of math," Dorsey said. "I guess I got the odds working for me ... right?"

As surprised as Dorsey was to win the Maxwell, Crouch was just as shocked to become the first Cornhusker to win the O'Brien, an award typically given to more of a traditional drop-back passer, as opposed to the sprinting, option-type quarterback Crouch was at Nebraska.

"It shows that people appreciate what I did and what our team did at Nebraska," Crouch said. "I wasn't quite sure if people realized how complex our offense was. From the option to the power game to the shotgun to play action to split backs, we do a little bit of everything.

"And when we get inside the 20, we run the football. That's our style. So I don't have the big passing numbers. But I did the best job that I could."

Oregon's Harrington, the fourth Heisman finalist and the Pacific-10 player of the year, agrees that the winner of the Heisman this year is incredibly difficult to predict.

"If you give the award based on a career, absolutely it should be Eric," Harrington said. "If you give it based on numbers, you've got to give it to Rex. And if you give it to the best player on the best team in football, you've got to give it to Ken. Oops. I guess I just eliminated myself. Well, it's a very tough call to make."

Regardless of the outcome Saturday, Crouch said his awards trip had already proved more than productive.

"Regardless of whether or not I add that last big piece of hardware, this has been a great trip. Nothing could happen that would dampen any of this."

Other winners Thursday included North Carolina's Julius Peppers, who edged Oklahoma's Rocky Calmus and Syracuse's Dwight Freeney for the Chuck Bednarik Award as the nation's outstanding defensive player.

Miami offensive lineman Bryant McKinnie, who spent his junior season protecting the backside of Dorsey, beat out 2000 winner John Henderson of Tennessee for Outland Trophy as the nation's top interior lineman.

The paths of Henderson and McKinnie could very well again cross, should Tennessee beat Louisiana State in the Southeastern Conference Championship this weekend, earning a Jan. 3 Rose Bowl date with the Hurricanes for the national championship.

"Me and John Henderson? Yeah, that would be a good battle," McKinnie said confidently as Henderson looked on from the audience. "I guess everybody is anticipating that game and anticipating that matchup, so it would be fun."

First-year Maryland coach Ralph Friedgen, who turned the Terps from a sub-.500 team to one that will likely face Florida in the Orange Bowl, won the Home Depot Coach of the Year Award.

"There were some things I wanted to do and I was able to get it done my way," Friedgen said. "I was lucky to have great coaches and great players, players that wanted to win so badly they would do anything and everything that it took."

The football teams from three United States Service Academies -- the U.S. Air Force Academy, U.S. Military Academy and U.S. Naval Academy -- were honored as recipients of the 2001 Disney Wide World of Sports Spirit Award.

Normally given to college football's most inspirational athlete, the 2001 Award was presented to all individuals who compete in intercollegiate athletics at the U.S. service academies.

"They represent our nation's very best," said Reggie Williams, the 14-year Cincinnati Bengal who now works as vice president of Disney Sports Attractions. "The enthusiasm and dedication they commit to academics and their sports are only surpassed by the bravery and courage they will one day exhibit on the real battlefields as they defend our nation and others around the world."