Notre Dame LB Te'o takes Maxwell Award

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. - Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o won the Maxwell Award, given to the nation's most outstanding player, on Thursday night.

Te'o beat out finalists and quarterbacks Johnny Manziel from Texas A&M and Collin Klein from Kansas State.

He is the first defensive player to win the award since 1980, ending a string of nine straight quarterbacks.

It's the sixth national award that Te'o has won since the end of the regular season. The Fighting Irish senior also won the Bednarik Award, Butkus Award, Bronko Nagurski Trophy, Lombardi Award, and Walter Camp national player of the year award.

Te'o is also a finalist for the Heisman Trophy, which will be presented Saturday. Another of the Heisman finalists, Manziel, became the first freshman to win the Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award.

Notre Dame's Brian Kelly won coach-of-the-year honors; Wisconsin's Montee Ball won the Doak Walker Award (outstanding running back); Louisiana Tech's Ryan Allen won the Ray Guy Award (best punter); Texas A&M's Luke Joeckel won the Outland Trophy (outstanding interior lineman); Tulane's Cairo Santos claimed the Lou Groza Collegiate Place Kicker Award; Southern California's Marqise Lee won the Biletnikoff Award (outstanding receiver); and Johnthan Banks won the Jim Thorpe Award (top defensive back).

Rutgers honors. Rutgers senior linebacker Khaseem Greene was named the Big East Conference's defensive player of the year for the second straight season, and Scarlet Knights coach Kyle Flood was selected as the league's co-coach of the year.