One night after racking up a collection of college football betting awards at the 2010 Home Depot College Football Awards, Cameron Newton has to be the undoubted favorite to win the Heisman trophy. That award will be presented on Saturday night in New York at 8 PM ET, and given the list of honors that the Auburn quarterback received on Thursday, it will be a major surprise to see anyone other than Newton announced as the winner. Newton was recognized with the Davey O’Brien award as the nation’s top quarterback, and the Maxwell Award as the best all-around player in the country. With his No. 1 Tigers just a month away from competing in the Tostitos’ BCS National Championship game, the junior was humble about his accomplishments, telling the audience how he couldn’t have done any of it without such a strong supporting cast, including head coach Gene Chizik. Newton led the SEC in rushing with 1, 409 yards, which is a major accomplishment in itself given the status of the conference in online sports betting. He also completed 67.1-percent of his passes for 2, 589 yards and 28 touchdowns, while running for another 20 scores. Newton joined NFL betting quarterback and Florida Alumni Tim Tebow, as well as Colin Kaepernik as the only Football Bowl Subdivision players with at least 20 touchdowns both rushing and passing in a single season. With the other two Heisman finalists watching from the sidelines, there will be no logical explanation for Newton to not get the award. Both Andrew Luck of Stanford, and Boise State’s Kellen Moore watched as the Tigers’ starting quarterback’s name was called again and again, and given how he has been recognized as already having had a better season than them, it would be hard for the Heisman voters to go the opposite way, a sign of how much things have changed in recent price per head weeks. Less than a month ago, the same writers that will vote on the Heisman were criticizing Newton for allegations that his father had lobbied for bribes on his son’s behalf in exchange for his commitment to a college football program. While there was no substantial proof, Mississippi recruits testified that the quarterback was aware of his father’s requests, and even apologized that he wouldn’t attend any program that his father felt didn’t take the appropriate measures. Newton was cleared off all charges before the SEC Championship game, and it appears as though now, a couple of weeks later, the fact that he was able to overcome the adversity that he faced with those reports and actually play some of his best football down the stretch has swayed the votes in his favor. Newton will be at the award presentation in New York on Saturday night, with his father right by his side, and it will be a special moment for the two of them, one that nobody could have projected happening only a few weeks ago.
