Walter Camp Foundation Announces Five Finalists for 2007 Player of the Year Award

Action Photo - QB Tim Tebow - Florida

New Haven, Conn. - The Walter Camp Football Foundation has announced the five finalists for its 2007 Player of the Year award. Four quarterbacks - Chase Daniel (Missouri), Dennis Dixon (Oregon), Matt Ryan (Boston College) and Tim Tebow (Florida) - are on the list along with running back Darren McFadden (Arkansas), a finalist for the second straight season.

The 2007 Walter Camp Player of the Year recipient, voted on by the 119 Football Bowl Subdivision head coaches and sports information directors, will be announced live on the 6:00 p.m. edition of ESPN SportsCenter on Thursday, December 6. The winner will then receive his trophy at the Foundation's annual national awards banquet on Saturday, January 12, 2008 at the Yale University in New Haven.

The finalists for the 2007 Walter Camp Player of the Year award include:

CHASE DANIEL - MISSOURI - Junior, Quarterback- Has led the top-ranked Tigers (11-1) to a berth in the Big 12 championship game... The leader of an offense that averages 41.9 points a game, Daniel has passed for 3,951 yards and 28 touchdowns... Has completed 70.5 percent (349-of-495) of his passes - good for fourth in the nation... Has eight 300-yard passing efforts and threw five touchdowns in a game twice this season.

DENNIS DIXON - OREGON - Senior, Quarterback- A versatile quarterback, Dixon led the Ducks into the national spotlight before sustaining a season-ending knee injury on November 15... Threw for 2,136 yards 172-of-254) and 20 touchdowns in ten appearances... Rushed for 583 yards and nine touchdowns... Dixon passed for a season-high 374 yards and four touchdowns in a win over Stanford on September 22.

DARREN McFADDEN - ARKANSAS - Junior, Running Back- A Player of the Year finalist for the second straight year, McFadden has rushed for a school record 1,725 yards to lead the Razorbacks (8-4).... He has scored 15 total touchdowns (14 rushing, 1 receiving) and has also passed for four TDs..McFadden has rushed for at least 100 yards nine times, including a career-best 321 versus South Carolina on Nov 3. Two-time Walter Camp National Offensive Player of the Week honoree in '07 (Nov 3 & 25).

MATT RYAN - BOSTON COLLEGE - Senior, Quarterback- Ryan has led the Eagles to a 10-2 record and a berth in the ACC championship game... Ryan has thrown for 3,953 yards (333-of-555) and 28 touchdown passes this season... A six-time ACC Offensive Player of the Week selection this season, Ryan has eight 300-yard passing efforts, including four 400-yard efforts.... He threw for a season-high 435 yards in a win at Georgia Tech on September 15.

TIM TEBOW - FLORIDA - Sophomore, Quarterback- Tebow accounted for 51 Gator touchdowns (29 passing, 22 rushing) this season... Has passed for 3,132 yards (217-of-317) and 29 touchdowns... Tebow has rushed for 838 yards and 22 touchdowns... He scored a career-high five rushing touchdowns and passed for two more in a win at South Carolina on November 10... Tebow was a two-time recipient of the Walter Camp National Offensive Player of the Week honor in 2007 (September 16 and November 10).

Walter Camp, "The Father of American football," first selected an All-America team in 1889. Camp - a former Yale University athlete and football coach - is also credited with developing play from scrimmage, set plays, the numerical assessment of goals and tries and the restriction of play to eleven men per side. The Walter Camp Football Foundation - a New Haven-based all-volunteer group - was founded in 1967 to perpetuate the ideals of Camp and to continue the tradition of selecting annually an All-America team.

Frank Coyle is a longtime member of the FWAA and votes in all the major college awards - the Heisman Trophy, Lombardi, Outland, Jim Thorpe including all the defensive awards. He is also a voter for the FWAA on the College team polls, the Grantland Rice Polls. He is a nationwide radio and TV personality and makes frequent appearances on sports talk shows from coast to coast. He has been a regular guest on major radio shows such as the Score in Chicago, Sporting News Radio, ESPN Radio nationwide, WEEI Boston, WFAN in New York and Sports Extra in San Diego as well as every major sports talk show nationwide. His Heisman Trophy and Jim Thorpe Award ballots are released annually in early December.