2003 NCAA Football Awards

It was a long, enjoyable, and well played 2003 NCAA football season. Here's how the awards should be given out this year.

Individual Awards

Player of the Year: Larry Fitzgerald, WR, Pittsburgh.

This guy was so good, it's insane. He had 85 catches for 1,595 yards and 21 touchdowns. The catches and yardage were NFL numbers, despite playing just 12 games instead of 16, and without having another prominent receiver to play opposite him. He beat double-, and often, triple-teams for 21 touchdowns in 12 games (think Marshall Faulk or Emmitt Smith in his prime). Quite honestly, no other player in the nation had as much of an impact on his team as Fitzgerald did for Pittsburgh. The Sooners would have been fine without Jason White, and Michigan would have resorted to a throwing offense without Chris Perry, although Ole Miss certainly would have been disappointing without Eli Manning. But, all things considered, Pitt could not have done it without Fitzgerald.

Quarterback of the Year: B.J. Symons, Texas Tech.

Speaking of great, look at B.J. Symons' numbers. He came in starting for the first time as a senior and put up 5,336 yards (NCAA record) and 48 touchdowns. Sure, you could attribute that to Mike Leach's "pass and then pass some more" offense, but you'd think an erratic quarterback would have made a lot more errors in such a pass-heavy system. Symons was an outstanding quarterback as a senior and it's a shame that he won't be around to torch teams for 445 yards per game next year. Instead, he will probably be playing on Sundays, though.

Running back of the Year: Chris Perry, Michigan.

The Wolverines would have stumbled more than twice without Perry to stabilize the offense and provide workmanlike numbers every game, particularly in his 51-carry effort against rival Michigan State. He was everything coaches dream of in a running back -- he ran hard (for 1,589 yards) and read the field well, he kept the clock moving, and he was dependable at the end of games, even after accumulating lots of carries.

Wide receiver of the Year: Larry Fitzgerald, Pittsburgh.

See Player of the Year Award above.

Coach of the Year: Kirk Ferentz, Iowa.

The Hawkeyes won the Big Ten last year with Davey O'Brien Award winner Brad Banks at quarterback and versatile tight end Dallas Clark. After losing both players, and a significant portion of the defense, this was supposed to be a rebuilding year for Iowa. However, they hardly missed a beat, going 9-3 in a tough Big Ten conference that yielded no easy victories. Ferentz should be commended for keeping lofty goals for his team despite losing leadership.

Career Achievement Award: Philip Rivers, QB, N.C. State.

The N.C. State and ACC record books only have one name in the passing stats now -- Philip Rivers. At the end of his senior season, he held the NCAA record for most career starts and was second all time in passing yardage, behind only Ty Detmer. He led his team back from a 24-7 fourth quarter deficit at No. 3 Ohio State, only to fall in triple overtime. He single-handedly hung with Florida State in a shootout game, only to lose in double overtime. As the first quarterback of the Chuck Amato era at N.C. State, Rivers has raised expectations for the Wolfpack program, and will always be the best quarterback in ACC history.

Punk of the Year: Robert Reynolds, LB, Ohio State.

Reynolds choked Wisconsin quarterback Jim Sorgi at the bottom of the pile during the Badgers' upset of the Buckeyes, knocking Sorgi out of the game. There's no room for that kind of behavior in any sport, whether he was caught in the moment or not. This Punkeye deserved much more punishment than he got. In a welcome show of at least a little bit of remorse, he genuinely apologized to Sorgi after the game, and Sorgi graciously accepted. That was a strong gesture on Reynolds' part, but it's still no excuse.

Best Games

ACC

N.C. State-Florida State: Philip Rivers matched up against the Seminoles for one last time in Tallahassee, and the game was a shootout from the beginning. With numerous lead changes and momentum swings all the way through the end of the game, when N.C. State's Derek Morris blocked a potential game-winning field goal, the game was just as thrilling as it was built up to be. Only in double overtime did the Seminoles squeak by with a 50-44 victory on a 12-yard Leon Washington run.

Big East

Miami-West Virginia: The Mountaineers showed up on October 2nd hoping to put up a fight. They definitely gave Miami a scare, hanging around all game and holding a lead late in the fourth quarter, until Brock Berlin was able to bring the Hurricanes all the way down the field for a game-winning field goal and a 22-20 victory, thanks almost exclusively to Kellen Winslow, Jr.'s game-saving catch on fourth-and-17.

Big Ten

Purdue-Ohio State: This was a classic Buckeye win in a classic Big Ten slugfest. The teams met in a cold rain in Columbus and combined to put on a terrible offensive show for a full game while defenses and field position shaped the outcome. In the end, Ohio State manage to win, as usual, on a missed field goal by Purdue's Ben Jones. Of course, Ohio State was going to win -- they just do -- but their wins get more and more ridiculous. This game wins for its classic Big Ten style: running the ball and the weather were the two most deciding factors.

Big 12

Texas-Texas Tech: The Red Raiders nearly dealt the Longhorns a massive in-state loss, but Texas was able to score a touchdown in the last minute of regulation to squeak out a 43-40 victory. Texas Tech proved that they are dangerous even outside of Lubbock, and Texas (or should we say Mack Brown) proved that he can win a clutch game in the final minutes, which is something he was never in position to do against Oklahoma (ouch).

Pac-10

USC-Cal: The highly ranked USC Trojans went to Berkeley expecting a win, but giving the upstart Bears respect. They probably should have respected a little bit more, because by the end of the game, the Bears had won 34-30 in triple overtime thanks to several missed field goals and turnovers. The game was exciting all the way through and had the gripping feeling of a momentous upset.

SEC

Arkansas-Kentucky: In the same way that Ohio State-Purdue was a classic Big Ten game, this one was a classic SEC game. After seven overtimes, Arkansas finally emerged as a 71-63 winner. The SEC always has a five-plus overtime game, and this one was close all the way, with clutch overtime plays until Arkansas pulled out the win.