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Today will mark the end of the 2013 college football season. The bowl season kicks off next Saturday with the New Mexico Bowl, Las Vegas Bowl, Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, and New Orleans Bowl. Until then, it's awards season. This week, we saw the following players honored:

Walter Camp(player of the year): Jameis Winston, QB, Florida St.
Maxwell(most outstanding player): A.J. McCarron, QB, Alabama
Dave O'Brien(top quarterback): Jameis Winston, QB, Florida St.
Doak Walker(top running back): Andre Williams, RB, Boston College
Bednarik(defensive player of the year): Aaron Donald, DT, Pitt
Outland(outstanding interior lineman): Aaron Donald, DT, Pitt
Lombardi(outstanding interior lineman): Aaron Donald, DT, Pitt
Nagurski(defensive player of the year): Aaron Donald, DT, Pitt
Thorpe(top defensive back): Darqueze Dennard, CB, Michigan St.
Biletnikoff(top receiver): Brandin Cooks, WR, Oregon St.
Groza(top kicker): Roberto Aguayo, K, Florida St.
Guy(top punter): Tom Hornsey, P, Memphis
Home Depot Coach of the Year: Gus Malzahn, Auburn

Aaron Donald needs a house just to store his hardware. At about 6' zero and 285 lbs, Donald will surely draw comparisons to Cincinnati Bengals terror Geno Atkins and Minnesota Vikings Hall of Fame defensive tackle John Randle. Many pro people will say that he's too small to man the middle of an NFL defensive line. That's likely a mistake. Atkins dropped to the fourth round but he wasn't nearly as accomplished as Donald entering the draft. Randle wasn't drafted at all.

"Aaron Donald is a one-man wrecking crew."
    -Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly

The above awards always take a back seat to the one given out today. The Heisman. This gets a day, time and show all to itself. The contenders:

Jameis Winston, QB, Florida St.
AJ McCarron, QB, Alabama
Tre Mason, RB, Auburn
Johnny Manziel, QB, Texas A&M
Jordan Lynch, QB, Northern Illinois
Andre Williams, RB, Boston College

If the award went to the player that meant the most to his team, the 2013 Heisman Trophy might very well go to Jordan Lynch. Northern Illinois isn't 12-1 without him. Not even close. The Heisman had never gone to a first-year player until Johnny Manziel won it last year. It seems like a foregone conclusion that it will go to another first-year player this year. Jameis Winston is one of the best college quarterbacks that I've ever seen. It's difficult to believe that he's a redshirt freshman. There were moments when Andrew Luck looked like a redshirt freshman quarterback. His interception that sealed the 2009 Big Game for Cal was one of those. I saw no such freshman moments from Winston. E.J. Manuel was Florida St.'s quarterback last year. He led them to a 12-2 season and a victory in the Orange Bowl. A very nice season that got him selected in the first round of the 2013 NFL Draft. Florida St. returned nearly all of the offense that Manuel led. Winston took that offense to a whole other orbit. Florida St. finished the regular season 13-0. The games weren't even close. The Seminoles' average margin of victory was 42.3 points. Winston should be holding a big ol' trophy tonight. If the voters waited until this week to vote, Tre Mason might make a run at the trophy. His performance in the SEC Championship, 45 carries for 303 yards and four touchdowns, was insane. Andre Williams made a late season run as well but he's hurt by Boston College's five losses. Johnny Manziel was dazzling last year. Even though his statistics were better this year, I think that many raised his bar so high that nothing short of weekly miracles would bring home a second Heisman. AJ McCarron doesn't get enough credit for Alabama's incredible success. There's Nick Saban and a team filled with NFL players. McCarron would have to be as electric as Joe Namath or Manziel to get any attention or a Heisman.

There's a game today!

Army-Navy
There was a time when this was one of the marquee sporting events of the year. It's been a while since the two service academies have had anything to say about the landscape of college football. For most of the first ninety years of college football, they had a lot to say. Army-Navy is a special rivalry. No other game has emotions run from hate to love so quickly and easily. The very best of college athletics will be on display today at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.